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3fflwi ■Amrar 80386 ARCHITECTURE Intel brings minicomputer power to the PC FEBRUARY 1987 VOL. 5, NO. 2 $3.95 WINDOWS DEVELOPMENT KIT ACCELERATORS PC’S LIMITED 286 FOR THE IBM SYSTEMS PROFESSIONAL Ro/Tov* T!} e Database ItvllvA# Manager System requirements Reflex: The Database Manager IBM PC, AT, XT, or true compatibles. PC-DOS [MS-DOS] 2.0 and later. IBM CGA Hercules Monochrome Card, or equivalent. 384K Reflex: The Workshop: Requires Reflex: The Database Manager. 384K. For Finance/Accounting: • Business Expense Tracking • Petty Cash Tracking • Line of Credit Tracking and Analysis • Accounts Receivable Tracking and Aging Analysis • Purchase Order Entry and Analysis • Purchase Order Tracking System • Leasing Inventory/Management • /Asset Inventory Tracking • Cash Management Trial Balance • Commercial Real Estate Tracking and Analysis For Administration: • Mail Lists • Appointment Scheduling • Applicant Tracking and Inquiry System • Facilities Planning • Project Scheduling For Sales & Marketing: • Sales Lead Tracking and Analysis • Store Check Inventory Analysis • Sales Analysis • Trend Analysis For Production & Operations: • Manufacturing Quality Assurance Tracking • Assembly Repair Turnaround Tracking • Product Cost Analysis and Control SS Reflex does the job. Workshop shows you applications. The 400-page book that comes with Workshop has sections on creating accounting systems; inventory control; business expense reports; real estate manage¬ ment; production; operation and quality control; and just a whole bunch of other stuff. Jerry Pournelle, BYTE W For the dealer nearest you or to order by phone call [800]255-8008 B/- 1093 A in CA [800] 742-1133 in Canada [800] 237-1136 Reflex: The Workshop adds 22 templates to your business repertoire only $ 149 . 95 ! $69.95! You get 22 different ways to run your business—instantly. The formats are all there. All you do is enter your own numbers. A superb business tool. Reflex: don't use your PC without it! Join hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic Reflex users and experience the power and ease- of-use of Borland's award¬ winning Reflex. neflex is the K acclaimed, high-performance database manager that's so advanced it's easy to use! Reflex: the high- performance, state- of-the-art database manager Whether you manage mailing lists, customer files, or you are in charge of your company's budgets, Reflex is the database manager that you've been waiting for. Reflex lets you organize, analyze and report in¬ formation faster and easier than ever before. Reflex extends database man¬ agement with business graphics. Because a picture is often worth a WOO words, Reflex lets you extract the critical information buried in mountains of data. With Reflex, when you look, you see. Reflex: the critics' choice n ... if you use a PC, you should know about Reflex. Reflex and Reflex Workshop may be the best bargain in software today. Jerry Pournelle, BYTE Everyone agrees that Reflex is the best-looking database they've ever seen. Adam B. Green, InfoWorld The next generation of software has officially arrived. Peter Norton, PC Week ’ 1 Turbo Prolog C6 If you're at all interested in artificial intelligence, databases, expert systems, or new ways of thinking about programming, by all means_plunk down your $100 and buy a copy of Turbo Prolog. Bnjce Webster B yte 3 3 Only 599 . Turbo Prolog, the natural language of Artificial Intelligence, is the most popular Al package in the world with more than 100,000 users. It's the 5th-generation computer programming language that brings supercomputer power to your IBM PC and compatibles. You can join the Al revolution with Turbo Prolog for only $99.95. Step-by-step tutorials, demo programs and source code included. TLTeiv/ Turbo Prolog 131 Toolbox Our new Turbo Prolog Toolbox n enhances Turbo Prolog—with more than 80 tools and over 8,000 lines of source code that can easily be incorporated into your programs. It includes about 40 example programs that show you how to use and incorporate your new tools. New Turbo Prolog Toolbox features include: Business graphic generation Complete communications package File transfers from Reflex, dBASE III, 1-2-3, Symphony A unique parser generator Sophisticated user-interface design tools It's the complete developer's toolbox and a major addition to Turbo Prolog. You get a wide variety of menus — pull-down, pop-up, line, tree and box—so you can choose the one that suits your application best. You'll quickly and easily learn how to produce graphics; set up communica¬ tions with remote devices; read information from Reflex, 9 dBASE III* Lotus 1-2-3* and Symphony* files; generate parsers and design user interfaces. All of this for only $99.95. Only $99.95! System requirements Turbo Prolog: IBM PC, XT, AT or true compatibles. PC-DOS [MS- DOS] 2.0 or later. 384K. Turbo Prolog Toolbox requires Turbo Prolog 1.10 or higher. Dual-floppy disk drive or hard disk. 512K. Turbo Pascal ' Turbo Pascal, the worldwide standard in high-speed compilers, and family. What our new Numerical Methods Toolbox will do for you now: gj Find solutions to equations

1. Interpolations gj Calculus: numerical derivatives and integrals gj Differential equations gj Matrix operations: inversions, determinants and eigenvalues gj Least squares approximations gj Fourier transforms As well as a free demo FFT pro¬ gram, you also get Least Squares Fit in 5 different forms:
2. Power
3. Exponential
4. Logarithm
5. 5-term Fourier
6. 5-term Polynomial They're all ready to compile and run. All this for only 599.95 ! JkTew! Turbo Pascal 131 Numerical Methods Toolbox Only $99.95! The power and high performance of Turbo Pascal is already in the hands of more than half-a-million people. The tech¬ nically superior Turbo Pascal is the de facto worldwide standard and the clear leader. The Turbo Pascal family includes: ■ Turbo Pascal* 3.0 ■ Turbo Tutor* 2.0 ■ Turbo Database Toolbox* ■ Turbo Editor Toolbox* ■ Turbo Graphix Toolbox* ■ Turbo GameWorks* ■ Turbo Pascal Numerical Methods Toolbox " System requirements IBM PC, XT, AT or true compatibles. PC- DOS [MS-DOS] 2.0 or later. Turbo Pascal 2.0 or later. Graphics module requires graphics monitor with IBM CGA, IBM EGA, or Hercules compatible adapter card, and requires Turbo Graphix Toolbox. 8087 or 80287 numeric co¬ processor not required, but recom¬ mended for optimal performance. 256K. Turbo Pascal 3.0. Includes 8087 & BCD features for 16-bit MS-DOS and CP/M-86 systems. CPIM-80 version minimum memory: 48K; 8087 and BCD features not available. 128K. i 6 The language deal of the century. Jeff Duntemann, PC Magazine 3 3 BI-1093 ^ Eureka: The Solver ‘ ‘Introductory price—good through July 1, 1987 For the dealer nearest you or to order by phone call [ 800 ] 255-8008 in CA [800] 742-1133 in Canada [800] 237-1136 A nyone and everyone who routinely works with equations needs Eureka: The Solver It solves the most com¬ plex equations in seconds. Whether you're a scientist, engineer, financial analyst, student, teacher, or some other professional, you need Eureka: The Solver! Any problem that can be expressed as a linear or non-linear equation can be solved with Eureka. Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus problems are a snap. Eureka: The Solver also handles maximization and minimization problems, does plot functions, generates reports, and saves you an incredible amount of time. X+exp[X] = 10 solved instantly instead of eventually! Imagine you have to "solve for X," where X + exp[X] — 10, and you don’t have Eureka: The Solver. What you do have is a problem, because it's going to take a lot of time guessing at "X." Maybe your guesses get closer and closer to the right answer, but it's also getting closer and closer to midnight and you're doing it the hard way. With Eureka: The Solver, there's no guessing, no dancing in the dark — you get the right answer, right now. [PS: X = 2.0705799, and Eureka solved that one in .4 of a second!] How to use Eureka: The Solver It's easy.
7. Enter your equation into the full-screen editor
8. Select the "Solve" command
9. Look at the answer
10. You're done You can then tell Eureka to ■ Evaluate your solution ■ Plot a graph ■ Generate a report, then send the output to your printer, disk file or screen ■ Or all of the above All this power for only $99.95! Equation-solving used to be a mainframe problem, but we've solved that problem. Eureka: The Solver is all you need—and it's yours for only $99.95! That kind of savings you can calculate with your fingers! Some of Eureka"s key features You can key in: ■ A formula or formulas ■ A series of equations—and solve for all variables ■ Constraints [like X has to be < or = 2] ■ A function to plot ■ Unit conversions ■ Maximization and minimization problems ■ Interest Rate/Present Value calculations ■ Variables we call "What happens?," like "What happens if I change this variable to 21 and that variable to 27?" Eureka: The Solver includes ■ A full-screen editor ■ Pull-down menus ■ Context-sensitive Help ■ On-screen calculator ■ Automatic 8087 math co-processor chip support ■ Powerful financial functions ■ Built-in and user-defined math and financial functions ■ Ability to generate reports complete with plots and lists ■ Polynomial finder ■ Inequality solutions System requirements IBM PC, AT, XT, Portable, 3270 or true compatibles. PC-DOS [MS-DOS] 2.0 and later. 384K. BI-1093 6 6 1 like 'em all, but Lightning's the one that's going to change how a lot of us use computers . . . simply the finest spelling checker and electronic thesaurus program extant" Jim Seymour, MicroBusiness J J T urbo Lightning adds instant spell¬ checking and a thesaurus to all your spreadsheets, electronic mail, documents, memos, or whatever programs you use. Everything you type looks professional because Turbo Lightning checks your spelling as you type, while you run other programs. Turbo Lightning beeps every time there's a misspelled word, which you can correct instantly. Need synonyms? Turbo Lightning's on-line thesaurus instantly offers you the right ones. It's that easy. Minimum memory: 256IC Two disk drives required. Hard disk recommended . ***IBM PC, XT, AT, PCjr, and true compatibles only. PC/MS-DOS 2.0 or later. ‘Suggested list price as of February 15, 1987 “If within 60 days of purchase you find that these products do not perform in accordance with our claims, call our customer service department and we will arrange a refund. All prices are suggested list prices and are subject to change without notice. All Borland products are trademarks or registered trademarks of Borland International, Inc. or Borland/Analytica, Inc. IBM, AT, PCjr and XT are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corp. dBASE III is a registered trademark of Ashton-Tate. Lotus 1-2-3 and Symphony are registered trademarks of Lotus Development Corp. Hercules is a trademark of Hercules Computer Technology. Crosstalk is a registered trademark of Microstuf, Inc. WordStar is a registered trademark of MicroPro International Corp. MS-DOS is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. Macintosh is a trademark of McIntosh Laboratory, Inc. and is licensed to Apple Computer. Copyright 1986 Borland International. BI-1093A SideKick: The Desktop Organizer The Productivity Booster Borland Software Programming Languages: Business Productivity: 4585 SCOTTS VALLEY DRIVE SCOm VALLEY, CA 95066 [408] 438-8400 TELEX: 172373 O ne million users can't be wrong. SideKick, the first name in desktop organizers, offers a notepad, a calcu¬ lator, a calendar, and a host of other tools in a window on your screen. In the middle of programs like 1 -2-3, WordStar ;• or Crosstalk you have instant access to a complete set of desk tools. Minimum memory: 128K.* Available for the Mac: For the dealer nearest you, or to order by phone call [800] 255-8008 CA [800] 742-1133 Canada [800] 237-1136 Artificial Intelligence: Scientific & Engineering: 60-DAY MONEY- BACK GUARANTEE*

    66 . it's the most elegant program I've seen in many a moon." Stephen Manes, PC Magazine 5 5 Turbo SuperKey eliminates repetition S uperKey cuts down keystrokes because SuperKey's simple macros turn "Dear Customer: Thank you for your inquiry. We are pleased to let you know that shipment will be made within 24 hours. Sincerely," into the one keystroke of your choice. Like magic! SuperKey's macros are elec¬ tronic shortcuts to success. SuperKey keeps your secrets WMT ithout encryption, your files are WW open secrets. Anyone can read them. SuperKey encrypts your files and keeps confidential files confidential. Only your secret password reveals what you've written. Minimum memory: 128K. lightning > The Spell-Checker and Thesaurus 61 If you use a PC, get SideKick. Jerry Poumelle, BYTE J J Btrieve: The Programmer's Choice. W hen you're serious about application development, there's just one choice for file management: Btrieve. With what Computer Language calls "near mainframe functionality 1 ", Btrieve sets the file management standard for PC applications. With Btrieve loaded in your PC, your programs can use simple subroutine calls to retrieve, store and update records. B-tree based for high performance. Performance is all-important, especially as your database grows. That's why Btrieve implements the b-tree file structure—the fastest, most efficient method of accessing data. Interfaces to C, BASIC, Pascal, COBOL. Don't waste time programming in awkward fourth generation languages! With Btrieve, simply use the languages you know best—and write applications the right way. Over 15 language interfaces available. Multi-user versions for LANs and Xenix . When your applications need to network, count on Btrieve. A single version runs on all DOS 3 LANs, including IBM PC Network and Novell Advanced Netware. Btrieve is also available for Xenix and multitasking operating systems such as MultiLink Advanced, Microsoft Windows and IBM Topview. Built-in security features . Lock up sensitive data with Btrieve's password protection and unique data encryption scheme—especially useful in local area networks. Help is just a phone call away. Need technical support? You've got it! Btrieve users receive 30 days of unlimited phone support at no charge. This "Direct Connect" policy is renewable for a full year at low cost. And try SoftCraft's free bulletin board for technical tips, seven days a week. Fault tolerant. Btrieve insures against database dis¬ asters. Two levels of fault tolerance guarantee data integrity during accidents or power failures—even if lightning strikes. No extra programming required. Thorough documentation , easy implementation. Getting started with Btrieve is easy: the manual is packed with examples of every Btrieve function in BASIC, Pascal, COBOL and C. Database queries, report writing . Add Xtrieve™ to your Btrieve applications for a fully-relational DBMS. Xtrieve's menu-driven interface gives your users the on-line query capabilities they need—without programming. Add our report writer option to produce custom reports and forms. Xtrieve No royalties. Need we say more? H Btrieve SoftCraft P.O. Box 9802

    917 Austin, Texas 78766 [512] 346-8380 Telex 358 200

    Suggested retail prices: Btrieve, $245; multi-user Btrieve, $595; Xtrieve, $245; multi-user Xtrieve, $595 [for report generation, add $145 for single-user and $345 for multi-user]. Available from SoftCraft and selected distributors. Requires PC-DOS or MS-DOS 2.X, 3.X, Xenix. Btrieve is a registered trademark and Xtrieve is a trademark of SoftCraft Inc. 1 From Computer Language, November 1985. CIRCLE NO. 201 ON READER SERVICE CARD r -f -L e!. T T 11 FEBRUARY 1987 OU RNAL VOLUME 5, NUMBER 2 i Desktop Data Acquisition Windows of Opportunity 70 Speed Infusion UPWARD TO THE 80386 / CALDWELL CROSSWY and MIKE PEREZ The Intel Corporation’s powerful 32-bit 80386 microprocessor brings minicomputer function and performance to the PC while still maintaining compatibility with software that was developed for its predecessors, the 8086/88 and 80286. 50 WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY / PAUL GRAYSON Microsoft Windows promises to free users and developers from device dependencies and provide a compatibility bridge to future products. A close look at the Development Kit and a sample application leads to a better understanding of Windows. 70 Compatibility and Performance: PC’S LIMITED 286 12 / STEVEN ARMBRUST and TED FORGERON A system offering 12-megahertz performance may present a good value for the price, but the PC’s Limited model that was . reviewed was found to have significant reliability problems and did not live up to its good-looking package or advance billing, y 4 DESKTOP DATA ACQUISITION / VICTOR E. WRIGHT ASYSTANT+ from Macmillan Software converts the IBM PC into a desktop data acquisition and analysis system. In the laboratory ^ or in industry, it can take the place of more expensive, dedicated instruments—albeit at a loss in ultimate performance. 106 SPEED INFUSION / TED MIRECKI The simplest type of accelerator board runs the PC at a higher clock speed while retaining the 8088, but the performance improvement is far from spectacular. In the first of a series on accelerators, six of these class I boards are reviewed. 126 TOKEN-RING NETWORK, PART 2 / J. SCOTT HAUGDAHL Because more and more PC users are considering local area networks, the demand for standards and benchmarks to measure LAN performance will quickly mushroom. Guidelines are presented for selecting a suitable LAN environment. 15o EXECUTION PROFILERS FOR THE PC, PART 2 / RALPH G. BRICKNER Five commercial software profilers are examined for their ability to identify those parts of a program that are the most time consuming. The products reviewed are from Atron, David Smith, dwb Associates, Phoenix Technologies, and Stony Brook. 166 9 DIRECTIONS 45 TECH NOTEBOOK 179 PRODUCT WATCH Far Afield with Conditional-jump Vector87 Windows Macros ADIC Model TD 440 High-C 17 LETTERS 173 PROGRAMMING 187 EXPERT CONSULTANT: PRACTICES HUMAN FACTORS 32 TECH RELEASES Creating Sound with Three Misconceptions the Timer 193 BOOK REVIEW Database Practicum 195 TECH MARKETPLACE 204 MAIL ORDER 216 CALENDAR 217 READER SERVICE CARD Cover photograph • Walter. Larrimore/Blakeslee-Lane Software Tools For Programmers & Non-Programmers Get ‘State of the Art’ performance and save valuable time with these high quality utilities! Opt-Tech Sort™ Opt-Tech Sort is a high performance Sort/Merge/Select utility. It can read, sort and write a file faster than most programs can even read the data. Example: 1,000 records of 80 bytes can be read, sorted and a new file written in less than 10 seconds [IBM XT]. Opt-Tech Sort can be used as a stand-alone program or called as a subroutine to over 25 different programming languages. All the sorting, record selection and reformatting facilities you need are included. A partial list of features includes: The ability to process files of any size. Numerous filetypes are supported including Sequential, Random, Delimited, Btrieve, dBASE II & III and many others. Up to 10 key fields can be specified [ascending or descend¬ ing order]. Over 16 different types of data supported. Powerful record selection capability allows you to specify which records are to be included on your output. Record reformatting allows you to change the structure of your output record and to output special fields such as record numbers for use as indexes. MS-DOS $149. ★ NEW Xenix $249.
11. NEW * VERSION On-Line Help™ &S& On-Line Help allows you to easily add “Help Windows” to all your programs. On-Line Help is actually two help packages in one. You get BOTH Resident [pop-up] and Callable Help Systems. The resident version allows you to add help to any system. Your Help System is activated when the “Hot Keys” that you specify are pressed. You can then chain between help windows in any manner you desire. The callable version allows you to easily display help windows from your programs. A simple call to the help system makes the window appear. The original screen is automatically restored when the help window is cleared. On-Line Help is callable from over 20 different languages. You have full control over the help window content, size, color and location. MS-DOS $149. Demo $10. [apply toward purchase]. Scroll & Recall™ Scroll & Recall is a resident screen and keyboard enhancement. It allows you to conveniently scroll back through data that has gone off the top of your display screen. Up to 27 screens of data can be recalled or writ¬ ten to a disk file [great for documenting systems opera¬ tions]. Also allows you to easily recall and edit your previously entered DOS commands without retyping. ScrolJ & Recall is very easy to use. It’s a resident utility that’s always there when you need it. MS-DOS $69. Visa, M/C, AMEX, Check, Money Order, COD or Purchase Orders accepted. To order or to receive additional information just call and receive immediate highly qualified attention! Opt-Tech Data Processing P.O. Box 678 — Zephyr Cove, NV 89448 [702] 588-3737 J OURNA VOL. 5, NO. 2 PUBLISHER: Newton Barrett EDITOR: Will Fastie EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR: Marjory Spraycar EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Julie Anderson SENIOR TECHNICAL EDITOR: Jim Shields TECHNICAL EDITORS: Caroline Halliday, David Methvin CHIEF COPY EDITOR: Susan Holly COPY EDITOR: Gail Shaffer PROOFREADERS: Bruce Ansley, Elizabeth Wardlaw NEW PRODUCTS EDITOR: Carole Autenzio OFFICE MANAGER: Trish Ledbetter EDITORIAL SECRETARY: Valerie Rose RECEPTIONIST: Cecilia R. Titus CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Steven Armbrust, Dave Browning, Michael Covington, Richard M. Foard, Ted Forgeron, Augie Hansen, Thomas V. Hoffmann, Henry / F. Ledgard, Ted Mirecki, Max Stul Oppenheimer, Richard Schwartz, Robert Shostak ART & PRODUCTION “ ART DIRECTOR: Paula Jaworski ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR: Sharon Reuter ART ASSISTANT: Maria Sese PRODUCTION MANAGER: Alison Regan Mrohs CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS: Maciek Albrecht, David Povilaitis ADVERTISING SALES ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: Rita Burke ADVERTISING MANAGER/WEST COAST: Phyllis Egan MARKETING DIRECTOR: Gayl Sorota ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER: Kathleen Abbott ADVERTISING COORDINATOR: Mary Martin MARKETING COORDINATOR: Kimberly Schroeder SALES SECRETARY: JeanMarie Donlin DISTRICT MANAGERS: Rosemarie Caruso—New England; Arlene Braithwaite — Southeast; Pat Toohey — Mid-Atlantic ,- Bill Barney — Midwest; Bill Bush, Phyllis Egan, Nan Hanna—West Coast ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVES: Polly White—New England/Southeast; Nanette Vilushis — Mid-Atlantic/Midwest; Carey Clarke—West Coast, John Blake—National Accounts, Mail Order; Classijied advertising director—Kathryn Cumberlander CIRCULATION CIRCULATION MANAGER: Charles Mast CIRCULATION SALES DEVELOPMENT: Daniel Rosensweig MEDIA MANAGER: Melinda Kendall RETAIL SALES MANAGER: Carol Benedetto _ ZIFF-DAVIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, a division of Ziff Communications Co. PRESIDENT: Kenneth H. Koppel SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, Marketing: Paul Chook VICE PRESIDENT, Operations: Baird Davis VICE PRESIDENT, Controller: John Vlachos VICE PRESIDENT, Creative Services: Herbert Stem VICE PRESIDENT, Circulation: Alicia Marie Ivans VICE PRESIDENT, Circulation Services: James Ramaley VICE PRESIDENT, Marketing Services: Ann Poliak Adelman VICE PRESIDENT, Development: Seth Alpert VICE PRESIDENT: Hugh Tietjen BUSINESS MANAGER: Gary A Gustafson PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Walter J. Terlecki ZIFF COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY CHAIRMAN: Philip B. Korsant; PRESIDENT: Kenneth H. Koppel; SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT: Philip Sine; VICE PRESIDENTS: Laurence Usdin, William L. Phillips, J. Malcolm Morris, Steven C. Feinman, TREASURER: Seltvyn I. Taubman; SECRETARY: Bertram A Abrams EDITORIAL OFFICE PC Tech Journal. Suite 800, 10480 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, MD
12. 301/740-8300. FAX [group 3]: 301/740-8809. MCIMail: PCTfeCH. PCTECHline: 301/740-8383- Telex: 5502563932 MCI. ADVERTISING OFFICES 469- 2100 ; , Los Angeles, CA 90010. 213/387- 415/598-2290. SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES PC Tech Journal, P.O. Box 2968, Boulder, CO 80321. Subscription service: 800/525-0643, 303/447-9330. Back issues: send $7/copy [$8 outside U.S.] to Ziff-Davis Publishing, One Park Avenue, 4th floor, New York, NY 10016. _ PC Tech Journal [ISSN 0738-0194] is published by Ziff-Davis Publishing Co., a division of Ziff Communications Co., One Park Ave., New York, NY 10016. Published monthly except semi-monthly in December. Subscription rate is $34.97 for one year [13 issues]. Additional postage for Canada and Foreign is $6.50. Second-class postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PC Tech Journal, P.O. Box 2968, Boulder, CO 80321. PC TECH JOURNAL is an independent journal, not affiliated in any way with International Business Machines Corporation. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp. Entire contents Copyright ° 1987 Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, a division of Ziff Communications Company. All rights reserved; reproduction in wnole or in part without permission is prohibited. Direct written requests to Jean Lamensdorf, Licensing Manager, Reprints/Rights & Permissions, One Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016. 1985 AWARD FOR BEST COMPUTER MAGAZINE Er ! X 2 Con, P utcr Press Association CIRCLE NO. 222 ON READER SERVICE CARD PC TECH JOURNAL The Periscope" Difference You’ll need it sooner or later if you’re doing serious software development W hen you’re writing large and/or complex pro¬ grams, it’s inevitable that you’ll have to deal with some tough debugging problems. Your debugger should help you find and solve those problems quick¬ ly. The more solid, dependable, and efficient your debugger is, the better able it is to help you out in those difficult situations. The big difference between Periscope™ and other debuggers is this: Periscope enables you to debug programs other debuggers can’t handle AND to debug in situations in which other debuggers won’t work! “We have been buying Periscope for about two years now, and have always been more than satisfied with the hard¬ ware, the software, and the responsiveness of the company. We have used Periscope in a great many difficult situations, where our only other alternative was a very expensive ICE [in circuit emulator]. Periscope has performed most admirably” writes Dr. William Ash, Technical Director, FEL Computing. T he Periscope Promise. Continued product enhancement and user support. P eriscope Quality. The reason for Product of the Month. “Periscope was chosen as the January [1986] Product of the Month because it represents what we felt was an ex¬ cellent balance between power and cost and it has an ex¬ traordinarily clean and innovative design... the overall aura of quality was too strong to ignore,” writes Jeff Duntemann, Technical Editor, PC Tech Journal, 7/86. T he Periscope Solution. A full line of debugging products that keep getting better. “I have used Periscope daily for the past few months for testing and debugging my assembly code and I am still con vinced this is the finest hardware or software debugger available at any price ” writes long-time Periscope user Wynn Bailey. “Not only is your Periscope [Model I] software the greatest thing since K&R, but your support has won over even the heart of this hardened programmer,” writes Periscope user Mark Kumler of US Maintenance. “I had decided long ago that no one in the industry cared about their customers after the check was cashed. You have definitely changed my opinion on that subject!” • User ideas are often implemented • Your first software update is free; later up¬ dates are just $20 • You get free technical support and advice • You can trade up for $10 plus the difference in price • You get a 30-Day, Money-Back Guarantee To Order or Receive Free Information, Call Toll-Free: There’s a model of Periscope to meet your needs and budget. The enhanced Version 3.0 gives you more value than ever before! Call for details. Periscope I has break-out switch & board with 56K of protected RAM.$345. Periscope II has break-out switch.$175. Periscope II-X [software-only model].$145. Periscope III has break-out switch & board with hardware breakpoints, a real-time trace buffer, and 64K of protected RAM.. .CALL. The PERISCOPE Company, Inc. 14 Bonnie Lane, Atlanta, GA 30328 404-256-3860 800/722-7006 B CIRCLE NO. 215 ON READER SERVICE CARD SUBSTANTIATED. SUPREMACY It's a bold claim. A claim we're prepared to stake our reputation on. And at Computer Innovations, we've always taken our reputation very seriously. It's no industry secret that the competitive C Compilers are at the end of their optimization cycle — they're just about as good as they are going to get. C86PLUS begins where everybody else has left off. It's an entirely new technology based on artificial intelligence and advanced compiler design techniques. Designed with the serious programmer in mind, C86PLUS provides the ultimate development environment, matching unparalleled execution speed with a host of productivity features. FAST EXECUTION • 20% faster than Microsoft C, version 4.0 • 70% faster than existing C86, version 2.3 [timings based on the classic sieve benchmark] ANSI C COMPILER FEATURES • Register variables • Structure assignment • Function prototypes • New type modifiers -near -far -signed -const -volatile • Long double 80 bit floating¬ point • Enumerator data types [enums] • Extended preprocessor capabilities FULL CONTROL OVER COMPILATION ENVIRONMENT • Small, Medium, and Large memory models • 8086/80186 and 80286 code generation options • In-line 8087/80287 floating point • 8087/80287 auto detect emulator • Source level debugger support • Wild-card compilation • Make utility • ROMable code • Linkable with macro assembler output • Intel-standard OMF object files • Optional assembly language output • Warning level control EXTENSIVE FUNCTION LIBRARIES FOR INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY • Over 250 library functions • Full ANSI C library • Functional equivalents to most UNIX System V libraries • Shared file and network support • Low-level machine access functions • IBM ROM BIOS support routines • Fully compiled small, medium and large model libraries • C library source code • Run-time start-up source code • Source code librarian • Object code librarian MICROSOFT COMPATIBILITY If you're a current Microsoft user, we invite you to consider this simple point. C86PLUS will recompile most applications developed using MS-C with¬ out changes to your source code. You'll find that your application runs much faster. PROVEN EXPERIENCE In 1981, Computer Innovations and its founder, George Eberhardt, revolutionized the DOS programming world with the introduction of the first C Compiler for the PC called C86. Today, C86 boasts a satisfied and loyal user base of over 20,000 programmers worldwide. C86PLUS represents an extension of this expertise and reputation. It's backed with more than a decade of intensive research and develop¬ ment. PROVEN SUPPORT Making the claim that C86PLUS is supreme is one thing, standing behind it is another. Computer Innovations has always offered timely and in¬ telligent technical support, and this is an important customer service which we do not intend to change. CALL TO ORDER The call is on us. For more information or to order call: 800-922-0169 or 201-542-5920 [in Nj] COMPUTER INNOVATIONS 980 Shrewsbury Ave. Tinton Falls, NJ 07724, USA Telex: 705127 COMP INNOV UD C86 PLUS is a trademark ol Computer Innovations, Inc. Microsoft is a registered trademark ol Microsoft Corporation. UNIX is a registered trademark ol AT&T Bell Laboratories IBM is a registered trademark ol International Business Machines Corporation ©1986 Computer Innovations. Inc. CIRCLE NO. 144 ON READER SERVICE CARD N‘ :rr ns ve ve S^emO^PI^EkcttontoiOttce W*bCo™purer Center Oftketech OtVarCtropany Olartt, Ok n Research « s l ° "“"obW”"" 6 ' 8 ‘"'I orea® 1 '" 8 ]ob W A e o\Ae code tLd^ 1 format an \ \ ’ orocess” iree uiagrammer identifies the hierarchical structure of your program ■ Prints organization chart of program automatically ■ Illustrates hierarchy of calls to functions, proce¬ dures, subroutines ■ Indicates recursive calls Both utilities have an easy-to-use menu with point-and-shoot file selection, and let you search for files containing a given string. For IBM PC and compatibles with 256K. Get your programs organized now. Order these indispensable tools today. We ship immediately, and there’s no risk with our 60-day money-back guarantee. 1 pc I Sep^ l6 ’ MC, VISA, AX, COD. Add $5 for shipping. Source Print and 'Iree Oiagrummer are trademarks of Aldeba Labs. dBase is a trademark of Ashton Tate. Handles up to 50 files. 60,000 lines. Aldebaran Laboratories, 3339 Vincent Rd Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 415-930-8966 YES! Rush me □ Source Print [u $75 □ Tree Diagrammer [a $55_ Ship/Handling $5. For CA add 6% tax TOTAL_ Name_ Company_ Address_ City_:State_Zip □ Check enclosed □ VISA □ Mastercard □ American Express Card # . Exp. Date Phone #. Signature ever, the sales people should realize that readers and advertisers alike hold those periodicals in greatest esteem that resist the temptation to sully their repu¬ tation by selling “advertorial.” Again, I enjoy your publication. I hope that this letter will help the sales staff realize that readers are indeed per¬ ceptive to actions that adversely impact the magazine’s reputation. Harold Winard Wharton, NJ Yes, it's a fine mess. We know that Microsoft runs the newsletter next to Product of the Month, but we forgot to check its content that month. We did not realize the company would feature QuickBASIC. All we can say is that Microsoft also did not know we would feature QuickBASIC, because our policy’ is, and always has been, not to notify the vendor in advance when its product has been named. We normally catch this kind of problem. This time, we did not. —WF EMULATE-STRAIGHT I read with great interest your article entitled “LAN Gateways,” [Art Krumrey and Roger Addelson, November 1986,
13. 74]. However, one slight mistake in the article regarding nomenclature served to confuse me greatly. The authors continually referred to the “IBM 3270-PC Emulation Pro- gram[s].” Of course, IBM does make a machine called the IBM 3270-PC, but I do not believe that this is the product that Messrs. Krumrey and Addelson were using as their test vehicle. Of course, IBM’s nomenclature leaves something to be desired, but that is a subject for another day. The article, as a whole, was very in¬ formative. There are many of us out here in the SNA/SDLC world who are trying to come up with the optimum way to network the myriad of devices that seem to have sprung up in the last few years. Please give us more of these articles in the future. Paul Sligar Matsushita Electric Corporation of America Norcross, GA The product reviewed is indeed the IBM PC 3270 Emulation Program, version 2.0. It is a member of IBM's family of 3270 PC Emulation Programs. PC Tech Journal regrets the error. —JS [ mimImiiii M-ll 24 PC TECH JOURNAL Introducing The Most Important Programming Development Since The Introduction Of C: ADVANTAGE C+ + Exclusively From LIFEBOAT For PC!MS-DOS Finally there's a programming language that enhances C, instead of making it obsolete! ADVANTAGE C + +, developed by AT&T, is a major programming breakthrough. By introducing the concept of classes, it enables C programmers to use object-oriented programming methods. ADVANTAGE C + + gives you greater efficiency, flexibility and reliability than ever before—and allows you to more productively build large and sophisticated applications. ADVANTAGE C+ + All The Benefits Of C Without Its Limitations! • Opens the door to object-oriented program¬ ming. • Allows programs with greater resilience and fewer bugs. • Lets you write reliable, reusable code that is easier to understand. • Has many enhancements over C, yet maintains full compatibility with existing C programs. Advantages Only ADVANTAGE C+ + Can Give You: • Operator Overloading—Allows simple, reliable user-designed types. • Function Name Overloading — Simplifies function names and argument lists. • Guaranteed Programmed Initialization — En¬ sures automatic initialization of all data objects before their use. • Guaranteed Programmed Type Conversion — Ensures consistent conversions from one user- designed type to another. • Optional Strong Type Checking—Weeds out type mismatches at compile time. • Classes—Similarto structures; provide syntax for user-designed data types and encapsulation of access functions with data objects. • Data Abstraction—Makes code easily reusable and more resilient. • Data Hiding — Improves software reliability. • Inheritance—Enables generic code written for more abstract types such as list' or 'windows' to be used by more specific types. • Constant Data Types—Prevent inadvertent alteration of fixed values, such as hardware addresses. • Reference Data Types—Improve the efficiency of argument passing. • Inline Functions—Remove the overhead of calling external functions. • Heap Management—Simplifies the use of dynamic memory. Why be limited to just C...when you can have all these pluses! ADVANTAGE C + + includes libraries for stream I/O and complex math—and versions are now available for Lattice C and Microsoft C. Call today to order orto obtain a complete technical specification sheet: 1 - 800 - 847-7078 In NY: 914-332-1875 I ICED HAT The Full-Service Source for Programming Software. 55 S. Broadway, Tarrytown, N.Y. 10391 CIRCLE NO. 163 ON READER SERVICE CARD THIS PROGRAMME SHOP helps save time, money and cut frustrations. Compare, evaluate, and find products. RECENT DISCOVERY Poly Boost - Run 2 to 10 times faster with software accelerator. Speeds disk access, screen display, keyboard input. PC S Al-Expert System Dev't Arity System-incorporate w/C. MS $ 259 Experteach-Improved, samples PC $ 399 EXSYS PC $ 319 Insight 2+ - dB2, language MS $ 389 Texas Instruments: PC Easy PC $ 439 Personal Consultant Plus PC $2599 PC $ 439 PC $2599 Microsoft MuLisp 85 MS $ 199 PC Scheme LISP - by TI. SCHEME has simple, “orthogonal” syntax. PC $ 85 TLC LISP -classes, compiler. MS $ 225 TransLISP-Good for learning MS $ 85 Others: IQ LISP [$155], UNX LISP [$59], IQC LISP [$269], WALTZ LISP [$ 139] Al-Prolog APT - Active Prolog Tutor - build applications interactively PC $ 65 ARITY Standard - full, 4 Meg Interpreter - debug, C, A&M PC $ 319 COMPILER/Interpreter-EXE PC $ 699 With Exp Sys, Screen - KIT PC $1129 LPA Mac Prolog - Complete incremental compiler and an interpreter MAC $ 295 700 + Programmer ’s Products The Programmer’s Shop carries every program¬ mer’s software product for MSDOS, PCDOS, CPM, Macintosh, Atari, and Amiga systems. We help you choose the best tools for you. Most popular products are in stock, available for quick delivery. We will gladly special order a product for you at no charge — just allow a few extra days for de¬ livery. Need Cross Compilers, Translators, or the right Fortran compiler? Ask us. Our Services: • Programmer’s Referral list • Dealers Inquire • Compare Products • Newsletter • Help find a Publisher • Rush Order • Evaluation Literature FREE • Over 700 products • BBS. 7 PM to 7 AM 617-826-4086 National Accounts Center C Support-Systems Basic-C Library by C Source MS $139 C Sharp - well supported. Source, realtime, tasks PC $600 C ToolSet - DIFF, xref, source MS $ 95 The HAMMER by OES Systems PC $159 RECENT DISCOVERY Uniware Cross Development Tools - include 68000 C compiler. Development Package with compiler, assembler, link editor, and utilities, 17 cross assemblers for Intel. TI, Motorola, Zilog, etc. - relocatable, macros. MS Call LPA MicroProlog - intro MS $ 85 LPA MicroProlog Prof. - full memory MS $ 349 Prolog-86 - Learn Fast MS $ 89 Prolog-86 Plus - Develop MS $ 229 TURBO PROLOG by Borland PC $ 69 Editors for Programming BRIEF Programmer’s Editor - undo, windows, reconfigure PC EM ACS by UniPress - powerful, multifile, MLISP. Source: $929 Epsilon - like EMACS PC Kedit - like XEDIT PC Lattice Screen Editor-multiwindow multi-tasking Amiga $ 89 MS PC/VI - Custom Software MS Personal REXX - PC PMATE - power, multitask PC SPF/PC - fast, virtual memory PC XTC - multitasking PC FEATURES dBXL by Word Tech - complete interpreter clone. Adds windowing. Quicksilver LAN support. Non-copy protected. PC $ 129 TransLISP PLUS - with C INTERFACE. 400+ COMMON LISP functions. Optional UNLIMITED Runtime $ 150 PLUS or MSDOS $ 179 Note: All prices subject to change without notice. Mention this ad. Some prices are specials. Ask about COD and POs. Formats: 3" laptop now available, plus 200others. UPS surface shipping add$3/item. Lattice Text Utilities PC $ 95 Multi-C - multitasking PC $149 PC LINT-checker. Amiga $89, MS $107 SECURITY LIB - add encrypt to MSC. C86 programs. Source $229 PC $115 Quickshell - script compiler PC $349 Fortran & Supporting Forlib+ by Alpha - graph, comm. $ 59 M ACFortran by Microsoft - full ’77 $229 MS Fortran link to C $209 No Limit - Fortran Scientific $119 RM Fortran - enhanced “IBM Ftn” $389 Scientific Subroutines - Matrix $149 MultiLanguage Support BTRIEVE ISAM MS BTRIEVE/N - multiuser MS CODESIFTER - Execution PRO¬ FILER. Spot bottlenecks. MS Dan Bricklin’s Demo Program PC HALO Graphics -115+ device interfaces, rich, printer. Specify language interface PC Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit PC PANEL - data validation, no royalties Xenix $539, MS Pfinish Performance Analyzer MS PLINK-86 - a program-independent overlay linker to 32 levels. MS PLINK-86 PLUS - incremental MS Poly Librarian MS PVCS Version Control MS Screen Sculptor - slick, thorough PC ZAP Communications - VT 100, TEK 4010 emulation, file xfer. PC C Libraries-Communications Asynch by Blaise PC $135 Greenleaf Comm Lib. 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Object only-MS C, LAT, C86 $ 159 Source - Single user MS $ 429 Source - Multiuser MS $ 849 dBASE Tools for C PC $ 65 dbc Isam by Lattice MS $ 199 dBx - translator MS $ 319 w/source MS $ 519 FEATURE Insight 2 + - Flexible expert systems shell has intrinsic dBASE operators, forward and backward chaining, transparent view of reasoning process. MS $ 389 We support MSDOS [not just compatibles], PCDOS, Xenix-86, CPM-80, Macintosh, Atari ST, and Amiga. CIRCLE NO. 162 ON READER SERVICE CARD provides complete information, advice, guarantees and every product for Microcomputer Programming. Special Features Finally . . . Easy Screen Handling for COBOL Saves Time, Adds Flexibility: Screenplay Menus, Help, and Data Entry Screens can be created [“painted”] interac¬ tively. When you are satisfied Screenplay performs all screen handling for you in any of more than 9 compilers. Save valuable time by avoiding the tedious, time consuming process of writing screen handling source code. 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What’s more, you can use any ASCII character in your Screenplay panels. You also have full control over character attributes such as foreground and background color, intensity, and blinking. Panels are stored in a compressed ASCII file save memory and disk space. Copy panels across and within files, rename, delete, test and print panel de¬ tails. Even print an image of the panel for your documentation. No royalties. Not copy-protected. Supports IBM, MS, Realia, Ryan-McFarland [includ¬ ing 8X] COBOL. 201-895-4724 PCDOS List: $175 Ours: $155 Multitasking, Windowing for C, Turbo Pascal, or dBASE or... in only 12K! SYNERGY Development Toolkit The highly efficient design of Synergy by Matrix gives you the benefits of powerful graphics, windows, pull-down menus, dialog boxes, sophisti¬ cated text and icon management, math support, multitasking, and SPEED, all for an incredibly small 12K RAM requirement. The Synergy Runtime provides character and graphics support for menus, windows, dialog boxes, and more, so you can write programs that work in either mode, with very reasonable, low runtime fees. Functions include: window management with capabilities like tile and overlap, variable size and placement, process management, to support mul¬ titasking and sub-process generation, menus, dialog, and icon management, graphics, text [including a variety of fonts and sizes], and console manage¬ ment. The Synergy Development Toolkit is a collection of sophisticated tools de¬ signed for software developers writing new applications using Synergy, or modifying existing applications to take full advantage of Synergy. Tools in¬ clude: graphics resource editor for creating and modifying icons and text fonts, graphics resource compiler to construct and manage resource data files, font compiler and manager, debugging tools, sample library, and more. Supports IBM or Microsoft Macro Assemblers, Turbo, IBM, and Micro¬ soft Pascal, IBM and tylicrosoft BASIC, Lattice and Microsoft C, and dBASE II and III. CGA, EGA, and Hercules monochrome graphics support. PCDOS List: $395 Ours: $375 617-567-0037 Expert System Shell & Language Screen Management O/S ADDON Add AI Power to Existing Applications Insight 2 + “Insight 2 + is an awesome system . . . this may well be the best expert system generator on the market.”—ONLINE Choose a knowledge engineering tool that makes your current database sol¬ utions work smarter with a built-in PASCAL-like knowledge engineering grammar that minimizes your training time. Insight 2+ works with your installed software and database and has intrinsic dBASE II and III operators, plus Level Five’s powerful, flexible Production Rule Language. Insight 2+ is a highly connective, integrated expert systems shell that adapts to your needs. Its detailed interactive reporting system lets you see inside the reasoning process of the knowledge base. You can see reports on the lines of reasoning, known and unknown facts, alternate rule pathways to a shared conclusion, or knowledge trees, showing all possible goals, con¬ clusions, and paths of reasoning hierarchically — and more. You can even step forward and back in a rule chain from beginning to end. Create “what-if” scenarios by saving, editing, and re-using knowledge base contexts, or customized reporting to track end-user sessions. Insight 2 + performs backward and forward chaining inference, supported by object attribution and goal outlining, outside program activation, and full parameter passing capabilities. Insight 2 + supports very large knowledge bases which can be linked — the number limited only by disk space. Full scientific and math capabilities include logarithmic and trigonometric functions and floating point notation; ideal for engineering and scientific applications. 305-729-9046 PCDOS List: $485 Ours: $389 Get a Cleaner, Faster, User Interface with The Screen Ace Form Master Coded in assembler to give you the power for creative design, and the speed not available in other packages. Form Master supports all 256 color and monochrome attributes. Paint screens with the screenbuilder [allows changes without recompiling!] and save to a DOS file, define screens within your program at runtime, or combine these techniques, to modify screens on the fly. 400+ lines and 2000+ fields per screen; the number of screens limited only by available memory. Permits flexible function key defini¬ tion, toggling field colors and attri¬ butes at runtime. Switch between screens without losing data. DESQview, TopView, MS Win¬ dows compatible, Lattice, MS C [all models], APL*Plus/PC, Assembler. Call for a $3 demo with tutorial. PCDOS List: $195 Ours: $179 818-989-5329 NOW: Full Shell Programming with MSDOS: PolyShell with UNIX-Like Utilities PolyShell gives you a UNIX-com¬ patible command environment PLUS a full set of UNIX-like utilities — yet DOS commands and batch files are al¬ ways immediately accessible. Alias and Command Macro Sub¬ stitution save keystrokes, let you ac¬ cess and customize DOS internal commands. With History Substitu¬ tion, edit, re-execute previous com¬ mands or portion of command. ‘C-Shell’ and Bourne Shell compati¬ ble I/O redirection, very flexible filename expansion capabilities. Includes 30 powerful utilities from the UNIX world [like grep, diff, sed, cut, paste]. Shell and utilities can be loaded separately. Requires only 30K RAM total. PolyShell is NOT UNIX; no UNIX license needed. 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14. Bruce Cyr

    Foundation of American College of Health Care Administrators CIRCLE NO. 151 ON READER SERVICE CARD Ttirbo Programmers: V . I ou're programming, getting all your ducks JL. in a row, but there's a culprit in there, a bug. T-DebugPLUS, the new symbolic run-time debugger, helps you find that bug and fix it faster than ever before. In Command. In Control. See what happens as your Turbo Pascal programs run.. .examine variables...change them.. .be in control. The top half of your screen displays the source code, current line highlighted.You debug interactively on the lower half. All data types are accessible, both local and global variables. You can set breakpoints at a procedure, function, or line number. Instant Gratification. T-DebugPLUS integrates invisibly, automatically loading Turbo Pascal. Switch instantly between the debug and output screen. Jump instantly to the editor when you find a bug. "T-DebugPLUS: Don't program in Turbo Pascal without it!' Nett Ranking PC Magazine Experts agree, it’s an invaluable time and frustration saver. T-DebugPLUS is only $60. More Power. More Productivity. Turbo EXTENDER’" helps you break the 64K barrier for both code and data, allowing you to use all 640K. A source code conversion program, make facility, and run-time routines make writing and compiling large programs dramatically easier. Turbo EXTENDER is only $85. Find the culprit fast with T-DebugPLUS: TurboPower Utilities'" supplies nine powerful programs. Four Pascal utilities, including the acclaimed Pascal Structure Analyzer and Execution Timer, help you write programs that are bug free, easier to docu¬ ment, and faster. Five PC-DOS utilities help you analyze, change, and find your program files.TurboPower Utilities is $95 with source, $55 executable only. "Impressiveproducts. ..Irecommend them:' Philippe Kahn, President Borland International Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back within 30 days. Call toll free for credit card orders: 800 - 538-8157 x830 outside California or 800 - 672-3470 x830 in California Shipping and taxes prepaid for TurboPower Software orders in U.S. and Canada. Others please include $6 per item for shipping. TurboPower Software products require Turbo Pascal 3.0 [standard, 8087, or BCD] and require PC-DOS 2.X or 3.X, and run on the IBM PC/XT/AT and compatibles. TurboPower Software, 3109 Scotts Valley Dr.

