Z*Magazine: June 11, 1986 / #4

Article #9 (214 is last):
From: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG)
Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.product.8bit.zmag
Subject: Z*Magazine: 11-Jun-86 #4
Reply-To: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG)
Date: Sat Jul 3 20:23:38 1993



***********************************
Zmagazine June 11, 1986
^^^ New Jersey Edition
HOT Atari News Plus+++
Ron Kovacs-Editor, Middlesex, NJ
***********************************
XxIn this Issue
Zmag BBS Watch

Mouse for your 8 bit???

Part One of a series on Assembly
Language programming

Special BBS comment

Zmag Notes
-----------------------------------
XxCommodore 1350 Controller for
your Atari!!!

THE COMMODORE 1350 CONTROLLER
FOR YOUR ATARI!(Or The Mouse That
Jack Built) by Jay Pierstorff

There has been much talk of
mice and mouse controllers lately.
The new Atari ST's come equipped
with their own mouse...(mice?)
..meeces?. Anyway, those of us who
have an Atari of the 8-bit
persuasion have watched with
great envy, wishing we too, could
have mice. Even if we could buy an
ST mouse for our 8-bitters (which
we can't) it wouldn't work with our
existing joystuck (sic) programs.
Sure, we'd all love to have an
Atari ST, but my 130XE's library
is bigger than the ST's and more
important, it's paid for.

Atari is rumored to be
introducing an 8-bit mouse, but it
is not confirmed at the time this
article is being written. Mouse
envy persists. I found myself
wandering the aisles of the
computer stores. Suddenly,I noticed
a Commodore product beaming through
the glass. "The Commodore 1350
Mouse for the C128" was printed on
the package. The price was less
than $50. Those lucky 128 owners!
Too bad Atari hasn't made one for
their computers.

The C128 Commodore is an
upwardly compatible to the C64
computer. That means that any
software that worked on the 64 will
also run on the 128. The C64 and
the Atari's have always been real
friendly about using the same
joystick varieties. Would this....
could this... might this mouse work
with a trackball or mouse driver
program? The plug looked very much
like a standard joystick connector.
I bought it antook it home.

I could tell my Atari 130XE was
nervous about the whole works, but
undaunted, I loaded a trackball
program, plugged in the mouse...
but wait, the plug would not stay
in! Upon close examination of the
connector, I discovered that it was
about 1/8 of an inch too short to
reach the connector pins,
(Commodore computers don't recess
their joystick ports quite as much
as Atari). I was Puzzled for a
moment and then I thought about
using a joystick extension cable!
Ha! I quickly found my extension
cable and plugged one end into port
1 and the other end plugged
perfectly to the mouse!

With trembling fingers I slid
the mouse across the desk, and
then... nothing. The cursor was on
the screen but the mouse yawned. It
would not control the cursor, not
even a little. Now what... I tried
to think, maybe it would work with
a Koala or Touch Tablet program! I
booted and failed.

Maybe it was a "joystk
emulator!" A Joystick in mouse
clothing! I loaded the graphics
editor of The Print Shop, IT WORKED
IT WAS A JOYSTICK EMULATOR ALL
ALONG! Suddenly, it occurred to me
I should probably calm down. I got
down off the computer table and
tried a few more programs.
Everything that would normally run
with a joystick, was working with
this imitation mouse.

A comparison of the mouse and
the Atari port shows the
connections are mostly compatible
with Atari and Commodore joysticks.
Interesting that the brief, mouse
instructions made no mention of
Joystick emulation or even
compatibility with the C64! Strange
thing to keep a secret! Especially
for companies in business to make
money (right Jack?).

The only non-workable feature
of the 1350 Mouse is the right
button. The left button is the
standard "fire" button on a
Joystick. The right button is
connected to pin 9. The Atari looks
to pin 9 for a potentiometer
reading like a paddle controller
would pruce. But since their is
no paddle emulation in the mouse,
the right button is invisible to
the Atari's OS. Oh well, one
doesn't miss what one has never
had. If Joysticks were meant to
have two buttons....well you know
what I mean.

The Commodore Mouse is very
usable. Even though your computer
thinks it's a joystick, you will
think it's a mouse! It really does
an amazing job of convincing you!
It feels good in your hand and
moves smoothly across any flat
surface. A clean desk or a "mouse
pad" will give best results. A
mouse pad is a rubber backed thin
cushion that gives more control
over mouse movements. For mouse
maintenance, the rubber-coated,
steel ball can be easily removed
for cleaning.

The 1350 Mouse is different
from a true optical driven mouse.
A true mouse has proportional
control. The faster you move the
mouse, the faster the cursor will
move. The 1350 mimics this action
but it can't move the cursor any
faster than a joystick would.
Slower cursor movements are
imitated by the mouse delivering
short, stop and go pulses to the
computer.