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    Scotts Valley, CA 95066 Call 408-438-8608 for more information [M-F9AM-5PM PST]. CIRCLE NO. 193 ON READER SERVICE CARD ■ Now You Can Ttirn Your PC On And Off From You’re on the road. Chicago.7:00 AM. You just got your wake-up call, and you’re about to place one yourself, back to your PC at the LA office. No matter that it’s 4:00 AM there, and the PC is turned off. You have Turn-On ™ an amazing peripheral that senses your call coming in and, before answering, safely powers up the peripherals and the PC, runs you through a three-level security check, then puts you through to your system. From there, you can get your PC started on a pre¬ programmed assignment, while LA sleeps and you go take a shower. And when your PC is done Turn-On automatically turns it off. Turn-On works with your modem as well as a host of remote software communications packages. And our Dyna-Talk software keeps your system secure while keep¬ ing track of all authorized and unauthorized access attempts. Turn-On is a 24-hour-a-day productivity tool that is a 24-hour-a-day protectivity tool as well, featuring three-stage power protection against surges, spikes and glitches, at no extra cost. Turn-On. When it comes to your PC, there’s nothing remotely like it. For the dealer nearest you, call [800] 638-9098. Dynatech Computer Power, Inc. 4744 Scotts Valley Drive, Scotts Valley, California 95066 408/438-5760. CIRCLE NO. 178 ON READER SERVICE CARD -320K. Windowing can give you a whole new outlook. It can also gobble up a whole lot of memory Lotus is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporat ion. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Sidekick and Turbo Lightning are trademarks of Borland In L, Inc. ProKey is a trademark of RoseSoft, Inc. Memory requirements are manufacturers’ minimum system requirements. €> 198b Intel Corporation. Above is a trademark and Intel a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. -66K, -128K, -128K A word of warning: Too many pop-ups can have a negative effect on your memory moryis first to go. -128K. Everyone will tell you downloading is where it’s at. Which is why expanded memory is where you should be. It can happen just like that. One minute you’ve got a walloping 640K, the next minute, you’ve got zip. That’s because each new application you add devours precious RAM. Fbrtunately you can avoid playing memory roulette. With an Above™ Board from Intel. Above Board is more than just another slam bam memory board. It’s a long-term memory solution. It not only takes you up to 640K of conven¬ tional memory it gives you up to 4 megabytes of expanded memory Based on the EMS standard developed by Lotus® Microsoft* and the folks paying for this ad. So now you can take advantage of applica¬ tions like the ones over there on the left, know¬ ing you’ve got memory | to spare. Plus [and it’s going to be a big plus in the future], Above Board provides extended memory, which will support protected mode DOS. So you won’t have to eighty-six your Above Board, no matter what happens in’87. And beyond. What’s more, every board comes with a five-year warranty toll-free hotline support and a free copy of Microsoft Windows. [-320K. But then, with Above Board, that’s no big loss.] Ebr details, see your favorite computer dealer. Or call us at [800] 538-3373. And find out why the first thing to go is the last thing to worry about. intel CIRCLE NO. 216 ON READER SERVICE CARD TECH RELEASES Moclprapb. Inc s PF.KI'ORMI-R II graphics controller HARDWARE A 16-MHz, 80386 microprocessor-based system, PC’s Limited 386 16 , has been previewed by PC’s Limited. The system uses VLSI [very large scale integration] technology, incorporating fewer than 30 chips on the motherboard. The mother¬ board measures 9 inches by 13 inches and has eight expansion slots [six avail¬ able]. The expansion bus is user-switch- able between 8 and 12 MMz. The sys¬ tem's memory architecture features pure static RAM chips for zero-wait-state •operation. The PC's Limited 386 1[ ’ base configuration includes 1MB of RAM, a 1.2MB diskette drive, a 200-watt power supply, and an I/O interface card with four video output modes, a mouse port, two serial ports and one parallel port, and a diskette drive controller. PC's Lim¬ ited will offer the following as options: a 1.44MB, 3^-inch diskette drive; a 150MB ESDI [enhanced small device interface] hard-disk drive with an average access time of 16 milliseconds [ms], and 40MB and 80MB hard-disk drives, each with a 28-ms access time. Prices for the 386 1[] and its options are not yet available. PCs Limited, 1611 Headway Circle, Building 3, Austin , TX 78754; 800/426-5150; in Texas, 800/252-8336 CIRCLE 301 ON READER SERVICE CARD Two high-resolution graphics control¬ lers, the performer i and the perfor¬ mer ii, have been announced by Mod- graph, Inc. Both use the Hitachi ACRTC [111]63484-8] graphics coproces¬ sor. The performer i, with a 40-MHz pixel clock and a drawing speed of 2 million pixels per second, offers an on¬ board video memory of 16KB by 256KB for display of 16 colors with resolutions from 640 by 480 to 1,024 by 780 pixels. Primitives include line, circle, ellipse, arc of circle or ellipse, filled rectangle, and polygon. Zoom, pattern operations, and area fills are implemented in the hardware. Video output is RGBI at TTL [transistor-transistor logic] levels. The performer ii offers all the features of per¬ former i, but with a resolution of up to 1,280 by 1,024 pixels, 256 colors from a palette of 4,096, 40KB by 256KB video memory, and a pixel clock of 110 MHz. PERFORMER I, $1,895; II, $3,495. Modgraph, Inc., 56 WintProp Street, Concord, MA 01742; 617/371-2000 CIRCLE 315 ON READER SERVICE CARD A high-performance graphics board that provides twice the resolution and up to 100 times the speed of the IBM En¬ hanced Graphics Adapter [EGA] has been introduced by Quadram Corpo¬ ration. QuadHPG is based on the Intel 82786 graphics coprocessor. It supports four resolution modes: IBM Color Graphics Adapter [CGA], EGA, and Pro¬ fessional Graphics Controller [PGC] and a 640-by-480 pixel mode for RS-170A RGB display. QuadHPG can display as many as 256 colors from a palette of more than 16 million. It draws at a rate of 2.5 million pixels per second, dis¬ plays up to 25,000 characters per second and has an area fill rate of up to 3.75 million pixels per second. The board features from .5MB to 2MB of standard DRAM video memory for display re¬ fresh, character fonts, and display list. It supports both analog and digital output and is compatible with either an 8- or 16-bit data bus interface. $1,095. Quadram Cotporation, One Quad Way, Norcross, GA 30093; 404/923-6666 CIRCLE 310 ON READER SERVICE CARD The 4375M UltraScan monitor from Thomson Consumer Products Cor¬ poration automatically adjusts to any horizontal scan frequency between 15.7 and 35 K1 Iz, as well as any vertical scan frequency between 45 and 75 I Iz. This range supports the IBM CGA, EGA, and PGC standards, as well as the IBM monochrome and Hercules standards. The 4375M UltraScan features a 13-inch ibonison's 4.U5M f ’ItraScan color monitor diagonal, .31mm-dot pitch tube with high-contrast glass that eliminates glare, thus increasing picture contrast; it also filters color input, thereby improving the reproducible color range. The 4375M uses a multistep electron gun to automatically adjust the focus across a range of resolutions from 300 by 500 pixels to 800 by 560 pixels. $895. Thomson Consumer Products Corpora¬ tion, 5731 W. Slauson Avenue, Suite 111, Culver City, CA 90230; 800/325-046; in California, 213/568-1002 CIRCLE 309 ON READER SERVICE CARD Systems Manufacturing Technology, Inc. has introduced the UltraGraph, a graphics adapter that uses the Intel 82786 graphics coprocessor. The Ultra- Graph will process graphics at speeds up to 20 million pixels per second. The adapter offers a resolution of 2,048 by 2,048 pixels, 4MB of display memory, 256 colors, and 40-column-bv-25-Iine and 80-column-bv-25-line alphanumeric and all-points-addressable modes, in¬ cluding the IBM CGA, EGA, and PGC and two settings between the PGC and the 2,048-bv-2,048 mode. $2,500. Systems Manufacturing Technology, Inc., 1145 Linda Vista Drive, San Mar¬ cos, CA 92069-3820; 800/648-6262; in California, 619/744-3590 CIRCLE 311 ON READER SERVICE CARD Two workstations designed to merge ar¬ tificial intelligence with commercial in¬ formation processing and based on the Intel 80386 have been announced by Mad Intelligent Systems, Inc. The D3000 series is a family of PC/AT-com- patible systems and board-level prod¬ ucts that use the Intel 82786 graphics coprocessor. The D3000 will run pro¬ grams written for DOS; it can be config¬ ured with UNIX V release 3. The system has seven expansion slots, room for two removable media devices, and one full- height fixed media device. The D3000 is 32 PC TECH JOURNAL [][]/V..iJ Trdlis modem from Cennetek Microelectronics available in OEM quantities. The D2000 series is based on a Multibus II architec¬ ture; it runs both UNIX V release. 3 and Common Lisp. The product line in¬ cludes a single-user system featuring a high-resolution display with advanced windowing capabilities and a multi¬ access knowledge server and a multi¬ user computer. D3000, $5,000 to $10,000; D2000, prices are not yet available from the company. Mad Intelligent Systems, 2950 Zanker Road, San Jose, CA 95134; 408/943-1711 CIRCLE 302 ON READER SERVICE CARD An 80386-based system has been re¬ leased by Zenith Data Systems. The Z-386 PC has a 32-bit memory bus and operates at 16 MHz with zero wait states. It features memory paging, burst¬ mode refresh, which increases system speed by refreshing multiple rows of memory' at once; optional cache control¬ ler board; and Zenith ROM for video operations [for speed]. The Z-386 PC has 10 bus slots [six open], a diskette/ Winchester controller, serial and paral¬ lel ports, and sockets for 80287 or 80387 numeric coprocessors; it will sup¬ port two Winchester disks and two dis¬ kette drives. Z-386 Model 40 [with 40MB hard-disk drive and 1.2MB diskette drive], $6,499; Z-386 Model 80 [with 80MB hard disk drive], $7,499. Zenith Data Systems, 1000 Milwaukee Avenue, Glenview, IL 60025; 312/391-8860 CIRCLE 303 ON READER SERVICE CVRD Orchid Technology has introduced Jet 386, a 16-MHz 80386 accelerator board. Designed for the PC/AT, Jet 386 is compatible with software written for both the 80286 and 80386. The Jet 386 board replaces the 80286 in the AT, which then plugs into an adapter for the accelerator board. Users can toggle be¬ tween the two modes. The Jet 386 also supports both 80287 and 80387 numeric coprocessors. A 32-bit bus width and 64KB of on-board cache memory are also included. $1,499. Orchid Technology, 47790 Westing- house Drive, Fremont, CA 94539; 415/490-8586 CIRCLE 304 ON READER SERVICE CARD An 80386 accelerator board for the PC, PC/XT, and PC/AT is available from Applied Reasoning Corporation The PC-elevATor 386 runs in an 8088, 8086, or 80286 machine. It runs an Intel 80386 at a 16-MHz, zero wait state, with a 32-bit bus, and includes 1MB of on¬ board, high-speed RAM [100 nanosec¬ onds] expandable to 16MB with daugh¬ terboards. An 80287 or 80387 numeric coprocessor can be added. The board installs into a full expansion slot without removing the machine’s processor; it works in tandem with the processor, us¬ ing it to handle I/O. $1,995. Applied Reasoning Corporation, 86 Sherman Street, Cambridge, MA 02140; 617/492-0700 CIRCLE 305 ON READER SERVICE CARD Sigma Designs, Inc. has announced Laserview Display System, a package that includes a high-resolution adapter Uisetriew Display System by Sigma Designs, Inc. board and a 15-inch or 19-inch mono¬ chrome monitor both with a display of 1,664 dots by 1,200 lines. Both are land- scape-mount and have paper-white phosphor screens. They feature a scan frequency of 74.5 KHz and a refresh rate of 60Hz, in noninterlaced mode. The resolution provided by the 15-inch and 19-inch monitors is 150 and 110 dpi [dots per inch] respectively. This resolu¬ tion combines with four shades of gray to produce a perceived resolution that is close to 300 dpi. Adapter with 19-inch monitor, $2,395; with 15-inch monitor, $1,895; adapter alone, $1,150. Sigma Designs, Inc., 46501 Dinding Parkway, Fremont, CA 94538; 415/770-0100 CIRCLE 317 ON READER SERVICE GVRD Cermetek Microelectronics has an¬ nounced its 9600/V.32 Trellis Modem. The CCITT V.32 specification permits 9600-bps operation at full duplex over a wide range of telephone lines present in the general switched telephone net¬ work. The V.32 modem offers synchro¬ nous and asynchronous operation. Dur¬ ing dialing, the modem can monitor call progress electronically with either ver¬ bose or terse prompts, or audibly with a built-in speaker. Another dialing en¬ hancement includes resident nonvolatile memory' for ten 40-character telephone numbers. It supports the GSTN [general switched telephone network] and 2- or 4-wire, leased-line operation and offers more reliable data transfer than certain CCITT V.29, 9600 half-duplex modem installations. Trellis coding is a far-end correcting scheme that transmits redun¬ dant bit information simultaneously with the data bits. This scheme provides the error correcting and is accomplished without impacting the 9600- or 4800-bps data rate bandwidth. $2,999. Cermetek Microelectronics, Inc., 1308 Boiregas Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94088- 3565; 408/752-5000 CIRCLE 318 ON READER SERVICE CARD Two internal modems, the Quad 1200 and Quad 2400, are the first offerings of Omnitel, Inc. in its NetComm product line. This series is designed for use in IANs and PC-based remote infor- FEBRUARY 1987 33 TECH RELEASES \ \ Magic PC applications generator from Aker Corporation mation and database services. A modem server based on the Quad card provides pooling of 4, 8, 16, or more indepen¬ dently addressable modems for shared access by all LAN users. With a Quad board and a PC/AT, users can set up their own dial-in information services. Quad and dual configurations are avail¬ able for 1200-bps and 2400-bps speed. The Quad modem board may be used with multiuser systems based on the AT, PC/XT, and the RT PC using XENIX, AIX, PC/DC, or other UNIX software. Quad 1200, $1,249; Quad 2400, $1,799. Omnitel, Inc., 5415 Randall Place, Fre- mont, CA 94538; 800/654-2785; in Cal¬ ifornia, 800/233-2202 CIRCLE 308 ON READER SERVICE CARD Dastra America’s MU/FO is a multi¬ user office hardware/software package that supports as many as nine users on a single PC/XT or PC/AT. The RAM-resi¬ dent assembly code operating system al¬ lows users to input data, create reports, and perform and develop application programs simultaneously. Three-, five-, and nine-user systems are available. MU/FO contains conversion utilities for Ashton-Tate’s dBASE n and cIbase hi hie importation. Other features include rec¬ ord lockout, automatic backup, and 16 password security levels. In its maxi¬ mum configuration, the system supports eight terminals and printers, six hard disks, and a tape drive. DOS programs cannot be run concurrently with MU/ FO. Prices range from $249 to $1,395. Dastra America, 976 N. Lemon, Orange, CA 92667; 800/843-5087; in California, 714/633-2275 CIRCLE 316 ON READER SERVICE CARD GammaLink has announced that its GammaFax, a PC-to-facsimile commu¬ nications package that enables PC users to send documents directly from PCs to any CCITT group 3 facsimile machine, now offers a high-speed, PC-to-PC hie transfer capability. The enhanced GammaFax package allows users to send DOS hies, including ASCII docu¬ ments, over telephone lines at speeds as high as 9,600 bps. GammaFax can route multiple documents in a single trans¬ mission, transmit combinations of docu¬ ments to different sites, store and for¬ ward, and broadcast documents to dif¬ ferent sites. $995. GammaLink, 2452 Embarcadero Way, Palo Alto, CA 94303; 415/856-7421 ' CIRCLE 312 ON READER SERVICE CARD FX-BM88 Facsimile Board, an add-on card from Panasonic Industrial Com¬ pany, allows microcomputers to send and receive documents to and from CCITT group 3 facsimile machines. With the FX-BM88, the user can edit and send a hie or scanned image to a facsimile machine; a document received from a facsimile machine can be viewed and edited on screen, then output to a dot¬ matrix or laser printer. $1,000. Panasonic Industrial Company, One Panasonic Way, Secaucus, NJ 07094; 201/348-7000 CIRCLE 313 ON READER SERVICE CARD Corvus Systems, Inc. has announced a high-performance hie server that em¬ ploys the Intel 80386. The Series 80386 consists of a PC/AT-compatible work¬ station, 2.5MB of RAM, and the choice of a 70MB or 126MB hard-disk drive. The Series 80386 uses a 32-bit bus with eight expansion slots when running Novell Advanced NetWare 2.0a. With 70MB, $16,595; 126MB, $19,795. Corvus Systems, Inc., 160 Great Oaks Blvd., San Jose, CA 95119-1347; 408/559-7000 CIRCLE 306 ON READER SERVICE CARD PLUS4, an expansion subsystem that al¬ lows users to create microcomputer clusters of hve users has been intro¬ duced by Alloy Computer Products, Inc. A complete hve-user system built using PLUS4 requires only one host computer equipped with a hard disk and four terminals. PLUS4 includes NTNX Novell-compatible multiuser sys¬ tem software, tape backup, and four Al¬ loy PC-slave/16 boards that provide each user with an individual NEC V20 proces¬ sor and 1MB of memory. $5,495. Alloy Computer Products, Inc., 100 Pennsylvania Avenue, Framingham, MA 01701; 617/875-6100 CIRCLE 307 ON READER SERVICE CARD Epson America, Inc. has entered the laser printer market with the GQ-3500. The printer comes equipped with 640KB of memory and has a second generation engine that make possible the compact size of the printer [15.9 by 8.5 by 16.5 inches]. The GQ-3500 fea¬ tures a 45-second warm-up time and a first-page-printing time of between 22 and 25 seconds with an overall speed of six pages per minute. Users have access to seven built-in fonts by pushing a but¬ ton on the control panel. The printer engine’s life is rated at 180,000 pages. GQ-3500, $2,495; toner cartridge, $29. Epson America, Inc., Computer Products Division, 2780 Lomita Blvd., Toirance, CA 90505; 800/421-5426; in California, 213/539-9140 CIRCLE 320 ON READER SERVICE CARD SOFTWARE Aker Corporation has introduced an application generator, called Magic PC, that requires no programming language to design applications. The entire pro¬ cess of implementing an application with Magic PC is one of filling in execu¬ tion tables and data dictionaries. The de¬ signer interfaces with these tables by highlighting selections from pop-up, menu-driven windows. Each entry in the execution table is an operation that ma¬ nipulates data in a true, relational data¬ base environment. A zooming capability allows the applications user to probe 34 PC TECH JOURNAL BOOKMARK Data Protection Software Automatically marks your place so you can resume where you left off. Runs with most software so if you decide to call it a day you can power down, and upon restart BOOKMARK will bring you back where you left off...it’s like having a BOOKMARK in your computer! Stop wasting time navigating through menus . . . or teaching novices. Easy to use. You choose how often work is saved, by number of keystrokes or length of time. Work in progress can be resumed within seconds after system crash, power failure, accidental reset or power down. Costly battery backup systems are no longer needed when work in progress is already saved to the point of the previous BOOKMARK placement. BOOKMARK is a memory-resident utility that automatically and periodically saves work in progress to a reserved area of the hard disk. Suggested Retail Price $69.95 Requirements: IBM PC/XT/AT or 100% Compatible 64 k to 640k IBM DOS 2.1 or Higher 1 Floppy Disk Drive • Hard Disk Drive [10 Megbytes Minimum] Video Display Adapter, IBM [Monochrome, Color, Enhanced Color]. Hercules, AST [BOOKMARK occupies an equivalent space on hard disk as in system RAM plus video RAM] To Order, Call INTELLISOFT International or Ask Your Dealer for BOOKMARK INTEULISOFT INTERW ATIOIM AL Call Toll Free [800] 544-MARK • In California Call Toll Free [800] 543-MARK 70 Digital Drive • P.O. Box 1972-Novato, California 94948-[415] 883-1188 BOOKMARK' is a trademark of INTELLISOFT International. Copyright© 1986 by INTELLISOFT International. All rights reserved. IBM PC/XT/AT are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Hercules is a trademark of Hercules Computer Technology. AST is a registered trademark of AST Research, Inc. CIRCLE NO. 114 ON READER SERVICE CARD TECH RELEASES [irapb produced by norland's Numerical Method Toolbox deep into the application through nested windows. Magic Run enables stand-alone operation at runtime. Magic PC Trial [limited to 100 records], $19.95; Magic PC [with unlimited users in a IAN], $695; Magic Run, $95 each [available in two-packs only]. Aker Coiporation, 18007 Skypark Circle Drive, Suite B2, Irvine, CA 92714; 714/250-1718 CIRCLE 330 ON READER SERVICE CARD Microsoft Corporation and Phoenix Technologies Limited have an¬ nounced agreements to strengthen Phoenix’s custom OEM-level engineer¬ ing support of Microsoft's systems soft¬ ware, including MS-DOS, XENIX System V/386, and Windows. Under the terms of the agreement Phoenix will develop its 80386-based VP/ix virtual PC environ¬ ment for Microsoft’s XENIX System V/386 multiuser operating system, and license MS-DOS 3.2 from Microsoft and offer it to Phoenix’s VP/ix OEM custom¬ ers as part of the VP/ix offering. Prices are unavailable. Microsoft Corporation, 16011 N.E. 36th Way, P.O. Box 97017, Redmond, WA 98073-9717; 206/882-8080 CIRCLE 325 ON READER SERVICE CARD Phoenix Technologies Limited, 320 Nor¬ wood Park S, Nonvood, MA 02062; 617/769-7020 CIRCLE 326 ON READER SERVICE CARD A BASIC language development environ¬ ment, Turbo Basic, has been an¬ nounced by Borland International Turbo Basic offers full 8087/80287 nu¬ meric coprocessor support, which gen¬ erates in-line coprocessor instructions. Built-in conversion functions take BASICA floating-point data and convert it to IEEE floating-point format. Pro¬ grams that use integer mathematics have a 32-bit-long integer data type. Other features include pull-down menus; con¬ text-sensitive help; and window manage¬ ment [including user-controllable size, color, and placement], with separate windows for editing, messages, tracing, and program execution. The compiler, editor, and executable programs are fully integrated and the program text can be output either to a window or to the full screen. $99.95. Eor engineers and scientists, Bor¬ land has introduced Eureka: The Solver, a software tool for problem solving. The user writes an equation, Menu screen from norland's Eureka. The Solrer sets options, and instructs the software to solve the problem. The package also evaluates and displays the accuracy of the solution. Equations, solutions, and evaluations are accessible through sepa¬ rate windows on the computer screen. Eureka: The Solver fully supports the 8087 numeric coprocessor. $99.95. Numerical analysis is addressed in Borland’s Numerical Methods Tool¬ box. This package is a collection of Turbo Pascal routines and programs, each with an accompanying demonstra¬ tion program example. Comprised of 10 modules, the Toolbox provides the fol¬ lowing number-crunching abilities: find¬ ing solutions to equations, interpola¬ tions, calculus with numeric derivatives and integrals, matrix operations includ¬ ing inversions, determinants, eigen¬ values, differential equations, least- square approximations, and fast Fourier transforms. The generic procedures contained in each module can be modi¬ fied and included in the user’s own pro¬ grams. Complete source code is in¬ cluded with the Toolbox. $99.95. Borland International, 4585 Scotts Val¬ ley Drive, Scotts Valley, CA 95066; 408 / 438-8400 CIRCLE 321 ON READER SERVICE CARD Quarterdeck Office Systems has in¬ corporated virtual 8086 machine archi¬ tecture support for the Compaq Desk- pro 386 into DESQview 1.3, a multi¬ tasking operating environment. The vir- tual-86 mode permits 8088/86 code to be executed within the protected and paged environment provided by the 80386 and permits these programs to run simultaneously, as if they were in their own 1MB machine. DESQview 1.3 also improves the efficient' of high¬ speed—4800 or 9600 bps—communica¬ tion programs running in DESQview. To be released in February is version 2.0 of DESQview, which will increase the capabilities of 1.3 as well as add En¬ hanced Graphics Adapter [EGA] support and a DESQview Application Program Interface. Also, a runtime version will be available in conjunction with release 2.0. DESQview 1.3, $99.95; 1.21 upgrade to 1.3, $19.95; DESQview 2.0, $129.95; 1.3 upgrade to 2.0, $30.00. Quarterdeck Office Systems, 150 Pico Bird., Santa Monica, CA 90405; 213/392-9851 CIRCLE 324 ON READER SERVICE CARD Version 3.1 of watcom BASIC, a lan¬ guage interpreter, is now available from watcom Products, Inc. Enhanced fea¬ tures include: the watcom Graphics Ker¬ nel System [GKS], indexed hie process¬ ing, additional capability for parameters of procedures and functions, and sev¬ eral business and scientific program ap¬ plications. $250. watcom Products, Inc., 415 Phillip Street, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3X2; 519/886-3700 CIRCLE 327 ON READER SERVICE CARD 36 PC TECH JOURNAL It makes desktop publishing a piece of cake! Tall Tree Systems introduces another breakthrough in desk¬ top publishing with JLASER PLUS. We've combined a 2 MB EMS memory board and an interface to both a Canon®-based laser printer and scanner. JLASER PLUS increases the perfor¬ mance of both devices and gives you a low- cost solution to the limitations you've been experiencing with them. Furthermore, the same memory that is made available to your printer and scan¬ ner is also available for all your other conven¬ tional applications. You get system mem¬ ory, expanded LIM memory, extended memory in an AT-type machine, RAM Disk and print spooler — all in a single slot! Supporting JLASER PLUS is a host of soft¬ ware packages, such as PC Paintbrush 4 netics, LaserGL from Software Express, Ventura Publisher from Xerox, Page Builder from White Sciences, Le Print from Le Baugh Software, Fancy Font and Fancy Word from SoftCraft, Inc., and many more to be announced. It takes a techno¬ logical innovator like Tall Tree Systems to provide a major advancement like JLASER PLUS. And we don't stop at performance. We also deliver value, which is truly icing on the cake. TALL TREE SYSTEMS 1120 San Antonio Road Palo Alto, CA 94303 [415] 964-1980 CIRCLE NO. 194 ON READER SERVICE CARD TALL TREE SYSTEMS Canon is a registered trademark of Canon, Inc. All software packages listed are trademarks of their respective companies. ©1986 by Tall Tree Systems. All rights reserved. LaserControlfrom Insight Deivlopment Corporation Screen s/x>t from T&W Systems’ VersaCAD DESIGNER Intel Corporation has extended its software development support of the 80386 system to PC hosts with the intro¬ duction of a C language compiler and utilities package for the PC/AT running DOS 3.0 or later. The C 386 Compiler and the RLL 386 Relocation, Linkage, and Library Tools package are the in¬ dustry’s first development tools for PC hosts. The DOS tools can he used on stand-alone PCs and on PCs linked via the Intel OpenNET network with other PCs or with VAX and MicroVAXT com¬ puters. C 386, $900; RLL 386, $600. Intel Corporation, Literature Depart¬ ment W338, 3065 Bowers Avenue, P.O. Box 58065, Santa Clara, CA 95052- 8065; 5031681-2279 CIRCLE 323 ON READER SERVICE CARD Corvus Systems, Inc. has released a network operating system for its Omni- net LAN. Designated PC/NOS, it permits networks to be created without file serv¬ ers, but still supports the PC-DOS 3.1 file- and record-locking calls. PC/NOS has complete access security control for nodes, peripherals, directories, and hies. When hie servers are needed, PC/NOS supports multiple servers. For 64 users, $695. Corvus Systems, Inc., 160 Great Oaks Bird, San Jose, CA 95119-1347; 408/559-7000 CIRCLE 322 ON READER SERVICE CARD BABY/36 from California Software Products, Inc..now permits develop¬ ment and execution of RPG II programs on the PC and PC networks. Release 3.4 updates the product to the latest version of IBM’s System/36 operating system: System Support Program [SSP] 4.0. Included are new conditional oper¬ ations and program loops: CASE, DO, DO.. .UNTIL, DO.. .WHILE, and IF.. .THEN.. .ELSE. Stand-alone systems range from $700 for execution-only ver¬ sions to $3,500 for complete RPG II de¬ velopment and execution systems. LAN versions range from $1,500 to $4,500, plus $100 per linked device; upgrades at no charge to existing customers. California Software Products, Inc., 525
15. Cabrillo Park Drive, Santa Ana, CA 92701; 714/973-0440 CIRCLE 328 ON READER SERVICE CARD T&W Systems, Inc. has announced a complete design station, VersaCAD designer. Together with the power of VersaCAD 5.0, VersaCAD designer offers three-dimensional design, color shad¬ ing, automatic extrusion, a variety of dis¬ play modes, built-in primitives, and complete programmability. All designs can be moved between two- and three- dimensional models using a single main menu. VersaCAD designer offers two- way communications links to other soft¬ ware using recognized standards of protocol. $2,995. T&W Systems, Inc., 7372 Prince Drive, Suite 106, Huntington Beach, CA 92647; 800/228-2028, ext. 85; in Cali¬ fornia, 714/847-9960 CIRCLE 331 ON READER SERVICE CARD An application development environ¬ ment for the Intel 80386, Merge 386 has been announced by Locus Com¬ puting Corporation. Merge 386 allows the system to simultaneously, and trans¬ parently, execute both UNIX and DOS operating systems. Users can have sev¬ eral DOS and UNIX programs executing concurrently. Other benefits included are password security and file protec¬ tion for DOS, record-level access to the same files by both operating systems, UNIX programs invocable from DOS programs, named-pipe support for inter¬ process communication between UNIX and DOS, and DOS programs transpar¬ ently invocable from UNIX programs. Merge 386, $500. Locus Computing Corporation, 3330 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405; 213/452-2435 CIRCLE 335 ON READER SERVICE CARD Version 2.2 of LaserControl, a utility package for Hewlett-Packard laser print¬ ers, is available from Insight Develop¬ ment Corporation. LaserControl en¬ ables the HP LaserJet to work with most IBM PC software. The program provides seven printer emulations: Diablo 630; Qume Sprint 5; NEC 3550, 5510, and 7710; Epson MX-80; and IBM Graphics Printer. This program allows any soft¬ ware that supports these printers to be used with the HP LaserJet. Besides printer emulation, LaserControl pro¬ vides menu-driven control of the laser printer. Through the menu, users can choose the page layout, fonts, margins, number of lines per page, paper size, paper tray, and other options. Laser- Control can be utilized as a memory- resident, pop-up program or a standard DOS application. $150. Insight Development Corporation, 1024 Country Club Drive, Suite 140, Moraga, CA 94556; 415/376-9451 CIRCLE 332 ON READER SERVICE CARD Prospero Software has made available Pro Fortran-77, which is a complete implementation of the ANSI X3.9-1978 standard, generally referred to as FORTRAN 77. The software consists of the compiler, runtime libraries, link edi¬ tor, librarian program, configuration utility, and symbolic debugger. The two- pass compiler converts a source file containing one or more program units into binary machine code in standard Intel object format. Runtime libraries contain the routines needed to support execution of object programs. The li¬ braries are provided in versions for small and large models, with and with¬ out the use of an 8087 numeric copro¬ cessor. Pro Fortran-77, $149. Prospero Software, 190 Castelnau, Lon¬ don SW13 9DH, England; 011-441-741 8531 • US. Distributor: Software Consult¬ ing Services, 3162 Bath Pike, Nazareth, PA 18064; 215/837-8484 CIRCLE 338 ON READER SERVICE CARD 38 PC TECH JOURNAL TALL TREE SYSTEMS. A Technological Innovator. Always a Step Ahead! For true industry leader¬ ship, look no further than Tall Tree Systems. We have a history of being first. We were the first to introduce bankswitching. The first with two megabyte memory boards. The first with I/O modularity in a single slot. The first with 8 MHz speed capabilities. The only maker of single command EMS boards. The first with a laser printer solution — JLASER — that allows you to do full-page graphics and multiple type fonts on any Canon® or Ricoh® laser engine. £ MJBti Now, we're first again with memory expansion for the IBM®RT. Innovation is our tradition. Our trademark is supe¬ rior technology at the lowest possible price. txr IS - 1120 San Antonio Road • Palo Alto, CA 94303 • [415] 964-1980 CIRCLE NO. 197 ON READER SERVICE CARD ©1986 by Tall Tree Systems. All rights reserved. IBM, RT are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corp. Canon and Ricoh are registered trademarks of Canon Corp. and Ricoh Corp., respectively. Design created using CalComp's CAD package. Solid Vision dBXL, WordTech Systems' database manager A menu-driven, hard-disk-based total system manager called SNAP has been introduced by the Mt. Whitney Group. This product boasts over 200 features that give the user the functions of many programs executable in one or two key¬ strokes. SNAP allows the user to create unlimited, customized windows that can be deeply nested. Menus can be se¬ lected [alphabetically or free-form], mixed, and moved; password protection can be given to any menu or menu item. SNAP will copy, delete, move, ren¬ ame, format, sort, view, edit, tag, untag, encode, or decode any hie in any direc¬ tory on any drive. Complete editing and printing features are included as well as high-speed viewing and auto-scrolling. SNAP analyzes a system’s hardware and will display more than 35 drive and computer statistics. $99. Alt. Whitney Group, 11612 Knott Ave¬ nue, Building G-19, Garden Grove, CA 92641; 800/992-4992; in California, 800/624-7355 CIRCLE 333 ON READER SERVICE CARD A true, three-dimensional design and drafting package is being offered by CalComp Systems Division. Solid Vision allows users to design in three dimensions and revise that design as of¬ ten as necessary; it also provides the ability to see a design in plan, elevation, section, or perspective and to produce drawings, model design, and presenta¬ tion images—all from one model. Solid Vision uses boundary representation and boolean technology. All coordinate data are stored in floating-point format, providing six digits of numerical accu¬ racy. Stand-alone, $3,500; bundled with cadvance, $4,995. CalComp also is offering version 1.3 of cadvance, a two-dimensional CAD system. Added features include full digitizer tablet menu support, enhance¬ ments to ['advances Macro Program¬ ming Language, application specific commands, and inclusion of the pre¬ viously optional 3D projections, which allows the user to produce oblique, isometric, and perspective projections quickly and automatically. $2,500. CalComp Systems Division, 2411 W. La Palma Avenue, Anaheim, CA 92801; 714/821-2142 CIRCLE 329 ON READER SERVICE CARD Micro Data Base Systems, Inc. [mdbs] has made available version 1.1 of its expert system environment, GURU. The enhanced expert system ca¬ pabilities of GURU allow users to pro¬ cess mdbs s KnowledgeMan/2 and Ash- ton-Tate’s dBASE n or cIbase hi plus hies as if they were GURU hies. GURU can ac¬ cess Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets directly as well. Other enhancements include GURU’s knowledge tree and case-saving features. The knowledge tree allows de¬ velopers to view a diagram of a rule set showing the relationships among vari¬ ables, rules, and goals. The case-saving feature allows developers to save [and later replay] expert system consulta¬ tions. Version 1.1 allows multiple firing of rules within the same consultation. Single-user system, $6,500; upgrades at no cost for purchases after November 1, 1985, upgrades for purchases prior to November 1, 1985, $650. Micro Data Base Systems, Inc., P.O. Box 248, Izifayette, IN 47902; 800/344-5832; in Indiana, 317/463-2581 CIRCLE 334 ON READER SERVICE CARD Opt-Tech Data Processing has intro¬ duced Opt-Tech Soft 3.0, a high-per¬ formance assembly language sort/ merge/select utility. Major added fea¬ tures include record selection, record reformatting, comma-delimited hies, support for Ashton-Tate’s Ubase hi, dy¬ namic memory allocation, alternate col¬ lating sequences, expanded hie options, unlimited number of input hies, and new parameter options. Opt-Tech Sort is callable from 25 languages or can be run as a DOS utility [either stand-alone or batch hie]. Version 3.0 supports un¬ limited hie sizes of most types including hxed length, variable length, random, cIbase, and Btrieve. $149. Opt-Tech Data Processing, P.O. Box 678, Zephyr Cove, NV 89488; 702/588-3737 CIRCLE 339 ON READER SERVICE CARD A version of the theos multiuser, multi¬ tasking operating system for the Intel 80386 has been released by theos. theos 386 will initially address up to 16MB of memory and support 32 users in a multiuser environment. THEOS is complemented by comprehensive BASIC, C, and assembly languages. The languages feature a bridge allowing soft¬ ware developed under one micropro¬ cessor version of theos to be translated and run under newer theos versions, including theos 386. THEOS, 201 Lafayette Circle, Suite 100, Lafayette, CA 94549-4370; 415/283-4290 CIRCLE 336 ON READER SERVICE CARD A work-alike to Ashton-Tate’s dBASE in plus has been announced by WordTech Systems. The dBXL database manager, which is not copy protected, offers full file syntax compatibility with dBASE m plus and brings new commands to the dBASE language, thus allowing users to create true windows within their pro¬ grams. Other features include DOS compatibility, an improved user inter¬ face, a menu-driven assist feature, and several levels of on-line help. WordTech has assembly code compiler and hie server support for dBXL. $169. WordTech Systems, Inc., P.O. Box 1747, 21 Altarinda Road, Orinda, CA 94563; 415/254-0900 CIRCLE 337 ON READER SERVICE CARD lmmmiiig§] The material that appeals in Tech Releases is hosed on vendor-supplied information. These products have not been reviewed by the PC Tech Journal editorial staff. 40 PC TECH JOURNAL 'our Quality Connection When you need programmer's development tools, Programmer's Connection is your best one-stop source. We’ve specialized in development software for IBM personal FREE Shipping. Shipping is FREE if you have your order shipped via standard UPS anywhere in the USA. We can also express your order to you with no special fees and we'll only charge you the shipping carrier's standard rate. Many other companies profit from overcharges plus special fees for express shipments. computers since 1984 and are experienced in providing a full range of quality products and customer services. Unbiased Advice. Our friendly, non¬ commissioned salespeople are always prepared to assist you. We also have experienced technical consultants who can answer questions, help you compare products and send you detailed product information tailored to your needs. Since we're not affiliated with any software publisher or manufacturer, we'll give you an unbiased look at the products we carry. No Sales Tax. Customers outside of are not charged state sales tax*. No HidJenCharges. Quite simply,the prices you see on the next two page§are all you pay. We don’t charge extra for standard UPS shipping, credit cards, . = COD orders] purchase orders orjpecial handling. When you buy from Programmer's .. Connection, you get all of the benefits of buying directly from the manufacturer and none of the drawbacks. So call us today and discover the advantages of our One-stop service for yourself. YguMI be glad you did! lllliMlBI High Quality. We stock hundreds of high quality software development tools specifically for IBM personal computers and compatibles. And as new products become available, we’ll sell only those that meet our high standards for quality Manufacturer Support. The products we sell are the latest versions and come with the same technical support as if buying directly from the manufacturer^ Return Guarantees. Our goal is customer? satisfaction and that's why we offer a^; 30-day documentation evaluatiog'perioi^ A or a 30-day return guarantee on most of our F products. Please call for specifitfletails. Immediate Shipment Most products are in stock and are ready for shipment from our large inventory. Discounts. You'll save money on all of your software purchases from Programmer's Connection. Our ads show both the discount » and retail prices for each product so you'll always know exactly how much you'll save. Turn the page for our latest a price list and ordering informatio Credit Cards. We'll charge your credit card at the time we ship your order. Othei companies may charge your credit ard atthe time they take your order so they can use your money interest-free while you wait for your shipment. k k kkk k k Sale prices effective through 2/28/87. apl language APL*PLUS/PC bySTSC . 595 APL*PLUS/PC Spreadsheet Mgr by STSC . 1 95 APL*PLUS/PC Tools Vol 1 by STSC .... 295 APL*PLUS/PC Tools Vol 2 by STSC .... 85 APL # PLUS/UNX For AT XENIX by STSC . . . 995 Btrieve ISAM File Mgr by SoftCraft . 245 Financial/Statistical Library by STSC . . . 275 Pocket APL by STSC . 95 STATGRAPHICS by STSC . 795 artificial intelligence 1 st - Class by Programs in Motion . 495 APT from Solution Systems . 65 Arity Combination Package. 1225 Expert System Development Pkg. . . . 295 File Interchange Toolkit. 50 PROLOG Compiler & Interpreter .... 795 Screen Design Toolkit. 50 SQL Development Package. 295 Arity PROLOG Interpreter. 350 Arity Standard Prolog. 95 Autointelligence by IntelligenceWare . 990 ExpertEDGE Advanced by Human Edge ... 2500 ExpertEDGE Professional by Human Edge . . 5000 Experteach II by IntelligenceWare . 475 EXSYS Development Software by EXSYS . ... 395 EXSYS Runtime System. New 600 GCLISP Golden Common LISP by Gold Hill. . . 495 GCLISP 286 Developer by Gold Hill . 1190 Insight 1 by Level Five Research . 95 Insight 2+ by Level Five Research . 485 Intelligence/Compiler IntelligenceWare . . . 990 Logic-Line Series 1 by Thunderstone .... 90 Logic-Line Series 2 by Thunderstone .... 125 Logic-Line Series 3 by Thunderstone .... 150 LPA microPROLOG by Prog Logic Systems . . 99 with APES. 149 LPA Professional microPROLOG. 395 with APES. 650 Microsoft LISP Common LISP . 250 MPROLOG Language Primer LOGICWARE New 50 MPROLOG P500 by LOGICWARE . New 495 MPROLOG P550 by LOGICWARE . New 220 PC Scheme by Texas Instruments . 95 Personal Consultant Easy by 77. 495 Personal Consultant Plus by Tl . 2950 Personal Consultant Runtime. 95 PROLOG-2 Interpreter by ESI . 450 PROLOG-2 Interpreter and Compiler. . . . 895 QNIAL by NIAL Systems . 375 TransLISP from Solution Systems . 95 Turbo PROLOG Compiler by Borland Inti. . . 100 assembly language 386 ASM/LINK Cross Asm by Phar Lap . . . 495 8088 Assembler w/Z-80 Trans by 2500 AD. 100 ASM LIB Function Library by BC Assoc .... 149 asmTREE BTree Dev System by BC Assoc . . . 395 Cross Assemblers Various by 2500 AD . . . CALL Microsoft Macro Assembler. 150 Norton Utilities by Peter Norton . 100 Turbo EDITASM by Speedware . 99 Uniware Cross Assemblers Various by SDS 295 Visible Computer: 8088 Software Masters . 80 basic language BetterBASIC by Summit Software. 8087 Math Support. Btrieve Interface. C Interface. Run-time Module. EXIM Services Toolkit by EX/M. Finally by Komputerwerks . Inside Track from Micro Help . . . MACH 2 by Micro Help . Microsoft QuickBASIC. 87 QB Pak by Hauppauge .... Peeks 'n Pokes from MicroHe/p . Professional BASIC by Morgan . 8087 Math Support. Stay-Res by MicroHelp . True Basic wl BA SICA Converter. . True Basic w/Converter & Run-time BASICA Converter. Run-time Module. Various Other Utilities . Turbo BASIC by Borland Inti .... blaise products ASYNCH MANAGER Specify C or Pascal Sale 175 C TOOLS PLUS. Sale 175 EXEC Program Chainer . Sale 95 LIGHT TOOLS for Data/ight C. . . . New, Sale 100 PASCAL TOOLS. Sale 125 PASCAL TOOLS 2. Sale 100 PASCAL TOOLS 8t PASCAL TOOLS 2 . Sale 175 ►RUNOFF Text Formatter . Sale 50 ►TURBO ASYNCH PLUS. Sale 100 ►TURBO POWER TOOLS PLUS. Sale 100 ►VIEW MANAGER Specify C or Pascal . . Sale 275 . . 200 99 99 99 . . 250 . . CALL 99 65 75 99 New 69 45 99 50 95 . . 200 . . 295 50 . . 150 50 New 100 429 139 199 59 695 194 195 69 579 399 CALL 1139 259 45 699 45 259 309 79 CALL CALL CALL 359 319 479 CALL CALL 75 379 749 85 115 139 89 129 339 469 163 45 395 175 85 439 2599 85 419 839 349 CALL 65 CALL 89 129 339 CALL 95 59 84 249 65 129 75 75 75 169 CALL 85 51 61 65 59 37 75 42 85 99 179 45 99 45 69 119 119 65 69 85 65 99 39 69 69 165 borland products EUREKA Equation Solver . New 100 69 REFLEX 8t REFLEX Workshop. 200 129 REFLEX Data Base System . 150 89 REFLEX Workshop. 70 45 Turbo BASIC. New 100 69 Turbo DATABASE TOOLBOX. 70 47 Turbo EDITOR TOOLBOX. 70 47 Turbo GAMEWORKS TOOLBOX. 70 47 Turbo GRAPHIX TOOLBOX. 70 47 Turbo LIGHTNING. 100 64 Turbo Numerical Methods Library . . New 100 69 Turbo PASCAL and TUTOR. New 125 85 Turbo PASCAL with 8087 and BCD. . . . 100 64 Turbo TUTOR. 40 28 Turbo Prolog Compiler. 100 64 Word Wizard. 70 47 Word Wizard and Turbo Lightning. 150 94 C + + ►C+ + by Guidelines wl kernel 1.1 .... Sale 195 169 c compilers 68000/10/20 Cross Compiler by SDS . . 595 CALL C86PLUS by Computer Innovations . . . . New 497 CALL ►Datalight C Compiler Small Mode! . . . Sale 60 45 ►Datalight Developer Kit. Sale 99 69 ► Datalight Optimum-C. New, Sale 139 99 ► with LIGHT TOOLS Blaise. . . . New, Sale 239 168 DeSmet C wl Debugger . 159 138 DeSmet C wl Debugger & Large Case . 209 184 Eco-C Development System by Ecosoft . 125 83 Lattice C Compiler from Lattice . 500 275 Mark Williams Let's C Combo Pack . New 125 99 Let's C Compiler . 75 57 csd Source Level Debugger . 75 57 Mark Williams MWC-86 . 495 289 ► Microsoft C with CodeView . Sale 450 265 ► Wizard C Combo by Wizard Systems . . Sale 750 529 ► Wizard C Compiler. Sale 450 299 ► ROM Development Pkg. Sale 350 259 cinterpreters ► C-terp by Gimpel, Specify compiler . . . . Sale 300 199 C Trainer with Book by Catalytix . 122 87 ► Instant C by Rational Systems . Sale 500 359 Introducing C by Computer Innovations. ... 125 CALL Run/C from Lifeboat . 150 89 Run/C Professional from Lifeboat . 250 169 c utilities ► APT by Shaw American Technology .... Sale 395 259 Basic C Library by C Source . 175 119 ►C Essentials by Essential Software . . . Sale 100 65 C-ISAM by Informix . 225 195 C to dBase by Computer Innovations . 150 CALL ► c-tree & r-tree Combo by FairCom . . . Sale 650 459 ► c-tree ISAM File Manager . Sale 395 279 ► r-tree Report Generator . Sale 295 199 ►C Utility Library by Essential . Sale 185 119 C Windows by Syscom . 100 85 Wings by Syscom . 50 43 Cl ROMPac by Computer Innovations . 195 CALL ►dbQUERY All Varieties by Raima . Sale CALL CALL ► dbVISTA Single-User DBMS by Raima. . . Sale 195 139 ► with Source Code . Sale 495 389 ► dbVISTA Multi-User DBMS by Raima . . . Sale 495 389 ► with Source Code . Sale 990 779 dBx dBase/C Translator by Desktop At . 350 314 with Library Source Code . 550 493 Entelokon Combo Package. 200 169 C Function Library. 130 109 C Windows. 130 109 Superfonts for C. 50 43 ► Essential Comm Library wl Debugger . Sale 250 159 ► Breakout Debugger Any language ..Sale 125 79 ► Essential Comm Library. Sale 185 119 Essential Graphics by Essential Software . . 250 195 Flash-up Windows by Software Bottling. . . 90 79 Graphic Mono v2.2 by Sci Endeavors . 280 209 Graphic Color v3.0 by Sci Endeavors . 350 284 GRAFLIB by The Librarian . 175 CALL Greenleaf Comm Library by Greenleaf ... 185 127 Greenleaf Data Windows by Greenleaf . . . 225 157 with Source Code . 450 295 Greenleaf Functions by Greenleaf . 185 127 HALO by Media Cybernetics . 300 209 HALO Development Pkg for Microsoft . New 595 395 The HAMMER by OES Systems . 195 149 HELP/Control by MDS . 125 109 Meta WIN DOWS No Royalties . 185 115 MetaFONTS. 80 58 MetaWINDOWS/Plus by Metagraphics . . . 235 189 MetaFONTS/Plus. 235 189 On-line Help from Opt-Tech Data Proc .... 149 109 PANEL by Roundhill Computer Systems .... 295 215 PC Lint by Gimpel Software . 139 99 PLOTHI by The Librarian . 175 CALL PLOT HP by The Librarian . 175 CALL Scientific Subroutine Lib by Peerless. ... 175 138 Vector87 by Vectorplex Data Systems . 150 135 Vitamin C by Creative Programming . 225 CALL VC Screen Forms Designer . 100 82 Zview by Data Management Consultants . . . 245 189 cobol language Micro Focus COBOL Workbench. 4000 3379 Micro Focus Level II COBOL. 1500 549 COGRAPHICS. 250 199 COMATH. 200 159 FORMS-2. 300 259 Level II Animator. 900 349 Level II SOURCEWRITER. 2000 CALL Micro Focus Level II COBOL for Novell. . . 2000 1699 Micro Focus Micro/SPF. 175 149 Micro Focus Professional COBOL. 3000 2295 Multi-user Runtime for PC Network . . . 500 429 Microsoft COBOL See Microsoft Section. . . CALL CALL Realia COBOL. 995 785 RM/COBOL by Ryan-McFarland . 950 639 RM/COBOL 8X by Ryan-McFarland . 1250 895 debuggers & profilers 386 DEBUG Cross Debugger by Phar Lap . . . 195 129 Advanced Trace-86 by Morgan Computing. . 175 125 Cl Probe by Computer Innovations . 225 CALL Codesifter Profiler by David Smith . 119 94 Codesmith-86 by Visual Age . 145 99 DSD86 by Soft Advances . 70 61 DSD87 by Soft Advances . 100 79 MiniProbe by Atron . New 395 CALL Periscope I by The Periscope Company .... 295 239 Periscope II wlNMI Breakout Switch . 145 107 Periscope ll-X Software only . 115 84 The PROFILER with Source Code by DWB . . 125 89 The WATCHER Profiler by Stony Brook . ... 60 51 forth language CFORTH Native Code Compiler by LMI .... 300 229 Forth/83 Metacompiler Specify Target ... 750 599 PC/Forth by Laboratory Microsystems . 150 109 PC/Forth + by Laboratory Microsystems . . . 250 199 Advanced Color Graphics Support ... 100 74 Enhanced Graphics Support. 200 148 Intel 8087 Support. 100 74 Interactive Symbolic Debugger. 100 74 Native Code Optimizer. 200 148 PCTERM Modem Pgm for Smartmodem . . 100 74 Software Floating Point. 100 74 UR/Forth by Laboratory Microsystems . 350 279 Object Module Libraries. 500 395 Source Code License. 1500 995 fortran language 50 MORE: FORTRAN by Peerless Engr ... 125 99 ACS Time Series Alpha Computer Service . . 495 399 Btrieve ISAM File Mgr by SoftCraft . 245 194 Essential Graphics by Essential Software . . 250 195 For-Winds Alpha Computer Service . 90 69 Forlib-Plus Alpha Computer Service . 70 49 FORTLIB by The Librarian . 95 CALL FORTRAN Addenda by Impulse Engr . 95 85 FORTRAN Addendum by Impulse Engr. ... 165 139 GRAFLIB by The Librarian . 175 CALL HALO by Media Cybernetics . 300 209 I/O PRO wlNo Limit Library by MEF . 390 349 Microcompatibles Combo Package .... 240 219 Grafmatic.- . . . . 135 119 Plotmatic. 135 119 Microsoft FORTRAN Compiler. 350 204 No Limit by MEF Environmental . 129 115 PANEL Screen Designer by Roundhill . 295 215 PLOTHI by The Librarian . 175 CALL PLOTHP by The Librarian . 175 CALL RM/FORTRAN Ryan-McFarland . 595 CALL Scientific Subroutine Lib by Peerless. ... 175 138 Statistician Alpha Computer Service . 295 245 Strings & Things Alpha Computer Service. . 70 51 Vector87 by Vectorplex Data Systems . 150 135 lattice products Lattice C Compiler from Lattice . 500 275 with Library Source Code . 900 495 C Cross Reference Generator . 50 37 with Source Code . 200 145 C-Food Smorgasbord Function Library. ... 150 95 with Source Code . 300 184 C-Sprite Source Level Debugger . 175 129 Curses Screen Manager . 125 89 with Source Code . 250 178 dBC dBase File Manager for C . 250 178 with Source Code . 500 356 LMK Make Facility . 195 139 RPG II Compiler No Royalties . 750 626 RPG II Combo with SEU & Sort I Merge. ... 1100 939 RPG II Screen Design Aid Utility . . . New 350 309 SecretDisk File Encryption Utility . 120 89 SideTalk Resident Communications . 120 89 SSP/PC Scientific Library . New 350 269 Text Management Utilities. 120 89 TopView Toolbasket Function Library .... 250 178 with Source Code . 500 356 logitech products logitech products LOGIMOUSE C7 Specify Connector Type ... 99 83 with PLUS Pkg . 119 98 with PLUS Pkg & PC Paintbrush . 169 134 with PL US Pkg & CAD Software . 189 153 with PLUS Pkg & CAD & Paint . 219 179 MODULA-2/86 Holiday Package. 199 159 MODULA-2/86 Compiler. 89 62 MODULA-2/86 with 8087 Support .... 129 98 MODULA-2/86 with PLUS Pkg. 189 138 Library Sources. 99 88 Make Utility. 29 25 ROM Package. 199 172 Run Time Debugger. 69 56 Turbo to Modula Translator. 49 42 Utilities Package. 49 42 Window Package. 49 42 REPERTOIRE for MODULA-2!86 by PMI. . . . 89 79 Object Code Only . New 19 15 microport products ► System V/AT by Microport Systems . . . Sale 440 359 Runtime System [Operating System] ... 159 145 Software Development System. 169 155 Text Preparation System. 169 155 User Upgrade 3 to Unlimited Users . 169 155 microsoft products Microsoft BASIC for XENIX . ► Microsoft C with CodeView . Sale Microsoft COBOL Compiler. for XENIX . Microsoft COBOL Tools with Debugger . . . for XENIX . Microsoft FORTRAN Compiler. for XENIX . Microsoft Learning DOS. Microsoft LISP Common LISP . Microsoft MACH 10 wlMouse & Windows . Microsoft MACH 10 Board only . Microsoft Macro Assembler. Microsoft Mouse Bus Version . Microsoft Mouse Serial Version . Microsoft muMath Includes muSIMP .... Microsoft Pascal Compiler. for XENIX . Microsoft QuickBASIC. Microsoft Sort. Microsoft Windows. Microsoft Windows Development Kit. . . 350 239 450 265 700 439 995 635 350 CALL 450 289 350 204 695 439 50 36 250 163 549 385 399 285 150 95 175 114 195 124 300 184 300 184 695 439 99 65 195 129 99 65 500 309 other languages CCS MUMPS Single-User by MGIobal .... 60 CCS MUMPS Single-User! Multi- Tasking .New 150 CCS MUMPS Multi-User . 450 Janus/ADA C Pack by R&R Software .... 95 Janus/ADA D Pack by R&R Software .... 900 Methods Smalltalk by Digitalk . 79 Personal REXX by Mansfield Software .... 125 Smalltalk/V by Digitalk . 99 Smalltalk/Comm. 49 SN0B0L4+ by Catspaw . 95 other products Compact Source Print by Aldebaran . . New CALL Dan Bricklin's Demo Pgm Software Garden. 75 FANSI-CONSOLE by Hersey Micro .... New 75 FASTBACK by 5th Generation Systems .... 179 Informix for DOS by Informix . 795 lnformix4GL for DOS by Informix . 995 InformixSQL for DOS by Informix . 795 Instant Replay by Nostradamus . 90 Interactive EASYFLOW by Haventree .... 150 MKS Toolkit with vi by MKS . 139 Norton Commander by Peter Norton . 75 OPT-Tech Sort by Opt-Tech Data Proc . 149 PrintQ by Software Directions . 89 Quilt Computing Combo Package. 199 [Make Program Rebuild Utility . 99 SRMS Software Revision Mgmt Sys ... . 125 screenplay all varieties by Plexus . CALL SoftScreen/HELP by Dialectic Systems ... 195 Source Print by Aldebaran Labs . 97 Taskview by Sunny Hill Software . 80 TLIB by Burton Systems Software . 100 Tree Diagrammer by Aldebaran Labs. . . New CALL VTEK Term Emulator by Sci Endeavors . 150 phoenix products Pasm86 Macro Assembler Version 2.0 ... . 195 Pdisk Hard Disk & Backup Utility . 195 Pfantasy Pac Phoenix Combo . 1295 Pfinish Performance Analyzer . 395 Pfix-86 Plus Symbolic Debugger . 395 51 129 369 89 769 66 99 84 45 80 CALL 59 65 149 639 789 639 79 129 119 55 115 84 169 84 109 CALL 149 CALL 56 89 CALL 129 115 125 849 229 229 LOWEST PRICES Since this ad is prepared in advance of publication, some of our current prices may be lower than what's advertised here. Call for latest pricing. FREE SHIPPING Orders within the USA [including Alaska & Hawaii] are shipped FREE via UPS. Express shipping is available at the shipping carrier's standard rate with no rush fees or handling charges. To avoid delays when ordering by mail, please call first to determine the exact cost of express shipping. CREDIT CARDS VISA and MasterCard are accepted at no extra cost. Your card is charged when your order is shipped. Mail orders please include credit card expiration date and telephone number. CODs AND POs CODs and Purchase Orders are accepted at no extra cost. POs with net 30-day terms are available to qualified US accounts only. FOREIGN ORDERS Shipping charges for foreign and Canadian orders are based on the shipping carrier's standard rate. Since rates vary between car¬ riers, please call or write for the exact cost. Foreign orders [except Canada], please include an additional $ 10 for customs form preparation. All payments must be made with US funds drawn on a US bank. Please include your telephone number when ordering by mail. Due to government regulations, we cannot ship to all countries. VOLUME ORDERS Call for special pricing. SOUND ADVICE Our knowledgeable technical staff can assist in comparing products, answer technical ques¬ tions and send you detailed product information tailored to your needs. 30-DAY GUARANTEE PforCe Comprehensive C Library . 395 229 Plink-86 Plus Overlay Linker . 495 319 Pmaker Make Utility . 125 78 Pm ate Macro Text Editor . 195 115 Pre-C Lint Utility . 295 155 Ptel Binary File Transfer Program . 195 115 polytron products PolyBoost The Software Accelerator . 80 69 Polytron C Beautifier. 49 45 Polytron C Library I. 99 78 Polytron PowerCom Communications . 179 139 PolyLibrarian Library Manager . 99 78 PolyLibrarian II Library Manager . 149 115 Poly Make UNIX-like Make Facility . 99 78 PolyShell. New 149 119 PolyWindows Products All Varieties .... CALL CALL PolyXREF Complete Cross Ref Utility . 219 169 PolyXREF One language only . 129 99 PVCS Version Control System . 395 309 softcraft products Btrieve ISAM Mgr with No Royalties . 245 194 Xtrieve Query Utility . 245 194 Report Option. 145 114 Btrieve/N for Networks . 595 464 Xtrieve/N. 595 464 Report Option/N. 345 274 text editors Brief from Solution Systems . 195 CALL Epsilon Emacs-like editor by Lugaru . 195 159 KEDIT by Mansfield Software . 125 99 PC/VI by Custom Software Systems . 149 119 SPF / PC by Command Technology Corp . 195 139 Vedit by CompuView . 150 107 Vedit Plus by CompuView . 185 139 turbo pascal utilities ALICE Interpreter by Software Channels... . 95 66 Flash-up Windows by Software Bottling. . . 90 CALL HELP/Control by MDS . 125 109 On-line Help from Opt-Tech Data Proc .... 149 109 Report Builder by Royal American . 75 CALL Screen Sculptor by Software Bottling .... 125 91 System Builder by Royal American . 100 CALL TDebugPLUS by TurboPower Software .... 60 49 Turbo EXTENDER by TurboPower Software . . 85 64 Turbo Professional by Sunny Hill . 70 48 TurboHALO from /MSI . 129 98 TurboPower Utilities by TurboPower . 95 78 TurboRef by Gracon Services . 50 45 TurboSmith Visual Age Debugger . 69 45 TurboWINDOW by MetaGraphics . 80 65 wendin products Operating System Toolbox. 99 79 PC NX Operating system . 99 79 PC VMS Similar to VAX/VMS . 99 79 XTC Text editor with Pascal source . 99 79 Most of our products come with a 30-day documentation evaluation period or 30-day return guarantee. Please note that some manufacturers restrict us from offering guar¬ antees on their products. Call for more informa¬ tion. CALL TOLL-FREE US 800-336-1166 CANADA 800-225-1166 OHIO & ALASKA [Call Collect] 216-877-3781 FOREIGN 216-877-3781 CUSTOMER SERVICE 216-877-1110 Hours: Weekdays 8:30 AM to 8:00 PM EST. Ohio customers add 5% state sales tax. 136 SUNNYSIDE ST. HARTVILLE, OHIO 44632 xenix system v See also Microport System V/AT section. XENIX System V Complete by SCO . 1295 999 XENIX Development System. 595 499 XENIX Operating Sys Specify XTlAT. . . 595 499 XENIX Text Processing Package .... 195 144 xenix products Btrieve ISAM File Mgr by SoftCraft . 595 464 C-ISAM by Informix . 319 285 ► c-tree ISAM Mgr by FairCom . Sale 395 279 ► dbVISTA All Varieties by Raima . Sale CALL CALL dBx with Library Source by Desktop Al ... . 550 499 DOSIX User Version by Data Basics .... New 199 CALL DOSIX Console Version by Data Basics . . New 399 CALL Informix by Informix . 995 795 lnformix4GL by Informix . 1500 1239 InformixSQL by Informix . 995 795 lynx by Informix . 595 449 Micro Focus Level II Compact COBOL. . . 1000 795 Forms-2 . 400 319 Level II ANIMATQR. 600 479 Microsoft See Microsoft Section . CALL CALL Networks for XENIX by SCO . 595 495 PANEL Screen Designer by Roundhill . 625 535 REAL-TOOLS Binary Version by PCT ... New 149 89 Library Source Version . New 399 289 Complete Source Version . New 499 369 RM /COBOL by Ryan-McFarland . 1250 949 RM/FORTRAN by Ryan-McFarland . 750 549 SCO Professional Lotus clone by SCO .... 795 595 CIRCLE NO. 175 ON READER SERVICE CARD C Programmers: We support every product in this ad & 700 others. Try any product here with a full 31-day money-back guarantee. Flexible SCREEN and WINDOW Development with ZVIEW Screen Library Use this field-sensitive tool to devel¬ op data entry screens and windows and provide run-time flexibility. Se¬ curity level settings restrict inquiry or update of fields; multiple screen help display is available at screen and field level. NEW Features: Windows can be stacked, peeled off, and moved at run-time. You also get automatic scrolling of data within fields. ZVIEW gives you full control of attributes, colors, boxes, protected fields, scrolling, and more. Load screens from memory for SPEED. Field support includes alpha, numeric, or alphanumeric data types, case conversion, range checking, and field comparison. ZVIEW even provides automatic data conversion to and from ASCII screen format. Microsoft C, Lattice 3.0, and Aztec 3.2e. Supports EGA, color, and monochrome displays. PCDOS $189 ■ ■ ■■ ' ' ; ■ ■ -' ' W: - 280 Functions Without “Fat”: Blackstar ‘C Function Library Without duplicating compiler li¬ brary functions, the Blackstar ‘C’ function Library covers the range. BOTH Microsoft C and Lattice C library versions are included in one product with screen, graphics, file, text, and serial communications routines. Extensive device driver support [including mouse handling]. Low-level utilities and DOS and memory control routines. And a great price, too. Some other libraries are padded with different functions that do the ; same thing, or functions that repeat routines suplied with your compiler. JS Sterling Castle trims the fat to give you over 280 unique functions. u..« All source is supplied [most in C],

    including routines written in assem¬ bler for speed optimization. You get versions for small, medium, and large models. 350 page manual with quick reference guide and demos. No royalties. 1 -800-7-CASTLE PCDOS $99 BRIEF Makes Editing C Programs a Breeze BRIEF, The Programmer’s Editor, is tailored for C programmers. Take a look at the BUILT-IN features below — just part of the reason why 1000’s of C programmers already rely on BRIEF. AutoCompile - While in BRIEF, with MS C, Lattice, other compilers Autoindent - Use default or modify Template editing - for “fill in the blanks” style programming Error to Error Tracking - “Next error” moves to right line Multi Window Editing - Any size, any number Macro Language - Completely readable, programmable BRIEF can be used with any language. Even beginning programmers become productive in less then 30 minutes. Ask about UNDO [not un¬ delete], Unlimited File Size, Tiled & Pop-Up Windows, or for a detailed product description. /Solution Systems PCDOS $195 ; . -i ; Compiler-Compatible Interpreter, Editor, Debugger Interactive-C™ A fully integrated development environment, Interactive-C combines a K&R standard interpreter with a full-screen editor and source-level de¬ bugger. Interactive C is 100% compatible with Lattice or Microsoft. You can link in external libraries — your own or commercial: no source code modifications are necessary! The full screen editor gives you adjustable edit, command, and status windows. Switch to second screen for output, or even display on two separate monitors. Why get only a limited debugger when you can get full source debugging with an interactive interpreter? Unlimited breakpoints, variety of stepping modes, interactive viewing and modification of variables, automatic positioning of cursor at error. Even stop to edit, then continue without re-executing from start . 8087/287 support. Specify Lattice or Microsoft. PCDOS $219 Jjgfl III Si lllll NEW Blaise Tools Are Better Than Ever C Tools Plus Free yourself for more creative programming; stop worrying about hard¬ ware dependence. Handle everything from co-resident software require¬ ments to multiple display pages and monitors with C Tools Plus. Filter interrupts so that other resident programs still work. 200+ well- documented functions control screen handling [direct to video adapter or BIOS calls, EGA text mode support including 43 line and multiple display pages — even handle multiple monitors], an unlimited number of pop-up, stackable windows with word-wrap, interrupt service routines, DOS di¬ rectory and file handling, memory management and program control, string functions, and more. Source, no royalties. Lattice 3.0, MS C. ❖ PCDOS $139 BLAISE COMPUTING INC. § lllll! alilllllftl iflil I//;/;,/ Fast Prototyping and Development of User Interfaces with Skylights “It's much easier to adapt to the end-user f s needs than any other product I've seen . . . definitely a programmer's tool. ” William Elswick, Software Engineer, Compact Video Quickly design interactive prototypes, then include screens you develop in your finished application code. Design demos or tutorials. Skylight combines an intuitive screen/window/menu editor, run-time windowing, menu handling, and front-end support routines, and “Demo/ Tutorial Maker” program plus detailed low-level primitives. Supports a variety of pointing devices [mice, tablets, lightpens]. All major C com¬ pilers; even use with other languages [BASIC, Pascal, Assembly] with utility included. Bit-mapped graphics upgrade available. No royalties. Shyllght PCDOS $359 Software, Inc. A NEW C Standard for SCREENS and WINDOWS: C-SCAPE Setting a new standard for screen generation, C-scape turns your Dan Bricklin Demo Program screens into C code instantly. You can capture existing screens from 1 -2-3, Turbo, or that old BASIC diehard and convert them to C inseconds. C-scape can save you immense effort and reduce errors for both new program development and language conversion projects. C-scape is a combination screen generator and library of input/output functions that provides an advanced and powerful ability to create different types of menus, input fields, help screens, and text with unprecendented speed and flexibility. Tiled, pull-down, and pop-up windows of virtually any depth [limited by RAM] are a key feature, along with scrolling, full color and type support, and individual key or field validation. Because C-scape is based on C’s printf statement, you can embed the com¬ mands for screen positioning and field definition right inside your format string. This helps you produce clear, readable code, which is easier to maintain and change. Since full source code is provided, the standard library routines can be tailored to meet your exact screen layout and keystroke handling requirements. All C programmers will benefit from C-scape’s readable, intuitive syntax, based on an extension of C’s printf function. Beginners will learn by studying code generated from captured screens. Advanced programmers will enjoy C-scape’s ease of maintenance. Power programmers will appreciate the free source code provided at no additional cost upon registration. Oakland Group, Inc. features free updates, an on-line bulletin board for users, and toll-free technical support at 800-233-3733 [800-BEE-FREE] or 617-491-7311. Escape the pitfalls of coding from scratch, and free up your time for creativity and productivity. Buy C-scape now and take advantage of the 31-day review period: satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. No royalties. No license fee. Lattice 3.0, Microsoft 3.0 & 4.0. Oakland Group, lnc.!d PCDOS $149 Call for a catalog, literature, advice and service you can trust HOURS 8:30 AM-8:00 PM EST. CIRCLE NO. 220 ON READER SERVICE CARD 800 - 421-8006 THE PROGRAMMER’S SHOP™ 128-P Rockland Street, Hanover, MA 02339 Mass: 800-442-8070 or 617-826-7531 12/86 “The scope and detail of services you provide are exemplary — it’s obvious you have given a lot of thought to what information people need . . . For someone like myself, critical appraisals of software and comprehensive collections of offer¬ ings such as you have are really useful/

16. Bruce Cyr Foundation of American College of Health Care Administrators MICHAEL ABRASH Conditional-jump Macros Macros can be used to size a conditional jump automatically, in order to aid the assembly language programmer. T he need to work around short conditional jumps is one of the annoyances of assembly language programming for the 808x microprocessor family. Backward conditional jumps spanning fewer than 129 bytes and forward conditional jumps spanning fewer than 128 bytes can be implemented with a single instruction, such as JNZ, but longer conditional jumps require a two-instruction sequence, such as JZ around a long JMP. An optimizing compiler is better than an assembler in the automatic generation of the proper code sequence for long or short conditional jumps as needed, and produces tighter, faster code. With the proper macros, however, auto¬ matically sized backward conditional jumps are possible. The macro in MJNZMAC.ASM [listing 1] generates JNZ if the jump distance is short enough for the 128-byte range of the backward conditional jump to reach the destination. If the distance is too great, a JZ around a JMP is generated. If the jump distance is more than 128 bytes [as calculated from the end of the JNZ instruction], the JZ/JMP sequence will be gen¬ erated; otherwise, the more efficient JNZ instruction [3 bytes shorter and 3 to 12 cycles faster on the 8088] is used. The MJNZ macro can determine the optimal code se¬ quence for backward jumps only. On the first pass of the as¬ sembler, the destination of [and hence the distance covered by] forward jumps is not yet known, whereas on pass two, the destination is known, but any change in the length of the code sequence from pass one causes a phase error. The LISTING 1: MJNZMAC.ASM ; Input: / PI = label to jump to. MJNZ macro PI local skip_label, skip_label1, skip_label2 ifdef PI if [PI LE $] if center stage in mast of the company’s advertisements is the PC’s Limited 286 12 , a PC/AT compatible that promises an al¬ most unheard-of 12-MHz performance at a price thousands of dollars below that of IBM’s original AT. At the time this article was written, advertisements for the 286* 2 proclaimed the price to be $2,695 for a package that includes the system unit with 1MB of RAM on the system board, a single diskette drive, a combination ..2MB < diskette/hard-disk controller, and a key¬ board. Some of the advertisements also claimed that the machine Is equipped with two serial ports and one parallel port, but those items were not present on the machine tested for this article and the manual treats them as options. Other components not included in the base machine are a hard disk, monitor, and display adapter [see sidebar]. Neither DOS nor BASIC is supplied with the 286K Either PC- or MS-DOS [versions 2.0 or later] can be used, but PC’s Limited advises using PC-DOS 3.1 or MS-DOS 3-11 or later. Version 3 2 [packaged with GW-BASIC] is available at extra cost from the company. The test machine included the stan¬ dard items, plus a 40MB Tandon hard disk, a 360KB diskette drive, the PC s Limited EG Ads! graphics adapter, and a Princeton Graphics Systems HX-12E en¬ hanced color monitor. The total price for this configuration when purchased from PC’s Limited is $4,447—more than the advertised price, but still a good buy if the equipment works as advei tised. Photo 1 shows the entire system. [PC's Limited now offers a package price for two configurations of the 286 12 . The system unit with 1.2MB diskette drive, 30MB hard-disk drive, one parallel and two serial ports, EGAtis! card, and 12-inch enhanced PCS LIMITED PHOTO 4: Keyboard Comparison VBKBlBKBIVKSBBIia aaiia » svbhbii mwm asajjjiaaajii I sm aaaaaaai w p ■■ asa Baa aaa aaa Photo 1: Tlic PC’s Limited machine comes standard with 1MB of RAM on the system board, a single 1.2MB diskette drive, and a combination diskette/hard-disk controller. Photo 2: The PC’s Limited system unit, which measures 18.75 by 16.5 by 6.5 inches, is 25 percent smaller than the AT’s. The dotted lines indicate the size of the 286 12 . Photo 3 The SmartVU LED display panel provides several useful diagnostic functions on the 286 12 , including the cur¬ rent track that is being read on the disk. Photo 4: The PC’s Limited keyboard layout [top] is similar to the original AT, but it provides little tactile feedback. The position of the Esc and tilde [ "] keys can be swapped. llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Photo 5: The 80286 and 80287 sockets are located for easy access inside the system unit. The support brace on the left must be removed before access to slot 8 is possible. % PC TECH JOURNAL graphics color monitor is priced at $3,595. The same package except with a 40MB hard-disk drive is $3,695.] Because of its price tag, questions about the quality of the 286 12 naturally arise. Even with the low price, is the computer really a wise investment? Is it well engineered, or will it spend most of its time traveling to and from PC’s Limited headquarters in Austin, Texas, for repairs? When it is first pulled from the box, the 286 12 exudes quality. The cabinet looks and feels like an IBM product, and the SmartVU panel on the front of the unit adds a high-tech flavor. Unfortunately, the computer tested for this article did not live up to its good- looking package or its advance billing. Before testing could even begin, the unit had to be returned to PC’s Lim¬ ited three times for repairs. The Smart¬ VU panel [the diagnostic read-out on the front of the system unit] failed twice, once accompanied by the unmis¬ takable odor of burning insulation. A third problem involved the diskette/ hard-disk controller, which failed to ac¬ cess the hard disk properly at 12 MHz. Until the controller was replaced, it de¬ stroyed files, crashed the system, and eventually did so much damage that the hard disk had to be reformatted. After the unit was returned from PC’s Limited for the third time, it devel¬ oped another problem that prevented the warm reboot [Ctrl-Alt-Del] from working. Although the system booted when it was turned on, it ceased oper¬ ating when a warm reboot was per¬ formed, and the following message ap¬ peared in 40-column mode on the screen: “Error 8259

    1 101 System

    Halted.” Aside from this initial problem, though, the 286 12 worked almost flaw¬ lessly for the rest of the test period. SMALL FOOTPRINT From the outside, the system unit looks like an AT, except narrower. At 18.75 inches by 16.5 inches by 6.5 inches, it is actually 25 percent smaller than the AT. Photo 2 compares the footprint of the PC’s Limited 286 12 with that of the AT. The only apparent penalty imposed by the reduced footprint is in drive space: the 286 12 ’s single storage bay is capable of holding only three half¬ height drives, whereas the AT’s two storage bays can handle two half-height diskette drives and two full-height hard disks. The 1.2MB diskette drive is nor¬ mally mounted in the 286 12 ’s top bay. In the unit tested for this article, the mid¬ dle bay contained a 360KB diskette drive, and the bottom bay contained a 40MB hard disk. This arrangement is not the only one possible. The diskette/ hard-disk controller has cables for two diskette drives and two hard disks, so a second hard disk could be substituted for the second diskette drive without having to purchase another controller or extra cables. One minor annoyance is that the 1.2MB diskette drive and the 360KB drive look identical when viewed from the front. Some companies place a large asterisk on the front of one drive to dis¬ tinguish it; other companies provide ac¬ cess lights of different colors. Neither method is used on the 286 12 . Its small footprint notwithstanding, the 286 12 manages to house a full complement of eight expansion slots [two 8-bit slots and six 16-bit slots] and 1MB of RAM on its system board. The front panel of the 286 12 system unit includes a key-lock switch, a flex¬ ible set of indicators, and the SmartVU panel, as shown in photo 3. The key lock is a miniature version of the AT’s key lock and provides the same func¬ tions. Situated next to the key lock are a hard-disk access light and another indi¬ cator light, the function of whicfi can be selected with a switch on the system board. In one setting, this light is sim¬ ply a power indicator that is lit when power is on. In the other setting, the light indicates processor speed [off for 6,MHz, on for 12 MHz]. Because the de¬ fault operating speed is 6 MHz, most us¬ ers will choose the latter setting, thus creating a visual reminder to switch to 12 MHz after booting. Next to the indicator lights is the SmartVU diagnostic panel, the trouble¬ some component that had to be re¬ placed twice in the test unit. When it does work, SmartVU provides valuable feedback about system operations. The panel consists of two separate displays: a four-character alphanumeric LED dis¬ play and a DIP consisting of a row of eight LED bars [see photo 3]. The alphanumeric display has four primary functions. First, it lists the names of the power-on routines during the boot process and displays error messages. On a machine that is operat¬ ing properly, the names of the power- on routines [such as RAMI, RAM2, Optr, KB33, VMem, Inti, and Int2] flash by too quickly to be seen. If a problem develops, the name of the current test remains on the screen for a moment, then an error message appears. In the case of the test machine, whenever a warm reboot was performed the display stopped at the test Int2. Then the mes¬ sage “Error 8259

    1 101” appeared

    on the screen and also scrolled across the SmartVU display. The second function of the alpha¬ numeric panel is to display the proces¬ sor speed whenever it changes. Pressing Ctrl-Alt-\ toggles the processor be¬ tween 6 and 12 MHz; then the com¬ puter beeps and the alphanumeric dis¬ play lists the new processor speed. The third panel function should es¬ pecially please those users who are ada¬ mant about having access lights on their disk drives. Whenever a drive is ac¬ cessed, the panel displays the drive let¬ ter, followed by the two least significant digits of the sector that is being ac¬ cessed. This can be helpful while de¬ bugging programs, if only to give hints about whether a program is accessing the drives at the expected times. The sector numbers do not provide much explicit information, but they do make it easier to estimate the amount of data being accessed. With large amounts of data, the numbers fly by; when quick accesses are performed, only a short burst of sector numbers appears. The fourth function of the alpha¬ numeric panel is to display error mes- PC’S LIMITED 286 12 VITAL STATISTICS PC’s Limited 286' 2 : $ 2,695 1MB memory Realtime clock 1.2MB diskette drive Memory capacity on system board 1MB Display adapters None provided Expansion slots 16-bit: 6 8-bit: 2 Available slots [after adding display adapter and serial/parallel card] 16-bit: 5 8-bit: 0 Options available Monochrome display adapter $ 159 EGAds! adapter $ 269 Serial/parallel card $ 199 12-inch enhanced graphics color monitor $ 479 30MB hard disk $699 40MB hard disk $ 819 FEBRUARY 1987 97 THE BAD NEWS ISN'T THE PRICE Okay, you could have saved thousands with Ability” the $99 integrated program that does everything your armload of programs does. But maybe even more importantly, you could have saved tons of time and hassle. Because we’ve combined six high- powered PC productivity tools into a single, simple package. You get full-featured wordprocessing with no exotic codes to leam, and what- you-see-is-what-you-get formatting. Spreadsheets larger than Symphony, with all the powerful math and business functions you need and the ability to import Lotus 1-2-3 files [and formulas where possible]. A forms-oriented database that’s easier to use than pfs:file. Professional business graphics from your spread¬ sheets and databases with just a few keystrokes. Ability: $99. Utt-h Menu-driven, Migent Pocket Modem” and Hayes-compatible communications. Even “slide shows” with sound on your PC! And smooth, seamless integration like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Because with Ability, the table and graph you see in the letter aren’t just copies pasted in—they’re live. So if you change the table in the letter, the changes are made in the linked spreadsheet or database that contains the underlying data. Or change the spreadsheet and the letter is updated at the same time. And the graph is automatically redrawn to reflect the changes, either way [Perfect for those weekly and monthly reports.] And anybody can do it with no programming at all, because Ability is menu-driven and uses the same instructions in all six applications. At just $99, Ability could even pay for your PC if you don’t already have one. Check it out at your local computer store or contact: Migent, Inc., PO. Box 6062, Incline Village,

    NV 89450. iMI/iZKIT [702]832-3700. MW IIVm HI I ©Migent, Inc. 1986 Ability and Pocket Modem are trademarks of Migent, Inc. Other names and products trademarked by others. CIRCLE NO. 154 ON READER SERVICE CARD PCS LIMITED TABLE 1 : SmartVU Display Panel Error Messages MESSAGE DESCRIPTION Er02 80286 failure Er03 Multiple RAM errors in the first 64KB Er04 Video RAM failure Er05 ROM checksum error Er06 Parity error status bit cannot be reset Er07 8254 timer failure Er08 Programmable array logic or RAM refresh failure Er09 8742-controlled Gate A20 not operating well in virtual-86 mode ErlO Virtual-86 mode exception error, extended memory failure, or 8742 failure Erl 1 The 14-MHz crystal is shorted or inoperable Battery Low The battery powering the realtime clock is low The SmartVU LED display panel, when it works, provides a list of error messages to help pinpoint system errors, including a low battery for the realtime clock. sages during system operation. These messages can indicate a CPU failure, a memory problem, or even a low-battery indicator for the realtime clock. Table 1 lists the error messages. The second display of the SmartVU panel consists of an array of eight LEDs. Once the system has been booted, a light flashes back and forth across this eight-element display, indicating that the system is operational. The individ¬ ual lights are related to timer interrupts. When an interrupt occurs, the LED cur¬ rently on is switched off and the next one in sequence is switched on. If the lights stop flashing, it is an indication that the CPU has halted for some reason or that interrupts have been disabled. This display is useful in determining whether a program has really crashed or is just taking a long time for compu¬ tation. The lights can be disabled if the flashing becomes too distracting. The Princeton Graphics Systems HX-12E monitor and the PC’s Limited EGAds! adapter that were included in the test unit provide features similar to IBM’s Enhanced Graphics Adapter [EGA] and Enhanced Color Display. Al¬ though a full test of the EGA’s compati¬ bility was not performed for this article, the EGAds! card exhibited no trouble handling software that uses the EGA’s special video modes [such as Microsoft Word and Windows]. The EGAds! card is a three-quarter length, sparsely popu¬ lated card that contains the Chips and Technologies [C&T] EGA chip set. [For a review of the EGAds! card, see “The EGA Spectrum, Part 1,” John T. Cocker- ham, October 1986, p. 80.] As might be expected from an inexpensive compatible, the 286 12 ’s key¬ board is a lightweight model that pro¬ vides little tactile feedback, although the F and J keys do have ridges to help keep fingers positioned properly on the home row. Manufactured by the Maxi- Switch Company, the keyboard features a layout that is virtually identical to that of the original IBM AT. Photo 4 com¬ pares the two keyboards. One interesting note about the key¬ board is that it can be used on both AT- and PC/XT-compatible computers. A switch on the underside of the key¬ board sets the mode; another switch lets users swap locations of the Esc and tilde [ ~] keys to place the Esc key back in its original, top-left location. OPERATING AT 12 MHz The 286 12 comes with 1MB of RAM on the system board, rated for 100-nano¬ second [ns] access time so that it will work properly with a 12-MHz 80286. The system board is extremely flexible in its method of RAM allocation be¬ tween conventional and extended mem¬ ory. The default configuration is 640KB of conventional and 384KB of extended memory; it also can be divided into 512KB for both types of memory, or only conventional memory can be as¬ signed. This option is useful when bad memory chips are suspected, because the user can exchange memory chips from the unused extended memory to replace the bad chips. Unfortunately, the manual for the 286 12 mentions only the 512KB/512KB option, even though the switches are set at the factory for 640KB/384KB. Fur¬ thermore, the manual warns that when the 640KB option is chosen, the remain¬ ing memory cannot be accessed, but the factory-selected 640KB/384KB op¬ tion does permit use of the additional 384KB as extended memory. The 286 12 ’s 12-MHz operation is a performance bonus. The default 6-MHz operation permits speed-sensitive pro¬ grams, such as games and copy-pro¬ tected software, to run without diffi¬ culty. At any time, however, the user can toggle to 12 MHz by using the Ctrl- Alt-\ key combination. PC’s Limited does not provide a way to set the pro¬ cessor speed through programming. One side effect of the 12-MHz op¬ eration can be good or bad, depending on the expansion cards running in the computer. When the CPU is switched into 12-MHz mode, the expansion bus runs at 12 MHz as well. This is ideal for cards that can handle the smaller bus cycles, but many popular expansion cards, such as the Intel Above Board and the Cheetah memory card do not function at that speed; in that case, the entire computer, including the CPU, must be switched back to 6-MHz mode. The 286 12 contains an option menu, including the entire set-up program, in ROM; it is activated by pressing Ctrl-Alt- Enter. The menu options are listed as they appear on the screen: • Configure hardware • Disable RAM parity • Enable RAM parity • SmartVU scan off • SmartVU scan on • Park fixed disk heads • List SmartVU diagnostic summary • Resume program • Restart system This menu provides access to the set-up utility for specifying the number and type of disks, the amount of memory available, the type of display adapter used, and the presence or absence of a numeric coprocessor. The option menu also lets users disable or enable RAM parity or SmartVU’s array of lights, park the heads on the hard disk, and list the SmartVU error codes. Because the entire option program resides in ROM, it can be accessed and the options changed—even when an ap¬ plication program is running. However, accessing the option menu while run¬ ning other application programs is not recommended. If the user accesses the set-up portion of the program—for ex¬ ample, to view the current settings— then the only way to leave the program is to reboot the computer. Of course, rebooting means that any data not saved before the option menu was activated will be lost. Even if the user wishes to switch off the SmartVU panel or to look at a FEBRUARY 1987 99 PCS LIMITED list of the error messages, the option menu still should not be invoked from within application programs. Although the program can be resumed, the pre¬ vious screen is not restored. INSTALLING HARDWARE Installing hardware in the 286 12 is for the most part easy. The metal cover of the system unit is fastened with three easily accessible screws on the rear panel. A medium-sized Phillips screw¬ driver can be used to remove them, as well as any other screws in the system unit The cover, which wraps around like the AT’s cover, slides forward and tilts up and off. One difficulty arises if any one of the drives installed by PC’s Limited needs to be removed. These drives are fastened to the storage bay by two screws, one on each side of the bay. Re¬ moving the screw next to the outside edge of the computer is easy, but the screw on the side next to the expansion cards poses a problem; it requires ei¬ ther, a very short screwdriver or the re¬ moval of the disk adapter card from the slot adjacent to the bay. Adding and removing expansion cards is as easy in this machine as in the AT, with the exception of slot 8 [the slot next to the edge of the system unit]. Direcdy above this slot is a sup¬ port brace that must be removed in order to gain access to the slot. Photo 5 shows the inside of the system unit with this support brace visible. The 286 12 does not include plastic card guides to steady and align the ex^ pansion cards when they are inserted. Because most expansion boards come with a card guide, however, this lack should not prove to be a problem. Other areas of the system unit are easily accessible. The 80286 and 80287 sockets are placed so that neither the power supply nor any drive needs to be removed to gain access to the chips. The 80286 is in a leadless chip carrier [LCC] socket with an AMP-type socket cover. The socket cover can be tricky to remove, but it is manageable. When the socket cover is removed, the label on the underside of the chip verifies that the processor is rated at 12 MHz. The system board’s switch settings are labeled on the board next to the switch—a nice touch that enables the switches to be set without using the manual. This label includes the relevant switch settings for the amount of mem¬ ory that is installed. The switches for the 80287 socket are similarly labeled. As photo 5 also shows, the system board of the 286 12 contains six 16-bit and two 8-bit expansion slots, even though the 286 12 ’s board is considerably smaller than that of the AT. The disk ad¬ apter normally resides in the 16-bit slot next to the power supply. In the test unit, the EGAds! adapter was placed in one of the 8-bit slots. If serial and paral¬ lel ports are desired, another expansion slot is required for their use. Therefore, five slots are actually available for op¬ tional expansion cards. The four C&T components used on the system board are one reason the board can contain a full complement of expansion slots and still fit in a small¬ sized chassis. These custom compo¬ nents provide the sa/ne services that are normally provided by many general- purpose components; thus, they take up less area on the board. The 286 12 ’s half-height, 40MB Tan- don hard disk had a slighdy better per¬ formance rating than that of the AT. The average access time for the Tandon T be system board of the 286 12 contains the full eight expansion slots [six 16-bit and two 8-bit] even though the board is considerably smaller than that of the AT. drive was 34.1 milliseconds [ms]. Be¬ cause DOS cannot manage disks larger than 32MB, PC’s Limited provides a de¬ vice driver called SPLIT_1.SYS that splits the disk into two logical drives, C: and D:, enabling the entire disk to be accessible. Of course, for this device driver to work, FDISK must be used to set up two DOS partitions on the drive. This operation is normally performed by PC’s Limited before shipping the drive. The tested drive was set up for 32MB in drive C: and 8MB in drive D:. The 286 12 supports IBM drive types 1 through 13 for users who would like to add their own drives. The disk drive housing does not look as if it would cause any problems with the installation of third-party, half-height drives, and the standard mounting kits supplied with such drives should be adequate. Full- height drives also will fit, but different mounting hardware may be necessary in order to install them. The power supply, manufactured by Fortran, is rated at 192 watts. Typical power consumption at 110 volts is 27 watts with a 1.2MB diskette drive, a 360KB diskette drive, and a 40MB hard disk installed in the system unit. TESTING 1, 2, 3 Like the other computers reviewed in this series, the 286 12 underwent two kinds of tests. First, a set of commonly used hardware and software products was installed to check for compatibility. Then the PC Tech Journal AT Evalua¬ tion Suite of compatibility and perfor¬ mance tests was run, and the results were compared with an 8-MHz AT. The add-on hardware products in¬ stalled in the PC’s Limited 286 12 for these tests included an 80287 numeric coprocessor, the Intel Above Board AT with 4MB of memory, a Cheetah zero- wait-state RAM card, the PC’s Limited EGAds! card, Microsoft serial and bus mice, an IBM game adapter, and the Hayes Smartmodem 1200B. An IBM par¬ allel/serial adapter also was added for use with the serial mouse and to check whether or not the software products tested could access these ports. The software products that were used included Microsoft Windows and Word [to test graphics capabilities and the mice]; SuperKey, SideKick, and Turbo Lightning, all from Borland Inter¬ national [to test memory-resident pro¬ grams]; Ready! from Living Videotext and Intel QUIKMEM [to test expanded memory]; Hayes Smartcom II [to test the communications port]; IBM VDISK [to check extended memory]; Fastback from Fifth Generation Systems [to check direct memory access]; and the IBM SETUP and Advanced Diagnostics programs [to perform a general check¬ up on the PC’s Limited system]. A major hardware problem oc¬ curred when the computer was set to run at 12 MHz. At that setting, neither the Above Board nor the Cheetah mem¬ ory card would function reliably. The Above Board’s diagnostic program [TESTAB] reported that two complete banks of memory were bad. These problems occurred because at the 12- MHz setting, both the processor and the expansion bus run at 12 MHz. Neither the Above Board nor the Cheetah card is rated for use at that speed. If either one of these cards is to be used, the 286 12 must be set to run at 6 MHz. All of the software products tested worked properly, even at 12 MHz. Soft¬ ware that depended on the expanded memory in the Above Board was tested only at 6 MHz. Even the IBM AT Ad¬ vanced Diagnostics ran at the 12-MHz speed without detecting an error. 100 PC TECH JOURNAL PCS LIMITED TABLE 2: Results of Compatibility and Performance Tests 8-MHz AT, PCs LIMITED 286 12 , 30MB DISK" 40MB DISK [at 12 MHz] ATBIOS ROM BIOS date 11/15/85 06/14/86 ATPERF Average RAM .403 [100] fc .262 [153] instruction fetch [|xs] Average RAM read time [jjls] BYTE .401 [100] .262 [153] WORD .401 [100] .262 [153] Average RAM write time [jjls] BYTE .401 [100] .262 [153] WORD .401 [100] .262 [153] Average ROM read time [|xs] BYTE .401 [100] .262 [153] WORD .401 [100] .262 [153] Average video write time [fis] [CGA only] BYTE 1.208 [100] 1.210[100] WORD 2.415 [100] 2.410 [100] Average EMM read time [jjls] BYTE .402 [100] .262 [153] WORD .402 [100] .262 [153] Average EMM write time [|is] BYTE .402 [100] .262 [153] WORD .402 [100] .262 [153] CPU clock rate [MHz] 8.0 [100] 12.0 [150] Math coprocessor clock rate [MHz] 5.3 [100] 8.0 [150] Refresh overhead [%] 7.1 4.6 RAM read wait states 1 1 RAM write wait states 1 1 ROM read wait states 1 1 Video write wait states [CGA] 8 12 EMM read wait states 1 1 EMM write wait states T 1 ATFLOAT Performance as percentage 100 150 relative to AT ATDISK Sectors/track 17 17 Heads 5 5 Cylinders 731 975 Total space [million bytes] 31.81 42.4 Track-track seek time [ms] 6.0 5.4 Average seek time [ms] 37.1 34.1 Effective transfer rate [KB/sec] 170.1 169.9 DOS File I/O [sec] 7.3 7.1 Interleave 3 3 a The figures for the IBM AT are the average results from several machines, whereas the results from the PCs Limited 286 12 are taken only from the review sample model. b Figures shown in parentheses represent the relative performance expressed as a percentage compared to PC Tech Journal’s baseline machine, the 8-MHz, 30MB AT. The expanded memory manager [EMM] measurements are shown in this table, even though the Intel Above Board did not work reliably at 12 MHz. The ATBIOS results did not provide the manufacturer of the BIOS in this case. The bus is run¬ ning at the 12-MHz speed of the processor itself when in the faster mode. After all the add-on hardware and software products were tested, the PC Tech Journal AT compatibility and per¬ formance tests were run. These tests perform the following functions: ATBIOS checks the BIOS and BIOS data area; ATKEY checks for keyboard com¬ patibility; ATPERF measures CPU and numeric coprocessor clock rates as well as memory access times; ATFLOAT measures floating-point operations with the numeric coprocessor installed; and ATDISK measures hard-disk perform¬ ance. [See “Out from the Shadow of IBM...,” Steven Armbrust, Ted Forger- on, and Paul Pierce, August 1986, p. 52, for a more detailed description of these programs.] All of these tests were run with the 286 12 at its 12-MHz speed set¬ ting. Table 2 lists the results. ATBIOS showed that the 286 12 uses the data area in the same way that the AT does. The area normally used for the copyright statement merely stated that the machine was IBM compatible; as a result, the designer of the BIOS could not be identified. ATPERF indicated that the proces¬ sor, numeric coprocessor, and the expansion bus all were running at a higher speed than in the 8-MHz AT. The 80286 does indeed run at 12 MHz, and the 80287 runs at 8 MHz. The numbers for the Intel expanded memory man¬ ager [EMM] read and write times show that access to the expansion bus is also at 12 MHz. The EMM measurements are included in table 2 even though the Above Board does not work reliably at the 12-MHz speed. ATFLOAT also showed that floating¬ point operations were performed faster with the 286 12 . ATKEY verified that the keyboard was compatible with the AT keyboard. In fact, the IBM AT keyboard worked when plugged into the 286 12 . ATDISK determined that the Tan- don hard disk slightly exceeded the performance of the AT hard disk. With an interleave of 3, the effective transfer rate was almost identical to the AT. CONFUSING DOCUMENTATION The owner’s manual for the 286 12 pro¬ vides the minimum amount of informa¬ tion necessary to operate the 286 12 , but just barely. Although it claims not to speak “computerese,” the manual de¬ fines only a few of the terms it uses. Its major error is in failing to mention the option that divides memory into 640KB of conventional memory and 384KB of extended memory. This omission, along with warnings about the 640KB setting, might lead the user to believe that the FEBRUARY 1987 101 isn’t it a pity... Everything Isn’t As Accommodating As