A true mouse will always take
the same desktop travel to move the
cursor from one screen edge to the
other. The 1350 will move the
cursor at maximum speed as long as
the 1350 is in any motion at any
speed. That means a fast, long push
may not move the cursor as far as a
short, slow push! That's not really
a problem though, it's just a
difference that can be worked with.
It can even be an advantage for
limited desktop space.

The Commodore 1350 Mouse
worked with all games and programs
that require a joystick. Some are
improved by the mouse and some are
more suited to joystick control.
The type of programs that are best
suited to the mouse are those that
require precision movements of
cursor or gunsight centering on the
screen. The least suited are the
programs reqring continuous
scrolling movementsThey often
require picking the mouse up and
starting again if you run out of
counter space. Drawing and doodling
programs worked fabulous, Koronis
Rift scores improved markedly,
Rescue on Fractalus was confusing!
Donkey Kong was ...different! It
just depends on the type of
movement involved. Many games took
on a whole new feel when played
with the mouse. Many were even more
fun with a mouse than with a
joystick!

Do you really need a mouse?
Yes you do! If you own and use a
joystick, you will definitely
enjoy owning a 1350 mouse. I
wouldn't part with mine. Don't
throw your joystick away yet, but
mine is seeing less use since I let
the mouse in the house! The
Commodore mouse is not just for the
C128 anymore! It's one of the best
darn joysticks since the old Atari
licorice stick!

XxZmag BBS Watch
Messages captured from the Windy
City BBCS in Chicago. Home of
Clinton Smith, Chicago Zmag Editor

Board :ATARI ST SIG
Date & Time :06/02/86 06:28:46
Subject :CPM
To :ALL
Sent by :SYSOP

THE CPM SOFTWARE EMULATOR FOR THE
ST IS READY AND IT SHOULD BE OUT IN
THE FALL..........

Board :ATARI RUMORS
Date & Time :06/02/86 06:31:15
Subject :3 1/2 DRVS.
To :ALL
Sent by :SYSOP

THEY ARE COMMING 3 1/2"DRIVES FOR
THE 8 BIT LINE LATE THIS YEAR OR
EARLY NEXT BUT THEY WILL BE
RELEASED....

Board :ZMAG MESG BASE
Date & Time :06/02/86 10:56:42
Subject :ZMAG IN JERSEY
To :RON KOVACS (REC)
Sent by :CLINTON SMITH


THE MESSAGE BASE GOT WIPED OUT,SO
IN CASE YOU DIDN'T GET MY RESPONSE
I'M REPEATING IT.YOU HAVE ZMAG UP
ON 6 BOARDS IN NEW JERSEY?I'M
IMPRESSED.WE JUST REACHED THAT
HERE,AND WE'VE BEEN AROUND FOR 6
MONTHS.WHEN YOU'RE UP ON COMPU
SERVE,BE SURE TO LEAVE A MSG. FOR
TIM OROSZ.HE'S A BIG HELP WITH
ZMAG OUT HERE.HE'S GOING TO BE
GETTING THE ANTIC ONLINE REPORTS,
BUT THANKS FOR THE OFFER ANYWAY.
ONE OF THEYSOPS OF WINDY,WROTE
UP A PIECE ON CES,HE WAS THERE


Board :ZMAG MESG BASE
Date & Time :06/02/86 12:03:54
Subject :ZMAG IN JERSEY CONT
To :RON KOVACS (REC)
Sent by :CLINTON SMITH

SUNDAY.KIND OF A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE
ON CES.CONCERNING COMPUSERVE MSG,
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING OF IMPORTANCE
JUST GIVE THE INFO FROM THE MSG.
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO REPRINT THE
EXACT MSG. I SUPPOSE YOU COULD ASK
THE PERSON FOR PERMISSION.I DON'T
THINK THE ATTORNIES COULD SWARM
DOWN ON US IN THAT SITUATION.I AM
INTERESTED IN THE SCOTT B.
INTERVIEW.BE HEARING FROM YOU.
CLINTON SMITH
ZMAG EDITOR
P.S. TOMMOROW NIGHT IS THE SPECIAL
CLAUG MEETING WITH ATARI EXECS.
MAYBE THIS COULD RETURN THE FAVOR
ON THE INTERVIEW.