    TM TM c-tree / r-tree FILE HANDLER REPORT GENERATOR Performance and Portability For all the time you devote to developing your new programs, doesn't it make sense to insure they perform like lightning and can be ported with ease? c-tree: Multi-Key ISAM Functions For Single User, Network, & Multi Tasking Systems Based on the most advanced B* Tree routines available today, c-tree gives you un¬ matched keyed tile accessing performance and complete C Source Code. Thousands of profes¬ sional C programmers are already enjoying c-tree s royalty-free benefits, outstanding performance, and unparalleled portability. Only FairOom provides single and multi-user capabilities in one source code package, including locking routines for Unix, Xenix, and DOS 3.1., for one low price! In addition, c-tree supports fixed and variable record length data files; fixed and variable length key values with key compression; multiple indices in a single index file; and automatic sharing of file descriptors. r-tree: Multi-File Report Generator r-tree builds on the power of c-tree to provide sophisticated, multi-line reports. Information spanning multiple files may be used for display purposes or to direct record selection. You can develop new reports or change existing reports without programming or recompiling and can use any text editor to create or modify r-tree report scripts including the complete report layout. At your option, end users may even modify the report scripts you provide. Unlimited Virtual Fields; Automatic File Traversal r-tree report scripts can define any number of virtual fields based on complex computational expressions involving application defined data objects and other virtual fields. In addition, r-tree automatically computes values based on the MAX, MIN, SUM, FRQ, or AVG of values spread overmultiple records, r-tree even lets you nest these computational func¬ tions, causing files from different logical levels to be automatically traversed. Unlike other report generators, r-tree allows you to distribute executable code capable of producing new reports or changing existing reports without royalty payments, provided the code is tied to an application. Your complete source code also includes the report, script interpreter and compiler. How To Order Put FairOom leadership in programmers utilities to work for you. Order c-tree today for $395 or r-tree for $295. [When ordered together, r-tree is only $255]. For VISA, MasterCard and C.O.D. orders, call 314/445-
17. For c-tree benchmark comparisons, write FairOom, 2606 Johnson Drive, Columbia, MO 65203. PC’S LIMITED extended memory in the computer is not an option. The manual does not include an index—a definite disadvantage. It is spiral-bound, so it lies flat when in use. No technical reference manual is avail¬ able for the 286 12 , and because no soft¬ ware is shipped with the machine, no manuals describing DOS or BASIC are included either. PC’s Limited offers an excellent warranty and service plan, and judging from the test machine’s performance, many users will need to take advantage of it. A 30-day, money-back guarantee and a one-year warranty are offered by PC’s Limited; it offers a toll-free support line, which is staffed by courteous, knowledgeable people. Users also can contact PC’s Limited via Telex, facsimile machine, or MCI Mail. RELIABLE BARGAIN? The PC’s Limited 286 12 , if it works, of¬ fers a good value for the price, but if the unit tested is any indication, the ma¬ chine has significant reliability prob¬ lems. Contacting PC’s Limited and send¬ ing the computer back was never a problem. The support staff was always eager to help. However, users who can¬ not afford any down time might be¬ come frustrated by the necessity to help PC’s Limited do the testing and evalua¬ tion that should have been performed earlier by the company itself. In addition, because the 286 12 runs both the processor and the expansion bus at 12 MHz, this fast mode might not work with many of the expansion cards currently in use. In order to use such hardware, the computer must be run at the slower 6-MHz setting, and at 6 MHz, the 286 12 is hardly a bargain. To its advantage, the 286 12 was able to run every software package that was tested, even at 12 MHz. Once PC’s Limited learns how to build reliability into this computer, the 286 12 will be an excellent buy, especially for users who do not have old expansion cards that they must use. tem^l 286 ’» PCs Limited 1611 Headway Circle, Building 3 Austin, TX 78754 800/426-5150; in Texas, 800/252-8336 CIRCLE 347 ON READER SERVICE CARD Steven Armbrust is a freelance technical writer, and Ted Forgeron is software project manager for Intel Scientific Computers . To¬ gether, they are the authors of the Program¬ mer’s Reference Manual for IBM Personal Computers [Dow-Jones Irwin, 1986]. Complete C Source Code & No Royalties! Xenix is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. Unix is a registered trademark of AT&T. CIRCLE NO. 119 ON READER SERVICE CARD 102 PC TECH JOURNAL LOTUS 1-2-3 ™ TO DOT MATRIX PRINTER PCs TO SERIAL DEVICES PCs TO MODEM PCs TO MAINFRAME PC APPLICATION TO MULTIPLE PERIPHERALS NOW—SOFTWARE AUTOMATED PERIPHERAL SHARING. Introducing Crosspoint 8 —the first data switch that links any combination of peripherals and PCs up to 8 by software control. PC offices can access RS232c serial devices for about $100 per port—a lot less than duplicating peripherals for each PC. Crosspoint 8 means greater productivity with fewer peripherals, and more output from each. Set programs to run automatically on your choice of peripheral: Assign Lotus 1-2-3 to a dot matrix printer; Auto CAD™ to a plotter; WordStar to a laser printer; communi¬ cations to a modem. Use Crosspoint 8 for multi¬ tasking programs like Microsoft Windows.™ Each user can store up to 16 application configurations. The Crosspoint 8 package includes all necessary hard¬ ware to interface PCs and peripherals—like easy-to- connect data phone jacks and cable. Compatible with IBM and other PCs, it allows file transfer; LAN, and simultaneous user access. Add peripherals or change output in a flash with pop¬ up menus, or automate your ap¬ plications with batch file execution. Link to a leader for support you can count on. We’re committed to reliability with a 100% 1-year parts-labor warranty. A step-by-step manual starts you off—fast. Solo PC power users: Get 7-peripheral software control with Crosspoint AB + —for under $500. TO FIND YOUR NEAREST CROSSPOINT DEALER, CALL 1-800-232-7729 OR 503-485-4254. ■■Crosspoint Systems Copyright ® 1^6 by Crosspoint Systems, Inc., 1710 Willow Creek Circle, Eugene, OR
18. Prices and specifications subject to change without notice. Lotus 1-2-3, Auto¬ CAD, WordStar and Microsoft Windows are trademarks erf Lotus Development Corp., Auto Desk, Inc., MicroPro lnt’1., and Micro¬ soft Corp., respectively. A SOLUTION IN A BOX: HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE TO LINK PCS AND PERIPHERALS BY SIMPLE MENU COMMANDS. CIRCLE NO. 161 ON READER SERVICE CARD IBM’s new 2,400 bps PC Modems give you an easy choice: Either way, you can’t go wrong. With IBM’s new modems and a personal computer you can tap into information at a very impressive 2,400 bits per second [bps]. That translates into a binary file transfer speed of nearly 13 K characters per minute— or over six pages worth. Now imagine the im¬ pact that can have on your long distance tele¬ phone bill. But these new modems aren’t just fast, they’re also versatile. They can both send and receive data asynchronously at speeds rang¬ ing from 2,400 bps down to 75 bps. Both modems are compatible with the pop¬ ular “AT” command set, as well as the IBM command set. And they have been tested for compatibility with leading PC communications software such as Crosstalk™ XVI, Microsoft® Access, Kermit, Smartcom® and Smartcom II? The Automatic Modems These modems feature Automatic Adaptive Equaliza¬ tion at 2,400 and 1,200 bps— which means they will continu¬ ously fine-tune themselves to com¬ pensate for changes and noises on the telephone line. The result is, you can re¬ ceive data over a wider range of telephone line conditions. Both modems also feature automatic or manual answering and dialing. They’ll auto¬ matically switch to pulse dialing if tone dial¬ ing doesn’t work. They have automatic redialing. And once a'connection is made, automatic speed detection. They also have automatic detection of a voice or a failed call. A Modem with a Memory of Its Own The stand-alone IBM 5842 2,400 bps Modem offers some additional features. It can also send and receive data synchronously at speeds of 2,400 bps or 1,200 bps. You’ll find extensive “Help” menus. A dial direc¬ tory for 20 phone numbers. A log-on direc¬ tory for five log-on sequences. A built-in pattern generator for self testing. Diagnostics implemented from the front panel as well as from the computer keyboard. And a com¬ plete array of LED Status Indicators to give you a quick visual check on what’s happening. Internal. The IBM Personal Computer 2,400 bps Modem. Which One Is for You? The internal IBM Personal Computer 2,400 bps Modem is de¬ signed to occupy a half slot in the IBM PC, XT, AT and 3270 PC. The stand-alone IBM 5842 2,400 bps Modem is compatible with all models of IBM Personal Computers. And, in addition to the features mentioned above and its internal power supply, the significant difference is that a stand-alone modem can be moved from PC to PC more easily than an internal modem. If you feel that 2,400 bps is more modem than you need, we also offer the stand-alone IBM 58411,200 bps Modem, and the internal IBM Personal Computer 1,200 bps Modem. For the Authorized IBM PC Dealer nearest you—or for free literature on the IBM family of PC Modems—call 1800 IBM-2468, Ext. 936/EM. Or you can contact your — „ i ' sjt 111 IBM marketing representative, Crosstalk is a trademark of Microstuff, Inc. Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. Smartcom and Smartcom 11 are registered trademarks of Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. CIRCLE NO. 172 ON READER SERVICE CARD I n the scientific laboratory, data ac¬ quisition and analysis programs are playing an increasingly important part in the manipulation of experimen¬ tal data. Similarly, such programs can be used in a variety of industrial appli¬ cations to control simple processes. Macmillan Software’s asystant+ converts the IBM PC and compatibles into a desktop data acquisition and anal¬ ysis system comprising several virtual instruments. For many applications that can tolerate moderate sampling rates, /VSVSTANT-f can take the place of more expensive, dedicated instruments-—al¬ beit at a loss in ultimate performance. . The basic version of the program, asystant, converts the PC into a sophis¬ ticated calculator. To that basic capabili¬ ty, the more advanced version, asys¬ tant + , adds the ability to control a data acquisition accessory, asystantt $ capa¬ bilities are similar to those of a sister product, asyst, which provides a FORTH interpreter-like user interface. display is referred to as the desktop cal culator and resembles a calculator in functionality. It is divided into five windows, four of which correspond to the facilities of an advanced program¬ mable calculator [see photo 1]. The fifth window contains the main options that access other parts of the program, such as waveform processing and gen¬ erating, graphics, and curve fitting. The calculator windows are stack contents, calculator functions, parame¬ ters, and variables. Three other calcula¬ tor menus—array operations, conver¬ sions and special functions, and wave and matrix operations--can be inter- A SOPHISTICATED CALCULATOR asystant- s basic user interface is simi¬ lar to that of a stack-oriented, hand¬ held, electronic programmable calcula¬ tor, such as the various Hewlett-Packard [HP] models. In fact, the main screen ■-■I ASYSTANT+ from Macmillan Software provides sophisticated data acquisition for scientists and engineers from a desktop computer. VICTOR E. WRIGHT changed with the calculator functions [see figure 1]. Each calculator menu in¬ cludes the selection, next, to display the next calculator menu. A key concept in learning to use ASYSTANT+ is that of the stack The program begins with a cursor positioned on the first selection of the main menu, acquire. Pressing PgUp moves the cursor to the calculator func¬ tions menu. This gives the expected as¬ sortment of mathematical functions and stack operators—store, stores the entry at the top of the stack in a parameter or variable; dup, duplicates the top entry in the stack; drop, drops the entry at the top of the stack; swap, switches the top two entries on the stack; and roll, places the bottom entry on the stack on the top and pushes the other entries down one. A status selection allows the user to select the format of numeric output: angular units for use with trig¬ onometric functions, and data type—in¬ teger, double-precision integer, real, double-precision real, complex, or dou¬ ble-precision complex. Calculator commands can be en¬ tered by moving the cursor to the de¬ sired selection with the arrow' keys and pressing Enter or by typing them at the keyboard. When a number, letter, or operator is typed, the main menu win¬ dow clears and a command line area appears in its place, regardless of the location of the cursor. Commands can be entered in Re¬ verse Polish Notation [ RPN] used by HP -an area of memory used for temporary data storage. Data can be placed on the stack from the keyboard or from other stor¬ age areas, and can be removed from the stack to be placed in other storage areas. Most operations and functions take their arguments from the stack and leave their results on the stack. HP cal¬ culator users and FORTH programmers should be comfortable with the system: . ASYSTANT+ The calculator functions menu is replaced with the array menu, the conversion and special functions menu, or the wave and matrix menu by selecting the “next” option. PHOTO 2: Window Options Hj Am to y Plot Minfaw Graphics xy [hi to xy Plot xy Axis The screen can be split into a variety of windows by select¬ ing the windows option, and each window can then be used to display data independently. and FORTH or in algebraic notation. The program expects RPN; an algebraic notation always must be preceded with the \ character. Commands can be en¬ tered in strings and then are terminated with the Enter key. Entering a valid number places a result on the stack. asystant+’s stack is limited to five en¬ tries, which are displayed in the stack contents window. Stack entries can be integers, real numbers, complex num¬ bers, or arrays of integers, real num¬ bers, or complex numbers. In the calculator menu, macros [“user functions”] can be assigned to the ten function keys. Each key can be assigned up to five lines of RPN or alge¬ braic notation. Pressing a function key while in the Calculator executes the macro. The macro assigned to one key can include the name of another key, so that additional functions may be per¬ formed by a single macro. The parameters and variables win¬ dows on the main screen display pro¬ vide two types of storage registers, nine of each. Parameters, A through /, store numbers; and variables, R through Z, store either numbers or arrays. Parame¬ ter and variable values can be copied to the stack, and stack entries can be cop¬ ied or moved to the parameter and variable registers. Parameters and vari¬ ables are available in all parts of the program, and they can be assigned descriptive names. VECTORS AND MATRICES The array operations menu is displayed by selecting the next option from the calculator functions menu. It offers a set of commands to create and manipulate arrays. asystant+ provides for two types of arrays; one-dimensional arrays, or vectors, and two-dimensional arrays, or matrices. An array occupies one slot on the stack or one variable. Arrays cannot be stored in parameters. The program uses two 64KB seg¬ ments of RAM for storage of arrays. One segment contains the arrays assigned to the variables R through Z, and the other segment contains any unnamed arrays on the stack. A single array can occupy an entire 64KB segment. The array operations menu offers selections for the basic vector and ma¬ trix operations. Three commands, n-.ramp, nm:ramp, and aedit, generate unnamed arrays and place them on the stack. N:ramp takes the top entry on the stack as the size of a one-dimensional array [vector] and replaces it with a vector in which the I th element contains the value i —the value of each element is equal to the index. Nrmramp takes the top two entries as the number of rows and columns of a two-dimensional array and replaces them with an array in which the if h element contains the value [i—l]m+j-—i is the row index and j is the column index. The commands xsect, sub, trans, diag, and reverse access certain array elements. Xsect takes the top element of the stack and replaces it with an ele¬ ment, sub with a subarray, trans with the transpose of the array, diag with the main diagonal, and reverse replaces the top element of the stack with an array with reversed column indices. Arrays can be reordered with the commands n:rot, reshape, sort, and lookup, and they can be indexed with index and n:search. Two commands combine two arrays to form a third; cat stacks the two arrays one over the oth¬ er, and lam places them side by side. Cumulative operations can be per¬ formed on die rows of an array to cal¬ culate sums and products and find cu¬ mulative maxima and minima. Arrays can be examined in spread¬ sheet format with the array editor func¬ tion, aedit. Arrays can be created direct¬ ly with aedit or with another command, rnramp, nmiramp, lam, or cat, for exam¬ ple, and then edited. They also can be built and edited by using other menu options and functions, but using the ar¬ ray editor is the easiest way to make minor changes. Switching to the third calculator menu, conversions and special func¬ tions, provides an assortment of options for converting data from one coordinate system to another, or from one data type to another, as well as special ad¬ vanced functions. Numbers can be con¬ verted from a pair of values on the stack, one real and one imaginary, into a single complex entry on the stack. A single complex entry can then be split into a pair of values. Data sets representing coordinates can be converted between Cartesian coordinates and polar coordinates or spherical coordinates. Also, complex numbers in the form x + jy can be converted to the polar form. [Note that PC Tech Journal is using the electrical engineering notation j for the imaginary part of the complex number rather than the mathematical form i.] The more advanced functions in¬ clude the error function, factorials, the number of combinations of things taken r at a time from a set of n things, the number of permutations of things taken 108 PC TECH JOURNAL asystant+’s available calculator menus provide a versatile selection of mathemat¬ ical functions for manipulating the obtained waveforms and matrices. r at a time from a set of n things, the Bessel functions, elliptic integrals, the gamma function, and the incomplete beta function. The wave and matrix menu, the fourth calculator menu, offers several numerical techniques for the analysis of waveforms and matrices. Storing wave¬ forms as arrays allows the use of many operations for the analysis of waveforms or matrices. A series of waveforms can be stored in a two-dimensional array, one waveform per row. Once the waveforms have been stored, two functions, smooth and window, are available to filter them. The smooth function, a low-pass filter, removes high-frequency components of a waveform in the time domain, to eliminate noise in a signal, for example. The window function simulates a Black¬ man window, filtering out selected high and low frequencies. This function is better suited to waveforms stored in the frequenq' domain. A waveform can be integrated by using Simpson’s 1/3 rule or differenti¬ ated by using interpolating polynomials of a user-specified degree as many as seven. Four functions are provided for Fourier transformations: fast Fourier transforms and inverse fast Fourier transforms for both one- and two-di¬ mensional arrays. An additional function calculates the power spectrum [the square of the magnitude of the Fourier transform] of an array. Other matrix operations included in the fourth calculator menu are the autocorrelation function, which is ap¬ plied to the top entry on the stack; the aperiodic convolution of the top two entries; the application of a Blackman window to a subset of the top entry; the Hilbert transform of the top entry; and the cross correlation of the top two en¬ tries. By combining these advanced functions, the user can filter signals with low-pass or band-pass filters to re¬ move noise or isolate signal compo¬ nents, process images, generate spectral analysis displays, generate diffraction patterns, and analyze signals in both the time and frequency domains. The program performs the basic statistical operations, average, standard deviation, maximum, and minimum. A single operator is provided to solve the matrix equation, y = Ax. The operator expects the y vector as the top stack en¬ try, and the A matrix [n by ri] as the second entry. It replaces these two en¬ tries with the x, or solution, vector. Ad¬ ditional matrix functions are available, they include commands to return the trace of a matrix [the sum of the diag¬ onal elements], the matrix product of two arrays, the Kronecker product of two arrays, the determinant of a matrix, and the inverse of a matrix. CHOOSING FROM THE MENU The main menu of asystant+ provides 11 options that enhance the versatility of the program. These options include, graphics, a waveform generator and processor, two file operations, users functions, curve fitting, polynomials, sta¬ tistics, differential equations, and a data acquisition menu. Graphics. asystant+ ’s graphics com¬ mands allow data to be displayed on the screen, on a graphics printer, or on a pen plotter. Graphics boards, printers, and plotters are selected from menus at the beginning of the initial session, and the selection can be changed at the be¬ ginning of any session thereafter. Arrays are used to store graphics data. Two types of graphic displays can be generated, Cartesian plots and three- dimensional plots. Cartesian plots in¬ clude line graphs of a single vector vari¬ able or a row of a rectangular array, plotted as a function of the indices; and line graphs of two vector variables or rows of rectangular arrays, with one variable or row taken as the indepen¬ dent variable and the other as the dependent variable. Three-dimensional representations include axonometric plots and contour plots of two-dimensional arrays [shown in photo 2]. An axonometric plot dis¬ plays a surface representing the values of the plotted array superimposed over a rectangular grid; the height of the sur¬ face above the grid is proportional to the value of the array element. A con¬ tour plot displays a series of contour lines superimposed over a grid with the contour lines connecting elements of equal magnitude. The graphics display is available to preview graphics before plotting. The default screen display includes a graph¬ ics menu and a graphics window. The graphics window can be split into left and right halves, upper and lower halves, and four quarters. asystant+ is able to produce a plot ' with a minimum of information, by us¬ ing default values and scaling the axes to display all of the data in a single plot. The Setup command gives the user the ability to customize the plot by speci¬ fying minimum and maximum values, linear or logarithmic scales, labels, grids, and the location of the origin. Whenever an IBM Enhanced Graphics Adapter [EGA] is used, the axes, labels, background, and plot can be displayed in different colors. Users also can customize graphics windows with the addition of text labels. Labels can be positioned and aligned as desired. The contents of a graphics window can be saved to disk, and recalled at a later time for display. A graphics display is generated by selecting the type of plot —y Auto, y Plot, xy Auto, xy Plot, xy Axis, Axon, or Contour. The program prompts for the variable to be plotted and then displays a menu that includes the selections display graph and to plotter; these selections produce screen displays and plots. Waveforms. asystant+ includes both a waveform generator and processor. The generator creates arrays of values that represent a variety of continuous wave¬ forms typically available from analog function generators. These include sine waves, cosine waves, square waves, triangular waves, sawtooth waves, pulses, uniform noise, white noise, and Poisson pulse trains. In addition to se¬ lecting the type of waveform, the user can control the gain, bias, and frequen- FEBRUARY 1987 109 ASYSTANT+ cy of the waveform. These created ar¬ rays can be displayed on the screen, stored on disk, plotted on the pen plot¬ ter, and used as the digital input to an digital-to-analog convertor in asystant+. The waveform generator produces a single output—one of the waveforms listed above. However, the output can be stored in memory and then pushed onto the stack. Successive output wave¬ forms can be pushed onto the stack, and then the calculator can be used to manipulate or combine them, creating waveforms of arbitrary complexity. While in the waveform generator, two waveforms are immediately avail¬ able: the output of the generator and a waveform stored in memory. The out¬ put waveform can be added to the memory waveform to create complex waveforms without leaving the genera¬ tor. Waveforms can be plotted on either the screen or the plotter. The waveform processor provides a graphic alternative to the calculator for processing one-dimensional arrays [waveforms] or specified rows of two- dimensional arrays. The waveform pro¬ cessor display includes a large window in which a waveform is displayed, a se¬ ries of small windows that summarize the history of the wave processing ses¬ sion, and a menu of commands. The commands available in the waveform processor are a subset of those available in the calculator and file processor. However, intermediate re¬ sults are displayed on the screen inter¬ actively, and several graphic aspects of display can be specified by the user. Waveforms can be processed in segments, allowing uninteresting por¬ tions of the waveform to be ignored, or separate segments to be processed in different ways. A current segment can be selected graphically, by positioning two cursors in the main graphic win¬ dow. Segments of the waveform are stored in several repositories —WFM [waveform], ORG [original segment], MEM [memory segment], PRV [previous segment], and SEG [current segment]. Images of the repositories are shown at the top of the screen for reference; con¬ tents of MEM and SEG can be com¬ bined with selections from the wave¬ form processor’s memory ops menu. Processing options include scaling the waveform with a fifth-degree poly¬ nomial, clipping SEG to a specified minimum and maximum, computing the derivative of the waveform [to a user-specified order], computing the in¬ tegral, smoothing the current segment, computing the power spectrum, and finding the envelope of the waveform. HIGH POWER WITHOUT THE HIGH PRICE Microstat® has been the most popular statistics package for microcomputers since we in¬ troduced it in 1978. In the past two years, Microstat has been requested by name on more military contracts than any other statistics package. When it comes to coverage, ease of use, accuracy, and value, Microstat is unbeatable. Just some of it features include: ■ Data Management Subsystem for file creation and management. ■ Data Transformations ■ Hypothesis Testing ■ Three types of ANOVA ■ Simple, Multiple, Stepwise Multiple Regression ■ 11 Nonparametric Tests ■ Factorials, Permutations, Combinations ■ Batch or Interactive Operation ■ Read external files [e.g., Lotus, dBasell, ASCII] ■ Descriptive Statistics ■ Scatterplots ■ Correlation Analysis ■ Time Series ■ 8 Probability Distributions ■ Crosstabs and Chi-Square ■ User’s Manual Microstat® is available for MSDOS, PCDOS, CP/M80, CP/M86. The price is $375.00. Multiple copy discounts and cost- effective site licenses are available. To order, call: 800-952-0472 [for orders] or 317-255-6476 [tech, info.] InfoWbcId | „ , | Software Report Card c o ^ o £ =5 £ **4/ ndows Magus Inc. Screen Designer /ARNING: This product may promote large comes, high productivity, and excessive free time. lagus, Inc. is proud to present •ata&Windows: a window-oriented data- itry system based on a new, revolutionary jsign philosophy. The only problem is ... hat should we call it? is easy to learn and use, like a panel ;nerator, because it allows you to draw your ■xt, fields, and colors on the video display, ut we can’t call it a panel generator, jcause it supports full windowing and rolling, and because screen and field Lformation may be stored in your program les [.EXE] rather than separate data files. is flexible and powerful, like a library- iented programmer’s toolkit, but you are not stricted to "visualizing" your data-entry indows as you type page after page of code ' set up borders, fields, text ana ghlighting. Our innovative approach ailed static windowing] eliminates the need r replication of static data in dynamic Lemory. produces tight code , like a YACC [Yet nother Compiler Compiler], but you don’t ive to tolerate a myriad of small program odules that need to be compiled and aintained. Instead, our "screen designer" eates Microsoft object files which you mply link with your applications. dd to this new, superior design philosophy le fact that it has more features, produces ghter code, and yields higher performance ian any of the above. Throw in a clear, mcise user manual, a thorough on-disk torial, and some example programs. Top it f with a utility program that documents ich screen and another that allows you to •ototype [or simulate] your application Tore you write a single line of code. Now, hat would you call it? st’s settle on a single word, et’s call it the "best." at don’t take our word for it. Order your mo disk today. You will receive a copy of ie screen generator, the tutorial, and some Dcumentation on the utility programs and brary routines. Then make the decision Durself. r take advantage of our one-time Ltroductory offer and get $100 discount if 3u order before March 31,1987. all [713] 665-4109 for more information, lajor credit cards accepted. SCREEN DESIGNER: Move/delete/center/fill/highlight block, global field redefinition, move/resize window and buffer, add/modify/move/delete field, insert/delete/undelete line, test/save/abort window, graphics characters, paint, jump-to- field, many cursor movement options, monitor switching, operating system calls, help. Set validation mode, highlight current field, scrolling by line or page, input mask, tabs, initial values. More. Up to 400 lines per screen. FIELD DEFINITION: Left-justify/right-justify/center, uppercase translation, built-in character validation, byte/integer/word/long/float/ double/string/date field validation, retain data, auto-erase, protected fields, input required, use commas, use zeros/spaces, margin bell. User-defined character validations, pattern-matching validations, picture validations, and field types. More. Up to 9999 fields per screen. LIBRARY ROUTINES: Open, close, move, display, and refresh windows. Allow user to edit data fields in window, or to view and manipulate a window but not change data stored in it. Pull-down and pop-up menus. Read screen object file from disk. Intercept keyboard filter. Override default key actions. Automatic and manual refresh. Switch display device, erase all data fields on window, plot data onto fields or entire screens, retrieve data from fields or entire screens, screen image dump, retrieve and modify screen and field attributes, locate field, force use of bios. Direct interfacing with some bios interrupts, including cursor and mouse control. More. Mnemonic and simple to use. REQUIREMENTS: IBM PC/XT/AT/JR or true compatible, DOS 2.0 or later, at least 128K free RAM, and the Microsoft C, Pascal, or Fortran compiler or the IBM C compiler. Support is available for other C Compilers and the XENIX operating system. Call for specifics. IBM, IBM PC, IBM XT, and IBM AT are trademarks of International Business Machines. Microsoft and XENIX are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. For More Information [713] 665-4109 CIRCLE 180 ON READER SERVICE CARD Let’s Do Windows! □ C □ Pascal □ FORTRAN □ Please send_copies @ Introductory discount Your price □ Dat&Windows with Library Source Code Introductory discount Your price Hurry! Introductory offer expires March 31,1987. | Show Me More! 1 □ Send me a Demo $10.00 In Texas add 6.125% sales tax Outside U.S. add 15.00_| Total enclosed $ . ■ Enclosed is ■ I □ Check □ Money Order I ■ □ Visa □ MasterCard 1 • Number*

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    I Send to: I MAGUS, INC. I 4545 Bissonet Suite

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    j^Bellaire, TX 77401 $345.00
19. 100.00 245.00 $695.00
20. 100.00

    595.00 ASYSTANT+ from the polys menu. Polynomials can be added, subtracted, multiplied, di¬ vided, and shifted by a factor. Polyno¬ mial coefficients can be edited and cop¬ ied to a variable. Roots can be extracted and saved in a variable, and polynom¬ ials can be integrated and differentiated. Finally, selections are provided to gen¬ erate Legendre, Laguerre, Tchebyshev, and Hermite polynomials. asystant + can handle 10 polyno¬ mials. Each polynomial can contain real or complex coefficients and can be up to the ninth degree. A polynomial is first defined, and then it can be applied to the top stack entry. Statistics. The stats selection of the main menu presents a submenu of statistical operations and messages. An edit func¬ tion is available to allow the user to create or edit a data table without leav¬ ing the menu. The stats editor is identi¬ cal to the array editor that is provided in the desk calculator. The basic stats option computes and displays the basic statistics for a variable or subset of a variable. The sta¬ tistics displayed include the maximum value, the minimum value, the sum of the values, the mean, the median, the variance, the standard deviation, skew¬ ness, kurtosis, the sum of the squares, and the root mean square. These values are displayed in a window on the screen and can be sent to the printer. Other basic statistical functions such as sorting, percentile calculations, and hy¬ pothesis testing also can be performed from the menu. The hypothesis tests that are provided include the Kolmo- gorov-Smirnov normality test, the 1 sample t test, the 2 sample t test, the 1 sample chi-square test, the 2 sample F test, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and the Mann-Whitney rank-sum test. Histograms can be generated and plotted. The user specifies the number of breakpoints between “bins”. The program sets up the specified number of bins, equally spaced between the minimum and maximum data values. Once generated, the histogram can be plotted, saved to a disk file, or left in the calculator variables. A menu selection is available to generate commonly used frequency dis¬ tributions. These include both percent¬ ages and percentiles of the normal dis¬ tribution, the chi-squared distribution, the student t distribution, and the F [n,m] distribution. Two advanced analysis techniques are provided by asystant+. Stepwise re¬ gression is included with three varia¬ tions of the analysis of variance [anova] technique, one-way, two-way, and table. The anova techniques indicate which of several independent variables are most significant in explaining the variations in the dependent variable. asystant+ displays the results of anova in a table listing the sum of the squares, the de¬ grees of freedom, the mean sum of the squares, the F-value, and the signifi¬ cance level of the F-value for each com¬ ponent and the residuals. The regression option allows the construction of a model representing a dependent variable as a linear function of several independent variables. A vec¬ tor holds the dependent variable, and an array holds the independent vari¬ ables. The technique is interactive. Terms can be entered into and re¬ moved from the model with a few key¬ strokes; this allows several combina¬ tions of terms to be examined easily. Differential equations. asystant + provides a numerical method for solving first- order differential equations, ranging from a single equation to a system of five equations, using the fourth order Runge-Kutta method. Up to six variables are used, the X variable for the inde¬ pendent variable, and K, Z, U, V , and W for dependent variables. The model to be examined is spec¬ ified by entering the system of differen¬ tial equations, the initial conditions, and extrapolation parameters, consisting of step size used to generate the solution curves and the final X-value. Solution curves are stored in variables that can be displayed on the screen under the graphics menu, saved to disk, or sent directly to the plotter. Notepad. asystant+ includes a simple screen editor, the notepad, which is available from both text and graphics screens by pressing Ctrl-N. The manual cautions that the notepad is not in¬ tended to take the place of a word pro¬ cessor; however, the editor is equal to the task of taking notes during experi¬ ments and creating simple reports. The notepad is limited to straight ASCII text files with no control charac¬ ters [such as the ones inserted by most word processors], 16KB total file size, and 80-character lines. Arrow keys and function keys are implemented, to pro¬ vide cursor movement by character, word, line, word, and file. A limited set of block operations is available, as well as search and replace capability. Text can be inserted into the cur¬ rent notepad file when the editor itself is inactive, asystant + stores the current file name, and a cursor location. The calculator functions menu includes a print command that sends the top stack entry to the screen, printer, or current The Advanced Programmer's Editor That Doesn't Waste Your Time lOil fgk • Fast, EMACS-style commands—completely reconfigurable • Run other programs without stopping Epsilon—concurrently! • C Language support—fix errors while your compiler runs • Powerful extension language • Great on-line help system • Multiple windows, files • Regular Expression search • Unlimited file size, line length • Supports large displays • 30 day money-back guarantee • Not copy protected oniy yivb LLJcaanLj

    Software Ltd. 5740 Darlington Road Pittsburgh, PA 15217 Call [412J 421-5911 for IBM PC/XT/AT's or compatibles 112 CIRCLE NO. 125 ON READER SERVICE CARD PC TECH JOURNAL ... one package stands out as the best support available for Turbo Pascal programmers: Blaise Com¬ puting’s Turbo Power Tools. This definitive set of prewritten Pascal functions and procedures will make the life of any programmer — from the beginner to the hard-core professional—easier and more productive. ANOTHER PLUS FROM BLAISE COMPUTING The best just got bet¬ ter! Turbo POWER TOOLS, acclaimed as the best programmer support package for Turbo Pascal, now has even more functions, more detailed docu mentation and more sample programs. NOSECRETS Power Tools Plus™ Window Routines. Memory Resident Routines. Routinely. Turbo POWER TOOLS PLUS is crafted so that the source is efficient, readable and easy to modify. We don’t keep secrets! We tell you exactly how windows are managed, how interrupt service routines can be writ¬ ten in Turbo Pascal, and how to write mem¬ ory resident programs that can even access the disk. Maybe you’ve heard of some un¬ documented DOS features that resident programs use to weave their magic. Turbo POWER TOOLS PLUS documents these features and lets you make your own magic! Here*s j us t pa rt of th e PL US in Turbo POWER TOOLS PLUS: ♦ WINDOWS that are stackable, re¬ movable, with optional borders and a cursor memory. ♦ FAST DIRECT VIDEO ACCESS for efficiency. ♦ SCREEN HANDLING including multiple monitor and EGA 43-line support. ♦ POP-UP MENUS which are flexible, efficient and easy to use, giving your applications that polished look. ♦ INTERRUPT SERVICE ROUTINES that can be written in Turbo Pascal without the need for assembly lan¬ guage or inline code. CIRCLE NO. 104 ON READER SERVICE CARD I from ' ♦ INTERVENTION CODE lets you de velop memory resident applications that can take full advantage of DOS capabilities. With simple procedure calls, you can “schedule” a Turbo Pascal procedure to execute either when a “hot key” is pressed, or at a specified time. ♦ PROGRAM CONTROL ROUTINES allow you to run other programs from Turbo Pascal, and even execute DOS commands. ♦ MEMORY MANAGEMENT allows you to monitor, allocate and free DOS- controlled memory. ♦ DIRECTORY AND FILE HAN¬ DLING support to let you take advan¬ tage of the newer features of DOS including networking. ♦ STRING procedures al¬ lowing powerful trans¬ lation and conversion capabilities. ♦ FULL SOURCE CODE for all included routines, sample programs and utilities. ♦ DOCUMENTATION, TECHNICAL SUPPORT have distinguished Blaise Computing over the years. Turbo POWER TOOLS PLUS sup¬ ports Turbo Pascal Version 2.0 and later and is just $99.95 . Another quality prod¬ uct from Blaise Computing: Turbo ASYNCH PLUS ™ A new package which provides the crucial core of hardware interrupt support needed to build applications that communicate. ASYNCH PLUS offers simultaneous buffered in¬ put and output to both COM ports at speeds up to 9600 baud. The XON/XOFF protocol is sup¬ ported. Now it also includes the “ XMODEM ” file-transfer protocol and support for Hayes compatible modems. The underlying functions of Turbo ASYNCH PLUS are carefully crafted in assembler for effi¬ ciency and drive the UART and programmable interrupt controller chips directly. These func¬ tions, installed as a runtime resident system, require just 3.2K bytes. The high level function are all written in Turbo Pascal in the same style and format as Turbo POWER TOOLS PLUS. All source code is included for just $99.95. BLAISE COMPUTING INC. 2560 Ninth Street, Suite 316 Berkeley, CA 94710 [415] 540-5441 ORDER TOLL-FREE 800-227-8087 Calif, residents call [415] 540-5441_ domestic order phone: [--

    and attention to detail that Reprinted from PC Magazine, June 10, 1986 Copyright © i986 Ziff-Davis Publishing Company ASYSTANT+ notepad disk file. Disk file output can be inserted at the current cursor loca¬ tion or appended to the end of the hie. Charts and tables can be constructed in the stack with the various matrix opera¬ tors and functions, edited with the aedit command, and then inserted into the notepad hie. Mini-calculator. A streamlined version of the desk calculator, the mini-calculator, is available from both text and graphics displays when any of the main menu options is active. Only the command line can be used for input; menu input • Attach to most IBM PC compatibles • Cobol, Fortran, BASIC, and C support • 800 NRZI, 1600 PE, and 6250 GCR • Transfer rate is 1-4 MByte/Minute • Block lengths up to 65K • ANSI, IBM, DEC, and DG supported • Support for most record types • Multivolume and labeled tapes • Select specific records to transfer • Record reformatting and translation • Hard disk backup utility • Support for many tape drive models is not available, and those commands that are only available as menu selec¬ tions cannot be called from the mini¬ calculator. The display consists of the stack and a command line. DOS commands and help. A menu of basic DOS operations can be invoked by pressing Ctrl-D. Menu selections can delete, copy, and rename hies, display directories, and return to asystant+. An on-line help facility can be invoked by pressing the ? key. It is context sensitive and organized to follow the structure of the manual. The help display can be The price for controller card, cable, and transfer software is only $795. The op¬ tional tape data reformatting utility is $195. Several model tape drives are available for $2700 to $9200 depending on features. Since 1982, we have installed thousands of diskette and tape conversion systems at customer locations around the world. Call us today for help in connecting a 9-track tape system to your IBM PC. paged by pressing the Space Bar, or navigated with the function keys. ACQUIRING THE DATA In addition to the basic ASYSTANT facil¬ ities, asystant+ includes the software necessary to control data acquisition hardware, The host computer, under the control of asystant+, becomes the control panel and graphic display for several such devices. In each case, the computer display resembles a tradi¬ tional analog instrument. Data acquisition functions are avail¬ able from the data acquisition menu, which is displayed when the acquire option is selected from the main menu. This menu includes selections for the various instruments asystant+ can emu¬ late and a selection for configuring the software to match the data acquisition board or external chassis. Configuration of the system is menu-driven. It consists of selecting the host computer and the data acquisition board from lists of supported devices and then setting various parameters to match the physical configuration of the data acquisition board. The manual astutely warns the user that determining the physical configuration of the hard¬ ware may not be a trivial matter. A detailed appendix provides information about the configuration of supported boards; it is presented clearly and con¬ cisely enough to replace most data acquisition board manuals for standard applications. It should be noted that configura¬ tion involves specifying the host com¬ puter as well as the data acquisition board, even though the program is in use on the host computer. The program must know the clock speed of the host computer to perform timing tasks. Data acquisition board parameters that are specified during the configura¬ tion process include the board’s I/O ad¬ dress, the number of A/D channels, the A/D channel voltage range, the hard¬ ware gain, the number of D/A channels, and the D/A voltage range. asystant+ does not necessarily support all of the features and configurations of sup¬ ported boards, but the manual docu¬ ments the ones that are. Additional configuration parame¬ ters, selected from the acquisition con¬ figuration menu include confirmation that a hardware scroller board [a high¬ speed, strip-chart recorder] is installed, the specification of engineering units to be used in hie conversion, color assign¬ ments for A/D channels when an EGA board is installed, the assignment of names to channels, and a bit pattern to f FLAGSTAFF

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21. the superior choice for process control and office automation systems. Quick and efficient on a PC, QNX soars on an AT. QNX occupies 70K [stand-alone version] to 104K [network version] of system memory and allows 40 tasks [programs] and up to 10 terminals per computer. QNX modular architecture facilitates easy adaptation and extensions by software developers for specific requirements. In addition, PC-DOS runs as a single-tasking guest operating system under QNX. With the DOS Development System, DOS EXE files can be developed in shorter time than under DOS itself. Communication among all tasks is via “message-passing.” Tasks anywhere on a network of up to 255 computers communicate rapidly and transparently with each other. With the true distributed processing and resource sharing of QNX, all the resources on the network are available to any user. Application programs and data can be distributed over the network without having to go through a central file server. Network growth is fast and simple. If your disk becomes a bottleneck, add a disk anywhere on the network. If your needs outgrow your present configuration! just add terminals and/or computers as required, without having to re-write programs and without system degradation. If you would like to know the secret of the QNX architecture, please give us a call. We invite End Users, VAR’s, OEM’s and Software Developers to discover a whole new world of computing capabilities. Over 25,000 systems have been installed worldwide since 1982. Multi-User 10 serial terminals per PC, AT. C Compiler Standard Kernighan and Ritchie. Multi-Tasking 40 [64] tasks per PC [AT]. Flexibility Single PC, networked PC’s, Networking 2.5 Megabit token ring. 255 PC’s and/or AT's per network. 10,000 tasks per network. Thousands of users per network. Single PC with terminals, Networked PC’s with terminals. No central servers. Full sharing of disks, devices and CPU's. Real Time 2,800 task switches/sec [AT]. PC-DOS PC-DOS runs as a QNX task. Message Fast intertask communication between Cost From US$450. Passing tasks on any machine. Runtime pricing available. For further information or a free demonstration diskette, please telephone [613] 726-1893. The only multi-user, multi-tasking, networking, real-time operating system f^L^Zfor the IBM PC, AT t and compatibles. By Quantum Software. Unix is a registered trademark of AT a T Bell Labs. IBM PC. AT. XT and PC DOS are trademarks of IBM Corp. Quantum Software Systems Ltd., Moodie Drive High Tech Park, 215 Stafford Road, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2H 9C1 CIRCLE NO. 239 ON READER SERVICE CARD ASYSTANT+
22. \ STOP HALF-FAST PROGRAMMING! Speed Up YOUR Programs With... THE^WVTCHER An execution profiler for IBM PCs and compatibles. Most programs run at less than half the speed they could. You can opti¬ mize almost any code, but where do you start? A typical program spends 90% of its time in 10% of its code. The Watcher identifies that critical 10% for you, so you don’t waste your effort on the wrong 90%. The Watcher is easy to learn and easy to use, and we provide full technical support. Watcher users have increased program performance by as much as 300%. You can get similar results. The Watcher works with any non-interpretive language on DOS version 2 or 3. Turbo Pascal users: A special section of our manual is dedicated to you! THE^WMCHER only $59.95 68 Plus $3.00 Shipping & Handling. To order or for free information, call or write: Forest Road Wilton, New Hampshire 03086 [603] 654-2525 CIRCLE NO. 244 ON READER SERVICE CARD FUNCTION GENERATOR STRIP CHART RECORDER TRANSIENT RECORDER DATA LOGGER HIGH SPEED RECORDER SIGNAL AVERAGER HARDWARE SCROLLER FIGURE 2: Data Acquisition Menu XY RECORDER Although the accuracy that can be obtained from a PC-based data acquisition sys¬ tem does not match that of individual laboratory instruments, asystant+ does man¬ age to provide an economical solution for moderate sampling rates. be set on the digital output port at the beginning of a data acquisition session. A final option is the selection of an un¬ protected mode. ASYSTANT+ normally op¬ erates in a protected mode, in which it prevents acquisition of data at sampling rates above that known to be reliable [the Nyquist rate]. The unprotected mode allows the user to specify higher sampling rates at the risk of hanging the system, requiring a reboot. With the data acquisition board in¬ stalled and configured, asystant+ pro¬ vides the user with the ability to select the preferred interface, or metaphor , from the data acquisition menu. Each selection performs the same basic task, that of controlling the data acquisition board, but it resembles a different labo¬ ratory instrument [see figure 2]. asystant+ can simulate a strip-chart recorder, a hardware scroller [if one is installed], an XY recorder, a transient recorder, a data logger, a high-speed re¬ corder, a signal generator, and a func¬ tion generator. When an instrument is selected, the program displays a sub¬ menu including options to set or mod¬ ify instrument parameters, to begin acquiring data, and to return to the data acquisition menu. Set-up parameters can be saved to disk and recalled. In general, acquisition parameters are common to all of the instruments; although some of them require the specification of additional parameters. asystant + displays the current parame¬ ters on a configuration screen, along with appropriate limitations, and prompts the user for new values. The parameters required to set up a gener¬ al-purpose instrument for a session are trigger type, internal or external clock, number of analog input channels, the first channel in a scan cycle, value for the software gain, the acquisition rate, the number of data points per channel, the number of scans to perform in the session, and the file to be used for data storage [file storage is optional]. Because data acquisition boards typically multiplex several analog input channels through a single analog to dig¬ ital converter and have limits on the speed at which they can operate, these parameters are interrelated. For exam¬ ple, in the high-speed recorder mode, the maximum acquisition rate is in- 116 PC TECH JOURNAL Introducing the new 386XT Personal XT M ctd386% Quad386XT turns your XT into a 386 for less than $1500. Step up to the power of 386 with Quad386XT from Quadram. At under $1500, it’s the first system en¬ hancement to deliver uncompromised 386 per¬ formance for your PC XT. The power of 32-bit processing* Just plug Quad386XT into your PC XT. It’s easy. There are no switches or jumpers to set. The on-board 80386 chip takes charge of your XT system with true 32-bit pro¬ cessing, unlimited memory access, greater speed, and full PC program compatibility. Multitasking at 16MHz! With Quad386XT, your XT acts like a $7000 Compaq 386 machine. IBM is a trademark of International Business Machines Inc., Compaq is a trademark of Compaq Computer Corp. The Qpadram logo, Qpad386XT are trademarks of Quadram Corp. And at 16MHz, Qpad386XT gives you fast, efficient multi¬ tasking. Run your programs con- currendy and watch your productivity jump! Attention DP managers and VAD/VARs. Quad386XT makes perfect sense when you want to upgrade or custom-tailor a system for true 386 perfor¬ mance. And at under $1500, it’s the smartest choice around. For more information, contact us at One Quad Way, Norcross, Georgia 30093,404-923-6666 QUADRAM ' An Intelligent Systems Company CIRCLE NO. 223 ON READER SERVICE CARD ASYSTANT+ versely proportional to the number of channels selected. asystant+ extends the operation of its waveform generator to the control of the data acquisition hardware, allowing the system to operate as a function gen¬ erator. The digital values determined by the function generator are used to pro¬ duce analog signals with the data acqui¬ sition board’s digital-to-analog con¬ verter. The function generator provides two output channels, taking arrays stored in variables R and S as the input waveforms. The function generator can create standard waveforms, experimen¬ tal waveforms acquired from earlier ses¬ sions, and waveforms that have been processed by any asystant+ function. asystant+’s function generator is capa¬ ble of providing signals that are not available from conventional analog function generators. It is limited in speed and resolution to a throughput of 300 to 400 points per second. The function generator can be used as a stand-alone device or in con¬ junction with other asystant+ instru¬ ments. In either mode, the generator’s output can be controlled interactively. As a stand-alone device, it can replace a conventional generator and drive a plot¬ ter or real-strip chart recorder to pro¬ duce a hard copy of a waveform. When used in conjunction with the other in¬ struments, the generator can provide a known stimulus or control signal to the experiment Using the generator with other asystanth- devices can affect the operation of the generator or the other device, reducing the throughput of the acquisition instrument. The program, however, does allow the operator to set the priorities of concurrent tasks. asystant+’s strip-chart recorder is a digital replacement for an eight channel strip-chart recorder. The screen display resembles an analog strip-chart record¬ er with data points that appear at the right edge of the display and move across the screen as if on moving pa¬ per. The screen displays only the active channels, providing greater resolution as the number of channels is reduced from the maximum of eight. The strip-chart recorder is limited to a maximum throughput of 40 to 70 Hz [points per second in this con¬ text], the exact maximum rate depends upon the hardware configuration. If the maximum number of channels is select¬ ed, and data are output to disk concur- rendy, the throughput is reduced. Thus, the recorder is suited 6nly to slowly varying signals. If data file output is not selected, the data are lost once they scroll off the screen. Personal REXX for the IBM PC ★ Interpreter for the full REXX language, including all of the standard REXX instructions, operators, and built-in functions ★ Sophisticated string manipulation capabilities ★ Unlimited precision arithmetic ★ Direct execution of DOS commands from REXX programs ★ Built-in functions for DOS file I/O, directory access, screen and keyboard communication, and many other PC services ★ Compatible with VM/CMS version of REXX ★ Uses include: — Command programming language for DOS — Macro language for the KEDIT text editor — Can be interfaced by application developers with other DOS applications, written in almost any language Mansfield Software Group, Inc. $125 plus $3 shipping
23. O. Box 532 MC, VISA, AMEX, COD, PO, CHECK Storrs, CT 06268 [203] 429-8402 CIRCLE NO. 263 ON READER SERVICE CARD While it is operating, the strip-chart recorder can be controlled. The data ac¬ quisition rate and gain can be altered; data file output can be suspended and resumed; and the display resolution can be modified by skipping data points. If the function generator is active, it may also be adjusted. The XY recorder acquires data from a maximum of two channels and displays the data on an xy plot—one channel’s input corresponding to the x axis and the other corresponding to the y axis. It is possible to display vertical and horizontal grids either individually or together. The XY recorder has a higher throughput, ranging from 340 to 670 Hz, than does the strip-chart recorder. The difference in speed is due to the limit of two channels, and to a lack of concurrent data file output that is avail¬ able only between scan cycles. The user can select a single scan mode in which the recorder pauses to allow data file output or a continuous scan in which data file output is not an option. The XY recorder can be interac¬ tively controlled. While the recorder is acquiring and plotting data, the user can set the acquisition rate and pro¬ grammable gain, adjust the function generator [if it is enabled], change the display increment and halt the scan. Be¬ tween scans, data can be saved to disk if data file output was selected; then the next scan can be initiated, and the cur¬ rent scan can be displayed versus time, superimposed on the xy plot. To acquire data before and after an event in an experiment, the transient recorder captures and plots analog data in two stages, based on two triggers. It can acquire data on as many as eight channels with a maximum throughput of 340 to 800 Hz. The user must specify two triggers to begin acquisition of data for each stage. The recorder acquires and then plots the data. As with the XY; recorder, data can be output to a disk file only between scans. A continuous mode and active control during opera¬ tion are available. The data logger is a low-speed de¬ vice that provides for analog data input from up to four channels and the con¬ trol of eight digital lines. Its throughput is limited to 1 Hz. However, concurrent data file output, realtime conversion of voltagevto engineering units, and simul¬ taneous hard-copy output are available. Data are displayed in text form on the screen in realtime. Setting the acquisition parameters for the data logger requires three screens instead of the usual one for se- 118 PC TECH JOURNAL AN ELECTRONIC DETECTIVE In a practical application, asystanth- can be used as a sophisticated detec¬ tive in an industrial plant. As an example, a plant engineer installs a tachometer on a component of a production line, and it produces a clean, square wave. However, when the tachometer is connected to the control panel several hundred yards away, the control panel display is greatly altered and meaningless. The plant engineer connects a microcom¬ puter with a data acquisition board and asystant + installed, and finds a signal like the one shown in figure 1, instead of the square wave. The plant engineer then takes the asystant + equipped microcom¬ puter to the tachometer and meas¬ ures the signal directly. As expected, its output is normal, the square wave shown in figure 2. Evidently, the sig¬ nal is being degraded between the tachometer and the control panel. Because the line from the tachom¬ eter to the control room is routed through the plant, past various ma¬ chines and switchgear, the plant en¬ gineer is not surprised. The problem is to identify the offending signals and their sources. With the noisy signal at the con¬ trol panel and the square wave sam¬ pled at the tachometer stored in asystant + variables, the engineer is ready to begin analyzing the signal. After verifying that the square wave and the noisy signal samples repre¬ sent the same time interval and the same number of data points, the en¬ gineer subtracts the square wave from the composite signal. Subtract¬ ing the two arrays stored in the vari¬ ables from each other and storing the result in another variable leaves just the noise that is picked up in the system. The resulting waveform, plotted in figure 3, is still made up of several components. On a logical hunch, the plant engineer tries subtracting a 60 Hz sine wave, to remove any “power hum”. After a few attempts with the waveform processor to get the cor¬ rect amplitude, the waveform of fig¬ ure 4 results. At this point, two components are clearly discernible, a high fre¬ quency sine wave riding on a lower frequency sine wave. The frequency of each waveform is easily deter¬ mined, at least in this simplified ex¬ ample. With the frequencies of these components known, the engineer can set about locating their sources. For a more complicated situation, other methods such as plotting the power spectrum can be used. —Victor E. Wright The waveform at the control panel has a large amount of The waveform that is produced at the tachometer end of the noise superimposed on the square wave. signal lines is in the form of a clean square wave. Subtracting the square wave from the waveform in figure 1 shows the noise that has been inducted in the cables. After the removal of the power hum, the remnant noise can be seen to be two waveforms, as shown in this example. FEBRUARY 1987 119 Best of All \AJhr1rlc The 80386 chip. The “hi# bang” that’s put the speed and power or a mini¬ computer into a desktop PC. As awesome as the creation of the universe, the 80386 signals the beginning of a new generation of computers. But how will you make them run? Will you choose an operating system’designed for the world of DOS applications.. .or one for the world of multi-users? Introducing a new star, PC-MOS/386"'... The Best of All Worlds. The Brightest of the Multi-User Operat¬ ing Systems. PC-MOS was specifically designed to take full advantage of the 80386’s 32-bit multi-user power. Planetary features include file & directory secur¬ ity, access to four GIGABYTES of memory, and graphics support for 25 terminals driven by a single 80386-PC. PC-MOS’s “Hot Spots” .. 10,000 DOS Appli¬ cations. DOS program compatibility puts a world of applications at your fingertips.. .like Lotus 1-2-3, dBASE HI, and WordPerfect. Plus, multi-tasking lets each user run up to 25 programs at the same time. New Stars Are Still Being Bom. Call The Software Link TODAY for more information and the dealer nearest you. PC-MOS/386™ will make its earth orbit in February 1987 with single- 1 user, 5-user, & 25-user versions. PC-MOS/386 M THE FIRST 80386 OPERATING SYSTEM c© THE SOFTWARE LINK, INC. 8601 Dunwoody Place, Suite 632 Atlanta, GA 30338 Telex: 4996147 SWLINK CALL: 404/998-0700 Dealer Inquiries Invited THE SOFTWARE LINK, INC./CANADA 250 Cochrane Drive, Suite 12 Markham, Ont. L3R 6B7 CALL: 416/477-5480 PC-MOS/386" 1 is a trademark of The Software Link. Inc. Lotus 1-2-3. dBASE III, & WordPerfect are trademarks of Lotus Development Corp. AshtonTate, & WordPerfect Corp.. respectively Technical specifications subject to change. Copyright O 1986 by The Software Link. Inc. CIRCLE NO. 196 ON READER SERVICE CARD ASYSTANT+ lecting and configuring the analog input channels. Screens are provided to de¬ fine from one to four stages and up to six alarm triggers. The stages allow the acquisition rate and control logic to be varied during the course of an experi¬ ment. The alarm triggers control the display of messages and output of user- defined bit patterns on the digital lines according to analog input levels or digi¬ tal input bit patterns. The ability to place bit patterns on the digital port allows the data logger to be used as a controller. It can monitor and display up to four process variables measured with analog sensors, and it can monitor the states of as many as eight digital, two-position, devices. Based on these conditions, the data log¬ ger can provide an eight-bit digital out¬ put, which can be used to control eight digital devices or, if suitably converted, an analog device. It cannot directly con¬ trol a proportional control device. The high-speed recorder provides the highest sampling rate of the asys- tant+ instruments, matched only by the signal averager. Depending upon the data acquisition hardware, the sampling rate may exceed 30 KHz. The sampling rate that is realized is affected by the number of channels specified, as well as by the add-on hardware limitations. This high-speed recorder performs its tasks sequentially, first acquiring the data, then plotting them on the screen, and finally recording them to disk. Users can disable the screen display to reduce the time between scans. Active control is provided, allowing the data plot to be examined in detail between each of the scans. The signal averager is similar to the high-speed recorder, offering the same sampling rate and number of channels and storing a cumulative aver¬ age of multiple scans. It allows data file output only at the end of a session, at which point it stores the current cumla- tive average. The display is similar to that of the high-speed recorder, howev¬ er, it shows the current scan and the cumulative average scan superimposed for each channel. HARDWARE CONSIDERATIONS asystant+ runs on the IBM PC family of computers, as well as on compatibles. The full 640KB of RAM supported by PC-DOS must be installed, along with an 8087 or 80287 math coprocessor, two diskette drives or one diskette and one hard-disk drive, and a supported graphics board. Supported graphics boards include the IBM Color Graphics Adapter [CGA], the IBM EGA, the Her¬ HARVEST THE KORN Over 70 programs bringing elements of UNIX System V.2 to the world of DOS. Our tools enhance your efficiency on machines like AT&T 6300, IBM PC, XT, AT and compatibles. We offer: shell — Korn shell compatible — combines best features of Bourne & C shells vi — a detailed implementation of the UNIX full-screen editor awk — the only commercially-available version offering Bell Lab's latest published specs cat chmod cmp comm cp cpio ctags cut date dd dev df diff du echo ed egrep fgrep file find head help join Ic Is more mv nm od paste Pg prof pwd rm sed size sort split strings tail time touch tr uniq wc and much, much more . . Programs come with complete UNIX-style command-line file name expansion and are not copy protected. Phone support 9-6 EST. Full documentation is included. Price: $139.00 Mortice Kern Systems Inc. 43 Bridgeport Rd. E., Waterloo, Ontario N2J 2J4 For information or ordering call collect: [519] 884-2251 MasterCard & Visa orders accepted. OEM & dealer inquiries invited. UNIX is a trademark of Bell Labs. MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corp. STREAMLINE YOUR PROGRAMMING CIRCLE NO. 174 ON READER SERVICE CARD cules Graphics Card, the AT&T High- Resolution card, and the HP Vectra Mul¬ timode adapter. The program performs the basic asystant tasks without installing addi¬ tional hardware. However, if data acqui¬ sition is to be performed, asystant+ does require that a data acquisition board or external data acquisition chas¬ sis be used. Supported data acquisition hardware includes the Cyborg Issac 91- I, the Dataq WFS-200PC Waveform Scroller, Data Translation’s DT2800 se¬ ries, IBM’s Data Acquisition and Control Adapter, the Keithley Series 300 system, Metrabyte’s DASH-16 board, and Tec- mar’s Lab Master and Lab Tender boards. [See “Digitizing Analog Data,” Eric M. Miller, May 1986, p. 52 for re¬ views of some of these products.] asystant + is a demanding program. In addition to installing 640KB of RAM, the user must ensure that the maximum amount of RAM is available. TSR [termi¬ nate and stay resident] programs and device drivers must be kept to a mini¬ mum; the safest course is to use only the standard DOS configuration. For this article, asystant-f was tested on a Heathkit H-241 AT-compati- ble computer, with 640KB of RAM, 2,176KB of extended memory, an 80287 numeric coprocessor, a Concept Tech¬ nologies ConceptBoard graphics adapt¬ er, and a Data Translation DT2801A data acquisition board. Although asystant + can operate on a dual-diskette system, a hard disk should be considered a practical re¬ quirement. Macmillan furnishes asystant + on six diskettes—running the program from diskette drives requires frequent swapping of diskettes and se¬ verely limits file storage. Program configuration is an option when the program is first loaded. The program displays a sign-on message and then a menu with options to recall functions, parameters, and variables from a disk file, to perform hardware configuration, and to begin using the program. The second selection, Setup, displays a configure menu, with options for selecting the display, plotter, and printer, and for disk assignments for the system overlay, data, and help files. The initial installation of the program con¬ sists of copying the files from the distri¬ bution disks. Configuration is accom¬ plished at the beginning of the initial session and can be repeated at the be¬ ginning of any subsequent session. FEBRUARY 1987 121 ASYSTANT+ asystant+ uses a straightforward method of configuring and controlling a data acquisition board. However, instal¬ lation of a data acquisition board in a typical microcomputer system may re¬ quire the reconfiguration of other boards, the use of a nonstandard config¬ uration of the data acquisition board, or the removal of other boards. Most data acquisition boards are designed and factory-configured to operate in a stan¬ dard microcomputer system, and asys- tant+ assumes the use of a factory-con¬ figured board. Microcomputers that have multiple video boards, high-reso¬ lution graphics boards, nonstandard mass storage device controllers, mice scanners, and other accessories may be difficult to configure. The program allows the specifica¬ tion of the I/O address of the data ac¬ quisition board, and most data acquisi¬ tion boards can be jumpered to one of several addresses. Selecting an unused I/O address in a complex system may not be trivial, but it can be accom¬ plished with some research. To provide high-performance hard¬ ware, many data acquisition board com¬ panies incorporate circuitry to use the computer’s DMA channels, as do the manufacturers of hard-disk controllers, tape backup systems, optical scanners, network interface boards, and other high-performance accessories. The stan¬ dard PC has four DMA channels, two of which are free for accessories; the XT has only one free channel to support all of the accessories that require DMA ser¬ vices. asystant+ does not use DMA, but some acquisition boards must be con¬ figured to use DMA The user must pay attention to this issue. Some data acquisition boards im¬ plement a memory mapped addressing scheme rather than an I/O addressing scheme, using the memory above the base 640KB of user RAM. These boards, designed when it appeared that there were “holes” in the PC’s memory map, may conflict with the EGA and other video boards or with other accessories that use normally vacant segments of the memory map. RATING THE PERFORMANCE As a calculator, asystant+ is a high-per¬ formance program. Most computational tasks, including matrix operations, are performed almost instantaneously. A few of the advanced operations are slower, but still reasonably fast, requir¬ ing a few seconds at most. As a data acquisition system, asys- tant+ realizes the potential of the microcomputer. Critical elements of the program are written in assembly lan¬ guage to attain the highest possible speed of operation. However, a micro¬ computer is limited by its design as a general purpose computing machine. Overall system throughput is limited by the speed of the data acquisition board, the clock speed of the computer, and the speed with which data can be writ¬ ten to disk. asystant+ achieves its ulti¬ mate performance, which is essentially the performance limit of the data acqui¬ sition accessory, by dedicating the host computer to controlling the accessory and transferring the acquired data to RAM. Graphic displays and disk I/O are performed between acquisition tasks. asystant+, a data acquisition board, and a microcomputer will not replace a battery of high-performance, dedicated laboratory instruments. Dedicated in¬ struments are able to offer higher sam¬ pling rates, sometimes by factors of hundreds or thousands, than does an asystant+ data acquisition system. Fur¬ thermore, they provide higher accuracy and resolution. As an example, an HP 3852S Data Acquisition and Control Sys¬ tem, suitably configured, can acquire 100,000 readings per second and store up to the order of 64,000 readings lo¬ cally. High-performance digital storage oscilloscopes and waveform analyzers 122 PC TECH JOURNAL can acquire data at sampling rates of tens of millions of samples per second. Nevertheless, the asystant+ based sys¬ tem is a sound solution to the data acquisition problem. An example of asystant+’s uses is given in the accom¬ panying sidebar. It should be noted that the basic acquisition and analyzing of data is pro¬ vided by the data acquisition hardware and not the program. The ambitious ex¬ perimenter/programmer may be able to do quite well without asystantt, by writing custom software to control the hardware. But the average experiment¬ er, who must concentrate on the task at hand, will find that asystant+ makes configuring a comprehensive system a relatively straightforward procedure. Writing custom software to match asys- tant+’s analysis and presentation capabilities could not be done within a reasonable timeframe. THE SOFTWARE PACKAGE ASYSTANT+ comes with seven diskettes. The program is copy protected; a key diskette must be inserted in a diskette drive to load the program. An alterna¬ tive to the key diskette arrangement is available from Macmillan in the form of a hardware protection device. All of the software can be copied to the hard disk or to the diskette drive with the DOS COPY command. The manual is a 2-inch, loose-leaf binder with 8^ by 11-inch pages. It in¬ cludes a tutorial, a reference section, several appendices, and an index, all separated with tabbed dividers. A hard slipcase is included. Both the printing and packaging are excellent. The tutorial is thorough and accu¬ rate. It guides the user through the es¬ sential features of asystant+. Although the tutorial assumes that the user already has some knowledge of data acquisition, it is suitable for use as a re¬ fresher for occasional practitioners, or as an introduction for a determined be¬ ginner. The tutorial can be completed in a reasonable amount of time. The reference section is well organized, closely following the pro¬ gram’s menus. It covers the simulated instruments in considerable detail. The user will seldom have to refer to the data acquisition hardware documenta¬ tion if the hardware is controlled exclu¬ sively With ASYSTANT-K One possible drawback is that the manual is definitely not a mathematics textbook. The advanced math functions available in the calculator are summar¬ ized only briefly. Users who occasion¬ ally require Bessel functions and fast Fourier transforms may need to keep an assortment of math textbooks handy. The sister product, asyst, provides a more insightful tutorial for using the mathematical functions. asystant + adds realtime data acqui¬ sition capabilities to the asystant calcu¬ lator, which rivals any general purpose computational tool, microcomputer- based or not, in terms of speed, ease of use, and functions. The data acquisition capabilities obviously do not match those of dedicated instruments. Howev¬ er, they do provide a comprehensive as¬ sortment of techniques for applications that can tolerate moderate sampling rates and provide these features at much lower cost than dedicated instru¬ ments. Aii asystant + system is a well- balanced solution to moderate data ac¬ quisition needs and a high-perfo rmance solution to analysis needs. L'~"" ASYSTANT+: $895 Macmillan Software Company 866 3rd Avenue New York, NY 10022 212/972-3960 CIRCLE 348 ON READER SERVICE CARD Victor E. Wright is the manager of process engineering at Luckett & Farleys located in Louisville, Kentucky. nights you spent eating soda and wishing vou had This is for Steve Klein and Dave Rolfe... two partners of Singular Solutions Engineering of Pasadena, California, and for the more than 100 other people at Lotus® who comprised the Ix>tusHAL“ team. Without their help, Lotus HAL would never have become what it is today: one of the most successful new releases in personal computer software smce 1-2-3. Thanks Lotus Development Corporation © 1987 Lotus Development Corporation. Lotus and 12-3 are registered trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. Lotus HAL is a trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. Lotus HAL is distinguished from HAL. which is a trademark of Qantel for its Hotel and Leisure Software. FEBRUARY 1987 123 Hllllltlltllliutiiiiii In a multi-access micro to mainframe environment like this university computer center, the responsibility of insuring round the clock operation is the system experts / PC Systems Experts: Corporations trust them with millions in purchasing. T T The computei marketplace has changed. It has gone from the fairly basic prc curement of stand-alone personal computers and printers to complex configurations of extended memory boards, graphic boards, monitors, hard disks, tape back-up, printers, local area networks, micro-to-mainframe linkages and a whole host of complex software necessary to make these systems run. These products require in-depth technical evalu¬ ation before they can be even considered for purchase. That’s why the computer buyer has changed. The end-user is no longer able to select his own PC and peripherals. That job is being tackled by the systems experts-professionals who are able to build PC systems which optimize processing power, mass storage, connectivity and software applications. His sys¬ tems expertise has made him the key factor in recommending, evaluating and selecting PC’s and related peripherals for both his own and client companies. And in light of the industry’s shift toward connectivity, companies need someone who can understand the exacting requirements and specifications involved. Which is why the role of the systems expert has become even MORE important in system configuration, since very often he alone has the knowledge and expertise required. Consequently, reaching the systems expert should be the primary target for every marketer in the IBM PC standard arena. ill PC TECH JOURNAL: Brings over 100,000 systems experts into To stay on the cutting edge of computer technology, sys¬ tems experts rely on PC TECH JOURNAL. They turn to it every month because they know its editorial and ad content keeps them on the cutting edge of developments in the computer industry. And when companies depend on you for multi-million dollar systems—nothing else will do. That’s why PC TECH JOURNAL has become the key source of technical systems issues and PC product informa¬ tion for over 100,000 systems experts. If you’re a computer products marketer, you have to reach the systems experts, the ones whose expertise is directly responsible for corporate com¬ puter buying decisions. Reach 100,000 of them every month in PC TECH JOURNAL. i ; v 5-1] DRAWING WITH MEGA [ADD DATA MANAGER: REVELATION SETS IN ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE The deciding factor 10480 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, MD 21044, [301] 740-8300 PHOTOGRAPH • MARC DAVID COHEN Jglff M' gSmw . . '• Kr'i t Speed Infusion 7T>c original IBM PC, which seems slow compared with 80286 machines, can be speeded up with different types of accelerators; these six do so by ina r easing the clock speed of the PCs resident 8088. TED MIRECKI S peed is much of what computers are all about. As each new category of personal computer is intro¬ duced, it necessarily boasts a higher clock rate: the original 4.77-MHz IBM PC was followed by 80286 machines running first at 6 MHz, then at 8, 10, 12, and now 16 MHz. The new 80386 mod¬ els start at 16 MHz, but have the poten¬ tial to reach 24 MHz and beyond. More¬ over, the increase in performance deliv¬ ered by these machines is greater than the ratio of clock frequencies because the amount of work they accomplish at each clock cycle is much greater. By comparison, the PC is slow indeed. Rather than putting up with a slug¬ gish machine or replacing it outright, the hapless PC user has one other op¬ tion: a PC accelerator board. Accelera¬ tors work by adjusting one or both of the parameters that determine the com¬ puter's internal processing speed: they modify either the clock rate [the fre¬ quency at which computational events occur] or the amount of useful wwk performed at each event, or clock cycle. Increasing the clock rate would seem to be a fairly simple process, but it is for from trivial on the PC. And expanding the processing power is more compli¬ cated still, requiring the replacement of the PC’s 8088 with something more ca¬ pable, such as an 8086, 80286, or 80386. This article reviews accelerator boards referred to here as Class I: they run the PC at a higher clock speed but retain the 8088 [or, in some cases, up¬ grade to an NEC V20]. Six products are evaluated: American Computer & Pe¬ ripheral’s American Turbo, Maynard Electronics' Surprise!, Megahertz Corpo¬ ration's TurboSwitch, Microspeed’s Fast88, Microsync’s Screamer, and MicroWay’s 87/88 Turbo. Articles in sub¬ sequent issues will deal with boards in Classes II and III, which are more com¬ plex boards that contain advanced mi¬ croprocessors with data paths that are wider than eight bits. Because these first boards are, for the most part, simple devices, the per¬ formance improvement they deliver is far from spectacular. Still, their rela- im . Ill lijflfS 88fr mmm ' 7' Personal Computer ffgi 126 SPEED INFUSION PHOTO 1: American Turbo PHOTO 2: Maynarcl Surprise! PHOTO 3; Megahertz TurboSivitch Because each product modifies PC timing circuits [which were not designed to be modified], none is as easy to install as a typical PC add-in card. All require the removal of at least one chip from the motherboard, and some require the removal or replacement of several. Those requiring the in¬ stallation of a ribbon cable into a chip socket present the ad¬ ditional danger of plugging the cable connector in back¬ wards, as such cables are rarely keyed to avoid such confu¬ sion. The Megahertz TurboSwitch [photo 3 above] also re¬ quires the attachment of several fragile spring-hook-style clip PHOTO 4: Microspeed Fas/88 PHOTO 5: Microsync Screamer leads to chip pins on the motherboard. These are easily dis¬ lodged by shock or vibration. Provision must be made in several cases for routing a switch cable out of the machine and attaching a switch box to the chassis. For the Turbo- Switch, this box is mounted on the PC’s front panel; thus, re¬ moval of the machine’s cover requires disconnection of the switch box. All of the other products mount the switch box on the back panel. The Maynard Surprise! [photo 2] and Mi¬ crosync Screamer [photo 5] avoid the switch box problem altogether by allowing control completely from software. 128 PC TECH JOURNAL PHOTOGRAPHS • BLAKESLEE/LANE FIGURE 1: The PC/XT Clock Generator The oscillator and timer frequency cannot be altered without disrupting system operation. The oscillator signal is essential to 200-line video modes, and the timer signal generates the 55-ms time-of-day interrupt and controls dynamic RAM refresh. tively modest price [starting at about $100] makes the purchase of one a worthwhile investment. An understand¬ ing of how they work also provides some interesting insights into very fun¬ damental aspects of the PC’s design. IS TIMING EVERYTHING? The main clock frequency that drives all PC system components is derived from a quartz crystal. In theory, a higher fre¬ quency can be obtained by changing this part. However, such an operation carries intrinsic difficulties. First, the crystal is soldered to the mother¬ board—its removal is no small task. A more serious problem is that this one source provides a base for several dif¬ ferent frequencies used in various parts of the computer. As figure 1 shows, an Intel 8284 clock generator produces various timing signals from one crystal frequency. In a stock PC, these signals are for the following components. The oscillator has a frequency that is equal to the crystal’s resonant fre¬ quency of 14.31818 MHz. This frequen¬ cy is fed to the expansion slots and used by various adapter cards, most notably the IBM Color Graphics Adapter [CGA], which divides it by 4 to obtain the 3.58-MHz color burst frequency re¬ quired by television monitors. The main processor clock runs at 4.77 MHz, a speed obtained by dividing the oscillator frequency by 3. This is the heartbeat of the computer, the signal that synchronizes all activity in the sys¬ tem. At each beat of the clock, adders add, shifters shift, buses transmit, and so on. The duration of one clock cycle [the clock period] is the reciprocal of the frequency, or 210 nanoseconds [ns]. The timer is a 1.1932-MHz signal obtained by dividing the clock frequen¬ cy by 4 [actually, the 8284 outputs a sig¬ nal that is the clock’s signal divided by 2; this is again divided by 2 by circuitry on the motherboard]. This timer signal is used by the 8253 timer chip in three timers, each of which may be pro¬ grammed to produce different frequen¬ cies by various divisions of the input. The first timer channel runs at 18.2 Hz [timer signal divided by 65,536] and produces the familiar timer-tick inter¬ rupt every 55 milliseconds [ms] that maintains die time-of-day clock. The second channel runs at 66.3 KHz [input divided by 18], generating a DMA [di¬ rect memory access] request for dy¬ namic memory refresh every 15 micro¬ seconds [fis]. Both of these timers are initialized by the ROM boot-up routines. The last timer channel controls the speaker; its divisor can be set by a user program to any value between 1 and 65,536, thereby theoretically producing sounds from the ultrasonic down to 18 Hz. In practice, the physical limitations of the speaker limit it to a much nar¬ rower range of about 100 Hz to 8 KHz. Simply changing the crystal fre¬ quency, therefore, is not a possibility. The realtime clock, CGA video syn¬ chronization, and, most critical of all, dynamic memory refresh, are all too in¬ timately associated with it. This is not a problem with the AT, in which the pro¬ cessor clock is driven by its own crys¬ tal—the AT clock frequency is one-half that of the crystal, not one-third as in the PC—and the oscillator and timer signals are derived from a separate 14.31-MHz crystal. In addition, the crys¬ tal driving the clock generator is sock¬ eted for easy replacement. The AT doc- FEBRUARY 1987 129 SPEED INFUSION The 8284 running at 21 MHz is used only to generate a 7-MHz clock signal. The slower 8284 generates oscillator and timer signals at standard PC/XT frequencies. umentation states that the clock signal is located in the expansion slots solely for synchronization and that its frequency is not guaranteed at any particular value. This design enabled IBM to easily re¬ place the 6-MHz AT with the 8-MHz model, and manufacturers of compati¬ bles to produce machines that operate at speeds up to 16 MHz. Interestingly, products to speed up the PC clock became widely available only after the introduction of the AT. Before that, users had no perceived need for the extra speed because there was nothing with which to compare the PCs speed—it seemed adequate. On the other hand, the more complex co¬ processor boards with 8086 and 80186 chips were being sold even then. Thus, although not always at the forefront, the market for higher-speed computing has existed. The AT, with its separation of the processor clock from the other tim¬ ing signals, pointed the way for chang¬ ing the PC’s clock frequency. In its simplest form, this method consists of installing two crystals in ad¬ dition to two 8284 chips, one to pro¬ vide oscillator and timer signals at the PC’s design frequencies and another to provide the clock signal at some fre¬ quency higher than 4.77 MHz. A typical arrangement is shown in figure 2. In ef¬ fect, the original 8284 is replaced by a printed circuit board [PCB] containing two 8284s; the various signals from the two are fed to the motherboard via the PC’s original original 8284 socket. This requires that the original 8284 be mounted in a socket. Some machines arrive with the 8284 soldered; in this case, it must be desoldered and a sock¬ et installed. Fortunately, the 8284 is socketed in most IBM PC’s. Figure 2 also demonstrates how the replacement of the 8284 with this additional circuitry permits the imple¬ mentation of two switches. One switch is used to move between 4.77-MHz mode and high-speed {turbo] mode. This is useful for clock-sensitive soft¬ ware, such as copy-protected programs, that does not work at high speed. The second switch really should have been a part of the original PC de¬ sign; it is a hardware reset that per¬ forms a cold boot in the same manner as the power switch, but with less wear and tear on the circuitry [especially hard disks]. An explanation of how this reset is accomplished, and the ways in which it differs from a keyboard reset, is provided in the sidebar, “Alternatives to the Big Red Switch,” p. 135. Therefore, the PC’s pulse can be quickened without disrupting the activi¬ ties that depend on a fixed time period. The next question is, can the hardware components in the PC keep pace with the faster clock? The most critical of these is the microprocessor, which typi¬ cally is not capable of running at much beyond its design rate. In a stock PC, the 8088 is rated at 5 MHz and cannot be speeded up by a significant percent¬ age. It can, however, be replaced easily and at a reasonable price [even for a very high-speed chip]. All of the boards reviewed here incorporate a high-speed replacement microprocessor. Again, this requires that the CPU be socketed. With a faster processor, the clock rate can be increased until the next bot¬ tleneck is reached; in most cases, this 130 PC TECH JOURNAL 12 MHz SPEED... ... plus A MEGABYTE FOR DOS! THEY ALL NEED NUMBER SMASHER/ECM" Turn your PC or XT into the machine it should have been! The 12 MHz Number Smasher/ECM is the fastest accelerator on the market It is also the most powerful, provid¬ ing a true megabyte for DOS! To break the 640K DOS barrier MicroWay designed a Memory Management Unit [MMU] that is tailored to DOS plus a 2000 byte resident driver- MegaDOS™. MicroWay calls this breakthrough Extended Conventional Memory. When you type CHKDSK with the board installed, your sys¬ tem will report 1,036,288 bytes total memory and 1,010,016 bytes free! Any conventional DOS program can utilize a full megabyte for data or code without changing a byte. Downloading a mainframe application? ECM memory runs with any program that uses DOS for screen services including RM and MS FORTRAN and MS and LATTICE C! This means you have an additional 384 K available for over¬ sized applications. Programs which write directly to the screen require a simple patch to adhere to the new standard. MicroWay has already developed patches for the Lotus, WORDSTAR and AUTOCAD screen drivers. Release 1A of 1-2-3 jumps from 535,516 to 916,444 bytes available and runs faster than Release 2 for most worksheets. Number Smasher/ECM is 100% compatible with all hardware and software including EMS and EGA boards. The compatibility is a result of control: its speed is switch, key¬ board or software selectable from 4.77 MHz to 12.0 MHz. Applications which have not been upgraded to ECM can still be run by setting DOS to 640K or 704 K and using the memory above DOS for I/O enhancers. Number Smasher/ECM runs floating point bound pro¬ grams fasterthan an AT or any other80286 based machine. In fact, Number Smasher’s 12 MHz 8087 runs a factor of three faster than the standard 80287 on the AT, delivering up to 125 kflops. Software is included for RAM Disk, print spooler, and disk caching, which speeds up floppy and hard disks by a factor of 2 to 10! Number Smasher/ECM is the most cost effective pro¬ ductivity tool you can buy. The base board which runs at 9.54 MHz comes with 512 K and costs only $599! The com¬ plete system which includes a motherboard accelerator, one megabyte of memory and a 12 MHz 8087 is just $1199. Call today to discuss your particular configuration. Remember: “The advantage of buying from MicroWay is outstanding per¬ sonal service.” [PC Magazine, 6/10/86 - p. 162] Micro The World Leader in 8087 S upport P.O. Box 79, Kingston, Mass. 02364 USA [617] 746-7341 32 High St., Kingston-Upon-Thames, U.K., 01-541-5466 Number Smasher, ECM and MegaDOS are trademarks of MicroWay, Inc. MicroWay is a registered trademark of MicroWay, Inc. CIRCLE NO. 155 ON READER SERVICE CARD Clipper is the fastest dBase 111 and dBase Ill Plus™ compiler available Nothing else comes close. When performance counts, experts rely on Clipper for more speed, more power, and more creative freedom. You can, too. Call for details. • Clipper compiled programs run 2 to 20 times faster. • No royalties...no runtime fees. • Source code security . • User defined functions. • Arrays. • Simple menu commands. • Context sensitive help can be included with programs. • More fields; more memory variables . • Call C and Assembly programs. • Complete debugging facilities. • Multiple file relationships., •IBM PC, XT, AT, 3270 compatible™. • Multi-user capability. CLIPPER. THE dBASE COMPILER. A WINNING PERFORMANCE EVERY TIME. Nantucket™ Nantucket Corporation 5995 South Sepulveda Boulevard Culver City, California 90230 [213] 390-7923 Outside California call toll-free: 1-800-251-8438 dBase, dBase III. and dBase III Plus are trademarks of Ashton-Tate, Inc. IBM PC, XT, AT, and 3270 are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Clipper and Nantucket are trademarks of Nantucket Corporation. CIRCLE NO. 224 ON READER SERVICE CARD LOOK FOR CLIPPER™ f Autumn 86 IT MAKES NETWORKING EASY. SPEED INFUSION turns out to be the response time of the memory chips. However, some other chip, the DMA chip or interrupt control¬ ler, for example, may be the limiting factor. If speed is limited by memory, it might be practical to replace the entire complement of RAM chips with higher- speed chips. Note, however, that the first bank of memory is usually sol¬ dered to the motherboard. It is one thing to replace a single 8284 chip with a socket; it is quite another to do like¬ wise for eight additional chips. There¬ fore, except for the faster CPU they bring, most clock accelerators are de¬ signed to stay within the limits of the machine’s original components. The most obvious way to accom¬ plish this is to limit the new clock fre¬ quency to a rate acceptable to the slow¬ est component in the system. To do so and still manage to realize speed im¬ provement can be attributed to two fac¬ tors: first, components usually are speci¬ fied slightly faster than they need to be, and second, each component typically exceeds its specifications slightly. The additive effect of these factors can be sufficient to allow a 50-percent increase in the clock rate. The simpler clock ac¬ celerators, those providing circuitry not much more complex than that shown in figure 2, follow this approach. Another method of circumventing speed limitations is to provide hard¬ ware that slows the system down as re¬ quired, either by changing to a slower clock rate at critical times or by allow¬ ing more clock cycles for certain activi¬ ties. The latter involves the insertion of wait states —extra clock cycles—into the memory I/O cycle [see “The Bottleneck at the Display Adapter,” Michael Abrash, January 1987, p. 104]. Wait states in AT- class machines are a hot topic, but the same considerations must be given the PC. The action and role of the wait state is tied to the manner in which data transfers occur between the CPU and memory or I/O ports. WAIT STATES In general terms, the time needed to transfer one unit of data to or from the CPU is called a bus cycle. In the 8088, the unit of data is one byte, and the minimum length of a bus cycle is four clock cycles. These cycles are desig¬ nated T1 through T4. Each cycle encom¬ passes specialized activities. During T1, the CPU outputs a bus transfer request on its status lines and an address on its data/address lines. The status lines indicate the type of access, either to memory or to an I/O port, and whether it is to read or write. The bus controller saves the address in an ad¬ dress latch so that it is available during the remainder of the bus cycle. In T2, the CPU removes the ad¬ dress from the data/address lines and, for a write request, places the output data there. For a read request, the lines are disconnected from the CPU to make them available to the memory or I/O device that will supply the data. The use of the same lines for different informa¬ tion at different times is known as time multiplexing. This allows the complex signal requirements of the 8088 to be accommodated by a relatively compact 40-pin package. Meanwhile, address de¬ coding circuits connect the data lines to the proper memory chips or I/O ports, and data transceivers establish the sig¬ nals that control the direction of the transfer [to or from the CPU]. During T3, the memory or I/O device performs the actual transfer, while the CPU does nothing. In the last cycle, T4, the device disconnects itself from the data lines and disables all of its control signals, returning to a quies¬ cent state. For a read, the CPU recon- Lattice* Works LATTICE ANNOUNCES MICROSOFT WINDOWS SUPPORT IN VERSION 3.2 Version 3.2 of the Lattice MS-DOS C Compiler features full support for Microsoft Windows—including the “far” “near” and “pascal” keywords. In addition, version 3-2 includes the ability to generate more than 64K bytes of static data and to declare objects larger than 64K bytes. It also includes improved support for ROM- based applications via the “const” data type. Version 3.2 is a significant release because it eliminates Micro¬ soft’s claimed monopoly on future MS-DOS C development tools. Now that the Lattice MS-DOS C Compiler supports a window interface, pro¬ grammers using Lattice C can avoid the problems caused by switching to a different compiler. $500.00 LATTICE NOW OFFERS ENHANCED AmigaDOS C COMPILER Version 31 of the Lattice AmigaDOS C Compiler offers a new library with 100 more functions than the standard AmigaDOS C Compiler. What’s more, increased library modularity and new address¬ ing modes help reduce load module sizes by more than 20%. The new version also features faster pointer and integer math, faster IEEE floating point routines, direct support of the Lattice [800]533-3577 In Illinois [312] 858-7950 Amiga’s FFP format floating point library, and multi-tasking support. With Version 3.1, Lattice has broken free of the reliance on the Amiga standard linker and object file format. This new release includes completely new expanded documen¬ tation, and a Lattice assembler and linker which remain compatible with previous software but allows professional programmers to take advantage of both the Amiga’s speed and the industry’s standardization. Lattice AmigaDOS C Compiler with Lattice’s Text Management Utilities, $225. Professional AmigaDOS C Compiler with, Text Management Utilities, Lattice Make Utility, Lattice Screen Editor, and the Metadigm MetaScope Debugger, $375. AmigaDOS C Compiler $150. LATTICE RELEASES NEW VERSIONS OF C CROSS COMPILER AND LINKER Version 3.1 of the Lattice C Cross Compiler to MS-DOS and version 2.12 of the Plink86Plus Overlay Linker are now available for Sun and Apollo workstations as well as the DEC VAX Family of processors run¬ ning VMS, UNIX or Berkeley UNIX. All Lattice C Cross Compilers possess the same functionality and generate the same code as the native Lattice MS-DOS C Compiler. This allows users to take advantage of the larger systems’ speed and multi-user capabilities when creating applica¬ tions for most popular PCs. Contact Lattice Corporate Sales for details. TELEX 532253 FAX [312] 858-8473 INTERNATIONAL SALES OFFICES: Benelux: Ines Datacom [32]2-720-51-61 Japan: Lifeboat, Inc. [03]293-4711 England: Roundhill [0672]54675 France: Echosoft [1]4824.54.04 Germany: Pfotenhaur [49]7841/5058 Hong Kong: Prima 85258442525 A.I. Soft Korea, Inc. [02]7836372 Australia: FMS [03] 699-9899 Italy: Lifeboat Associates Italia [02] 46.46.01 CIRCLE NO. 160 ON READER SERVICE CARD FEBRUARY 1987 133 SPEED INFUSION At last! - Fast, On-screen FLOWCHARTS Finally! An on-screen flowchart proc¬ essor that knows about flowcharts - not just another “screen draw” program that makes you do most of the work. Interactive EasyFlow is a powerful full-screen graphics program dedicated to flowcharts and organization charts. With this program you can quickly com¬ pose charts on the screen. More im¬ portant, you can easily modify charts so they are always up to date. Features: • Text is automatically centered, character by character, within shapes as you type it • Text formatting controls allow you to over-ride the auto¬ matic formating where desired • Lines are created by specifying the starting and ending points - the program auto¬ matically generates the route • Cut and paste facility allows arbitrary chart fragments to be moved, copied rotated, reflected or sent to/from disk • Shape insert-delete and row/column insert- delete • Charts can be up to 417 characters wide by 225 lines high. Charts too wide for the printer are auto¬ matically printed in strips. • Charts can be larger than the screen - the window into the chart scrolls both horizontally and vertically as necessary • Works with many popular matrix printers in¬ cluding Epson, IBM graphics printer and compatibles. Full support for HP LaserJet and LaserJet Plus. Works with HP 7475A [& compatible] plotters. Can be used with ANY printer when non¬ graphic [character] output is acceptable • All standard flowcharting shapes in¬ cluded • Most shapes supplied in large, medium and small sizes • Extensive manual [100+ pages] includes many examples • Context sensitive “help” facility provides immediate assistance at any time • Any number of titles can be placed on a chart • Commentary text blocks can be placed anywhere in the chart • Fast: written in assembly lan¬ guage • Plus many more features than we can mention here Requires at least 320K memory, DOS-2 or higher and an IBM or Hercules com¬ patible graphics card. On EGA, full 640x350 resolution is used. Order direct for only $149.95 + $2.00 S&H [USA/Canada], $10.00 [foreign]. Payment by MO, check, VISA, MasterCard, COD or Company PO. Rush orders accepted [$15:00 S&H; USA/Canada only]. Rush orders re¬ ceived by noon will be delivered the next business day [to most locations]. Order Desk: 1-800-267-0668 The sample screen display shown below is typical of what you see while editing a chart. Other screen dis¬ plays are provided for entering titles, changing options, getting “help” and so on. STATUS BAR [not to be confused with a wet bar] tells you what Interactive EasyFlow is doing at all times. TEXT/MESSAGE WINDOW used to enter user text and to display messages from Interactive EasyFlow. CURRENT SHAPE WINDOW - shows the content of the current flowchart shape [the one under the SHAPE CURSOR] in complete detail. HavenTree Software Limited P.O. Box 1093-N Thousand Island Park, NY 13692 Information: [613]544-6035 ext 48 CHART WINDOW gives an overview of your chart; this example shows the “normal” view. “Close-up” view shows a smaller part of the chart in more detail. “Wide-angle” view shows a larger part of the chart at reduced size. SHAPE CURSOR shows where you are in the chart. Cursor keys move it around; chart window scrolls if you run off the edge of the window. CIRCLE NO. 113 ON READER SERVICE CARD nects itself to the data lines and then can use the data it finds there. This four-step process represents a minimum bus cycle with zero wait states. Nominally, the time for transfer¬ ring data to or from devices is one clock cycle; at 4.77 MHz, that time is 210 ns. By no coincidence, the memory chips in the PC have a cycle time of 200 ns. Actually, the time available for the transfer is a litde longer, because an ad¬ dressed memory chip becomes active towards the end of T2 and need not complete the transfer until sometime af¬ ter the start of T4. [Early PCs worked fine with 250-ns chips; the switch to 200-ns devices was not made out of ne¬ cessity, but because of the increasing availability of the faster chips. For simi¬ lar reasons, the latest models have the readily available 150-ns chips.] If a memory chip or I/O port can¬ not respond, quickly enough to transmit data in the one-and-a-fraction clock cy¬ cles, it can be designed to insert wait states between T3 and T4. The mecha¬ nism used to insert these is the READY line of the CPU. During a bus cycle, the CPU does not enter state T4 unless READY is high. When a slow device is selected by the address decoding logic at T2, it immediately drops READY to low. The signal is fed to the 8088 through the 8284 to synchronize transi¬ tions in the READY line with clock cy¬ cles. READY has no effect on T3, but thereafter, the CPU will remain idle— that is, in a wait state—for each clock cycle that READY remains low. After some predetermined number of clock cycles passes—sufficient to complete the data transfer—the device raises READY high, allowing the processor to advance to T4 to complete the bus cy¬ cle. Figure 3 is a simplified timing dia¬ gram for two bus cycles, one with zero wait states, the other with two. The PC was designed with zero wait states for memory access and one wait state for I/O port access. This one wait state is inserted without regard for the speed of the device being ad¬ dressed because an I/O access cannot be completed in less than five clock cy¬ cles [1,050 ns at 4.77 MHz]. However, a slow device can insert additional wait states if necessary. Similarly, a memory expansion board can be designed to in¬ sert a wait state whenever memory on that board is accessed. None of the reg¬ ular boards is designed this way, al¬ though some expanded memory boards do insert wait states. By comparison, the bus cycle of an 80286 is two clock cycles, but a stan¬ dard AT inserts one wait state into each 134 PC TECH JOURNAL ALTERNATIVES TO THE BIG RED SWITCH The hardware design of the IBM PC omits one feature that typically is part of every computer: a reset button. The big red switch at the right rear is not an appropriate alternate, for reasons quite apart from its inconvenient loca¬ tion. It takes 10 to 15 seconds after being switched off for the power sup¬ ply to bring its output to zero volts before the system will restart. More importantly, power-downs and power- ups put undue strain on the electronic and mechanical components, espe¬ cially hard disks. The Ctrl-Alt-Del key¬ board combination is not adequate because, as every PC user knows, it fails at times when a reset is most nec¬ essary—to resurrect a crashed system. Many PC clock accelerators rectify this situation by providing a hardware reset switch. The reset is associated with the clock circuitry because the 8088 reset signal is controlled by the 8284 clock generator in order to synchronize it with the processor clock: the 8088 needs to be at a pre¬ dictable point within a clock cycle when it is interrupted and restarted. Ordinarily, the “power good” signal from the PC power supply is tied to the 8088’s reset line, making a power¬ down/power-up cycle the only way to initiate a hardware reset on the PC. As shown in figure 2 of the article, the rerouting of the 8284 inputs and out¬ puts in the accelerator circuit allows rerouting of the 8284’s reset line [RES] to a switch that performs a hardware reset [cold boot] without powering down the system. The operation of the reset signal itself is handled carefully within the PC. The 8088 operates only while the reset line is low [at logic level 0]; when reset goes high, the processor stops. On a high-to-low transition of reset, the CS [code segment] register is loaded with FFFFH, all the other registers and flags are cleared to zero, and execution is resumed. The next instruction is fetched from the address pointed to by the CS:IP register pair, thus causing a jump to location FFFF:0H. In the PC, that location is in ROM and contains a jump to the ROM POST [power-on self-test] routine. In a stock PC, the 8284 reset in¬ put is connected only to the power- good signal from the power supply. At power-up, this signal is initially high and is pulled low by the power supply when its output comes up to specifica¬ tion. This causes the processor to be¬ gin executing the POST as soon as the power supply has stabilized. If the power should fall outside of specifica¬ tion during operation, the reset line goes high, stopping the system. When and if power is restored, the line again goes low as on power-up. Thus, a power supply with intermittently failing regulation circuits can cause spontaneous reboots. The keyboard reset is handled entirely by software, not by switching the hardware reset line. The BIOS routine that responds to keyboard in¬ terrupts, when it detects this particular combination, executes a jump to the beginning of the POST routine. Before doing so, it sets a flag in the BIOS data area; during POST, the value of this flag determines whether a short or long memory test is performed. If the machine was just turned on, the flag will not have the value [1234H] set by the keyboard routine, and a long memory test is executed. In most cases, the keyboard reset has the same effect as a hardware re¬ set, except when die system has crashed, meaning that the processor has turned off interrupts and is stuck executing some infinite loop. At such times, keyboard input is unrecognized because the keyboard interrupt ser¬ vice routine has no way to gain con¬ trol, examine, or respond to the sig¬ nals sent by the keyboard controller. But even when a system is up and running, other situations can hin¬ der a keyboard from producing a re¬ set. The BIOS keyboard routine may have been replaced by another pro¬ gram installed as a device driver or a resident utility, and this new program might take some action other than re¬ set upon detecting the Ctrl-Alt-Del combination. For example, under DESQview [by Quarterdeck Office Systems], a keyboard reset closes only the current window and does nothing if no windows are open. Other resi¬ dent programs that perform nonstan¬ dard functions with Ctrl-Alt-Del can reassign the reset function to some other combination of keys. A final subtle difference between hardware and keyboard resets is that at the start of the latter, interrupts are not disabled. A hardware reset, by contrast, zeroes out all flags, including the interrupt-enable flag. This is essen¬ tial at power-up, so that interrupts are held off until the interrupt vector ta¬ ble is initialized and the interrupt ser¬ vice routines are loaded. It is possible, if not probable, that between the time Ctrl-Alt-Del is recognized and the POST gains control [it begins with an instruction to disable interrupts], a hardware interrupt diverts control for some finite time. Even if control even¬ tually reaches the POST, the point is that the response time to a keyboard reset cannot be guaranteed. A hardware reset switch thus of¬ fers the best of all worlds: it is guaran¬ teed to work predictably in all situa¬ tions short of physical failure in the circuits, and it avoids the stresses of powering up. But does the switch pro¬ duce a short reboot, like a keyboard reset does, or a long one, such as at power-up? The POST performs short or long diagnostics depending upon the value it finds in the BIOS reset flag; at the end of POST, the value is not changed. Therefore, if the reset switch is pressed after a keyboard re¬ set, the POST finds the keyboard reset value in the flag and performs a short test sequence. If the previous POST was a long one initiated by power-on, the next one caused by pressing the reset switch will take just as long. To ensure that the reset switch al¬ ways performs a short reboot, the re¬ set flag can be set to the proper value upon boot-up by a program from the AUTOEXEC.BAT hie. SET1234.COM is created with DEBUG as follows: DEBUG SET1234.COM [Ignore “not found”] A MOV AX,40 MOV DS, AX MOV WORD PTR [72],1234 INT 20 [Press Return] R CX D W Q Alternatively, the flag may be set by running the following BASIC program: 10 DEF SEG = &H40 : POKE &H72,&H 1234 Thus, the reset function provided by clock accelerators is a welcome fringe benefit to their primary func¬ tion. After using one of these, it is even more frustrating than usual to have to reach for that big red switch. —Ted Mirecki FEBRUARY 1987 135 SPEED INFUSION TABLE 1: Features Comparison AMERICAN COMPUTER MAYNARD ELECTRONICS MEGAHERTZ CORPORATION MICROSPEED MICROSYNC MICROWAY MODEL American Turbo Surprise! TurboSwitch Fast88 Screamer 87/88 Turbo PRICE $120.00 $249.00 $149.95 $149.00 $199.00 $149.00 MICROPROCESSOR 8088-2 V20 8088-2 8088-2 V20 V20 CLOCK SPEEDS [MHz] 7.37 9.55 5.96 to 8.79 6.14, 6.67, 7.37 6.00, 8.00 6.67, 7.37, 8.00 SPEED CHANGE BY Switch • O • • O • Hot key O • O O • • Program O • O O • • RESET SWITCH • o • • O • CLOCK/CALENDAR O o o o • • TAKES UP A SLOT O o o o • • I/O PORTS USED None 2E8H-2EFH None None 2C0H-2C2H 280H-288H 2C8H-2CFH 2A0H-2A4H 9 - Yes O — No While many of the PC compatibles with fully socketed memory can be made to run at speeds up to 8 Mhz, the original IBM PC contains at least one soldered row of slower memory chips and usually cannot be made to run faster than 6.5 or 7 MHz. At those speeds, the performance enhancement achieved is not always worth the expense and difficulty of installation. memory access and at least four wait states into I/O accesses. At 6 MHz, an I/O access takes 1,000 ns [6 clock cycles of 167 ns each], or about the same total time as an I/O cycle oh a PC. This en¬ sures that PC peripherals are usable on the AT. [The issue of wait states in 80286 memory bus cycles will be cov¬ ered in a subsequent article.] SWITCHING TO SPEED Varying the clock frequency and insert¬ ing wait states can be accomplished only by accelerator boards that contain more complicated circuitry than the simple clock replacement arrangement shown in figure 2. Of the six products tested here, only the Surprise! board is sufficiently intricate. The PC Turbo- Switch and the Screamer switch auto¬ matically to slower clock frequencies under certain circumstances. The others take their chances widi the pushing of the PC’s components beyond specifica¬ tion. Most provide a choice of several clock speeds so that more capable ma¬ chines need not be limited to the low¬ est common denominator. Table 1 is a features comparison of the six boards reviewed. Each board was tested in two different systems. The first was an IBM PC-2 with 640KB of memory, a 2MB AST RAMpage! expand¬ ed memory board [384KB of this was back-filled conventional memory], wo diskette drives, a Seagate ST225 20MB hard-disk drive with Xebec combination diskette/hard-disk controller, and an IBM CGA. Conventional memory con¬ sisted of a mixture of 200-ns and 150-ns chips; expanded memory was 256K-bit, 150-ns chips. This system’s maximum clock rate was about 7 MHz; the rate was not improved by removing the ex¬ panded memory board. The second system tested was a PC/XT compatible with 8-MHz turbo ca¬ pability. On this system, the perform¬ ance delivered by the accelerator boards was less than that from switch¬ ing to its native 8-MHz mode; the pur¬ pose of using it was to test the boards above 7 MHz. This system also had 640KB of memory [256K- and 64K-bit chips, all rated at 150 ns], the identical model of Seagate hard disk [but with a Western Digital controller], one diskette drive, an ATI EGA card, and the same 2MB AST RAMpage! [but with no back¬ fill of system board memory]. American Computer and Peripheral. The American Turbo is the smallest board in the group and the simplest in design. It comes with a replacement 8088 rated at 8 MHz, a switch box containing a speed switch and reset button, and a DIP [dual in-line package] socket intended to be soldered onto the motherboard in case the 8284 is not already socketed. This component turns out to be indis- pensible even if the 8284 is removable. The board itself plugs into the socket vacated by the 8284 chip. Care must be taken to line up the pins on the underside of the board with the holes in the socket; even so, the pins are a tight fit. They would not enter the socket when pushed, even with an amount of force sufficient to put an alarming bend in the motherboard. Stressing a multilayer board in such a way can break a trace in one of the in¬ terior layers, which is enough to ruin the board. This is where the extra socket comes in handy. It is plugged onto the underside of the turbo board, and that assembly is plugged into die motherboard socket. Besides making in¬ sertion much easier, this yields the ad¬ ditional benefit of raising die Turbo board above the motherboard compo¬ nents adjacent to the 8284 socket, thus allowing unrestricted airflow for cool¬ ing. This use of the extra socket is not mentioned in the instructions. Once die board is mounted, the rest of the installation goes smoothly. The reset and speed switches are of good quality and mounted in a heavy- gauge, black metal box that bolts to the outside of the back panel next to the power switch. The cable connecting the switches to the board is keyed to pre¬ vent plugging it in backwards. A major disadvantage of the Ameri¬ can Turbo is that it has only one clock speed, 7.37 MHz. This is too fast for most 200-ns memory chips; in fact, the board would not work in the IBM sys¬ tem. The documentation plainly states that memory chips must be rated at least at 150 ns, and that, if used, an 8087 numeric coprocessor must be rated at 8 MHz. But this information should be on the outside of the box. As it is, the only warning on the exterior is that installation requires the removal of 136 PC TECH JOURNAL THE SOURCE FOR All IBM PC EXPERTS. There's one place to find the information about the sophisti¬ cated applications and products you need at your work place. PC TECH JOURNAL It's the magazine that brings you the in- depth coverage about the products and issues you have to know more about 13 times a year! Guarantee delivery of the technical infor¬ mation and insights the systems experts of PC TECH JOURNAL deliver issue after issue and save 50 %! P.O. Box 2996 Boulder, CO 80322 YES Send me PC TECH JOURNAL for: □ One year [13 issues] only $26.70. □ Two years for only $53.35. SAVE 50%! Savings based on annual single-copy price of $53.35. Mr./Mrs./Ms Company_ Address_ City_State_Zip_ □ Bill me □ Payment enclosed Add $6 per year for postage outside USA, US currency only. Please allow up to 60 days for delivery of first issue. Annual basic subscription price is $34.97. For faster service call Toll-Free 1-800-852-5200 today! Your subscription includes the Special PC TECH JOURNAL Directory published in November! 4Z635 [JOURNAL. PROTECT YOUR COPIES OF iur n OURNA Make your collection of PC TECH JOURNAL a handsome addition to your office or home—and pro¬ tect and organize them for easy reference! PC Tech Journal Magazine Binders and cases are made of durable luxury-look leatherette over quality binder board. Custom designed for PC TECH JOURNAL, every order receives FREE transfer foil to mark dates and volume numbers. FOR FAST SERVICE CALL TOLL-FREE 1-800-972-5858 MAGAZINE BINDERS Hold your issues on individual snap-on rods. $8.95 each; 3 for $25.75; 6 for $48.75. OPEN BACK CASES Store your copies for individual reference. $795 each; 3 for $22.95; 6 for $43.95. 'Ill’I® 1 p - a 80x5,20 OURNAL Philadelphia, PA 19141 Please send □ Binders □ Cases Quantity_ Payment endosed $_ Add $1 per order for postage & handling. [Outside USA, add $2.50 per unit ordered, US currency only.] Charge my: □ Amex □ Visa □ MC [Minimum order $10.] Card No. Exd. Date ! Mr./Mrs./Ms. ! 1 Address please print full name 1 ■ i 1 Citv ! 1 State 1 ZiD 1 j PA residents add 6% sales tax. Read what they’re saying about this new concept in prototyping and demo-making: “A winner right out of the starting gate. After you use DEMO once, you’ll wonder how you got along without it.” — PC Magazine, 4/29/86 “Everybody who writes software, either commercially or for in-house applications, should immediately order a copy. Period. No exceptions.”
24. Soft-letter, 4/20/86 “Its low price, superb performance, and range of applications practically guarantee that it will be widely used. Four Floppy Rating [8.0]”
25. InfoWorld, 3/31/86 “Apparently has a hit on its hands with... a development tool for personal computer software that has won rave reviews from early users.” — Computerworld, 4/7/86 “A gem.” -PC Week, 3/18/86 Product of the Month — PC Tech Journal, 3/86 ,T® eS ' Montn g* Thousands of developers are de¬ signing better products faster and producing more effective demon¬ strations using Dan Bricklin’s Demo Program. You can, too. Act now! ■ ONLY $74.95 m 617-332-2240 Massachusetts residents add $3.75. Outside of the U.S.A. add $15.00. SOFTWARE GARDEN Requires 256k IBM PC/compatible, DOS 2.0 or later. Supports Monochrome, Color/graphics, and EGA Adaptors [text mode only]. Dept. T-2 P.O. Box 373, Newton Highlands, MA 02161 CIRCLE 142 ON READER SERVICE CARD PC TECH JOURNAL 137 AT performance atanXTprice. OTeleVideo Introducing theTeleCAT-286. $2995.Complete. With TeleVideo, you always settle for more. For some time, you've known exactly what kind of PC you could get with a mid-range budget. But now, you can settle for a whole lot more. With the new TeleCAT-286," from TeleVideo. It starts you off with everything you need. Including a high-resolution 640x400 monitor. 512KRAM. A 20MB hard disk. A 1.2MB floppy. And an Intel 80286 CPU that runs at either 6 or 8 MHz. All standard. To make even better use of internal space, we socketed the TeleCAT-286 for one MB of RAM, and also included serial and parallel ports on the motherboard. As a result, we can still give you three extra expansion slots. And we didn't stop there. We've also designed more ergonomic features into the TeleCAT-286. Including sculptured keycaps on a high-quality keyboard. LEDs right on top of the three critical locking keys, where they won't get covered up by over¬ lays. And a footprint that's 28% smaller than the IBM AT's. So you get more of your desk back, too. There's a lot more we could say about the TeleCAT-286. But it's even better to get your hands on it. So call [800] TELECAT, Dept. 359, and we'll tell you where you can try one. The TeleCAT-286. Our 20MB version is S2995; 30MB, S3495. For high performance at a low price, don't settle for less. ft TeleVideo Settle for more. TeleVideo Systems, Inc. 1170 Morse Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94088-3568 [408] 745-7760 IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines, Inc. © 1986 TeleVideo Systems, Inc. CIRCLE NO. 182 ON READER SERVICE CARD SPEED INFUSION the 8284 chip. True enough, but not a complete indication of the require¬ ments for successful operation. The results obtained with the American Turbo are consistent with its clock rate. The reset switch performed reliably, permitting the speed to be switched between high and normal at any time. The speed at boot-up can be set at either high or low using the turbo switch on the black box. For the most part, the installation instructions are clear. The 20-page man¬ ual contains many diagrams and photo¬ graphs, but its presentation is marred by numerous typographical errors that are present. Furthermore, the documen¬ tation is missing any mention of the company’s address or telephone num¬ ber [the simple fact that it should be there aside, American Computer and Peripheral offers a service to desolder the 8284 and install it in a socket]. The American Turbo leaves a mixed impression. In systems that can run at its one speed, it works fine. But with other boards offering multiple speeds at similar prices, little is left to recommend this one. Maynard Electronics. The Surprise! board offers the easiest installation of the group. Following removal of the 8088, a special carrier is plugged into the mi¬ croprocessor socket. This carrier is eas¬ ier to install than a replacement chip because its pins are sturdier and al¬ ready at the proper spacing. In addition, it is symmetrical, for installation in ei¬ ther direction. Once in, the carrier turns the processor socket into a short slot with 40 pins instead of 62. The Sur¬ prise! then plugs into this slot like an expansion card [but in one direction only]. This ease of installation comes at a price, however; the Surprise! falls at the top end of the price scale and at the bottom end of the performance scale among these competitors. The Surprise! board incorporates a V20 that, strangely, is soldered, not socketed. The processor runs at 9.54 MHz, or exactly twice the normal rate. This speed is obtained by a frequency¬ doubling circuit that takes its input from the original 4.77-MHz processor clock. However, only the supplied mi¬ croprocessor can run at this speed. To synchronize it with the slower mother¬ board components, the Surprise! adds two or three wait states per bus cycle. The net effect is about the same as that of a simple clock accelerator running at 6 to 6.5 MHz—but the Surprise! costs twice as much as the others. The speed at boot-up is controlled by a jumper on the board. Subse¬ quently, speeds can be changed by run¬ ning a transient program, or, if the sup¬ plied SURPRISE.SYS device driver has been installed through CONFIG.SYS, via a hot-key combination. On a keyboard reset, the system reboots at the speed last in effect, not at the speed indicated by the jumper. Surprise! provides no hardware reset capability. SURPRISE.SYS can do more than simply switch speeds. It also improves the speed of several functions by re¬ placing some DOS routines. Its effect is especially noticeable in writing to a CGA screen; and display-bound func¬ tions, such as the DOS DIR command, are remarkably faster. Its impact on compute-bound programs or programs that bypass DOS is barely discernable. This driver effects these changes by repointing both the interrupt 20H [pro¬ gram terminate] and interrupt 21H [DOS function] vectors. Interrupt 20H normally points to IBMDOS.COM, and is interrogated by many programs to determine the segment location of DOS. With SURPRISE.SYS installed, these programs will cease to work. Do You Ever Get the Feeling That No One Speaks Your Language? Arity/Prolog. The Language That Spans the Generation Gap. Arity listens to what you ask for. You want a serious, versatile language that will go the distance for you. There are two very good reasons for you to use Prolog —to do your work smarter and faster. That's exactly what the Arity/Prolog development environment-w*ll help you do. Our powerful tools, based on ‘ the general purposelprogramming language Prolog, will signif¬ icantly redpce your development time and allow you to solve a wide range of application|problems. r I No translation required "[jur development environment for i the IBM PC family and aft MS-DOS compatibles includes the Arity/Prolog Compiler and Interpreter, the Arity/Expert Sys¬ tem, and Arity/SQL. And you can tie them all together. You can interfacl| with several other programming languages and build extensions to your existing applications. You'll be truly multilingual —what better way to span the generation gap? i r ^t can take you to new places You’ll discover amazing speed, power, and flexibility using the Arity/Prolog programming environment, with its one gigabyte of virtual memory and fast, compact compiled code, for conventional applications. And if you're working in new territories, like expert systems or sophisticated database management systems, you'll be speak¬ ing the native tongue. Speak it freely Our products are not copy protected and we charge no royalties, so you can use them in as many end-user applications as you'd like. Why keep the language of solutions all to yourself? Join the thousands of assembly and C programmers who already use Arity/Prolog—the language of solutions. Call 1-800-PC-ARITY Today. Masschusetts residents call 617-371-1243. Software that roars. ARITY CORPORATION 30 Domino Drive, Concord, MA 01742 U.S.A. 1-800-722-7489 or in Massachusetts call 617-371-1243 CIRCLE NO. 136 ON READER SERVICE CARD FEBRUARY 1987 139 SPEED INFUSION NEW AND IMPROVED Version 2 Dlf.DAT. • Fully disassembles both .EXE and .COM files! • Flow- and Seg. Reg. Data-trace finds SEGs, PROCs, & Data Areas! • Outputs SEGMENT & PROC pseudo-ops at proper places. • Outputs data areas via proper form of DB/DW [ASCII text as strings, others as hex value]. • Labels both code & data. Labels of form ‘Hxxxxx’ where ‘xxxxx’ is hex offset from beginning of program. NEW! • User may easily input locations of multiple pgm. areas [if reqd.]. • 8086/88/186/286 op-codes, [‘real' addressing mode]. • DOS function calls commented to show operation performed. • Output format fully compatible with IBMVMicrosoft* assembler input. • For IBM PC*/XT*/AT* & com¬ patibles, 128K+, DOS 2.0+