Board :ZMAG MESG BASE
Date & Time :06/02/86 11:08:38
Subject :SPECIAL MEETING
To :ALL
Sent by :CLINTON SMITH

I'VE BEEN GIVING THE REGULAR
CLAUG MEETING ACE AT TRITON,IN
REFERENCE TO THE SPECIAL MEETING
TOMMOROW.I FOUND OUT FROM GERRY
FEID ON BLUE MOON,THAT IS GOING
TO BE IN THE IRONWOOD ROOM.SAME
BUILDING,EXCEPT THIS ROOM IS ON
FIRST FLOOR.I THINK IT IS RIGHT
ACROSS FROM THE BURGER KING THAT
IS IN THE BUILDING.BE THERE BEFORE
8PM OTHERWISE YOU WON'T BE LET
IN.
CLINTON SMITH
ZMAG EDITOR

Board :ATARI ST SIG
Date & Time :06/02/86 14:22:08
Subject :SEE ONE!
To :ALL
Sent by :TOM ZUREK

Hi Guys & Gals,
Were would the nearest place be
that I could take a look at one of
these ST's.... I own a couple 8
bits but haven't seen an ST yet.
I live on the NW side of
Chicago....
Thanx, Tom Zurek

XxZmag Newz
Zmag debuts on another local BBS
System.
Backstage DOWNLOAD DIRECTORY
FILENAME TRANSLATE SECS TYPE LANG
___________________________________
LDBNDT21 ATASCII 0127 Comm Bas
EXPR1030 ATASCII 0263 Comm Obj
COPYXE ATASCII 0012 Util Obj
DEBUG ATASCII 0048 Util Obj
DARTS ATASCII 0111 Ga Bas
SHRINK ATASCII 0032 Util Obj
ZMAG604 ATASCII 0129 TEXT NEW
[D]ownload [N]ext Page [M]ain Menu:

Thanks to The Director, Sysop of
The Backstage BBS. Previewed last
week here in Zmag in a BBS Review
by Walt.
201-944-1196
Welcome!!!!

Messages captured from the Valhalla
BBS. 212-598-0243

MSG#: 1621 Lines=16 Recv
SENT:JUNE 10,1986 AT 10:03 PM
TO: WODEN-SYSOP
FROM:RICHARD SCHRAUDNER
SUBJ:TEXPRO

---WODEN---
Zmag seems to be a GREAT idea.
When I think back to my early atari
days, up all night keying in
Compute programs & now fully
immersed in the "mainstream" of
computer technology, I'm amazed at
the oportunitues to learn & enjoy.
Zmag seems to fill an additional
void that goes beyond an individual
board or even network. I'll D/L
some more as time allows & get it
up to the Fun house (a bit hard to
get to during available hours). Thx
& looking forward actually meeting.
---rs---

MSG#: 1604 Lines=30 Recv
SENT: JUNE 9, 1986
TO: SCARFACE
FROM:RATBANE
SUBJ:ZMAG

HI,
IF YOU LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU ARE
LOOKING FOR, I CAN TARGET STUFF
TO YOUR NEEDS AND WANTS. IF
SOMETHING IS SLIGHTLY OFF-TARGET,
LET ME KNOW. IT IS ONLY A MILD
PROBLEM FOR ME TO WRITE 2 VERSIONS
OF SOMETHING--ONE FOR THE ATOMIC
AUDIENCE AND ONE FOR ZMAG READERS.
DOES ZMAG WANT PUBLIC SERVICE
ANNOUNCEMENTS? DOES ZMAG WANT
NEWS WHICH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH
COMPUTERS, BUT SETS AN EXAMPLE OF
WHAT COMPUTER BBS CAN PUT UP FOR
GENERAL CONSUMPTION (E.G. MOST OF
WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN)? WOULD
ZMAG BE INTERESTED IN EXAMPLES OF
LOCAL NEWS WHICH MIGHT SOUND
EXOTIC TO FOREIGNERS, SAY, FROM
THE MIDWEST OR CALIFORNIA? I
HAVE IN MIND THE STATUE OF
LIBERTY CELEBRATIONS. IF WE PUT
OUR COMPUTER TO USE FOR SOME
LOCAL ORGANIZATION WOULD YOU BE
INTERESTED IN A WRIEUP, AGA AS
AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT COMPUTER BBS
CAN DO? THESE IDEAS ARE WHERE MY
NERAL INCLINATION LIES. DO LET
ME KNOW.
WARMEST REGARDS,

MSG#: 1600 Lines=16 Recv
SENT:JUNE 8,1986 AT 8:35 AM
TO: RICHARD SCHRAUDNER
FROM:WODEN-SYSOP
SUBJ:TEXPRO

RON CAN EXPLAIN ZMAG BETTER THEN
I COULD RICHARD, BUT LET ME TO
SHED SOME LIGHT TILL RON LOGS ON.
ZMAG IS A MAGAZINE FOR THE
BULLETIN BOARDS. AS I UNTERSTAND
IT, IT WAS STARTED BY SOMEONE IN
CHICAGO. RON IS THE EDITOR FOR
ZMAG FOR THE LOCAL AREA. THE
MATERIAL COMES FROM USERS OF
BULLETIN BOARDS AND COMPUSERVE.
IT BRINGS UP TO THE MINUTE NEWS
OF EVENTS, COMPUTERS AND OTHER
SUBJECTS. I THINK THAT IT IS A VERY
GOOD IDEA. DON'T YOU?
WODEN

XxAssembly Language Course
This is part of a series. Next week
part 2.