8634-22 PC-DISnDATa 2.0

[SVa” disk & manual]. $165 U.S. Funds only, drawn on a U.S. bank. Add $3 shipping [U.S. & Canada]. $10 [overseas air] per item. Ohio residents please add local sales tax. •Registered trademark. IBM Corporation. ••Registered trademark. Mic rosoft Corp. To order, phone [513] 435-4480 [M-F. 9a.m.-5p.m.. EST], or send check, money order, or VISA/MasterCard information [name, street address [No P.O. box please] . card number, expiration date, and your telephone number] to: PRO/AM SOFTWARE | 220 Cardigan Road | Centerville, OH 45459 [513] 435-4480 Professional Software for both Novice and Expert Software One reason for knowing the DOS segment is to find the print echo switch, which is toggled by Ctrl-PitSc and Ctrl-P. SURPRISE.SYS seems to lose track of this switch, causing print echo to behave erratically. Print echo can be turned on at either clock speed, but it can be turned off only at slow; once turned on [at either speed], it remains on at high speed at all times. [The May¬ nard technical support personnel ac¬ knowledged only that printing does not work properly at high speed because of “timing loops” within the print control routines. It was suggested that the user switch to low speed whenever print echo is desired. No problem occurred with printing itself at high speed, only with recognizing when the DOS print echo switch had been turned off.] Another problem with the Surprise! is that it fails to recognize an 8087. The documentation states that the Surprise! uses the 8087 at low speed, but not at high. In fact, with this board installed, Lotus 1-2-3, Microsoft C, and Lattice C all refused to acknowledge the pres¬ ence of the 8087 at any speed. Surprisingly, Maynard claims that in many applications [spreadsheets specifi¬ cally], a V20 running at 10 MHz can out¬ perform an 8087 running at 5. This is patently untrue because it implies that hardware floating-point operations on the 8087 are less than twice as fast as software simulation on an 8088 or V20. Typically, the performance ratio at equal clock speeds is between 4:1 and 10:1. In the testing that was performed for this review, a system with a V20 and 8087 running at 4.77 MHz calculated a 1-2-3 spreadsheet about twice as fast as the Surprise! did at 9.54 MHz. Achieving half the execution time at half the clock rate equates to an actual fourfold im¬ provement in the rate of computation with the use of an 8087. The documentation is fairly com¬ plete, but it comes in too many pieces: the installation instructions are on one sheet, technical information is on an¬ other, and these pieces are in addition to an assistance booklet, another outlin¬ ing Maynard’s customer service plan, and several sheets with the software li¬ cense agreement, registration cards, product comment forms, and so forth. One booklet is much preferable. Ease of installation notwithstanding, the Surprise! cannot be recommended because of its interface problems with DOS and the 8087. Even putting this aside, the board is overpriced for the performance improvement it offers. Megahertz Corporation. The TurboSwitch board provides not just two or three higher speeds, but ten, controlled by a rotary switch that mounts on the front panel of the system unit. This permits running the system very close to its maximum speed and changing the speed without reinstalling the Turbo- Switch. As enticing as this may sound, the problems that arise in the installa¬ tion and operation of this board may outweigh the advantages of not wasting some minor portion of speed capability. This board’s installation is far more complicated than any of the others. First, the 8088 is unplugged and re¬ placed with a supplied 8-MHz 8088-2. Then, the 8284 chip is removed from the motherboard and plugged into a socket on the TurboSwitch board [each of the other accelerators has its own 8284]. A ribbon cable connects the TurboSwitch and the 8284 socket. Only one end of the cable is marked to pre¬ vent its being plugged in backwards; the orientation of the other end is spec¬ ified only in the instructions, [In this particular case, experience with con¬ necting PCB components is not a help, because the cable is installed contrary to the standard conventions: the striped edge does not connect to pin 1.] Apart from that quirk, the installa¬ tion thus far is quite ordinary. At this point, however, one of the power con¬ nectors from the power supply must be removed from the motherboard and plugged into a receptacle on the Turbo¬ Switch board; a short cable then con¬ nects from the TurboSwitch to the motherboard power connector. Next, the A: drive must be unmounted and slid forward to reveal the direct mem¬ ory access [DMA] chip on the mother¬ board. A spring-loaded grabber clip [of the type used on the end of test instru¬ ment probes] is connected to one of the pins of the DMA chip; then the disk drive must be slid back into place with¬ out dislodging this connection. The TurboSwitch board is mounted by a clip to the back panel, hanging above the 8088 and 8087 sockets. That is the easy version of the in¬ stallation. For a system with a soldered 8284, five more clip-on connections must be made to various points on the motherboard: Worse, the documenta¬ tion for this is literally sketchy, showing line drawings only of the chips, not their names. Also note that owners of compatibles with different component layouts are simply out of luck. Hooking leads onto chip pins is certainly less expensive than paying a serviceman to mount a socket, but the added reliability of the latter approach could be worth the extra expense. In CIRCLE NO. 252 ON READER SERVICE CARD PC TECH JOURNAL Give your system some 1 dir Plus is the most powerful and customizable file management and menuing system available. File management "Right Out of the Box" it provides the tools to organize and manage hard disk files beyond the limitations of DOS and other system utilities. The Idir Plus Command Library includes all the "standard" DOS com¬ mands, plus others, [like Tree, Move & Locate], that make life managing files even easier. The Global Directory enables operations, like erasing all the BAK files, across the entire hard disk with a single command. The system also includes a multi-mode View/Editor that you can use to view or edit any type of file - [ASCII, Extended ASCII, and HEX]. C'.SDATABASE CUST BAX INVTBY BAX Drive C 1 Mi* Ext Sixe Sep 20, 1985 09:50a* Jan 01, 1980 00:18a* Hay IS, 1986 01:00p* Aug 28, 1985 02:Up* Jan 01, 1980 00:16a* Bee 27, 1985 11:42a* Jan 01, 1980 00:16a* Jan 01, 1988 00:16a* +■ Nov 15, 1985 05:42a* Jan 01, 1980 00:16a* Nov 19, 1985 02:44a* EE

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With "WONDER” PLUS Menuing Made Easy The Menuing System provides an easy way to set up custom commands and menus to run programs and applications. Develop on line Help for any and all new commands created. Beyond Menuing further customizing features include: ■ The ability to select from 8 optional screen displays, ranging from the simple to the sophisticated, for the novice to the expert. Specify one as the default without compromizing the ability to change to any of the others at anytime, when the need arises. We call these the "Faces of ldir Plus.” Global Directory Face Drives Select directory end press , to csncel, [Ctrl Enter] for options H -■ View |?rogra*s||nie Ngt|i]t II lty || Feces jvoTvler* j»| ldir Flu* Version 1.00 - Copyright [c] Bourhaki, lne. 1986 Tree Structured Directory ■The ability I M to tailor each and every directory to display only the desired files, sorted the way you want. You can even use a date range to display only the files that have been changed within the specified period. We call these "Directory Personalities." In addition, you have the ability to specify a different Menu and or Face to be displayed, when you change into a directory that has a "Personality." Corporate Notes ldir Plus provides the perfect environment for PC Managers setting up systems for a wide variety of users, ldir Plus is also a perfect shell for Networks where different users require different configurations. System also includes Password Protection. Inquire about site licensing options. Hester Henu 4444 Come mi Description FI = Edit Edit a file Bun Lotus 123 F3 = Account Change to accounting enu F4 = Fre»e Bun Franework Bun hacloip hatch file F6 = Telecom Bun telecomunlcatlons progra F7 = Personal Change to y personal directory and nenu F8 = Exit Bemue ldir Plus fro ae*ary and exit to DOS Use the function keys or the arrow keys , to select the desired a amend, then press . Use for help. ldir Flu* Version 1.00 - Copyright [c] Bourhaki, lne. 1906 Mem^Onb/^Face - DuunoAKi INC. Suggested Retail Price =$119.00 Dealer & Corporate Evaluation P.O. Box 2867 Boise, ID.83701 Ask your Dealer About Special Pricing units available on written request. [208] 342-5849 CIRCLE 124 ON READER SERVICE CARD SPEED INFUSION We’Ve seen a lot of Pascals, but this one takes the blue ribbon. Produces code smaller and faster than optimized C compilers. ISO- compatible. Supports the 8087 in-line [8087 code emulation option if you don’t have die chip]. True relocatable linker allows access to the Microsoft family of languages and assemblers. Four memory models. Overlays. Variable-length strings. Structured constants and structured Junction values. Separate compilation of modules. Procedural parameters. Powerful compile options [optimization by-pass for quicker compiles, syntax evaluator, I/O “fine tuning’’, etc.]. Turbo Pascal Translator brings your present Borland programs over to a ISO/Marshal-readable format. Watch the difference it’ll make in your software’s code size and speed! Suggested retail is $189.00. Our price is $159.00. FREE OFFER! ABC WRITER, a powerful WordStar clone with full Print/Merge capabilities FREE with each copy of Marshal Pascal! Only while supply lasts. Call [415] 930-9848-Ask for our free catalog of other software. INNOVATION COMPUTERS 223 Donegal Way Martinez, CA 94523 Itirbo Pascal is a trademark of Borland International. WordStar is a trademark of MicroPro Inc. Microsoft is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. the course of testing, the connections slipped off several times, crashing the system. Furthermore, one of the con¬ necting wires eventually broke off from its soldered connection on the Turbo- Switch board. Perhaps the test process subjected the connections to more pok¬ ing and prodding than would be done normally in a buttoned-up production system, but this scheme is definitely not recommended for a portable machine, or even for a desktop system that is moved from time to time. Yet, installation of this board is still not complete. The box containing the speed control and reset switches must be mounted to the front panel of the system unit cover using bolts through the vent slots under the nameplate. An¬ other ribbon cable, this one keyed at both ends, connects the switch and the board. With the switch on the cover, the board on the chassis, and the connect¬ ing cable on the inside, opening and closing the system unit can become somewhat complicated. The switch box contains a ten-posi¬ tion rotary selector for clock speeds marked from 6.1 to 9.0 MHz, and a tog¬ gle switch that chooses either the nor¬ mal speed of 4.77 MHz or whichever high speed is set on the selector. A third, spring-loaded position of the tog¬ gle switch provides a reset function. Boot-up may be accomplished at either normal or high speed. Despite the switch markings, run¬ ning a PC at 9 MHz is wishful thinking on two counts. First, no 8088-based IBM PC or compatible system is capable of that speed. Second, the markings on the TurboSwitch are somewhat optimistic; the clock rates measured with a fre¬ quency counter were lower by 3 to 6 percent. The 9-MHz position actually produced a frequency of 8.7 MHz, but that is still too fast for either test sys¬ tem. The maximum speed possible with the IBM system was 7.06 MHz [position 5, marked 7.3]. The TurboSwitch could not be tested at higher speeds because it would not run at all in the XT-com¬ patible system—there it simply refused to boot at any setting. The TurboSwitch uses resistance capacitance [RC] circuits rather than quartz crystals to generate frequencies above 4.77 MHz. The reasoning behind this choice is obvious: ten crystals would be much more expensive. How¬ ever, it delivers less precise control and is more subject to failure than a crystal- controlled oscillator circuit. Using its connection to the DMA chip, the TurboSwitch board can detea disk I/O and reduce the system speed for the duration. Therefore, DOS FORMAT can be run without switching back to normal speed. Surprisingly, this board’s performance in the disk-inten¬ sive tests was not significantly better than that of boards that do not deceler¬ ate during disk access. The bottom line recommendation on the Megahertz TurboSwitch is not overwhelmingly positive. Although it has no fatal flaws, neither does it offer any operational advantages to compen¬ sate for the intricacies of installation or for the shortcuts in design. Microspeed. To put it simply, the design, execution performance, and documen¬ tation of the Fast88 is the best in this field of simple accelerator boards. It contains three crystals to run at speeds of 6.14, 6.67, and 7.37 MHz. The manual says these are meant for systems with memory chips rated at 250, 200, and 150 ns, respectively. The choice is made at installation by means of a jumper. Another jumper enables or disables the reset button—this is the only board to carry such an option. Installation involves replacing the microprocessor with a supplied 8-MHz 8088-2, removing the 8284, and con¬ necting a ribbon cable between its socket and the Fast88. The connectors are not keyed, but the cable is plainly marked and the instruaions are more than adequate to avoid confusion. The board itself attaches with screws to the inside of the back panel, over the round knockout of a PC or the DB-25 opening of an XT. The mounting bracket is cleverly designed so that a telephone-style modular jack on the board lines up with the opening. This jack accepts a short length of cable that connects with a small plastic box containing the speed switch and a reset button. The box may be left sitting on the desktop or attached to the sys¬ tem unit cover with double-sided adhe¬ sive tape, also supplied. The quick- connect Telco jacks at both ends of the cable will be appreciated both at instal¬ lation and subsequendy whenever the system unit needs to be opened. The operation of the Fast88 was as smooth as the installation. As stated in the manual, the board could run no fas¬ ter than 6.67 MHz in the IBM system with 200-ns memory chips; it did run at 7.37 MHz in the XT compatible [with 150-ns chips]. Speed switching and re¬ setting worked flawlessly every time. The Microspeed documentation also is first-rate material. An exhaustive, 64-page booklet covers not only installa¬ tion, but also the design criteria and theory of operation. It even has an in- 142 PC TECH JOURNAL PROFESSIONAL INDUSTRIAL COMPUTERS LOW PRICED YET HIGH RELIABLE 100% IBM compatible, Phoenix Bios Technical Data : Professional 286-10 Intel 80286 Microprocessor 8/10 MHZ • Math coprocessor [80287] • Seven channel DMA

16 level interrupt

• System clock • Three programmable timers PROFESSIONAL 286-10 ?.o' V, • 64 kB ROM • One MB RAM on board • CMOS RAM for system configeration • Real time clock • Battery backup for CMOSRAM • Eight slots • Two parallel printerports • One serial port • Floppy drive 1.2 MB • Rugged hard disk drive 20 MB/30MB • Enhanced graphics adapter 720 x 350/16 [64] colors • EGA compatible high resolution monitor • Membrane type keyboard IBM-AT compatible, 98 keys • Without floppy drive • With two floppy drives • 3.5 inch disk drives available • uninterruptable power supply • Bubble memory • Custom designed hardware add ons • Special analog preamplifiers • Power amplifier outputs • Telephone modem for service • LAN’s available • Air conditioning Runs with MS-DOS 3.1 or higher and can handle all software products available for PC/AT systems • Energy Management • Laboratory automation • Pressure Measurement • Flow Measurement • Level monitoring and control • Product testing • Data logging • Process Control • Servocontrol • Robotics • Chromatography • Signal Analysis • FFT • Vibration Analysis • Transient Analysis • Your special application 12-bit to 14-bit AD/DA cards designed for industrial applications with 1/0 lines, frequency counters and individual preamplifiers per channel are available. KORROS-DATA delivers turnkey projects KORROS-DATA of America Inc. 797 San Antonio Road Palo Alto, CA 94303 Tel. [415] 858 2866 Circle No. 226 on Reader Service Card TLX 33-4959 APTECH PLA Registered Trademark: IBM-International Business Machines Corp. SPEED INFUSION dex—an unheard-of luxury in instruc¬ tion manuals of this type. The Fast88 is a superior product, the choice by far in this field. The only possible improvement would be to sub¬ stitute a V20 processor for the 8088-2. But even as it was tested, the Fast88’s cost/performance ratio is the best, espe¬ cially if cosr takes into account not only money, but also that other scarce resource, expansion slots. Microsync. The Screamer is a short-slot board that fits into an expansion slot. With this full access to the system bus, it can adapt itself better to the capabili¬ ties of the system and exert some con¬ trol over the system’s timing. A battery- backed clock/calendar is included, but unlike most devices that are used only to set the system clock at boot-up, this one plays a significant role in the board’s operation. Despite a complex and convoluted design, the Screamer turns in very ordinary results, and it has one very serious failing. Installation itself is fairly straight¬ forward. The board may be plugged into either of the two rightmost slots; a ADVANTAGE C+ + Brings the power of C++ to your PC. • Opens the door to object-oriented programming • Allows programs with greater resilience, fewer bugs • Fully compatible with existing C programs • All the benefits of C without its limitations ADVANTAGE Link Everything you've always wanted in a PC-DOS linker. • The fastest, most powerful PC-DOS linker available • The first linker to take full advantage of extended memory • Accepts Microsoft and Phoenix command files • Supports up to 53 commands—more than any other linker • Compatible with Microsoft CodeView ADVANTAGE LIBRARY SERIES TimeSlicer Multi-tasking library streamlines C programming. • Perform concurrent tasks and real-time event processing • Includes higher files for both C and assembly language and example programs with source code • Compatible with C++ and object-oriented programming • Critical resource management assured To order or to obtain complete specification sheets, call: 1-800-847-7078 In NY: 914-332-1875 55 South Broadway Tarrytown, NY 10591 UFESQAT The Full-Service Source for Programming Software. CIRCLE NO. 173 ON READER SERVICE CARD switch must be set if it is installed in slot 8 of an XT. The system’s original microprocessor is unplugged and re¬ placed with a V20. The 8284 is removed from its socket, then a special socket with some of the pins removed is plugged in its place, and the 8284 is plugged into that. The connection be¬ tween the board and the 8284 is made by means of a single wire terminated with a clip that snaps over the clock chip. The final step is the running of an installation program and the setting of the Screamer’s DIP switches according to an on-screen diagram. The switch settings can be changed while the sys¬ tem remains powered; the purpose of these switches becomes clear upon ex¬ amination of the board’s design. The Screamer generates three clock frequencies: 4.77, 6.0, and 8.0 MHz. At any given instant, the clock rate will vary according to the capabilities of the components being accessed. For processor-only operations, the 8-MHz rate is used; for other activities, die rate is controlled on a cycle-by-cycle basis. This has the effect of “stretching” por¬ tions of a bus cycle without using wait states. During a bus cycle that reads or writes slow memory, only two of the four clock cycles are lengthened. On the surface, this scheme seems preferable to inserting wait states. At a clock rate of 8 MHz, a bus cycle with a single wait state lasts 625 ns [five clock cycles of 125 ns each], while a four- clock cycle with two clock cycles at 125 ns and two at 167 [the clock period at 6 MHz] lasts only 584 ns. But in practice, lengdiening q'des exacts more of a penalty than inserting wait states. This is so because the 8088 and V20 processors perform two activities at once: prefetch¬ ing of instructions and execution. Most of the time, while a bus cycle is in progress, die processor’s execution unit is busy crunching an instruction fetched on a previous bus cycle. If the clock cycle is lengthened, fetching and execution are slowed down together. On the other hand, inserting a wait state slows down only the bus interface unit, while the execution unit continues to move along at full speed, provided that it has a prefetched instruction to work on. In fact, a single wait state in a bus cycle exacts no penalty whatsoever if the currently executing instruction takes five or more clock cycles; two wait states have no effect during execu¬ tion of an instruction of six or more clock cycles, and so on. The Screamer’s installation pro¬ gram tests the DMA channels and each portion of memory and attempts to de- 144 PC TECH JOURNAL Whetstones/sec* Microsoft 3.31 " 1 Lahey 2.0 89,700 | z z z z z z z J This is the one. C^| Ry an-McFarland 2.11 Whatever the yardstick, — RM/FORTRAN™ blows i the others away. Microsoft 3 31 Sieve? RM/FORTRAN Microsoft 3.31 _ runs 26% to 228% fas ter. Lahey 2.0 Whetstones? RM/FORTRAN is MIMI 20% to 33% better. | *Single precision. Run on IBM PC// And those aren’t our i benchmarks. They’re the f _J industry standards. / 7 With RM/FORTRAN, k you can actually feel the ' S=5=J ^ difference in the seat of your pants . . . because you’ll do less sitting and waiting for those big, complex mainframe programs to run on your micro. In fact, an ARPANET Bulletin Board user said, “. . . for serious conversion work of mainframe Fortran code, use the Ryan-McFarland ...” 119,000 99,300 Single precision. Run on IBM PC/AT [6 MHz] with 80287, PC-DOS 3.2. ] y~V example, said our jO “compiler’s documentation, ease of use, speed of execution, and debugging facilities place it first for recommendation. ” But why spend any more time reading when — you should be filling out ® 3 - 2 - the coupon and getting your free “RM/FORTRAN Tbols, Utilities and _ Applications Directory” and ^ sample benchmark programs to \ run on your own PC. / Remember, if it isn’t } RM/FORTRAN, it’s just a Fortran also-ran. Ryan-McFarland 609 Deep Valley Drive Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274 or caU 213-541-4828 RYAN-McFARLAND RM/FORTRAN is also the first and only PC Fortran GSA certified at Full Level ANSI 77 with no discrepancies. So programs move effort¬ lessly from your mainframe to a PC, XT, AT or compatible. And they also port to 68000-based systems or new 80386 machines. You may already be using version 1.0 under the name “IBM PC Professional Fortran by Ryan-McFarland.” RM/FORTRAN comes with popular extensions from "VAX, VS and Fortran 66. That’s more mainline mainframe extensions than any other micro Fortran. And there’s more. PC TECH Journal, for S Knock me out. Send me the benchmark | programs and the free Applications Directory. CIRCLE NO. 137 ON READER SERVICE CARD TRAVEL Add RealCICS™ to REALIA® COBOL and your online applications are free to travel to the PC. With RealCICS, you don't have to work nights to get the test time you need. You don't have to buy an XT- or AT-370. You don’t even have to revise the definition tables. Realia's well-known IBM compatibility makes upload/download easy. But compiled under REALIA COBOL, your CICS applications will run so fast on the PC that you may not want to send them back to the mainframe for production. In fact, one user just put a mainframe application on a bunch of portables and sent them on the road. RealCICS is the ticket. Call us. nuuA 10 South Riverside Plaza, Chicago IL 60606 Telex 332979 / Phone [312] 346-0642 CIRCLE 192 ON READER SERVICE CARD SPEED INFUSION termine the maximum speed at which each will operate. Because it sits in a slot, the Screamer has access to the ad¬ dress bus and can vary the clock rate depending upon the segment being ad¬ dressed at each cycle. Memory is tested in 128KB increments all the way through the 1MB address space, includ¬ ing video memory, any expanded mem¬ ory page frames, and ROM. At the com¬ pletion of testing, the program graphi¬ cally displays the switch settings. Instructions for setting switches are also given in detail in the documenta¬ tion. This is fortunate because the test program is not wholly reliable, and its recommendations do not always work. For example, on the PC test system with 200-ns RAM chips, the test procedure specified switch settings for a constant 8-MHz clock rate to all of memory. But with these settings, the system crashed whenever it was switched into high speed. The board ran well when set for a 6-MHz rate of memory access. Another switch controls the boot¬ up speed of the Screamer. Thereafter, the speed is switched via a supplied program that can be either resident or transient. Once the proper switch set¬ tings were determined, no problems were encountered with switching among the three speeds. At high speed, the Screamer’s aver¬ age clock rate, as measured with a fre¬ quency counter, varied between 6.5 and 6.8 MHz, depending upon the activity. Most of the time, the counter would sta¬ bilize at 6.67 MHz, which is the result of 60 percent of the clock cycles at 6 MHz and 40 percent at 8 MHz. [The average frequency is obtained by aver¬ aging not the 6 and 8, but the periods of 167 and 125 ns.] The benchmark re¬ sults are almost identical to those ob¬ tained with boards that were running at a constant 6.7 MHz without any of this complexity with the clock. However, the most serious flaw in the Screamer’s design is the fact that it does not provide the standard timer in¬ put frequency of 1.1932 MHz. Because only one original 8284 is present, the processor clock and timer signals can¬ not be separated, and the 8253 timer chip receives one-quarter of whatever frequency is being fed to the micropro¬ cessor. In the Screamer, this can vary from cycle to cycle, thus the timer does not have a constant time base. The video synchronization, however, is unaf¬ fected, because the 14.3-MHz oscillator from the original crystal continues to be fed to the expansion slots. To salvage the time-of-day capabil¬ ity, an installable device driver replaces FEBRUARY 1987 the DOS clock device and maintains the correct time despite the variations in the timer frequency. However, this does not fully duplicate the standard clock fa¬ cilities because the correct time is maintained only by the Screamer’s on¬ board clock/calendar and is available only through DOS. The timer words in the BIOS data area do not reflect the true time of day, nor are they updated at the actual time rate. Thus, processes that measure elapsed time by reading the timer words [or, for more resolu¬ tion, the timer registers] directly will not obtain the correct values. Further, the frequencies of sounds produced by the speaker are very* different. IBM has made a commitment to maintain a fixed timer input frequency in all members of the PC family. Micro¬ sync’s disregard of this standard is un¬ warranted. Providing a substitute date and time driver is not sufficient, be¬ cause the timer frequency has other uses. For compatibility across the PC line, programs should take time-critical information from the timer, and the most efficient way of doing that is not A Contradiction! Running Under PC DOS

750 million bytes formatted in two volumes for the "Eagle" [one volume/drive]...M2361A can hold 552MB/volume...data transfer rate up to 2.4MB/sec....data access time - 18ms/drive...variable interleave capability...partitioning possible...drives built to mainframe specifications with mainframe reliability...greater than 20,000 hours MTBF. For further information contact: Upper Bound Micro 18 Elizabeth Street, W. Conshohocken, PA 19428 [215] 825-0505 FAX [215] 828-8618 The "Eagle" is a trademark of Fujitsu America, Inc. PC DOS is a trademark of IBM. CIRCLE NO. 169 ON READER SERVICE CARD 147 SPEED INFUSION through DOS, but directly from the BIOS or timer words, or from the tim¬ er’s registers. With the Screamer in¬ stalled, the timer becomes useless. It is primarily for this reason that the Screamer is not a recommended prod¬ uct. Even so, the cost and complexity of this accelerator are not justified by the performance it delivers. MicroWay. Although the 87/88 Turbo is a short-slot board that plugs into an ex¬ pansion slot, it is basically the same type of clock accelerator as the other no-slot boards. It runs an 8088 or V20 in the original motherboard socket and feeds its higher-speed clock signals through the original 8284 socket on the motherboard. However, with full access to the bus, this board can do some tasks the others cannot, such as switch¬ ing speeds with software and automati¬ cally slowing down for disk access. In addition, it includes a battery-powered clock/calendar for setting the system clock on power-up. The 87/88 Turbo comes with an 8-MHz V20 and three crystals that gen¬ erate frequencies of 6.67, 7.37, and 8.0 MHz. The crystal for the slowest of these is soldered to the board; one of the other two is to be plugged into a socket. Then, a jumper is set to choose one of the two remaining frequencies as the turbo speed. The choice of 6.67, 7.37, or 8 MHz can be made only at in¬ stallation, not during operation. It would have been much clearer, there¬ fore, to provide only one method of choosing—either by a jumper that se¬ lects one of three premounted crystals, or by plugging one of three into the board. The purpose of providing three clock speeds is, of course, to allow tai¬ loring the speed to the capabilities of a particular machine, but there seems to be no overwhelming reason to have two crystals, rather than one or three, mounted on the board. The socketed crystal does offer one option not available with the other boards. For a system that can run faster than 6.67 MHz but cannot manage 7.37, the user can purchase and plug in a crystal for some intermediate speed. The crystal frequency needs to be three times the desired clock rate; for exam¬ ple, a 21-MHz crystal is needed for a clock rate of 7 MHz. The documentation for this board, consisting of five 8-by-l 1-inch sheets of paper, contains installation instruc¬ tions that are a model of conciseness and clarity. MicroWay has always tar¬ geted its products to the more experi¬ enced PC user, for whom it is a pleas¬ ure to be spared the tedium of yet an¬ other explanation of how to take off the system unit cover or what exacdy an AUTOEXEC file is and how to add lines to it. But the user who needs this kind of instruction will find the lack of tech¬ nical information frustrating. The pages provide absolutely no detail regarding the board’s theory of operation, the I/O port addresses used by the clock and the speed switching hardware, nor any explanation about the operation of any of the supplied resident programs. The port addresses given here were discov¬ ered by disassembling the programs. The process of installation involves replacing the 8088 with the V20, insert¬ ing the 87/88 Turbo into a slot, remov¬ ing the 8284, and connecting a ribbon cable between the board and the va¬ cated socket. The cable is keyed at one end, and pin 1 is plainly marked on the other. A push-button reset switch mounts in the round knockout in the rear panel; its cable is too short, howev¬ er, to permit mounting in a more acces¬ sible location for the user. The system always boots up at 4.77 MHz. Thereafter the speed can be changed in one of three ways: first, by means of a spring-loaded switch that protrudes through the mounting bracket —pressing it down causes the system to speed up into turbo mode, and vice- versa [although a minor point, the re¬ verse would have seemed more logi¬ cal]; second, by running one of two programs, LARGO and PRESTO, either from the DOS prompt or from a batch file; third, by installing a supplied resi¬ dent utility that performs speed-switch¬ ing via hot keys. However, the key com¬ binations of this last choice seem rather arbitrary and not mnemonic: Ctrl-Alt-P for fast speed, Ctrl-Alt-L for slow. The MicroWay instructions suggest starting out at the highest speed [8 MHz] and stepping down until the sys¬ tem does not crash upon shifting into high speed. As stated, the test PC system would not run faster than 6.67 MHz. Strangely, the board would not run at 8 MHz in the XT compatible, even though that machine has built-in capabilities to operate at that speed. This suggests that the 87/88 Turbo makes no concessions to slow system components, and indeed, it used zero wait states. But this board gives the user one element of control not provided by any of the others: the choice of auto¬ matically switching into slow speed for all disk accesses. If a resident utility is installed, slow speed is entered at each disk I/O interrupt, and the former speed is reenabled afterwards. Without this utility, disk I/O proceeds at what- Complete Communications for Programmers & Engineers for $95 Turn Your PC or AT into a Communicating Workstation ZAP gives you all the communications fea¬ tures you need, plus emulation of graphics and smart terminals. And at a reasonable price! You can use the full capabilities of almost any computer — a mainframe, mini, or just using a BBS . . . unattended. Accessing existing data shouldn’t cost you a lot of money. TAP is the most versatile ~ communications package you - could ask for. / communicate - -- with a number of mainframe and mini systems and use ZAP to download everything. It is very easy to use. Vve bought 4 communications packages. All cost more, and none come close to TAP's performance. TAP is now the only package I use. — Larry Cole, President PC Powerware Corp., Chicago, IL TAP is a phenomenal product at a very reasona¬ ble price. To think / was ready to settle for VT100 emulation for $195! — Hank Streeter, Owner Integrated Software Development, Houston, TX Requires an IBM PC or close compatible and 128K RAM. w LJUWiuuai ZAP VT100, 102, TEK 4010/14 ... It’s all Here Emulate TEKtronix 4010/14 and DEC VT 100, 102, 52 including variable rows and columns, windows, full graphics, more. Reliable file transfer to/from any mainframes and PCs including KERMIT and XMODEM protocols [plus a full copy of KERMIT]. 50-38,400 BAUD transfer speeds. D ownlo ad and fully automated logon with Macro and Installation files [scripts] • EMACS, EDT and VI Script” files are included. ZAP also supports products like DISSPLA and SAS/GRAPH. Configurable to the communications and terminal features on the ‘‘other end”; 1, 2 stop bits; 5, 6, 7, or 8 data bits; parity of odd, even, none, mark and space; remap most keys including the numeric pad. Set any screen size your hardware supports. DOS shell for full PC/MSDOS access. Supports 9 Comm ports and the IBM Monochrome, color, EGA, or Hercules Monochrome cards. Call 800-821-2492 to order ZAP risk-free for only $95 evolution Systems™ 335-P Washington St., Norwell, MA 02061 [617] 659-1571 CIRCLE NO. 129 ON READER SERVICE CARD PC TECH JOURNAL SPEED INFUSION microDCF™ Text Workstation IBM DCF3 Compatible Text Processing System For Your PC • IBM Script language • IBM GML language • macro libraries • symbol support • multi-pass processing • high performance • laser printer support • table of contents • back-of-book index • user-definable languages • modular print manager • and much more... $795.- Quantity Discounts Site Licenses Full Maintenance TM Programmer Workstation IBM ISPF Compatible Program Development Tools For Your PC • ISPF PDF editor • dialog manager • dialog panel editor • utilities • multitasking while editing • directory file selection • customizable master menu from $145.- Arrix Logic Systems Inc. PO Box 142, Don Mills Stn. Ontario M3C 2R6, Canada [416] 292-6425 TELEX 06-986766 TOR IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp. ever clock speed is in effect. The other boards that have the capability of slow¬ ing down for disk I/O do not offer the option of disabling it. The MicroWay 87/88 Turbo opera¬ tion was flawless. As its name indicates, it also works well with an 8-MHz 8087. The installation instructions are first- rate, but it has no technical documenta¬ tion. Although it has some minor, but irritating, design flaws, the product works as promised, and the price is rea¬ sonable. For systems with no shortage of slots, and especially for those in need of a clock, MicroWay’s 87/88 Turbo merits consideration. GOING FAST ENOUGH The accelerator boards were examined with measuring equipment and bench¬ mark programs. Clock frequencies were measured using a frequency counter. For the boards with crystal-controlled oscillators, and for those that doubled the 4.77 Mhz from the motherboard, the frequencies were found to agree with the nominal indicated to better than 0.1 percent [the output of a crystal oscillator may be varied over a narrow range with a trimming capacitor]. Only one board, the Megahertz TurboSwitch, generates frequencies with less stable RC circuits. Its output is below the nominal by as much as 5 percent, and varies generally by about 1 percent. The Microsync Screamer also varies, but that is by design; its two individual frequen¬ cies are derived from a crystal oscillator and both are steady. A logic analyzer was used to deter¬ mine the insertion of wait states into bus cycles. This instrument samples a number of signals from a system under test, recording the logic state [zero or one] of each signal at each clock pulse. The capacity of the unit used was 4,000 bytes, meaning that 4,000 clock cycles could be stored with an 8-channel probe, or 2,000 with a 16-channel probe. The start of sampling can be triggered manually or by the occur¬ rence of a particular bit pattern on the sample lines. At the end of the sampling interval, the stored data can be dis¬ played on the unit’s screen in binary, octal, or hexadecimal numbers, or graphically as timing diagrams similar to the one shown in figure 3. Because it ran at a faster clock speed [9.33 MHz] than the other five products, the Maynard Surprise! was the only board found to insert wait states into the bus cycle. The number of wait states is at least two, and occasionally three, for memory cycles, and four to six when accessing I/O ports.

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Trademarks PC-lint [Gimpel Software]. ■& MS, MS-DOS [Microsoft], Amiga [Commodore] :c8Vr » T* CIRCLE NO. 122 ON READER SERVICE CARD FEBRUARY 1987 149 SPEED INFUSION The asynchronous changes in the state of READY are brought into synchronization with the system clock by logic within the 8284 clock generator chip. [See figure 1.] Note that the READY line has no effect on the T3 clock cycle. In designing benchmark programs to test these accelerators and the more complex models in future installments, one factor became immediately ob¬ vious: it is not possible to devise a sin¬ gle numeric measure that rates the rela¬ tive speed of processing under all con¬ ditions. A microprocessor performs many different functions, and its throughput can be increased by improv¬ ing the speed or efficiency of several of these functions in varying degrees. The effective improvement seen by the user depends upon the particular mix of these functions performed by a given application. The apparent gain in per¬ formance will vary depending upon the task used to measure that performance. Therefore, several different bench¬ marks were devised to test performance under a variety of conditions. With one exception, these tests are practical ap¬ plications, not artificial sequences of in¬ structions contrived to exercise some limited aspect of the microprocessors capabilities. The benchmark results are shown in table 2. Where two speeds are listed for a board, the lower of the two was achieved in the PC system de¬ scribed, the higher in the XT compat¬ ible. Note that the American Turbo was tested only in the compatible because its one speed was too fast for the PC; the Megahertz TurboSwitch would not run in the compatible; and the Maynard Surprise! ran at the same speed in both. BUSPERF [written in Lattice C and assembly language] was the one bench¬ mark designed specifically to determine low-level timing characteristics [see list¬ ings 1 and 2]. It tests the speed with which systems fetch instructions from memory and calculates a speed index relative to a standard PC running at 4.77 MHz. Measuring bus access timing re¬ quires a sequence of instructions for which the execution time is limited by the bus; that is, each instruction must execute in less time than it takes the bus unit to fetch it. The 8088 requires at least eight clock cycles to fetch a two- byte instruction; therefore, any instruc¬ tion that executes in fewer than eight clock cycles satisfies the requirement for this test. Ideally, the same test should be applicable to 80286 ma¬ chines, and the processor should fetch word-long instructions in a minimum of two clock cycles. Some two-byte instruc¬ tions do execute in two clock cycles, namely register-to-register moves. The high-resolution [better than 1 |xs] timing method required for this test was developed by Bob Smith and Tom Puckett [see “Life in the Fast Lane,” April 1984, p. 62]. Basically, the timing routine counts the pulses on the 1.1932- MHz timer line [refer to figure 1]. The timing sequence is coded in straight-line fashion, rather than as a loop, to prevent the LOOP instruction from upsetting the balance between ex¬ ecution and fetch times. One other pre¬ caution must be taken: the timed se¬ quence cannot be interrupted by a hardware interrupt. The obvious way to avert this is to disable interrupts, but that still leaves one problem. If the tim¬ er count reaches zero during the test, the time at the end of the test may be less than the time at the start. Instead, the test is made to fit between timer ticks by delaying the start of the test un¬ til a tick occurs and limiting the instruc¬ tions in the sequence so that they can be executed in less than the 53 ms be¬ fore the next timer tick. The primary purpose of BUSPERF is to complement the logic analyzer in finding wait states. The analyzer can de¬ termine precisely the number of wait states and the circumstances when each occurs, but only in a relatively short time span of 4,000 clock cycles. If an event that affects the system’s timing oc¬ curs outside of this interval, it is not re¬ flected in the data stored in the ana¬ lyzer. On the other hand, BUSPERF can determine average bus access time over a time period two orders of magnitude [100 times] longer. In more colloquial terms, the analyzer might miss the for- 150 PC TECH JOURNAL TABLE 2: Benchmark. Results IBM CORPORATION AMERICAN COMPUTER MAYNARD ELECTRONICS MEGAHERTZ CORPORATION MICROSPEED MICROSYNC MICROWAY MODEL PC PC American Surprise! TurboSwitch Fast88 Screamer 87/88 Turbo Turbo MICROPROCESSOR 8088 V20 8088-2 V20 8088-2 8088-2 V20 V20 CLOCK SPEED [MHz] 4.77 4.77 7.37* 9.55 7.06 6.67 7.37* 8.00 6.67 7.37* CLOCK SPEED RATIO 100 100 155 200 148 140 155 168 140 155 BUSPERF 0.045 6 100 159 132 150 142 159 c 143 159 ATFLOAT No 8087 106 124 158 166 151 142 158 174 160 196 With 8087 22 116 158 cl 151 142 157 159 157 175 ASSEMBLY OF VDISK 34 110 158 148 148 142 156 154 154 172 LOTUS 1-2-3 No 8087 122 103 157 152 147 141 155 161 159 187 With 8087 41 106 153 _ d 149 142 157 157 156 179 dBASE SORT 119 106 146 115 118 115 147 118 119 143 WORD REPAGINATE 50 111 152 156 156 148 170 156 161 192 DOS FORMAT • • O • • O O O O O • = Yes O = No a These results were obtained with the board in a PC/XT-compatible machine [with 8.0-MHz capacity], in order to accommodate the higher clock speed. b The figures in the first column [from this test down] are times in seconds for the base machine—an IBM PC with a 4.77-MHz 8088. The remainder of the fig¬ ures for the tests [including the second column, which is the base PC with the 8088 replaced by an NEC V20] are percentages relative to the first-column unit figures [base 100], and represent the increase in PC performance yielded by the accelerator boards. c BUSPERF relies on the IBM standard timer frequency, which is altered by Screamer. d Surprise! does not allow the use of the 8087 numeric coprocessor. The impressive clock rate of the Surprise! does not give a proportional performance improvement. The use of wait states by the Surprise! brings its performance down to a level comparable to the other products. None of these products provides even twice the performance of a stock PC, a level considered by many to be the minimum significant performance enhancement. est for the trees, while the program alone could be the statistician who drowned in a lake with an average depth of two feet. For an example of how the ana¬ lyzer and the program complement each other, consider the results ob¬ tained for the Maynard Surprise! The analyzer indicated that, most of the time, two wait states were inserted into memory accesses, with an occasional bus cycle having three wait states. How can it be determined if this is the nor¬ mal state of affairs and not an artifact of the narrow sampling window? Perhaps in a wider time frame, the cycles with three wait states are more prevalent, and those with two are an exception. Some simple calculations, and the results of BUSPERF, provide the answer. At the normal speed of 4.77 MHz and with zero wait states, a bus cycle takes four clock cycles of 210 ns, for a total of 840 ns. At 9.55 MHz, the clock period is 105 ns, and a bus cycle with two wait states [six clock cycles total] takes 630 ns. The ratio of the bus cycle times, 840/630, is 1.33, almost exactly the re¬ sult produced by BUSPERF. Therefore, it follows that the Surprise! inserts two wait states into most bus cycles. However, because of the occur¬ rence of cycles with three wait states, the average calculated by BUSPERF should be somewhat higher than the ra¬ tio obtained by the above calculation; instead it is slightly lower. This differ¬ ence can be explained by the saving in overhead for DMA refresh cycles. Under normal circumstances, every 72 clock cycles [15 [is at 4.77 MHz], one of the DMA channels performs a. dynamic memory refresh to prevent the contents of RAM chips from fading away. The refresh cycle takes five clock cycles, representing an overhead of 5/72 or 7 percent. The refresh cycles are triggered by the timer chip [the input for which is the 1.1932-MHz timer clock], and a correctly designed acceler¬ ator board does not change this fre¬ quency, so that the refresh interval re¬ mains 15 |is. But if the processor clock runs at twice the speed, 144 clock cy¬ cles occur between refresh cycles. With, for example, three wait states per re¬ fresh cycle, the refresh overhead would be [5 + 3]/l44 or 5.5 percent. In the case of the Maynard Surprise! board, this reduction in refresh overhead ap¬ proximately offsets the occasional inser¬ tion of a third wait state. Because the results reported by BUSPERF depend on a constant timer frequency, this test could not be run on the Screamer. With that board, the timer frequency changed along with the processor clock, so the relative speeds of the timer and processor were the same [at 4.77 MHz]. As a result, BUSPERF gave a bus speed index of 1.0. The other benchmarks are more straightforward. ATFLOAT is a floating¬ point benchmark written in Microsoft C by Steven Armbrust, Ted Forgeron, and Paul Pierce for testing AT compatibles. [See “Out from the Shadow of IBM...,” August 1986, p. 53.] It has no processor- specific code and runs on 8088 and 8086 processors, with or without an 8087 [and the test was performed both with and without]. Note that at clock speeds above 5 MHz, the 8-MHz 8087-2 model must be used. Five of the six ac¬ celerators ran fine at both high and normal speeds with the 8087. As has been noted previously, the exception was the Maynard Surprise! The assembly test used Microsoft’s MASM 4.0 to assemble the DOS 3.2 ver¬ sion of VDISK.SYS. The source code was obtained by processing the listing file VDISK.LST [on the DOS Supple¬ mental Programs disk] with the BASIC program LST2ASM [previously pub¬ lished with “Same Language, New Archi¬ tecture,” Ted Mirecki, October 1985,

1. 48.] To minimize timing differences caused by disk I/O, the assembler, FEBRUARY 1987 151 SPEED INFUSION source file, and object file all resided on a RAM disk in expanded memory. To avoid taking timings manually, the following batch file was used: TIMEO MASM VDISK; TIME REM Reset your clock or run boot-up clock program. Typical end-user applications are represented by Lotus 1-2-3, Ashton¬ Tate’s dBASE hi, and Microsoft Word. The mortgage payment table using the Data Table 2 feature. The rows of the table are the life of the loan in years, with values varying 1 to 30 by 1. The col¬ umns hold the interest rates from 1 to 20 percent by .23. This is a more realis¬ tic business calculation than the more compute-intensive log, square root, or logarithmic functions. A file containing this spreadsheet, SSPERF.WK1 [for 1-2-3 release 2.0 or 2.01] is available for downloading on PCTECHline. For this test, the expanded memory was dis¬ ing paged memory. Despite the nonpro¬ cedural nature of spreadsheets, their re¬ calculation timing may be automated by the following 1-2-3 macro: {LET Al,@NOW} steps to be timed {LET A2,[@NOW-Al >*24*3600} {GOTO} A2 - When complete, cell A1 contains the start time and cell A2 the elapsed time in seconds. The @NOW function returns a value for which the fractional part represents time of day [.0 is mid¬ night, .5 is noon, .75 is 6 PM, etc.]. The fraction representing elapsed time is converted to seconds by multiplying by the number of seconds per day. Of course, cells A1 and A2 can be in any convenient place in the spreadsheet, or, more effectively, they can be range names. The {GOTO} command at the end was put in as a work-around for what appears to be a minor bug in 1-2-3: the effect of a LET, which assigns a value to a cell, is not displayed until the next time the cell pointer is moved. The dBASE hi test consisted of sort¬ ing the author file from PC Tech Jour¬ nal s standard application for testing da¬ tabase managers [see “Evaluating Data Managers as Development Tools,” Julie Anderson, August 1985, p. 46]. The file contains 900 records of 353 bytes; the sort was done on three fields [ZIP, LAST_NAME, FIRST_NAME] totaling 35 bytes. The input and output files were on hard disk, so the results here are de¬ pendent upon the speed of the disk as well as the processor. Although the ab¬ solute time of this test may vary from system to system, the relative times on one system should be close to those in table 2. As expected, the improvement provided by an accelerator is less on a disk-intensive task than it is on more compute-bound activities. The word processor test timed Microsoft Word repaginating a 57KB document occupying 19 pages. This was the only test timed using a stopwatch; the reported results are the average of five runs. The document resided on a hard disk, so this elapsed time also de¬ pends upon the disk speed, but to a lesser extent than the dBASE m sort be¬ cause the disk access is less frequent. The final test was the formatting of a diskette. Three of the six accelerators failed this, but three of them clearly documented the fact that formatting re¬ quires switching to normal speed. The boards that accomplish the task without manually switching out of high speed 1-2-3 spreadsheet calculates a monthly abled to avoid timing effects of access- Command Plus: What Command should have been. Command was fine when it came out. But when it came out again and again and again with few substan¬ tial changes, it became a real roadblock for efficient programming. Well, we always thought the programmer should be in command. So we designed Command Plus. An eminently reasonable shell that replaces MS-DOS® Command. You don’t have to forget the commands you already know. And Command Plus gives you an enhanced DIR, COPY and DEL. Plus features like command macros, command recall, file browsing, and lots more that you can’t get anywhere else. There’s even LOG to help track the time you spend on projects. You also get Script, a batch processor that’s easy to learn and unbelievably powerful. Its Pascal-like language includes control loops, conditionals and variables which let you create unique system utilities. Hassling with batch files is a thing of the past. If you think you’d get more done if you were in com¬ mand of all this, get Command Plus. Itk even within a programmer^ budget at $79.95. lb order or for more information, call us at [800] 992-4ESPIn California, call [213] 390-7408. VISA and MasterCard accepted. 11965 Venice Blvd., Suite 309, Los Angeles, CA 90066 MS-DOS is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. ESP SOFTWARE SYSTEMS INC. CIRCLE NO. 190 ON READER SERVICE CARD 152 PC TECH JOURNAL Windows, Data Entry, Help Management, Menus^lg Text Editing, pins...
2. J*' I w /M / Vitamin C It’s good for your system! The Vitamin C Difference With Vitamin C, your applications come alive with windows that explode into view! Data entry windows and menus become a snap, and context sensitive pop-up help messages are nearly automatic. With VCScreen, you’ll save time by inter¬ actively painting windows and forms so what you see is what you get! Then, one button generates C source cdde ready to plug into your program and link with Vitamin C. Easy enough for the beginner. Versatile enough for the professional. Vitamin C’s open- ended design is full of “hooks” so you can intercept and "plug-in” special handlers to customize or add features to most routines. Of course, Vitamin C includes all source code FREE, with no hidden charges. It always has. That means you’ll have everything you need to adapt to special needs without spending hundreds of dollars more. Windows Create as many windows as you like with one easy function. Vitamin C automatically takes care of complicated tasks like saving and restoring the area under a window. Options include titles, borders, colors, pop¬ up, pull-down, zoom-in, 4-way scrolling, scroll bars, sizes up to 32 k text file displays editing, cursor display, and more. Unique built-in feature lets users move and resize windows during run-time via a definable key. Access the current window by default or a specific window any time, even if it’s hidden or invisible. Save and load windows on disk for more versatility! Data Entry Flexible dBase-like data entry and display routines feature protected, invisible, required, and scrolling fields Picture clause formatting, full color/attribute control, selection sets single field and full screen input and unlimited data validation via standard and user definable routines That means you aren’t locked into one way of doing things. Vitamin C even provides true right-to-left input of numeric fields with dynamic display of separators & currency symbols High Level Functions Use our intergrated help management, multi-level menus, and text file routines, or build your own handlers using Vitamin C’s basic windowing and data entry routines. Standard help handler provides context sensitive pop-up help messages any time the program awaits key strokes. The help text file is stored on disk and indexed for quick access. So easy to use that a single function initializes & services requests by opening a window, locating, formatting, displaying, and paging through the message. Multi-level “Macintosh” & “Lotus” style menus make user interfaces and front ends a snap. Menus can call other menus, functions, even data entry screens, quickly and easily. Text editor windows can be opened for pop-up note pads, memo fields, or general pur¬ pose editing. Features include insert, delete, word wrap, and paragraph formatting. 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3. Amex MC Visa Check - CIRCLE NO. 191 ON READER SERVICE CARD Can your IBM-PC do this? It can if you have PLOT88... and with PLOT88 , you can do a whole lot more. Plotworks offers you PLOT88, a library of subroutines to construct grids, con¬ tour maps, and three-dimensional mesh drawings. In addition, PLOT88 is a device-independent, industry-standard graphics package which includes PLOT, PLOTS, NUMBER, SYMBOL, AXIS, SCALE, LINE, FILL, and many others. You can output your drawings to Hewlett Packard plotters and laser jet printers, Houston Instrument plot¬ ters, and dot matrix printers. Now your mainframe graphics programs can run on your IBM-PC, PC/XT, or PC/AT at your convenience and at a fraction of the cost. PLOTWORKS, Inc. Dept. J-3, P.O. Box 12385 La Jolla, CA 92037-0635 [619] 457-5090 “Toolmakers for the Information Age ” CIRCLE NO. 153 ON READER SERVICE CARD SPEED INFUSION are the Surprise!, the TurboSwitch, and the 87/88 Turbo, the last only after in¬ stallation of a resident program that au¬ tomatically switches to slow speed for the duration of disk access. Several other tests were run as well, but all of the boards passed them uneventfully. These included the start¬ ing of software protected with Vault’s SuperLok, and the booting of several games, including Microsoft Flight Simu¬ lator. All in all, no incompatibilities were found; but every board permitted switching to normal speed in the event problems did arise. This also points out one of the advantages of this type of ac¬ celerator: at slow speed, they are totally transparent and indistinguishable from the system’s native hardware. CHOOSING RELIABILITY As the tests shows, none of these boards turns the PC into a blazing per¬ former. This is simply a limitation of the basic design of this type of accelera¬ tor. In most cases, the improvement in performance, about 20 to 40 percent overall, is directly proportional to the increase in clock speed, and the clock speed itself is limited by the existing components in the PC. Despite similarities among many of these products, certain differences stand out, and some recommendations can be made. First, the one board to avoid is the Microsync Screamer, because of its tampering with one of the declared constants of the PC standard, the timer frequency. As evidenced by the five other products, providing a faster pro¬ cessor clock without disturbing the tim¬ er input is not difficult to do, nor does it add significantly to the cost. A negative vote must be registered against the Maynard Surprise! for not recognizing an 8087 at any speed. Users who want the speed advantage of an ac¬ celerator will no doubt find it hard to live without the advantages of a nu¬ meric processor. The Surprise! also has a problem with the DOS print echo switch. Finally, whatever performance gain is achieved when this board does work is simply not commensurate with its high price tag. The American Turbo is very capa¬ ble, and its installation is straightfor¬ ward. But it has only one clock speed, 7.37 MHz. Buy it only for a system that has been tested at that speed. At the top end of the spectrum, two products can be recommended in an otherwise unexceptional field. The first is the MicroWay 87/88 Turbo. It provides the most flexibility in methods of switching speeds, and it performs 154 PC TECH JOURNAL very reliably. Its two minor drawbacks are that it takes up an expansion slot and that the documentation is some¬ what lacking. But for a system that can spare a slot, and especially one that needs a battery-backed clock/calendar, it deserves consideration. The standout is the Microspeed Fast88. Its high-quality construction, complete and comprehensive documen¬ tation, facile installation, and reliability in operation recommend it highly. Little else needs to be said, and that is meant as praise—a product of this type can be installed and forgotten. The performance of a PC with a clock accelerator comes nowhere near that of an AT, period. But for a modest improvement at a modest cost, and at a level of compatibility that is higher than with more complex enhancements, this method of speed improvement is a worthwhile consideration. GjSggj American Computer & Peripheral, Inc. 2720 Croddy Way Santa Ana, CA 92704 714/545-2004 CIRCLE 340 ON READER SERVICE CARD Maynard Electronics 400 E. Semoran Blvd. Suite 207 Casselberry, FL 32707 305/331-6402 CIRCLE 341 ON READER SERVICE CARD Megahertz Corporation 2681 Parleys Way Bldg. 2-102 Salt Lake City, UT 84109 801/485-8857 CIRCLE 342 ON READER SERVICE CARD Microspeed 5307 Randall Place Fremont, CA 94538 415/490-1403 CIRCLE 343 ON READER SERVICE CARD Microsync 15018 Beltway Drive Dallas, TX 75244 214/788-5198 CIRCLE 344 ON READER SERVICE CARD MicroWay P.O. Box 79 Kingston, MA 02364 617/746-7341 CIRCLE 345 ON READER SERVICE CARD Ted Mirecki is a contributing editor to this magazine. He is a corporate planner respon¬ sible for developing decision support systems on a variety of hardware. Storage Dimension's SpeedStor 286 BIOS from Award Software

   for use with PC ATs and I XENIX System V Novell Advanced Netware ■ Overcome drive table limitations a Includes low-level initialization and disk drive advanced diagnostics e 30% faster than IBM's BIOS a $99 - Dealer and distributor pricing available STORAGE DIMENSIONS The Experts in High Capacity PC Storage Supports Seagate ST4096, Miniscribe 6085 and the following: Seagate ST251. ST405I, ST4096 Maxtor XT1085, XT 1105, XTI140. XT2085, XT2I40, XT2I90 Miniscribe 6074, 6085 Micropol is 1325 Control Data Wren II 94155-86 Microscience HH1050 Newbury NDRI085, NDR1I40, NDR2190, Priam Vertex VI50, VI70, VI85, 519 Toshiba MK54F, MK56F 408 - 395-2688 981 University Ave. Los Gatos, CA 95030 Storage Dimension's family of high performance products for PC storage. SpeedStor subsystems from 42MB to 640MB ■ SpeedCache caching software SpeedStor hard disk integration software ■ Extended drive table ROMs 60MB tape backup [DOS, Xenix, Novell] ■ SpeedStor 286 BIOS CIRCLE NO. 176 ON READER SERVICE CARD The Answer to sprawling files and vanishing disk space Short on disk space? V Your remedy is Squish, a unique 40K resident program. Squish compresses large databases up to 90 %! Text files, spreadsheets, etc. by up to 60%. Now for the best part... Your other software [dBASE III, R:BASE, etc.] 30-day money can read or even update “squished files” so you have while the files stay compressed on disk. .. and a lot of without doing anything to your other software! PC, XT, AT,

   I For information to order: 20 or 55 unaog Software Corporation 264 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231, [718] 855-9141 Trademarks/Owners: dBASE lll/Ashton-Tate, Inc.; R:BASE/Microrim, Inc. CIRCLE NO. 118 ON READER SERVICE CARD $79 30-day money-back guarantee so you have nothing to lose and a lot of free disk space to gain! PC, XT, AT, 100% compatibles. DOS 2.0 or above. FEBRUARY 1987 155 BATCH FILES, I/O REDIRECTION SIDEKICK n DOS MENU PROGRAMS, MOST OF YOUR RAM, EXECUTION SPEED? SERVICE INTERRUPTS No assembly required RESIDENT PROGRAMS Easy, pop-up routines EXECUTIVE PROGRAMS Run ANY DOS program DISK SECTOR I/O Lowest level access FAST TEXT WINDOWS Virtual windowing system KEYBOARD MACROS Simple, powerful LOTS OF EXAMPLES 21 + full example programs MUCH MORE. . . Over 140 routines in all LISTING 1: BUSPERF.C / Program for timing bus performance of IBM compatibles, Ted Mirecki, October 1986, For LATTICE C compiler versions 2.x and higher, may require modifications for other compilers. Compatible, efficient DOS multi-tasking. We designed Taskview with effi¬ ciency in mind. During normal operation, TASKVIEW hides behind DOS, providing you with control of up to 10 concurrent or non-concurrent programs. Just the touch of a key instantly switches a program to the fore¬ ground. Included desktop utili¬ ties let you cut and paste from program to program. Simple to use and reasonably priced, no well equipped PC user should be without it. Requires: PC/AT/Jr compatible, DOS 2.0-3.1, 256K RAM, 1 Floppy drive. Taskview trademark ot Sunnyhill Software Sidekick registered trademark ot Borland Inti. WHY GIVE UP. long double basetime = 54001.0; / Timer count on base PC / = 1/1.19318; / Microseconds per timer count / / ASM functions in BUSPERFX.ASM int timersetO long bustestO; long count; double msecs, index; static char dispform[] printf["\n\nBUSPERF -- PC Bus Performance Analyser\n"]; printfC [C] Copyright PC TECH Journal 1986\n\n\n"] / initialize timer mode / perform the test timersetO count = bu 30-day money back guarantee Dealer Inquiries Invited. / calc & display results oy plus $5.00 S&H Washington residents add 7.9% International orders add $5.00 VISA and Mastercard accepted. printfC" Timer Count Mi l liSeconds\n"]; msecs = period basetime / 1000.0; printf[dispform, "Base PC", basetime, msecs]; msecs = period count / 1000.0; printfCdispform, "This Run", count, msecs]; index = [double] basetime / [double] count; printf["\nBus Performance index: %5.2f\n", index] Sunny Hill Software^ 13732 Midvale N. Ste. 206 Seattle. WA 98133 [206] 367-0650 M-F, 8-6 PDT To order Toll-Free call 1-800-367-0651 LISTING 2: BUSPERFX.ASM CIRCLE NO. 158 ON READER SERVICE CARD TITLE BUSPERFX - TIMER ROUTINES FOR PC PERFORMANCE TESTS COMMENT " Routines to time execution of various operations, Copyright [c] PC Tech Journal 1986 Written by Ted Mirecki, Oct. 1986. Linkage conventions per Lattice C. Limitation: test must not span midnight INCLUDE DOS.MAC ;LATTICE INTERFACE DEFINITIONS “If you never thought Turbo Pascal was a systems program¬ ming language, you've never seen Turbo Professional." Darryl Rubin Computer Language For programs that move with technology—Turbo Profession¬ al—a truly professional library of subroutines. 150 page reference manual. Full source—many example programs. No royalties charged for applications. Requires IBM compatible, DOS version 2.0 or greater, Turbo Pascal 2.0 or greater. Turbo Professional, trademark ot Sunnyhill Software Turbo Pascal, registered trademark ol Borland International DATA SEGMENTS SEGMENT AT 40H 6CH .-DEFINE TIMER WORDS AT 40:6C BIOSDATA ORG TIMERLO DW TIMERHI DW BIOSDATA MACRO TO OPEN DATA SEG [DOS.MAC] TIMER COUNT BEFORE CAL IB T1L0 DW TIMID DW T1HI DW T2L0 DW T2MID DW T2HI DW NEWSEG DW WORKDATA TIMER COUNT AFTER CALIB ;SAVE ALLOCATED WORKSPACE 10 DUP [0] ;SCRATCH AREA .-MACRO TO END DATA SEG [DOS.MAC] ENDDS Dealer Inquiries Invited. MACROS USED IN CODE SEGMENT Oy plus $5.00 S&H Washington residents add 7.9% International orders add $5.00 VISA and Mastercard accepted. MARK MACRO TX Sunny Hill Software 13732 Midvale N. Ste. 206 Seattle. WA 98133 [206] 367-0650 M-F. 8-6 PDT TIMERGET TX&HI.AX TX&MID.BX TX&LO.CX GET CURRENT TIMER VALUES SAVE 3 WORDS OF TIMER CALL To order Toll-Free call 1-800-367-0651 CIRCLE NO. 152 ON READER SERVICE CARD 156 PC TECH JOURNAL !MACRO TO START PROG SEG [IN DOS.MAC] TIMERSET: INITIALIZE TIMER FOR INTERVAL TIMING, Sets Timer 0 [the time-of*day counter] to mode 2, with a period of 0 [equivalent to 65536]. This makes it a4ow-order extension of the BIOS timer words. , BEGIN TIMERSET TIMERO EQU TIMERCTL 40H ;I/O PORT FOR TIMER 0 EQU 43H ;I/0 PORT FOR TIMER CONTROL EQU 00110100B ;VALUE FOR MODE 2, 2 BYTES, BINARY SETM0DE2 MOV AL,SETM00E2 ;SEND CONTROL BYTE TO TIMER OUT TIMERCTL,AL XOR AL,AL ;SEND ZERO COUNTER VALUE [65536] NOP ;DELAY FOR PORT RECOVERY OUT TIMERO,AL /SET LO BYTE OF COUNT NOP ;DELAY FOR RECOVERY NOP OUT TIMERO,AL ;SET HI BYTE OF COUNT ENDP TIMERSET TIMERGET: READ 3 TIMER WORDS INTO AX, BX, CX TIMERGET r PROC NEAR ASSUME DSlBIOSDATA COMMAND TO SAVE TIMER 0 COUNT PUSH DS MOV AX,BIOSDATA MOV DS.AX MOV AL,LATCH POINT TO TIMER WORDS IN BIOS PREPARE TO CAPTURE TIMER COUNT ;NO INTERRUPTS WHILE READING TIMER TIMERCTL,AL ;LATCH THE TIMER COUNT BX.TIMERLO /GET TIMER VALUES FROM BIOS DATA CX.TIMERHI ;HI TIMER TEMPORARILY IN CX AL,TIMERO ;READ LOW ORDER BYTE OF TIMER COUNT AH,AL ;SAVE IT ;DELAY FOR RECOVERY AL,TIMERO /GET HI ORDER BYTE OF COUNT ;ALLOW INTERRUPTS AGAIN RESTORE CORRECT ORDER OF BYTES CONVERT TO UP-COUNT GET 3 WORDS IN PROPER ORDER TIMERGET ELAPSED: CALCULATE ELAPSED TIME INTERVAL ; input: T3 timer values in AX, BX, CX; previous values in T1 and T2 locations. Output: Elapsed time value, [T3-T2]-[T2-T1], as long int in AX:BX. . ASSUME DS:DGROUP ELAPSED PROC NEAR CX.T2LO ;CALC [T3-T2]-[T2-T1] BX.T2MID AX,T2HI CX,T2LO BX,T2MID AX.T2HI CXyTlLO BX,TIMID AX,T1HI .‘DIFFERENCE IN AX, BX, CX AX.BX ;RETURN LONG INT IN AX,BX BX.CX RET ELAPSED ENDP POWERFUL STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND FORECASTING SOFTWARE StotPoc Gold is the most advanced statistical analysis package available for your PC. It's been proven in business, government and academic communities for more than six years. StotPac Gold is powerful and easy to use. A compre¬ hensive programming language gives you complete control over your data. Perform complex transforma¬ tions and sophisticated analyses with speed and accuracy. Produce customized tables and outstanding presentation-quality graphics. StotPac Gold uses sequential ASCII files so it's compat¬ ible with most other PC software. Time-series analysis and quality control options are also available. StotPoc Gold is the best statistical analysis’ package you can buy-a high-quality product for professional applications. Free brochure and technical specifications Call Now: 1-800-328-4907 \A/L| WALONICK ASSOCIATES, INC. 1 6500 Nicollet Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55423 [612] 866-9022 CIRCLE NO. 150 ON READER SERVICE CARD BUSTEST: TIME MEMORY ACCESS FOR INSTRUCTION FETCH BEGIN BUSTEST /MACRO TO BEGIN PROC [IN DOS.MAC] PUSH BP MOV BP,SP ;STANDARD C ENTRY SEQUENCE PUSH DS MOV AX,BIOSDATA MOV DS.AX ;POINT TO BIOSDATA SEGMENT ASSUME DS:BIOSDATA MOV AX.TIMERLO STAY: CMP AX.TIMERLO ;DID TIMER TICK OCCUR? JE STAY ;IF NOT, WAIT UNTIL IT DOES POP DS ASSUME DS:DGROUP /LATTICE DATA GROUP MARK T1 GET INITIAL TIMER VALUES SET-UP CODE, IF ANY, GOES HERE END CALIBRATION, START TEST CODE TO BE TIMED BEGINS HERE AX,BX /TWO-CYCLE, 2 BYTE INSTRUCTION 24999 D.UP [89H, 0D8H] /PERFORM IT 25,000 TIMES END OF TIMED CODE CALL TIMERGET /GET ENDING TIME [T3] INTO REGS CALL ELAPSED /CALC ELAPSED TIME IN AX:BX POP BP RET BUSTEST ENDP ? END OF TESTS ENDPS END MACRO TO CLOSE PROGRAM SEG [IN DOS.MAC] FEBRUARY 1987 157 The Token-Ring Solution Until standards are developed, users have to rely on individual assessments of LAN capabilities. Here are a few guidelines for choosing a system.
4. SCOn HAUGDAHL M any variables come into play in analyzing the performance of PC local area networks [LANs]. With the introduction of the IBM Token-Ring Network comes yet another system structure that demands attention [see the “The Token-Ring Solution,” j. Scott Haugdahl, January 1987, p. 50]. Further¬ more, developing benchmarks for LANs is difficult because no “typical” usage pattern has been established for an in¬ stalled network. This article offers points for consideration, including a few caveats, and gives examples of lim¬ ited LAN benchmarks, in this case con¬ ducted by IBM and Novell. Because standards are as yet unes¬ tablished, planners must be careful in weighing vendor claims against the probable realities of implementing a system. For example, a vendor that pub¬ lishes a benchmark for a specific task [such as a file transfer] may be simply highlighting a particular area in which its LAN outperforms the competition. In other cases, LAN vendors may make as¬ sertions that simply do not bear out. A typical claim may be that the net¬ work uses “low-cost” twisted-pair cable [which is in more frequent use since IBM introduced its cabling system—see “Underlying Connections,” J. Scott Haugdahl, December 1986, p. 126]. Al¬ though this cable may be considered low-cost, installation is far more expen¬ sive than the wire itself. Vendors some¬ times claim that they employ a nondedi- cated server, so that it can be used for more than one purpose [that is, as a file server/workstation, file/print server, and so on]. This may be so, but the long¬ term costs in terms of performance, re¬ liability, security, and integrity [not to mention employee down time on par¬ ticularly slow networks] may nullify the savings realized initially in the hard¬ ware/software investment. A vendor may claim that its LAN can host thousands of PCs. The number actually accommodated will typically be a limitation of the logical address space, not simply the comfortable number of PCs that can exist on a LAN without se¬ vere degradation in performance. [As a rule of thumb, the I/O response time on a LAN should be no worse than that of a stand-alone, diskette-based PC.] Re¬ lated to this, a vendor may claim that a LAN can operate with an unrestricted number of simultaneous users, but again, a limit must be imposed some¬ where to maintain performance stan¬ dards. Software vendors that make this claim generally are using the extended file-locking [byte-range] and open modes provided by DOS 3.x. They are 158 PC TECH JOURNAL ILLUSTRATION • ANDY LEVINE leaving determination of the actual limit up to the table capability of a hie server and the realistic capability up to the user. In some cases, this type of mul¬ tiuser software will not work at all with a disk server [such as a Nestar or an older Corvus LAN system]. Although some vendors claim that LANs are transparent to the user [that the user will notice no difference be¬ tween using a IAN or a PC in a stand¬ alone environment], this is not entirely true. Users in a LAN must know how to handle delays, errors, concurrent ac¬ cess, and possibly having to assign vir¬ tual disk volumes. Neither is the system transparent to programmers: time-outs, semaphores, and record-locking proce¬ dures must be managed. Finally, the multiuser databases used with LANs also offer varying capa¬ bilities. Users will need to know, for ex¬ ample, about the maintenance of the system’s index structure, and if the lock¬ ing techniques are hidden from the ap¬ plication. Even though a LAN may be distributed totally, meaning that any PC may share any resource with any other PC, it may be difficult to locate data. •Moreover, the software for a distributed LAN system is typically complex, occu¬ pies a lot of RAM, and may be ineffi¬ cient [and thus, slow]. SOFTWARE OPTIONS First things first. Five basic options are available for LAN software licensing, with many variations. The first option is for the vendor to license on a per-ma- chine basis; that is, the user buys a copy of each type of software for each PC in a LAN. Although vendors continue to market this option, it is clearly unac¬ ceptable to users. The idea behind LANs, after ail, is to share resources, and that should include software. The second option is licensing on a per-network basis. Under such an ar¬ rangement, vendors may charge four to five times the single-user cost of the software, but then the licensee will have unlimited use. Microrim takes this ap¬ proach with its R:base System V. A third option is to include the LAN in a corpo¬ rate or site license enabling the users to have unlimited use of the software and produce an unlimited number of copies. The fourth method is to license software on a per-server basis; the soft¬ ware will operate only when installed on that particular server. Performance, will dictate when another copy is re¬ quired for a second or third server. Perhaps the last option is the most acceptable: to have one license per net¬ work with a limit on the number of users on the network. One copy of the software is placed on the server, and a limited number of PCs can run the soft¬ ware at one time. Many vendors market a system after this blueprint, including Ashton-Tate with its dBASE m plus. Many questions arise regarding the actual performance of IAN software: Does it have a hie or a disk server? What is the degree of transparent mul¬ tiuser support? How many active PCs are permitted [those using I/O], and are they application and time-of-day depen¬ dent? What is the maximum number of servers for the system? Does the net¬ work interface hardware contain direct memory access [DMA] and interrupt support? Does it have a VLSI [very large scale integration] coprocessor? What is the physical bandwidth and transmis¬ sion speed? What are the packet sizes? Does the system use token-passing or CSMA [carrier sense multiple access]? [This becomes insignificant if the sys¬ tem is a typical PC with mixed I/O usage.] Will the network I/O be basical¬ ly light, for applications such as pro¬ gram editing, word processing, spread¬ sheets, graphics, and electronic mail, or will it be moderate to heavy, for appli¬ cations such as database searching and indexing,.virtual print spooling, file transfer, assemblers, and compilers? Server performance itself depends upon several factors: Is the server dedi¬ cated or nondedicated? Is it a custom server or a PC operating as a server? Is a multitasking operating system used? Are resident drivers included? This is something that is often hidden in the implementation of a IAN. A number of PC LANs patch, modify, and change DOS until it works in a DOS IAN envi¬ ronment. In other systems, such as Novell NetWare, the operating system does not depend on DOS for its opera¬ tion. Indeed, a true multitasking operat¬ ing system has nothing to do with DOS. The 3Com company is an interesting case in point. Before its current 3Com server, the company used a high-per¬ formance server called the AP Server. The AP was an Altos 586 machine run¬ ning Microsoft XENIX. In addition, the speed of a ma¬ chine’s hard disk can affect server per¬ formance. The average disk access time is approximately 30 milliseconds [ms], which is acceptable; however, some sys¬ tems have disks that take 60, 70, 80 ms, or more. Although hundreds of accesses take place per second, these times add up quickly and affect performance sub¬ stantially. This is the reason why some systems with very high-speed drives can access information very quickly and perform better in a multiuser environ¬ ment where the server’s hard disk has a lot of head movement. Disk caching is important for keep¬ ing frequently used data in the file serv¬ er at all times. Hashing, another feature important to server performance, allows the server to run path names through an algorithm and obtain a 16-bit or 32- bit hash code instead of a large path name. Thus, when a server moves to re¬ trieve a file from a directory, it can look up the hash code in a table instead of the longer path name. The number of concurrent opera¬ tions on a system naturally will affect server performance. For example, the Novell system can run a print server and the file server on the same ma¬ chine. The 3Com system can run elec¬ tronic mail, a print server, and a file server, all on the same machine. The ability to queue incoming requests is also a consideration. Suppose the server is gathering data from the hard disk. Are all users to shut down at this time, or can the server continue to accept re¬ quests from the network packets while it is gathering data? Some servers incorporate elevator seeking to optimize the ordering of re¬ quests and thereby minimize the head movement on a hard disk. The process is similar to that of an actual elevator: someone on the 18th floor presses a button for an elevator that is at ground FEBRUARY 1987 159 Some people need low price AND high in their LAN... People like Resellers, Distributors, OEMs, VARs, End Users. People who sell LANs, and people who use LANs will tell you: TiaraLink is the price/performance leader in local area networks for the IBM* PC market. Their reasons are sound:

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4 Gateways allow your networked PCs

to operate both as terminals to a remote mainframe, and as network PCs. “TiaraLink is an excellent product for us to carry. ARCnet* is a proven technology, around since 1978. Although ARCnet can be utilized with other companies’ software, we still recommend TiaraLink. Tiara, the company, is great in terms of support, product availability, and margins. Customer reaction is super.” — Bob Putignano President, Access Data Products, Inc. Mt. Vernon, NY “TiaraLink is the only high performance LAN on the market with reasonable software pricing. That fact, combined with its ease of installation and operation, total reliability, fault recovery and multiple server capability is why we chose TiaraLink to distribute with our computers.” — Allan D. Dale, President OnSite Business Systems, Inc., a division of Dale Computer Corporation Okemos, Ml “Th& TiaraLink network has allowed [us] to grow from 5 nodes to over 100 nodes with no problems. We continue to add disks, printers, and plotters easily . . . Even with over 400 megabytes of storage in 17 hard disks, user response time is great!” — Gerd Hoeren Senior Software Engineer Integrated Measurement Systems, Inc. Beaverton, OR Join the knowledgeable network of Tiara resellers. Call us today for our reseller kit and more information. Dial 1-800-423-1268. In California call 1-800-325-6223. Here’s what they say about TiaraLink. See us at Hannover Fair CeB/T, USA Pavilion Hall 6 _ Booth Q1. COMPUTER SYSTEMS. INC 2685 Marine Way • Mountain View, CA 94043 • [415] 965-1700 • TLX 4996251 • FAX [415] 965-2677

• Trademarks/Owners: TiaraLink, LanWare are trademarks of Tiara Computer Systems, Inc.; IBM/International Business Machines Corp.; ARCnet/Datapoint Corp. CIRCLE NO. 246 ON READER SERVICE CARD TOKEN-RING FIGURE 1: Novell NetWare System Profile The Network Load Factor is determined by considering the various types of users on the ring, assigning each a weight value, and adding them to produce a total. level; as the elevator begins to go up, someone else wishes to get on at the 14th floor. The elevator picks up the person on the 14th floor on the way to the 18th floor. In LAN elevator seeking, the head picks up requests as it travels through the disk. A server that incorpo¬ rates elevator seeking yields the best performance. [Single-user machines, such as the PC/XT and PC/AT, do not implement elevator seeking. Vendors who put their servers on top of an XT or AT system will have a major problem with head thrashing.] Benchmark reports on LAN envi¬ ronments frequently contain inherent fallacies. First, the number of PCs used in a benchmark network is generally too low [typically, fewer than six]. This does not give a clear indication of how the system will work with 30, 40, 30 PCs, or more. And, as discussed, all servers are not the same—various mod¬ els can be 10 to 100 times faster than others. Some benchmarks have been carried out using a server with a poor performance only because it was the least expensive. Another factor that benchmarks often do not take into ac¬ count is the effect of keyboard inter¬ rupts, especially in IBM PCs. Typing on a PC keyboard generates low-level inter¬ rupts to the processor. If the PC is be¬ ing used as a server, the user will con¬ stantly be interrupting the server pro¬ cess running in the background. This will affect performance significantly. Other enigmas impair LAN bench¬ mark reports: How can the reliability of a LAN environment actually be tested, and is that reliability based on the in¬ tegrity of the software? In addition, some benchmarks try to make single- user software perform in a multiuser way. They may downgrade a network or a PC software vendor because it does not work in a multiuser LAN environ¬ ment when the software was never de¬ signed for that in the first place. [Lotus 1-2-3 is often abused in this way.] EARLY GRADES The sample benchmarks included with this article are typical of those now be¬ ing run on LANs. They were timed and measured by the respective companies [Novell and IBM]; thus, they represent real, not simulated, results. They were chosen because they were designed to measure performance outright, not as a comparison among competitive ven¬ dors. Although they still say nothing about “typical” work environments, these data can be used as a rough gauge for response times. The Novell benchmarks run NetWare on different LAN technologies. [For a full discussion of this software, see “NetWare in Con¬ trol,” Art Krumrey, November 1985,
• 102.] The IBM data represent raw throughput of the its PC Network Pro¬ gram under certain circumstances. Novell’s format. Novell has defined a LAN performance methodology called the NetWare Evaluation System. The idea is to determine the network load based on a profile of user types, then com¬ pare the result with various graphs to determine the best network/server con¬ figuration to meet that requirement. The user types are ranked from 1 to 5, where 1 is a light-load user and 5 a full-load user. The load is defined as a bandwidth requirement for that user, based on an average maximum single¬ station throughput of 64KB/second [in reality, it ranges from a low of 17KB/ second for an XT server on PC Network with the IBM NETBIOS to 174KB/sec- ond for an 8-Mhz AT-compatible Novell server on EtherNet using NetWare]. Thus, a light load is about 3KB/second, and a full load is defined as 64KB/sec- ond [Novell points out that it is doubt¬ ful such an application exists—the 1 through 5 loads are not linear. For ex¬ ample, a type 4 user may be a heavy database operator with a 20 to 40 per¬ cent single-station throughput require¬ ment, that is, 12 to 25KB/second.] The load factor is obtained by mul¬ tiplying the number of users by the user-type weight factor for each group, and adding the totals. For example, 10 users times a type 1 weight of 3 yields
• Adding that to say, 8 users times a type 3 weight of 15, yields 150. If one type 4 user [at 40] is added, the total becomes 190 for an estimated network load. By comparing that number with Novell’s Network System Profile [figure
• for a standard IBM PC 6-MHz server operating with NetWare, a vertical line can be drawn at the 190 mark to see how the various LANs might perform under such a load. [Novell has included in this trial an AT with a hard disk and a diskette-based PC for comparison to stand-alone performance.] The graph shows that three net¬ works will turn in a better performance than the hard disk with a 190 load: 3Com EtherLink Plus, Proteon proNET, and the IBM Token-Ring. Note the con¬ vergence of the two Token-Ring net¬ works to EtherLink Plus as the network FEBRUARY 1987 161 BASIC Programmers Memory—Resident BASIC Stay-Res lets you pop up compiled BASIC pro¬ grams. Select your hot key or pop them up with a POKE. Automatic screen save/restore. Add our EMS/disk module [for DOS 3 +] and programs use only 7K of DOS memory - the rest is stored in Expanded Memory or disk. Stay-Res includes a true SHELL facility allowing you to SHELL ANY PROGRAM, even other BASIC programs, before or instead of becoming memory-resident. Requires IBM or Microsoft compiler [QB2 needs DOS 3+]. Only $95. Add $50 for EMS/disk module. MACH 2 Turbocharges BASIC Use our assembler subroutines to boost program speed many times. Instant screen displays and pop-up windows when compiled. No 64K limit - use all avail. DOS memory for strings/numbers. Store, search, sort strings at assembler speed. Controlled input routine uses standard edit keys & ignores'C 8TBrk. Print using for numbers up to 6 times faster than BASIC. Read & write files fast as DOS. Much, much more. Assembler source code available. Only $75. Know Thy PC With Peeks ’n Pokes you can read & change system configuration from your program. Read CMOS chip on AT. Unprotect IBM/GW-BASIC pgms saved with “p” option. Plug characters in¬ to k’board buffer. Read/change k’board status. Read printer status - no more timeouts. Use 4 printers as LPT1. Swap printers, monitors, COM ports. Read monitor/COM ^status. Boot system 3 ways from BASIC. Disabled &~Brk. Find more Peeks & Pokes. Much, much more. All BASIC & most assembler source code included. Only $45. Indispensable Utilities The Inside Track lets you load and execute large EXE files faster than DOS. DOS/BIOS calls & in¬ terrupts from BASIC. Limit memory used by com¬ piled programs to eliminate Command.com re¬ load. Copy protect a diskette. Boot system 3 ways from DOS. Memory map + summary of most common BIOS calls, including EGA. Control k’board state - force Caps Lock, Num Lock - disable "C.^Brk and Ctrl-Alt-Del. Program tips. Much, much more. All source code included. Only $65. Money-Back Guarantee Call for details on 30-day money-back perfor¬ mance guarantee. Our software is not copy pro¬ tected. No royalties when you use our subroutines in compiled programs. Compatible with IBM/GW- BASIC, QuickBASIC 1 & 2, BASCOM 1 & 2, MS 5.36. System Requirements: • IBM PC, XT, AT or compatible • DOS2+ [Stay-Res EMS/disk requires 3+]. • Stay-Res with QuickBASIC 2 needs DOS 3 +. Order Now 800-922-3383 We welcome VISA / MC. COD in US only - add $3. Shipping: US $3/order. Canada - $5 for 1 or 2 pkgs. Add $2 each addt’l. Elsewhere - $18 for 1 or 2 pkgs. Add $7 each addt’l. In Georgia add tax and call 404-973-9272. Stay-Res/Mach 2 demo available - send $5 check. Refunded on direct purchase. MicroHelp, Inc. 2220 Carlyle Drive Marietta GA 30062 TOKEN-RING load factor increases. In terms of raw performance, the EtherLink Plus Ether- Net [with a raw data rate of 10 megabits per second—Mbps] outperforms the Token-Ring [with its raw data rate of 4 Mbps]. A LAN based on all EtherLink Plus adapters is also more expensive than one based on Token-Ring adapters and components. [Note that these No¬ vell figures were complied using the PC Token-Ring Adapter I. This testing was done before Adapter II became avail¬ able. The Adapter II will yield a slight increase in performance as a result of its increased buffer size and the fact that server software could take advan¬ tage of a new command in Adapter II to improve link performance.] Novell’s benchmarks are subject to argument. How can a vendor of server software remain objective? Consider, however, that although the benchmarks certainly are useful for comparing vari- WHICH INTERFACE? A programmer has several options in choosing an interface for an applica¬ tion that will be run on the IBM Tok¬ en-Ring Network. IBM itself offers NETBIOS, APPC/PC [Advanced Pro- gram-to-Program Communication/PC], IEEE 802.2 [logical link control, or LLC, protocol], IEEE 802.5 [token-ring protocol], DISOSS [Distributed Office Support System, via personal services], 3270 [via the 3270 Emulation Pro¬ gram], and API/CS [Application Pro¬ gram Interface/CS via NetView/PC]. Through third-party vendors, a user can obtain NETBIOS emulation from Novell, and Microsoft-compatible net¬ works from Ungermann-Bass and 3Com Corporation. And, of course, an operating-system level interface is al¬ ways possible through DOS. System Network Architecture [SNA] is clearly IBM’s strategic long- range network architecture [even though the European data processing community is pushing IBM to follow International Standards Organization protocols]. IBM’s SNA commitment is reinforced with the introduction of IBM NetView/PC and the now-estab¬ lished APPC/PC program. Offering SNA-based protocols and applications for the PC is one of the ways in which IBM can retain its market share of per¬ sonal computers and support large host customers that have many PCs. However, subsequent to the in¬ troduction of the IBM PC Network, which offered the first hope for a common thread to LAN software, writ- ous LAN and PC technologies, they are not necessarily helpful in comparing servers. Performance is only one aspect of LANs to be considered, features and functionality are quite another. A com¬ mon benchmark for performance, with some agreed upon weight factor for server functionality, would truly leave the choice to the user. IBM endeavors. IBM has engaged in a number of studies to determine Token- Ring performance using the PC Adapter. For comparison purposes, IBM chose to perform the tests on the PC Network as well. The IBM numbers presented here are preliminary and are not guaranteed by IBM. [In testimony to the fact the ar¬ rival at a set of standards for PC LAN operation is still some time away, the accompanying sidebar, “Which Inter¬ face?” is a brief discussion of the sev¬ eral interfaces available in writing appli¬ cations to function on a network.] ing to NETBIOS has become reason¬ ably popular, especially in PC-only LANs. The NETBIOS emulator on the Token-Ring was developed primarily for compatibility with the PC Network and to transport PC-Network-develop- ed applications to the Token-Ring Net¬ work. In addition, Microsoft [MS] net¬ works also offer most of the features of NETBIOS [such as the redirector]. But even though a user can obtain NETBIOS applications to communicate widi the IBM System/36, System/370, and even the Series/1, the NETBIOS interface [and MS networks] should be considered temporary solutions for either PC-only LANs or LANs with mixed computers and applications [that is, with PCs, minicomputers, mainframes, and so on]. A safe approach would be to write multiuser applications for net¬ works that require file and record locking, in keeping with DOS 3.x. For mixed IBM environments, APPC/PC and NetView/PC clearly are the long¬ term interfaces to which applications should be written. For writing systems and protocol software, it is safer to write procedures that follow the 802.2 LLC for two important reasons: to maintain compatibility widi the latest IBM/IEEE 802.2 specification and to operate on top of IBM’s Adapters or those that use the Texas Instruments chip set. This also will build in sup¬ port for mixed IBM/other vendor 802.5-compatible token-ring LANs. —J. Scott Haugdahl CIRCLE NO. 257 ON READER SERVICE CARD 162 PC TECH JOURNAL TiiriAour S!ystem/3X Intolhe Perfect Host Wth PCOX Technology PCOX"5250 products make your System/3X treat your PCs like members of the family. Your System/3X and your PCs already live together. Now they can work together, too. Thanks to PCOX Technology With PCOX 5250 connec¬ tions, your PCs enjoy the full privileges of a 5251 Model 11,5291 or 5292. Which means your PCs can access and transfer files from your System/3X data base, use its host as a departmental processor, or participate in your company’s dis¬ tributed SNA network. PCOX 5250 products come in twinax and remote versions, so PCs can enjoy S/3X connections in person or over phone lines. MORE WAYS TO SAY HELLO. The PCOX 5250 series comes in twinax and remote versions-one for local connections , and one for connections over phone lines. And both versions support up to seven concurrent host sessions. No competing product delivers more. So let PCOXTfechnology open doors between your System/3X and your PCs. Call CXI today, toll-free. 800-225-PCOX In California, call 415-424-0700. oa CXI, Inc., 3606 West Bayshore Road Palo Alto, CA 94303. Tfelex: 821945 PCOX and all PCOX products are trademarks of CXI. Inc. CIRCLE NO. 217 ON READER SERVICE CARD TOKEN-RING The response time will depend upon the time that is spent by the network station to service the request in and the time taken to transmit the data over the ring. TABLE 1: IBM Benchmark Results LOGICAL LINK CONTROL NETBIOS 40KB FILE LOAD FROM SERVER PC or PC/XT < 8 percent OFF / timer clock and interrupt rates /
• any arg[s] => ON

define TIHER_CLK 1193180L

*/

define TIMER_HAX 65536L

include "sound.h M

define TICKRATE [TIMER_CLK / TIMER_MAX]

main[argc, argv] / timer port access for frequency setting / int argc;

define TIMER_CTRL 0x43

char **argv;

define TIHER_COUNT 0x42

<

define TIMER_PREP 0xB6

/ turn speaker on or off / if [argc == 1] LISTING 6: DELAY.C SPKR_OFF; else /* SPKR ON;

• delay -- provide a delay of approximately the exit[O];
• specified duration [resolution is about 0.055 second] }

include "timer.h"

void LISTING 2; SOUND.H delay[d] float d; / duration in-seconds and fractional seconds / /* long ticks, then;

• sound.h -- header for sound routines extern long getticksO; */

define PPI 0x61

/ convert duration to number of PC clock ticks /

define SPKR 0x03

ticks TICKRATE;

define SPKR_0N outp[PPI, inp[PPI] | SPKR]

/ delay for the specified interval /

define SPKR_0FF outp[PPI, inp[PPI] & -SPKR]

then = getticksO + ticks; while [1] if [getticksO > then] LISTING 3: TONE.C break;

/ tone -- set the frequency of the sound generator */ LISTING 7: GETTICKS.C

include

/* . ...." V main[argc, argv]

• getticks -- get the current BIOS clock ticks value int argc; */ char **argv;

include

extern void setfreqCunsigned int];

define TOO OxIA

if [argc != 2] { ^define READ_C0UNT 0 fprintf[stderr, "Usage: tone hertz\n"]; exit[1]; ^define TICKS PER DAY 0x01800B0L

long / set the frequency in Hertz / getticksO setfreqCatoi[++argv]];

i exit[0]; long count;

union REGS inregs, outregs; LISTING 4: SETFREQ.C / get BIOS time of day as no. of ticks since midnight / inregs.h.ah = READ_COUNT; v'g:; ■' . X';- int86[TOD, ftinregs, &outregs]; / correct for possible rollover at 24 hours / /

count = [outregs.h.al != 0] ? TICKS_PER_DAY : 0;

setfreq -- sets PC's tone generator to run / add current day ticks / continuously at the specified frequency

• / count += [outregs.x.dx + [outregs.x.cx « 16]]; /

include

return [count]; ^include "timer.h" ■ > ’ ■" ' void setfreq[f] LISTING 8: SOUND.C unsigned f; / frequency in Hertz [approximate] / / <

• sound ■. produce a constant tone for a specified duration unsigned divisor = TIMER_CLK / f; */

include

outp[TIMER_CTRL # TIMER_PREP]; /* prepare timer */ outp[TIMER_C0UNT, [divisor & OxFF]]; /* low byte of divisor */ ^include "sound.h" outp[TIMER_C0UNT, [divisor » 8]]; /* high byte of divisor */ void

v: v . : sound[f, dur] unsigned int f; / frequency of pitch in Hertz / 176 PC TECH JOURNAL float dun; / in seconds and tenths of seconds / i extern void setfreq[unsigned int]; extern void delayCfloat]; / set the frequency in Hertz / setfreq[f]; / turn the speaker on for specif i ed durat ion /

SPKRjON; delay[dur]; SPKR_OFF;

LISTING 9 : SOUNDS.C / sounds •• make various sounds on demand V

include

include

include

define ESC 27

extern void sound[unsigned int, float]; main 1986, p. 88]. See also table 3 in Marty Franz’s Product Watch reviews of Whitesmith’s C Compiler [June 1986, p. 203], Let’s C [August 1986, p. 179], and MIX C [September 1986, p. 192]. Overall, the High-C documentation was complete and infor¬ mative, but a more conventional index would be welcome. The High-C extensions give the product a Pascal flavor. Because many of the extensions are in areas where the K&R standard is vague or nonexistent, they cause little problem when porting normal C programs to the High-C com¬ piler. Some common extensions of ver¬ sion 7 UNIX C [such as void functions and enumerated types] have been in¬ cluded. These changes make High-C a stronger language for large projects with multiple programmers; they in¬ crease the ability of the knowledgeable C programmer to structure code. In addition to this enhanced ver¬ sion of the C language, High-C also compiles programs conforming to the proposed ANSI [X3J11] standard and disallows the High-C extensions. This is done by using a switch at compilation time. Other switches to the High-C compiler select the memory model, object file name, and cross reference and list file generation options. An after- FEBRUARY1987 183 PRODUCT WATCH market MAKE utility [such as PolyMake from Polytron] is a necessity because High-C supports neither wild cards nor multiple file names on the command line. The compiler’s default option set¬ tings can be configured through a sepa¬ rate command that stores common de¬ faults in the compiler’s .EXE file and makes them permanent. A key addition to the C language as implemented by High-C is the pragma statement. Another concept borrowed from Ada, this is a directive to the com¬ piler in the source file that specifies listing format, code generation, array checking, external labels, and register variable usage—in short, anything that concerns the generation of the final module. A set of pragmas is placed in a source file, profile, included in the module when it is compiled. Different profiles are used for different environ¬ ments: one with stack and array check¬ ing enabled for module testing and one with checking disabled for maximum- performance production programs. High-C supports five memory mod¬ els for the PC: small [64KB code, 64KB data], compact [64KB code, large data], medium [large code, 64KB data], big [multiple 64KB code segments, large data] and large [large data, large code]. They are selected by a compilation switch or a pragma statement. Overlays can be generated for the Phoenix Plink linker. The compiler generates code for the 8087/80287 numeric coprocessor and/or the 80186/80286 processors with pragma statements. These features allow the exact control of code generation for production applications. High-C supports the UNIX standard library [see table 3] and the usual ex¬ tensions, such as alloc[] and setjmp[]. An unusual feature of this compiler is that more primitive I/O functions, such as read[] and open[], are handled with a utility package that must be defined through an include file and not direcdy through library functions as they are in most C compilers. This allows users writing embedded applications [those that do not use DOS, such as programs placed in a ROM] to isolate and write their own implementations of these nonportable functions. High-C also has a flexible system for interfacing to other languages and libraries. The pragma statement can be used to tell the compiler which inter¬ face an external module has, including call by value [C standard], call by refer¬ ence, and called function pops argu¬ ments. This feature should allow High-C to interface with most aftermarket C li¬ braries. The manual states that by using the external interface pragmas, High-C can call Professional Pascal and assem¬ bly language modules, and it provides examples for doing so. High-C is weak in its PC-specific library functions. Only the most basic level of access, interrupt calls and basic file I/O, is supported. Higher-level graphics or directory functions must be written by the user or accessed through an aftermarket library. The documentation for High-C is summarized in table 3. The High-C manual’s loose-leaf binder contains far more pages than it can hold success¬ fully. The documentation is divided into an installation guide, a programmer’s reference section, a library reference, and a language reference. Content is complete, but very tech¬ nical in the best [or worst] UNIX tradi¬ tion. Its strong points are the installa¬ tion guide and language description, which are particularly accurate. The li¬ brary reference and interfacing sections are its weak points. Sample programs and some library source code is in¬ cluded and is well commented. Benchmark results are given in ta¬ ble 4. As the benchmarks show, compi- Soft Rite » LANbasic! Soft*Rite announces a Superior three-part programmer’s tool. Microsoft BASIC™ compatible in every place that counts.

LANscreen LANbasic LANdbase LANscreen makes the burden of defin¬ ing your database record structures one that you will look forward to instead of dread. Standard fields and types such as “Money”, “Telephone” and “Date” are one keystroke to generate. As many as 255 database structures can be related to a single screen! Segmented data input can be done automatically by edit¬ ing the field display. Part numbers with spaces or dashes and slashes are auto¬ matically parsed down to the essential raw data. Definable Upper and Lower limits for numeric inputs along with ACCEPT/EXCEPT input filters are stand¬ ard features. Screen Mask generation is done with a “freestroke” approach. You may put mask elements and data input/output cells wherever you wish. COLOR them too! EGA support too! ‘Drivers Installed for IBM PC-NET/MS-NET LANbasic is your own personal solution to powerfull data manipulation. How many times have you got excited over some new “total" database package only to find out [after spending a fair amount of time and money] that you were stuck in some corner, unable to do some function that has become standard in “In Business for Bloney’s” Basic? The manual is 400 pages long, so we cannot fully describe all the features, but here are a few in ADDITION to the ones you are now used to: ★ COMDATAS 14 common areas ALWAYS available to inside or outside, chained or linked programs ★ Re-assignable printer ports LPT1 -LPT4 ★ Generic filename use that allows file and database locations to be re¬ defined outside of basic in a user-created REDIRECTOR file, to ease multi-user system configuation ★ USESCREEN, ★ SCREENINPUT, ★ SCREENOUT- PUT, ★ OPENDB,< remote or local database manager > ★ DBGET, ★ DBPUT, LANdbase is the home for your data. LANbasic calls are coupled to LANd¬ base via network comunications [PCnet or ?]. A single keyvalue and function number will return a record. Multiuser record locking is handled by simply put¬ ting an ‘X’ after the read call. [i.e. RDDBEQUX,< argument>. Automatic “health checking” to warn you of poor hardware performance and lost or frag¬ mented data. “Paranoid” mode of opera¬ tion where files not accessed for some time will be closed and reopened to flush buffers and insure integrity. Pass¬ word, Userlevel and Data encryption functions. Several DBM’s can be installed in the network system to improve performance and reliability. Tog¬ gle mode screen [printer] reporting to record log-on or other access activites. | Bill Fairman’s tried and proven true C- Tree[c] data management product. j Soft*Rite Multi-User Programming Tools 15381 Chemical Lane, Huntington Beach, CA. 92649 [714] 898-0525 CIRCLE NO. 186 ON READER SERVICE CARD 184 PC TECH JOURNAL TABLE 4: Benchmarks COMPILE TIMES 60-line file 150-line file 500-line file 58.6 79.0 64.2 LINK TIMES 1 object file 6 object files 53.4 59.5 PROGRAM SIZES [bytes] Eratosthenes sieve Pentathlon 24,176 26,016 GENERAL OPERATIONS [small/large model] Function calls [Fibonacci] 21.8/ 28.2 Integer arithmetic Long arithmetic Subscripts [character count] 30.3/ 30.3 98.5/100.5 22.3/ 24.9 Pointer use [string copy] With register variables Eratosthenes sieve With register variables 36.4/ 42.9 32.9/ 43.0 20.7/ 20.7 18.2/ 18.8 FILE I/O [small/large model] ReadAvrite Diskette to diskette Hard disk to hard disk 6.5/ 6.3 3.1/ 3.0 Getc/putc Diskette to diskette Hard disk to hard disk 3.5/ 3.4 4.3/ 4.3 FLOATING POINT OPERATIONS [small/large model] Add/multiply [dot product] Exp/log Sin/tan [trig functions] 49.2/ 62.8 65.0/ 77.6 62.5/ 75.4 All times are in seconds. Benchmarks were run on an IBM PC/XT with 640KB, 20MB hard disk, DOS 2.1, and no 8087 numeric coprocessor. 'These features can be com¬ pared with those for other C compilers in table 4 in "The State of C, ” [William J. Hunt, January 1986, p. 90]. See also table 4 in Marty Franz's Product Watch revieivs of WJjitesmitb ’s C Compiler [June 1986, p. 205], Let’s C [August 1986, p. 179], and MIX C [September 1986, p. 193]. Although it is a bit slow in compila¬ tion, High-C is among the fastest of the C compilers in the speed of the compiled programs that it produces. lation times are slower than average— probably because the compiler per¬ forms a great deal of optimization on the program prior to generating code. Once the compiler finishes, howev¬ er, the object code it produces is faster than the compilers reviewed in “The State of C” [William J. Hunt, January 1986, p. 82]. The .EXE files were larger than average, but their size had not been reduced by pragma statements [a size/speed compilation option is avail¬ able] or by linking with smaller ver¬ sions of the library without floating¬ point formatted output in them. Only one problem marred an otherwise excellent benchmark per¬ formance by High-C; when compiling the AUTO6.C source file, the compiler’s optimizer removed several statements containing a variable that was assigned but never referenced within the mod¬ ule. Later, the code generator generated a system error trying to generate code for the removed statements. Inserting a dummy reference to the offending vari¬ able solved the problem. A final feature of High-C is the MetaWare arrangement with Plum Hall to provide training seminars to High-C users at a reduced price. This further demonstrates MetaWare’s commitment to supporting technical users. MetaWare’s High-C is a powerful, full-featured C compiler well worth consideration by users who undertake large development projects. liiiimmiitel —MARTY FRANZ 9 Track Tape Answers for • 9 Track tape support for personal computers • XENIX and MS-DOS support • A standard data interchange medium for government and industry Virtually all business mainframe and mini systems already have 160D BPI V 2 ' 1 9 track tape. The Tape Linx subsystem provides the necessary connection for PG users. Tape Linx moves most data base information from mainframes and translates it automatically into a format readable by the PC. Software reads mainframe data in a variety of formats. Tape Linx can also transfer data to data base programs like dBASE III. The Tape Linx package includes FLASHBAK™, a high-speed, file- oriented tape back-up utility. It offers a window-oriented user interface featuring pull-down menus and single keystroke commands. Overland Data’s professional technical staff provides telephone support for all ODI products, and will be happy to discuss your specific application requirements. Call today. Overland Data, Inc. Answers on Tape 5644 Kearny Mesa Road San Diego, CA 92111 [619] 571-5555 754923 OVERLAND XENIX and MS-DOS are Registered Trademarks of Microsoft Corp. CIRCLE NO. 185 ON READER SERVICE CARD FEBRUARY 1987 185 Release the Power of Fortran, C and Pascal A library of over 120 Assembler routines transforms FORTRAN, Pascal and C language compilers into a flexible, responsive language for the microcomputer environment. Existing mainframe code may be converted with ease, sav¬ ing time and money. With the powerful Assembler sub¬ routines of NO LIMIT ™, mainframe users can fully realize the advantages of microcomputer technology. • Complete Communications • File/Directory Management • Full Screen/Keyboard Control • Extensive Graphics Applications • Character/String Manipulation • System Information • And much more! NO LIMIT” is available for $ 129. with no license fee, and supports MS/FORTRAN/Pascal/C, IBM Professional, Ryan-McFarland, and Lahey F77L compilers. MEF Environmental, Inc. P.O. Box 26537 Austin, Texas 78755 512/251'5543 ©Trademark of Microsoft. Inc.. IBM Corporation. Ryan-McFarland and Lahey. Inc., respectively. QuickBASIC just got quicker with

QuickPak QuickPak is a superb collection of enhancements, subroutines, and instructional material designed to help you get the most out of pro¬ gramming in BASIC. ■ Powerful assembly language routines to give your programs more speed, more power, and full access to DOS and BIOS services. SORT all or part of a string array with one command! Complete windowing capability — display help screens instantly, overlay text. FIND any string or sub-string within an entire array regard¬ less of capitalization — accepts wildcards. READ directories into your programs from any drive or path. READ/WRITE disk sectors — create your own DOS utilities! _ „'71 MANY, many more programs | | ■ Professionally written QuickBASIC | routines and functions. Powerful input routines for text, l dates, and numbers. Menus, / scroll bars, date/time functions, 1 ov and much more. I “ ?:=r 7fip- ■ The Assembly Tutor — a complete I guide to learning assembly language u from a BASIC perspective. Learn how to create your own routines and extensions. ■ Tips and Tricks book — packed with clever ideas and techniques to help you be a better programmer. You get all this, all of the source code for every program included , and a thirty-day money back guarantee for ; only S69.00. No royalties are required for using any of the QuickPak routines in your pro¬ grams. Not copy protected, of course. L I CRESCENT SOFTWARE / 64 Fort Point Street, East Norwalk, CT 06855 J [203] 846-2500 QuickPak requires Microsoft QuickBASIC or BASC0M, DOS 2.0 or higher. Visa, M/C, C.O.D., or checks accepted. CIRCLE NO. 133 ON READER SERVICE CARD CIRCLE NO. 145 ON READER SERVICE CARD Serial Card EXTENDS SPEED AND FLEXIDIUTY OF PC APPLICATIONS improved 8-channel ACL™ serial card now offers the option of RS422 and RS485 compatibility. The new card provides all the standard ACL “smart card” features... flexible address decoding, program¬ mable interrupts, expandable options via software, and the ability to download custom [programs... now the ability to operate over greater distances and speeds of RS422 applications. In addition, the new card enables PCs to interface with industrial process controls via RS485 links. Call for free literature that explains how the improved

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transfer files with XMODEM and Kermit protocols ■ scroll last 4 pages of text 132 column VT100 capability S150 from Scientific Endeavors Publication Quality Graphics for Scientific and Technical Applications - linear, log, & polar plots - multiple levels of •“g ar scripts -> bar charts & Smith charts - 4096 x 3120 resolution •» contour plots with labels -♦ zoom, pan, window plots - 3-D curves, 3-D surfaces > multiple plot3 on a page with hidden line removal -■ high resolution printer

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THIS AD WAS MADE USING Graphic" CIRCLE NO. 187 ON READER SERVICE CARD FEBRUARY 1987 EXPERT CONSULTANT: HUMAN FACTORS HENRY F.LEDGARD Three Misconceptions Although they may be unspoken or subconsicous, some deeply rooted misconceptions affect the way software designers think about human factors. W hen the topic human factors is mentioned, some mental response comes to mind. Consider this list:

Easy-to-read, messages

Good on-line help

Icon and windows

Using a mouse

Simplicity

Item 1 is the response for many people. Certainly, readable messages are a part of human engineering. But are they a large part? No. This is precisely what is wrong with item 1 as a response. To think about human factors in this way is a rather deeply rooted misconception. Ah, you say, do not be foolish. No one would give the definition: “Human factors is the study of writing clear mes¬ sages.” I agree. But the point is our misconceptions are more subtle. They affect our attitude, our work. People who relate to item number 1 are likely to think of human factors as window dressing, an add-on to development; on the other hand, they will probably not articulate this view. This is probably a consequence of being in a field that is considered “motherhood and apple pie.” No one is against human factors or supports poor human factors. Accordingly, we in the field have a different task. It is not to convince people of the importance of human factors, but to define what hu¬ man factors are and uncover some of the many unspoken and deeply rooted misconceptions. You can say that “many believe, but few go to church.” Here is my list of misconceptions. • The primary goal is to help novices. • Users will feel comfortable with subsets. • Human engineering is not particularly a technical matter. I believe that there are many users, engineers, and designers who [private¬ ly, perhaps subconsciously] hold such views. The misconceptions are largely unspoken; they reflect a set of estab¬ lished attitudes. The primary goal is to help novices. When designing systems, designers often ask how Charlie, the novice, would cope with it. When they document the sys¬ tem, try to write manuals, provide on¬ line help, or introduce special keys, the novice is kept in mind. A consequence of this attitude is that, subconsciously, we think of human factors as babying the user. As an aside, notice a looming contradiction—the system evolves toward greater complex¬ ity, yet we add even more complexity [on-line help, special features] to help the novice. Moreover, the real work¬ horse systems, which are not particu¬ larly meant for novices, can have the worst human factors. The marketplace is alive with many different computer systems: electronic mail networks, word processors, appli¬ cation packages, and implementations of computer languages. The people who use these systems are not primarily novices. When a new system is intro¬ duced, those who encounter it are cer¬ tainly first-time users of that new sys¬ tem, but most of them have probably had experience with other systems and similar pieces of software. Therefore, they will be transferring their skills from a previous experience to a new one; in other words, they can be called transfer users [see Good et. al., ’’Build¬ ing a User-Derived Interface,” Commu¬ nications of the ACM , October 1984]. Charlie the transfer user would undoubtedly be able to apply his knowledge of his own word processing system to a new one. His concerns as a transfer user would be substantially dif¬ ferent from those of Charlie the novice. Transfer users are familiar with automa¬ tion, command languages, and screen layouts. They know many of the small details that are needed in using a sys¬ tem: how to use special keys, invoke a command, or save work. Table 1 out¬ lines the differences between the nov¬ ice and the transfer user. Even the true novice may not re¬ main a novice very long. Often, people are taken with the novelty and chal¬ lenge. They become “experts” in a short period of time, even when com¬ plexity interferes with useful work. The point is that spreadsheet or compiler, novice or expert, the human factors in day-to-day usage are the is¬ sues that really count. Users will be comfortable with subsets. The popular wisdom is that small systems are desirable. Nonetheless, systems have a tendency to grow. When a system de¬ sign begins to snowball, by its own mo¬ mentum the. subset idea becomes in¬ creasingly attractive. The subset idea is simple—users will pick and choose FEBRUARY 1987 187 ILLUSTRATION • MACIEK ALBRECHT EXPERT CONSULTANT: HUMAN FACTORS TABLE 1: Differences between Users THE NOVICE THE TRANSFER USER Is unsure of automation Needs encouragement Develops skill slowly Needs gentle documentation Is hesitant with new combinations Knows what automation is Wants to get work done Becomes skilled rapidly Needs a good reference manual Thrives on technical consistency One misconception is that products must be designed for novices. Most users are transfer users. Even novices become experts in a short time. their own features, eventually establish a reasonable selection, and then will be comfortable with it. So what is wrong with large systems anyway? Many arguments are lodged against large scale in computer systems. Some of them have to do with cost. Others have to do with documentation and the difficulty of implementing large systems. Users should question every feature in a system. They may not need so many options if the system does the simple tasks it is designed to do, and does them well. Nevertheless, what is really wrong with the subset idea from the user’s point of view? Using a system well requires docu¬ mentation. A system that is larger than required forces the user to face a docu¬ ment describing many features that are irrelevant to the problem at hand. As I noted in my first article in this column [see “Computer Attitudes,” November 1986, p. 193], Charlie had no use for a magic debugging tool when he was learning his new word processing sys¬ tem. Irrelevant information intimidated him. He might well have muttered: “Oh, Lord! Thy system is so big, and Thy user, so small.” Moreover, the larger the system the more likely that the documentation will be inadequate. Manuals tend to be pieced together under increasing pres¬ sure. The examples become sterile; the text uninteresting. The documentation DOUBLE YOUR STORAGE CAPACITY The new PERSTOR 200 Series Double Capacity Controllers increase the storage capacity of your ST506/412 Win¬ chester hard disks by 90% or more. Advanced RLL encoding technology is used to increase data transfer rate to 9 and 10 megabits per second, and a 56 bit error correction code is used to assure data integrity. What’s more, it works with both RLL and MFM drives with plated or oxide media* To place an order or become a dealer call [602] 948-7313. £>ERSTOR Sensible solutions for your hard disk problems. Systems and Software, Inc. 7825 East Redfield Road Scottsdale, Arizona 85260 can deteriorate into nothing more than the reports of one engineer to another. The result is a general loss of quality. No designer can predict which part of a system a user will be using. Any system responses, help frames, or menus can only force upon the user in¬ formation about unknown topics. Some operations, such as program configura¬ tions or hie options, may be barely understood. The user may get lost tak¬ ing an unknown option and wind up in a dead end, not knowing whether to re¬ cover or begin again. When the user is on the right track, the system is less likely to give the kinds of specific infor¬ mation that the user really needs. Users feel most comfortable when they understand everything they see: the menus, the icons, the commands, the options, and the messages. They find themselves at ease when they be¬ lieve they are in complete control. It is similar to feeling comfortable driving your own car rather than somebody else’s. When the driver understands all the controls and is able to use them confidently, driving is safer, easier, and certainly less stressful. That is why Char¬ lie eschewed templates pasted on his keyboard—he wanted his fingers to move around the keys without having to think about it. The substantive question here is: Why can’t users simply find their own subsets and function there conven¬ iently? In response, I need to ask more questions: Whose subset? How do I get the document for the subset that 1 use? How can I disregard instructions on the screen that are of no relevance? What about my specific needs? Can I grow with the system or must I grope with it? Can I be sure that the subset I am using is the optimum one? Am I ignorant of more efficient ways to do what I am currently doing? If I am not comfortable with a sub¬ set, I will want to learn more until I am satisfied that I understand the system as well as I can. If I cannot do this, if I finally give up exploring, I will reluc¬ tantly hold on to my subset but with a feeling of misgiving. Is this what human engineering is all about? If this is so, the system will always seem to be bigger than I am, and my subset is just a myth. Human engineering is not particularly a tech¬ nical matter. Few human factors special¬ ists would agree with this statement, but my guess is that some system develop¬ ers secretly believe it. Some liken hu¬ man factors to making system messages more pleasing for the user to read. 188

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"The documentation is so good I have already learned things about VI that I never knew before." — IEEE Software , September 1986. PC/VI is available for IBM-PC’s and generic MS-DOSt systems for only 8149. Included are CTAGS and SPLIT utilities, TERMCAP function library, and an IBM-PC specific version which enhances performance by as much as TEN FOLD! PC/TOOLS What makes UNIX so powerful? Sleek, Fast, and POWERFUL utilities! UNIX gives the user not dozens, but hundreds of tools. These tools were designed and have been continually enhanced over the last fifteen years! Now the most powerful and popular of these are available for your PC! Each is a complete implementation of the UNIX program. Open up our toolbox and find: • BFS • DIFFH • OD • STRINGS • CAL • DIFF3 .PR • TAIL • CUT • GREP . SED • WC • DIFF • HEAD • SEE All of these for only $49.00: naturally, extensive documentation is included! 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BOX 678 • NATICK, MA 01760 617 • 653 • 2555 CIRCLE NO. 261 ON READER SERVICE CARD EXPERT CONSULTANT _ If human factors are important, they should be a concern from the be¬ ginning to the end of the software life cycle. Even when the requirements for a proposed system are being sketched, human factors arise quickly. Question¬ ing the need for features, scaling down the requirements, and looking for clean technical solutions that will meet the needs of the user—these have implica¬ tions for human factors. In developing a good technical de¬ sign, the designer should consider such questions as: Are so many special-pur¬ pose keys really necessary? How should commands or menus be organized? How should screen management work? What notations should be used? When the design is started, conflict¬ ing principles may have to be resolved. Perhaps some experiments may need to be run in order to test competing ideas. Data can be gathered on an existing sys¬ tem to see which features are the most confusing. If an on-line help system cannot be developed in a reasonable manner, perhaps the matter should be dropped and other avenues of user training explored. For example, cursor movement, file management, and com¬ mand language principles must be dis¬ cussed and implemented as an integral part of human factors. Let us suppose we are designing a new system for compiling, running, and testing programs. Suppose we have identified 200 or so functions [com¬ mands, options, features, etc.]. Some typical functions might be: put the com¬ piler output in a file; recompile a single module; set a breakpoint; display the value of an expression. Consider these questions: • What is a good syntax model? • Do options have consistent syntax? • Which are commands versus sub¬ commands? • Which features can be arranged into sensible groups? • Should commands be combined? • Should all options have a default? • Can features be grouped under a sin¬ gle option? These are technical issues that directly affect the user, ease of learning, recall, and documentation. Human engineering is not some¬ thing that can be grafted on to an exist¬ ing system. It is the fiber of technical development. Imiiiffunffil Henry F. Ledgard is a private consultant, specializing in software engineering audits, and education as well as human factors. He holds a Ph.D. from MIT. 190 PC TECH JOURNAL ;m= INTERACTIVE MICROWARE '111 1 1986 IBM'PC CATALOG COMPOS gssff

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I Note: We pay shipping and handling on each Limited Check the box below which indicates each desired FREE Limited Edition Manuals' Title[s] which your order qualifies you to receive FREE: ■ How to quickly wipe out all your debts and turn bad credit rating into good I How to raise all the cash you need in a hurry I How to retire young and live luxuriously on very little money | METHOD OF PAYMENT [all prices are in U.S. funds]: 1 □ My check or money order is enclosed [do not send I currency through the mail]. 1 Sorry - due to high percentage of sale charged by card I companies - charge card orders not accepted. SHIP TO I Name_ Complete this order form and mail to: , SUCCESS BUSINESS PUBUSHERS I 110W. 5th Street | J/inston^alenMJ^27101 I ©1S85 Successful Business Publishers BOOK REVIEW Database Practicum This in-depth book on practical techniques features a solution for challenging real-world database management problems. Micro Database Management: Practical Techniques for Applica¬ tion Development Robert H. Bonczek, Clyde W. Holsapple, and Andrew B. Whinston [Academic Press, Inc., Orlando, FL, 1984] 511 pages, paper, $37.50 The abstract discus¬ sions and simple examples included in books on data¬ base management often fail to give readers the in- depth understand¬ ing of practical techniques that is necessary for appli¬ cation development. The authors of Mi¬ cro Database Management , however, have selected for their book an interest¬ ing assortment of challenging real- world application problems. Each of these problems is addressed with a specific database management system [DBMS] to illustrate practical develop¬ ment techniques. Micro Data Base Sys¬ tems III [MDBS III] is used as the DBMS of choice for the examples in¬ cluded throughout the book. The book is written on a profes¬ sional level, but the carefully selected examples help the reader’s understand¬ ing of the basic and complex concepts involved. Professional developers and students will find Micro Database Man¬ agement useful. It covers all the usual DBMS fundamentals: data items, record types, and relationships between record types, as well as many advanced topics that usually are not discussed in depth in books on the subject, such as die rel¬ atively new postrelational [or extended- network] data model, end-user inter¬ face, database restructuring, and data¬ base integrity and security. The first three chapters provide a general background in the area of applications development for micro¬ computers. The evolution of database management is studied, and file man¬ agement systems are contrasted with DBMS. Six end-user needs are defined that must be satisfied by the database management system as inexpensively as possible: ability to manipulate data with¬ out programming or knowledge of data structures; data security; compatibility with existing hardware and software; portability to other environments; high performance; and extendability. The au¬ thors indicate that high-quality micro application software can be built to match the software available on main¬ frames, provided the appropriate tools are used. Characteristics and features of such tools for data-handling, screen¬ handling, and control-computation tasks are discussed in detail. Micro Database Management pro¬ vides an excellent insight into the fun¬ damentals of logical structuring. A very practical technique for designing sche¬ mas is presented that systematically takes the developer through the seven steps necessary for a complete design: identify each data item and its purpose; collect items for which there is a one- to-one relationship into record types; put each remaining data item into a rec¬ ord type; identify one-to-many relation¬ ships between record types; delete du¬ plicate relationships; create many-to- many relationships for all other record types; and create additional relation¬ ships using artificial record types to support required reports. The book also covers database pro¬ cessing. Various data manipulation com¬ mands are discussed in detail. The chapters on this subject provide in- depth illustrations of how an actual application system is developed. These examples, like the many others in¬ cluded in the book, play an essential role in clarifying sophisticated concepts. The database management systems used in the examples are designed us¬ ing MDBS III data manipulation lan¬ guage [DML]. Although this DML can be used with a number of host languages, the examples in the book are not writ¬ ten in any specific high-level language. Instead, a pseudolanguage is used to make the material accessible to all read¬ ers. The syntax of this language is ex¬ plained in the book and proves to be very easy to understand. One of the book’s chapters is de¬ voted to a discussion of the interactive data manipulation language [IDML], a low-level procedural language, and the query retrieval system [QRS], a high- level non-procedural language. A sec¬ ond chapter shows how some of the ad¬ vanced features exclusive to the post- relational data model—such as direct representation of many-to-many, recur¬ sive, and forked relationships—can help simplify the task of the applications de¬ veloper. The book offers performance enhancement guidelines for advanced developers. It illustrates how a perform¬ ance-conscious developer can take ad¬ vantage of the underlying physical struc¬ ture to optimize performance. Another chapter gives a complete, detailed case study, which does a good job of encompassing all the concepts covered in previous chapters and pro¬ vides an excellent illustration of how an actual problem can be implemented. While multiuser database processing is often ignored in database books, Micro Database Management has detailed examples [using MDBS III facilities] of how to develop effective multiuser applications software. Although many concepts discussed in the book would be useful in any DBMS context, the book’s full potential is realized only when it is used in con¬ junction with MDBS III. The book is an important contribution to the database field. It can provide practical knowledge for applications development and should be a valuable addition to any database library. 1S 1 —NASIR GHIASEDDIN CoTpgt*. 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SYSTEMS SERVICES INTERNATIONAL P.O. Box 2865 Huntington, WV 25728 [304]529-9425 BASIC + StruBAS Developing serious applications in compiled BASIC? It’s easier with StruBAS v2.0 tools com¬ plementing QuickBASIC and IBM BASIC 2.0 with extended structured code, screens, menus, na¬ tive ISAM, Btrieve interface, and subroutine ob¬ ject library. $495 single, $1495 network. VISA/ MC. Not copy protected. Laney Systems Inc. 3 Office Park Dr., Suite 100 Little Rock, AR 72211 501-225-7755 PASCAL-to-C TRANSLATOR Industrial strength conversion from Turbo, Mi¬ crosoft, UCSD, MT+, Apollo, Macintosh, and other Pascals to K&R C. Handles nested proce¬ dures, intrinsic functions, separately compiled units and modules, all data types including long integers. Requires 512K IBM PC/XT/AT. Send up to 500 lines of Pascal and we will convert it for FREE. Site licensing from $5,000. Conversions 50 cents/line. TGLInc. 27096 Forest Springs Ln. Corvallis, OR 97330 [503]745-7476 ATTENTION TURBO PASCAL USERS! Crash the 64K Barrier Try TURBO PACKAGE now! 90 day money back guarantee! Modular Programming! Promotes REUSE of working CODE CUTS development TIME IMPROVES system RELIABILITY SIMPLIFIES program MAINTENANCE FILL 640KB with code/data any way you want VERY FEW CODE CHANGES. FASTER than chaining or overlaying SUPERMATH, FREE! With purchase of Turbo Package 40 plus LONG [32-bit math] routines Faster than real - big enough for $. ASM coding insures top performance Just $49.95 [in TX add tax] Visa/MC [no shipping chg] Write or call for more information CONVERSATIONAL COMPUTER SYSTEMS 5371 Verbena Rd. San Antonio, TX 78240 Phone: [512] 692-0353 CIRCLE 381 ON READER SERVICE CARD APL Programmers! Interface C and APL*PLUS with APL2C™! Speed up your APL code. Link to C libraries. Includes K & R C compiler. $195 Complete. FULLSCREEN Panels" 4 is here! Screen Generator and full¬ screen processor for the APL environment. Pop- ups, panels, menus, scrolling fields NO ROY¬ ALTIES, $150. Lauer Software PO Box 728 Newtown, PA 18940-0728 [609]921-6249 True Shell for BASIC SHELL any other program or batch file, includ¬ ing other compiled BASIC programs and the BASIC interpreter. Requires DOS 2+ and IBM [Ver 1 or 2] or Microsoft compiler [QB1, QB2 or 5.36]. QB2 requires DOS 3+. Only $29.95 + $3 s/h. MC/VISA/COD OK. 30 day money-back perfor¬ mance guarantee. MicroHelp, Inc. 2220 Carlyle Drive Marietta, GA 30062 800-922-3383. In GA 404-973-9272 Ouelo®680j00 Software Development Tools Quelo Assembler Packages are Motorola compatible. Each package includes a macro as¬ sembler, linker/locator, object li¬ brarian, utilities for producing ROMable code, extensive in¬ dexed typeset manuals and pro¬ duces S-records, Intel hex, extended TEK hex, UNIX COFF and symbol cross references. Portable source written in “C” is available. It has been ported to a variety of mainframes and minis including VAX. 68020 Assembler Package For CP/M-86.-68K and MS/PC-DOS . $ 750 68000/68010 Assembler Package For CPM-80.-86.-68K and MS PC-DOS. $ 595 68000 “C” Cross Compiler For MS/PC-DOS by Lattice, Inc. With Quelo 68000/68010 Assembler Package.$1095 With Quelo 68020 Assembler Package .$1250 Call Patrick Adams today: Quelo, Inc. 2464 33rd W. Suite

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QMAKE ,M is an intelligent system builder pat¬ terned after the UNIX make utility. Only compiles those routines that have changed since last built. Support for macros, multiple entry points, com¬ mand line parameters. Integrates fully with SRMS' M .$99.00. MS/PC-DOS 2.0 [MN plus 6%] MC/VISA QUILT COMPUTING 7048 Stratford Rd. Woodbury, Minnesota 55125 [612]739-4650 IMPULSE Engineering, B.R. Strong, Jr. P.O. Box 3540 San Francisco, CA 94119-3540 [415]788-4611 MS-COBOL SCREEN/DATA DIV. MSCREEN generates Screen Section code for MICROSOFT/IBM COBOL. Paint/Edit screens. No other editor needed. Select from complete set of attributes for each field. No field terminators. Many other features! $55. COBWORK generates Data Division code for MICROSOFT/IBM/RE- ALIA COBOL. $35. TAJEVA SOFTWARE 6064 Belle Grove Cove S. Memphis, TN 38115 [901]365-4692 SCREEN MANAGER SAVE TIME! Powerful Screen Designer and Memory Resident Screen Manager Increases Pro¬ grammer Productivity! Interfaces to most languages. BASIC, FORTRAN, COBOL, C, PASCAL, PLM86, ASM. Not a Code Genera¬ tor! No Royalties. ^si— The West Chester Group PO. Box 1304 viqa/mt West Chester, Pa 19380 [215] 644-4206 FREE DEMO DISK CIRCLE 383 ON READER SERVICE CARD LINK & LOCATE LINK & LOCATE enables PC users to produce ROM- based firmware for 8086/87/186 from object files generated by popular C compilers, such as from Wizard, Microsoft and Lattice, and MASM assembler from Microsoft. Provides full control of segment placement anywhere in memory. Supports output of Intel HEX file for PROM programmers, Intel OMF absolute object file for symbolic debuggers and in-circuit emulators. Includes Intel compatible linker, locator, librarian and hex formatters. $350. Systems & Software, Inc. 3303 Harbor Blvd., Cl 1, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 Phone[714] 241-8650 FAX[714] 241-0377 TWX910-695-0125 CIRCLE 384 ON READER SERVICE CARD turboMAGIC The slickest code generator available for TurboPascal programmers. Input forms. Report forms. Help windows. Pop-up menus. Pull-down menu systems. And more! Order your MAGIC today for only $99. 30-day full money back guarantee. Requires IBM PC compatible with 256K RAM. Sophisticated Software Inc. 6586 Old Shell Road Mobile, AL 36608 [800] 225-3165 or [205] 342-7026 BOOSTERS V2.0 IS HERE! Tools for Turbo Pascal programmers who need the speed and efficiency of online code. 70+ string, video, and DOS routines—incl. Exec. V2.0 also incl. powerful new SCREEN GENERATOR, DOS SHELL, and many example programs. All Pascal and assembler source, manual, update notices. No Royalties. $40 + 4% GA tx. Visa/MC. GEORGE F. SMITH & COMPANY 609 Candlewick Lane Lilburn, GA 30247, [404] 923-6879 Real-Time Multitasking Kernel for the IBM PC display MASCOT network diagram Suite 202, 544 Princess St., Kingston, Ont. Canada K7LIC7 '. ■ Supports MASCOT modular real-time design methodology a Extensive built-in debugging facilities a Shared memory for intertask communication • Synchronization and mutual exclusion a Modular design and implementation approach allows unit and sub-network testing a Can use DOS DEBUG with application • Can access all PC-DOS facilities a C language interface [specify compiler] a Device drivers may be written in C • No royalties • $795 includes software, manual, support, updates Kingston, Ont. [6131548-4355 CIRCLE 385 ON READER SERVICE CARD FIRMWARE PRODUCTION ON PC UNK&LOCATE enables PC users to produce ROM-based firmware for 8086/87/186 from ob¬ ject files generated by C, PL/M compilers & MASM. Provides full control of segments place¬ ment anywhere in memory. Supports output of INTEL hex file for PROM programmer, absolute object file for symbolic debugger & ICE, and MS- DOS EXE file. Includes an INTEL compatible linker, locator, librarian and hex formatters. $350. Systems & Software, Inc. 3303 Harbor Blvd., C11 Costa Mesa, CA 92626 [714]241-8650 BASIC Base 007 BASIC database library including menues, passwords, program generator, query, screen control, data record control, index commands for add, delete, find, find next, find last. $15 demo with disk manual and compiled database soft¬ ware. $99 development system with library source code and printed manual. $165 for com¬ piled & all 4,000 + lines of BASIC code. Application Micro Computers, Inc. 1663 Bachan Ct. Reston, Va. 22090 [703]471-1471 -3:00 to 9:00 PM. PRE-PROCESSOR Add custom features to any language: longer identifiers, opcode, register and operator syn¬ onyms, nested macros, etc. C Source Code in¬ cluded. Not copy protected. OK to share. $19.95

s/h. MC/VISA.

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6143

Kirkland, WA 98034-4399 [206]488-9253 Public Domain TURBO PASCAL- SOFTWARE $6 Write or call for information about: • Systems & applications development tools • Programs for home and business • Communication tools & applications • Games in specialized applications • Scientific/engineering programs & routines • Graphics including animation tools TURBO S.I.X. P.O. Box 8373 Waco, TX 76714 [817]753-2182 NEW PUBLIC DOMAIN LISTING 13,000 MS DOS PROGRAMS with brief de¬ scriptions, 52 pages, $4. Also available on disks for $10 including search program. This months special set 5 disks $2 including p+h. 90 pro¬ grams including Mandelbrot Set Images, Cal¬ Tech utilities, advanced Lotus tutorial, artificial art, Freecalc V2, Genealogy V4. Send your card

$4 to or call: The Public Domain Software Co.

THE PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE COPYING COMPANY 33 Gold Street NYC, NY 10038 800-221-7372 • NY 212-732-2565 TURBO PASCAL $2/disk TSS is a BBS-by-mail, no modem needed [long distance is more $$$ than mails]! 60+ disks of Pascal files. Most incl. source code. All files compressed. Membership fee [$25] incl. free starter pkg. and 2 FREE disks with 1st order. Non¬ members $7/disk. Cat. list $5. VISA/MC/COD [s/h extra] [data] 617-545-9131 TURBO SOURCE SEARCH P.O. BOX 876 SCITUATE, MA 02066 [voice] 617-545-6677 SOFTWARE/SCIENTIFIC—UTILITIES TECH MARKETPLACE THE COMPREHE N S 1 V E GUI DE TO PRODUCTS AND SERVICES FOR THE MS DOS MARKET Scientific SCI/ENG GRAPHICS OMNIPLOT [S] [screen graphics] & OMNIPLOT [P] [plotter driver] provide integrated engineer¬ ing/scientific 2-D & 3-D graphics with NO PRO¬ GRAMMING! Menu-driven, flexible, professional. Choice of formats: tabular/line, contour, bar, pie, 3-D wire frame & much more! OMNIPLOT [S] $195. Add OMNIPLOT [P], both $295. MICROCOMPATIBLES, INC. 301 Prelude Dr. Dept. J Silver Spring, MD 20901 [301]593-0683 TECHWRITER SCIENTIFIC Complete word processing system that easily blends Greek, mathematical symbols, and chemical structures with standard text. Power¬ ful, yet easy-to-use, TechWriter features over¬ sized scientific characters, headers, footers, and automatic footing, index, and table of contents generation. CH CONH CMI SOFTWARE 1395 Main Street Waltham, MA 02154 [617]899-7244 8087 FFT/VECTOR PROCESSING The VECT0R87 library is written in assembler, includes 60 routines to speed up your number- crunching programs. Uses 80[2] 87 extensively. PC IK real FFT takes only 1.2 sec. Versions for Fortran [MS, RM, Lahey], C [MS, Lattice], Turbo Pascal -87. $150 per version with source, no royalties. Write for technical information. VECTORPLEX Data Systems Ltd. 136-100 Maitland Place N.E. Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2A 5V5 [403]248-1250 DATA ACQUISITION & ANALYSIS ‘MEASURE for data acquisition directly to Lo¬ tus 1-2-3*FOURIER PROSPECTIVE II advanced signal digital analysis ‘Lotus Manuscript & technical document preparation systenTPRIME FACTOR FFT subroutine library. Call Turbo Pas¬ cal, C, Fortran, Basic. Up to 65,520 data-points. 2D available*Turbo Pascal from Borland ‘TELEVISION for Image Communications

8087 Coprocessors, all varieties*Dash-16A/D converter board from MetraByte. ALLIGATOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. P.0. Box 11386 Costa Mesa, CA 92627 [714] 662-0660 NUMERICAL C SOFTWARE Computationally stable numerical routines for scientific C software developers. LINLIB con¬ tains all the basic vector and matrix routines so¬ lutions to equations, LU, QR, Cholesky factors of matrices, least squares solutions. LINLIB has splines, B-spline routines, spline interpolation, spline approximation of data. $150. INFORMATION AND GRAPHIC SYSTEMS 15 Normandy Court Atlanta, GA 30324 Call [404] 231-9582 Security Devices SMART COPY PROTECTION Attention Software Developers, are you tired of Copy Protection that: -is NOT transparent to the user. -does not allow backups. -requires I/O plugs or special media. -doesn’t support hard or cartridge disks, -makes you pay for every disk protected, -requires source code changes. -can be beaten by hardware copy boards. If so, EVERLOCK can solve these problems for only $495. Free info & demo disk available. Az-Tech Software, Inc. 426 Grandview Richmond, MO 64085 [816]776-8153 SECURE AT/XT/PC Control system access, data access! FiXT/S. Control system boot for most popular XT/PC hard disk controllers. Feature for AT-and-XT-com- patible HD controllers segments hard disk by volumes, controls access with passwords, sup¬ ports hard disk expansion. $80 $120+$3 shpg. plus CA tax. Golden Bow Systems 2870 Fifth Ave. Suite 201 San Diego, CA 92103 [619]298-9349 Statistics STATISTICS FORECASTING TWG/ARIMA—a univariate Box-Jenkins fore¬ casting package, designed for statisticians. EASI/ARIMA—same as above, for the non¬ statistician. ELF—The Statistical Package—a general pur¬ pose statistical package. Call or write for more information. $150. EACH. THE WINCHENDON GROUP, INC. P.O. Box 10339 Alexandria, VA 22310 [703]960-2587 STATISTIX™—ONLY $75! STATISTIX is a powerful and very easy-to-use interactive statistical system for micros. Used by many major universities, businesses, state gov¬ ernments and research organizations. Please check us out before you buy a statistics pro¬ gram; you’ll agree SX is a “best buy”! SATIS¬ FACTION GUARANTEED-For more info: NH ANALYTICAL SOFTWARE 801 West Iowa Avenue St. Paul, MN 55117 [612]488-4436 RATS! VERSION 2.0 RATS, the best selling Econometric software package now includes daily & weekly data, a new, easier to use 500-page manual, & many ad¬ vanced features. Use RATS for time-series & cross-section regression, including OLS, ARIMA, VAR, logit, & probit. IBM PC or compati¬ ble. $200. VC/Visa. Call for brochure. VAR Econometrics, Inc. P.O. Box 1818 Evanston, IL 60204-1818 1[800]822-8038 P-STAT® Full mainframe package for IBM PC/XT/AT & compatibles. Combines data & file manage¬ ment, data display, statistical analysis, report¬ writing & survey analysis in a single package. 4GL programming language, online HELP, menu or command driven with interactive EDITOR. $95 demo and Site License available. P-STAT Inc. 471 Wall Street, P.O. Box AH Princeton, N.J. 08542 Telephone: 609-924-9100 Telex: 466452 Pick & Choose for Your PC BMDP Statistical Software offers 40 programs for data analysis. But you can choose any com¬ bination to suit your needs. From simple statis¬ tics and plots, to t-tests, ANOVA, ANCOVA, stepwise regression, time series, frequency ta¬ bles, survival analysis and more! Call for your free catalog. Hard disk req’d. STATISTICAL SOFTWARE BMDP Statistical Software, Inc. 1440 Sepulveda Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025 [213]479-7799 Taxes Where Does the Time Go? TUSKER knows! TIME & USAGE KEEPER logs and reports your computer time; meets and ex¬ ceeds IRS requirements for proving tax deduction. ‘Define your own business uses *6 reports in any date range for any printer ‘Log non-computer time too! DOS 2.0+. $88. Free brochure. $4 demo disk. Craig Banning Route 3, Box 317 Big Pine Key, FL 33043 [305]872-3817 Terminal Emulation BARR/HASP INTELLIGENT RJE WORKSTATION Hardware and software communications pack¬ age for IBM PC, XT and AT. Simultaneously transmits data to host and receives output di¬ rectly to MVS/JES2, MVS/JES3, VS/RSCS, and CDC/NOS, bypassing TSO and CMS. Emulates IBM 3777-2 and HASP on IBM 360/20. Line speed: 1,200 to 19,200 baud [56,000 bps on AT]. Supports multiple high-speed printers beyond 2,400 Ipm. [6,000 Ipm on AT]. Features: concurrent DOS, LAN support, printer forms control, plotter support, unattended operation, easy installation. $1,290 includes Hardware & Software. B/IRR BARR SYSTEMS, INC. 2830 NW 41st Street, Building M Gainesville, FL 32606 [800]-BARR-SYS/[904] 371-3050 Utilities AT/XT/PC HARD DISK EXPANSION “Replace hard disk with a bigger one, or add a second drive! Vfeature BREAKS THE 33 MBYTE BARRIER on standard AT, XT, and compatible hard disk controllers. Includes multiple vol¬ umes, security features, selectable clusters, keyboard lock. $80-$120 + $3 shipping + CA Tax" Golden Bow Systems 2870 Fifth Avenue, Suite 201 San Diego, CA 92103 [619]298-9349 DOCUMENTATION MANAGER Create and maintain manuals - procedure man¬ uals, program documentation / system user manuals, etc. Edit files with the excellent Nor¬ ton Editor [included] Save User Defined con¬ figuration Save screen dumps to files Variety of Print Options

$69.95 complete MasterCard/Visa Ben ix PHENIX HOSPITAL SYSTEMS 1616 Palm Avenue Deland, FL 32724 [904]736-1132 SOFTWARE/UTILITIES TECH MARKETPLACE THE COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO PRODUCTS AND SERVICES FOR THE MS DOS MARKET Utilities SAVE THAT SCREEN! Do you immediately reach for the PrtSc key to save screen info? What a waste of time and pa¬ per! Now, SCREENSNAP™ lets you save and re¬ call up to 9 screens at the touch of a key. Friendly with other resident programs but unlike some it is compact; will run in as little as 5K. Also in¬ cludes useful utilities to save and recall from files, programmer’s interface and sample code. Build your own help screens with your text editor, then save and recall them with SCREENSNAP. $39. Programming ARTS P.O. Box 219 Milltown, NJ 08850 Call 800-443-4160; NJ [201] 846-7242 FILE PRINT MANAGER GLISTER™ ★ Use DOS wildcards to build a list of up to 100 files to print ★ Save/restore file lists ★ Restart a file on any page after a printer jam ★ Print multiple copies ★ Control: margins, line/page length, spacing, user-formatted header/footer lines and more ★ Prints files as fast as printer is capable $49 Programming ARTS P.O. Box 219 Milltown, NJ 08850 Call 800-443-4160; NJ [201] 846-7242 XT/AT HARD DISK DIAGNOSTICS! Disk Manager Diagnostics performs extensive tests on your ST412/506 hard disks. Areas tested are: Controller, data write/read, seek test, auto¬ matic error correction[ECC], random reads and media defects. Interactive help. Excellent error detection and isolation. $49.95 + ship. VISA/MC accepted. QNTRPCK COMPUTER SYSTEMS INC. Ontrack Computer Systems, Inc. 6222 Bury Drive Eden Prairie, MN 55344 [612]937-1107 VCACHE GETS YOUR DISK MOVING! Hard disk accelerator increases speed of car¬ tridge and fixed disk operations using memory caching to eliminate repetitive disk access. Al¬ locate up to 15Mb of extended or expanded memory, or ,5Mb of standard memory for cach¬ ing disk data. Includes diskette and screen ac¬ celerator modules. Automatic and transparent after installation. $65+ $3 shpg, CA tax. GOLDEN BOW SYSTEMS 2870 Fifth Avenue, Suite 201 San Diego, CA 92103 [619]298-9349 LIMSIM Expanded Memory Simulator for the PC/AT and compatible 286 machines. Use the extended memory you already have as Lotus style Ex¬ panded Memory. Fully supports EMS version 3.2. Requires 70k of conventional memory. $50 [$75 with assembler source] plus $5 s/h. 30 day money back guarantee. Larson Computing 1556 Halford Ave.

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Santa Clara, CA 95051 [408]737-0627 TallScreen—DOS POWER Natural extension of DOS. Scroll back through screen output, edit text on full screen, mark blocks to printer or file, recall commands & directories, enter multiple commands, capture screens from application programs, create user profiles. Solid tech support. PC MAG & PC WORLD calls TallScreens a Real bargain at $49.95. VISA/MC 8314 Thoreau Drive Bethesda, MD 20817 [301]469-8848 AT’s DON’T NEED 360KB DRIVES The 1.2MB drive has long been known to READ but NOT reliably WRITE on 360KB floppies. With “CPYAT2PC” 1.2MB drives CAN reliably WRITE 360KB floppies saving a slot for a second hard disk or backup tape. “CPYAT2PC” [Not Copy Protected] offers the preferable SOFTWARE SOLUTION. • NO software or hardware modification • A 360K drive is NOT required • “CPYAT2PC” program MAY reside on hard disk • Runs on IBM PC/AT and COMPATIBLES i.e. Compaq Deskpro 286/386, AT&T 6300 + , HP Vectra, Sperry PC/IT, Tandy 3000 Only $79.00 + $4.00 S/H VISA, MC, COD, UPS-B/R ORDER TOLL FREE 1-800-621-0851 XT777 TELEX EZLINK 62873089 j Dealer Inquiries Invited MICROBRIDGE COMPUTERS 655 Skyway

125

San Carlos, CA CA 415-593-8777 NY 212-334-1858 CIRCLE 386 ON READER SERVICE CARD CHARACTER CUSTOMIZATION CHARGENI 3.0 works with the IBM/EGA to let you modify the character set, allowing many wordprocessors to display technical material, equations or other special characters. Requires DOS 2 x or 3.x, IBM Standard or Enhanced Graphics Adapter. $35+ $2 s/h [MN add 6%]. DK Micro Consultants RO. Box 6714 Minneapolis, MN 55406 [612]722-0931 THE NEWMAN UTILITIES 50 utils includes help system below and disk + system utilities $19.95 EZRUN menu. Run 1 -36 programs $19.95 CACHER. speedup disk access 10X $19.95 HELP system for DOS 3.1 + add your own $9.95 All $45, $2 demo, 15 day MB guar., $2 Ship NEWMAN COMPUTER 2 Briar Mills Drive Suite 2-A Bricktown, NJ 08724 [201]458-5169 uaid Analyzer the tool that created CopyWrite Now you can debug your own programs with a professional quality debugger - the one that unraveled every form of copy-protection used on the PC. With the Quaid Analyzer, you can: □ See occurences of any interupt, with its meaning shown on the screen. □ View memory as text or instructions, scrolling as easily as you do with an editor. □ Run until a memory location or I/O port is changed. □ Protect your hard disk from accidental destruction. □ Analyze software without the source, even when it uses countermeasures to thwart tracing. □ See all stages of the boot load. We kept the Quaid Analyzer off the market to avoid helping publishers with copy-protection. Now that copy¬ protection is gone, we can sell it to you. The Quaid Analyzer is a software tool occupying 100K bytes. It runs on any IBM PC and most MS-DOS systems without hard¬ ware modification. Quaid Software Umited $99 U.S. Jftfccan [416] 961-8243 All orders shipped at^3|jij|v^ or write to: our expense within a 45 Charles St. East day. All major credit Third Floor, Dept. 602 cards accepted. Toronto, Ontario. M4Y 1S2 Ask about Disk Explorer the program that takes over where Quaid Analyzer leaves off. CIRCLE 387 ON READER SERVICE CARD SOFTWARE/UTILITIES—MISCELLANEOUS/PUBLICATIONS TECH MARKETPLACE THE COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO PRODUCTS AND SERVICES FOR THE MS DOS MARKET Utilities DISK ACCELERATOR V2.0 DiskCache speeds up your hard disk access. Disk caching and ram disk in one package. Ram disk shares cache space. Transparent, flexible, con¬ figurable, no h/w changes. RAM, EMS, and AT extended memory versions incl. Not copy pro¬ tected. VISA, MC, volume discounts. No PO’s w/o prior approval. $49.00 Datamorphics Ltd., P.0. Box 820 Stittsville, Ontario, Canada KOA 3G0 Or call [613] 836-2670 DISK UPGRADE BIOS for ATs DUB-14 overides AT Drives Table to allow any compatible drive to be attached and fully used on the standard AT controller. Two ROMs plug into empty sockets on system board. Includes complete Set-Up routine and low-level format facility. Works with UNIX, XENIX, other OS and networks. $95 + $3 shpg. CA tax. vi i, GOLDEN BOW SYSTEMS 2870 Fifth Avenue, Suite 201 San Diego, CA 92103 [619]298-9349 HARD DISK EXPANSION! Disk Manager allows the installation of any ST506 hard disk on PC,XT,AT and compatibles. Volumes up to 256mb! Menu driven/auto in¬ stall, compatible w/ all vers of MS/PC DOS [does not modify DOS], up to 16 volumes, easy to use! $125+ ship. Ask about Novell product! Dealer inquiries invited. ©NTRflCK k COMPUTER SYSTEMS INC. Ontrack Computer Systems, Inc. 6222 Bury Drive Eden Prairie, MN 55344 [612]937-1107 MAKE YOUR PC SEEM LIKE AN AT! MAKE YOUR AT SEEM LIKE A DREAM MACHINE! if ANSI- CONSOLE” The Integrated Console Utility ™ FAST, POWERFUL ANSI.SYS REPLACEMENT For the IBM-PC, AT, and clones New Version 2.00 is MUCH FASTER Now blink free scrolling on CGA! Now use EMS for scroll recall! New option menu program! •Speed up your screen writing •Extend your ANSI.SYS to full VTIOO •Scroll lines back onto screen •Save scrolled lines into a file •Add zip to your cursor keys •Free your eyes from scroll blinking •Easy installation •Get 43 line EGA support •Over 50 useful options “The psychological difference is astonishing” -Lotus June 85 pg 8. “So many handy functions rolled into one unobtrusive package” -PC- World Feb 86 pg 282. “The support provided by the publishers is extraordinary.” -Capital PC Monitor May 86 pg 25. “...the best choice for improving your console...” -Capital PC Monitor June 86 pg 282. 460p Manual [w/slip case] and software diskettes $75. Satisfaction Guaranteed! Order Yours Today! HERSEY MICRO CONSULTING Box 8276, Ann Arbor, Ml 48107 [313] 994-3259 Visa/MC/Amex DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED CIRCLE3880N READERSERVICECARD Introducing ARC. It's used to create and main¬ tain data file archives for computers operating under any DOS system. But it does something that other archive and library utilities can’t. It automatically squeezes the files being saved so they take up less space. Like a can of con¬ centrated orange juice. From 20% to 90% less, depending on the kind of data being saved! So there’s more room to store data, no matter what media it’s stored on! And that’s like giving a shot of vitamin C to your savings on equipment and supplies. This compressed data can be trans¬ mitted over telephone lines in a lot less time than it takes to transmit uncom- MBBB pressed data. So you can beat the high fjyH cost of phone bills to a pulp, as well. ARC has a full range of functions for archive creation and maintenance. Including password encryption to protect data from unauthorized use. Typi cal Compre ssion Rate Program^^" - 1 ASCII f™™™ afe ^ j-n - l files I I text I n II20% to I—Qj50%to I [2 W 130%. | W 160% I System Enhancement Associates • 21 New Street, Wayne, NJ 07470 • [201]473-5153 CIRCLE 389 ON READER SERVICE CARD Tech Marketplace . comprehensive guide products and services MS DOS market. . . the to for the Miscellaneous Bar Coding BAR CODE READERS • IBM PC/XT, AT, AT&T 6300/7300 etc. key¬ board models or RS-232 interface • NO programming. Reads dot matrix • Auto-recognition and single code decoding • Reads Code 39. UPC A/E Codabar & 12 of 5 • Units in stock, 2 year warranty great margins. PERC0N, Inc. 2190 W. 11th Eugene, OR 97402 [503]344-1189 $99 BAR CODE READERS We need Distributors & OEMs worldwide. Our readers are IBM PC/XT/AT & Tandy 1000/2000 keyboard compatible, convertible to RS232 In¬ terface, have auto code distinction, need no ad¬ ditional software and are availabe from assembled board to fully packaged units. From US $99 plus wand in modest OEM quantities. ASP MICROCOMPUTERS P.0. BOX 259, CAULFIELD EAST 3145 VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA PHONE 011 61 3 5000628 [note time difference] To place your ad in Tech Marketplace call 212 - 503 - 5115 . Publications Advanced TurboPascal Book “Turbo Pascal—Advanced Applications" a new book for serious programmers. Written by the TP experts, it covers topics such as optimization techniques, interrupts, system level tools, graphics, and more. In-depth and thorough. $16.95; or with MS DOS disk $29.95. Add $1.50 shipping [US & Canada]. Free info. Rockland Publishing 190 Sullivan Crossroad, Suite 107 Columbia Falls, MT 59912 [406]257-9119 AN INVITATION TO STEAL Bad copyright—or none at all? Your software may be public domain. Protect your work before you show it. Learn how to copyright software inex¬ pensively and effectively. Software Copyright Guide. $6 ppd. Innovation Press Dept. 112 Box 351 Highland, IL 62249 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS PC TECH JOURNAL FEBRUARY 1987 READER SERVICE NUMBER ADVERTISER PAGE 116 Advanced Logic Research. Cover 3

Aldebaran. 24 141 Alsys.86 214 Answer Software.21 136 Arity Corporation.139 206 Array Technologies, Inc.78 122 Arrix.149

AST Research, Inc.48 & 49 203 Atron.8 249 Atron., 18 105 Barrington Systems.54

BC Associates.201 102 Blaise Computing.113

Borland Int’l. Gatefold Cover 254 Borland Int’l.1 124 Bourbaki.141

Business Engrg. Systems.200

Business Opportunity Publishers.178 & 192 147 Code Blue.12 & 13 212 Coefficient Systems.88 114 ComCal.35 144 Computer Innovations.6 & 7

Creative Programming Consultants... 153 145 Cresent Software.186 161 Crosspoint Systems.103 167 Crosstalk Communications.... Back Cover 261 Custom Software Systems.190

C-Ware.191 217 CXI.163 110 Digiboard.194 123 Digi Data.181 178 Dynatech.29 You won’t encounter a PC communications program with as much versatility as CROSSTALK®Mk. 4. It has everything we could imagine you needing today. More protocols — X.PC, Xmodem. Kermit, and our own CROSSTALK. More terminal emulations, including complete IBM 3101, DEC VT-IOO, andTeleVideo 900 series. Concurrent communications capability -- up to 15 sessions, each displayed in its own expandable window, or on separate' ’pages. ’ ’ Error checking at high speeds. Prepared script files to extract information from most popular information utilities. A powerful programming language to create customized scripts. Finally, we’ve built-in a bit of tomorrow, m i V CROSSTALK Mk. 4 is based on a modular architecture that means we can add new capabilities by phone, as they come along. So you’re getting more than today’s standard in communications software. 1 You’re getting tomorrow’s as well. % \ pnnCCTAl [/"-Digital Communications Associates. Inc. I vKv\l/\U\ 1000 Holcomb WoodsParkway l 1 . COMMUNICATIONS Roswell. Georgia 30076 i , ... . ..... m I MM • m JLI