ANTIC PUBLISHING INC., COPYRIGHT
1985. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION.

CHRIS CRAWFORD
ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE COURSE
FOR WORLDWIDE USERS NETWORK

Assembly language is the great
barrier that divides the
professional programmer from the
amateur. It is the most powerful
language available for a
microcomputer.

There are four reasons for
learning to program in assembly
language. First, the speed of
execution of assembly language is
very high -- about ten time higher
than BASIC on the average, perhaps
a thousand times faster on certain
operations.

Even ACTION, the fastest
high-level language, is only about
half as fast as assembly language.
Second, assembly language tends to
be more compact than many
languages. Again, ACTION! provides
a good comparison. Code produced by
ACTION! is about twice as large as
equivalent assembly language.

The third reason to program in
assembly language is that assembly
gives you access to features of the
machine that simply are not
available in high-level languages.
Interrupts are the most notable
examples.

Finally, the most important
reason for learning to program in
assembly language is thait will
help you to understand the machine
better. And that is a very good
place to begin, for you cannot
learn assembly language unless you
know a little bit about computers.

HOW COMPUTERS WORK

I am now going to describe how
computers work, in very rough
terms. Computers operate on a
hierarchy of concepts that spans a
great range, rather like the
hierarchy that starts with
protons and electrons, moves
through atoms, molecules, cells,
people to civilizations.

A civilization is composed of
protons and electrons, but to
understand how it is so composed
one must know a great deal about
the intermediate steps. So too is
a computer composed of transistors.
There are four intermediate steps
between the transistor and the
computer.

A transistor is an electrically
operated switch. We can assemble
transistors into gates that will
turn circuits on or off depending
on the states of other circuits.
There are a variety of gates
reflecting the various Boolean
operations: AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR
and EOR.

Gates can be assembled into
latches, decoders, and adders. A
latch is the simplest memory
element: it remembers one bit of
information. A decoder translates
a number encoded in binary form on
a few wires into a selection of one
of many wires. An adder will add
two one-bit values, with a carry,
and generate a carry of its own.

We can next broaden each of
these devices into an eight-bit
device by simply slinging the
devices side by side. Eight one-
bit latches slung side-by-the side
give one byte of RAM. Eight
adders make an eight-bit adder.

We can thus create a RAM module
by building many butes of RAM. We
access this RAM module with three
buses: a data bus, an address bus,
and a control bus. The data bus
carries information between the
central processing unit and the RAM
module.

The address bus is sixteen bits
wide; a decoder inhe RAM module.
The address bus is sixteen bits
wide; a decoder in the RAM module
takes the numeric value on the
address bus and decodes it to
select the single byte of RAM that
is indicated by the address. The
control bus establishes the
direction of the data flow on the
data bus and the timing of data
transfer.

The central processing unit
(CPU) represents the highest
intellectual level of the computer.
It is composed of four parts: the
Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU),
the registers, the address bus
controller, and the instruction
decoder. The ALU is composed of
adders and gate arrays that crunch
numbers. The particular device to
use is selected with a decoder.

The registers are simply on-
board RAM. The address bus
controller is a device that puts
the desired RAM address onto the
address bus. The real heart of the
CPU is the instruction decoder, a
very complex decoder that takes the
program instructions out of RAM and
translates them into action. It
does this by feeding the
instructions (which are numbers)
into decoder circuits that activate
the desired gateways in the CPU.

PROGRAMMING A MICROPROCESSOR

Machine code is nothing more
than a bunch of numbers that mean
something to the CPU. It's hard to
work with pure numbers, so we use a
little code that makes it easier
for us to understand the codes that
the computer uses. This programmer
-friendlier code is called assembly
language, It is a direct, one-to-
one translation of machine code.
Here is an example of the two side
by side:

Machine Code Assembly
Language

A9 05 LDA #FINGERS
133 $9C STA COUNT

The code on the right may not
look very readable, but you must
agree, it's far more readable than
the code on the left. And they
both mean exactlthe same thing.

Unfortunately, the computer
cannot read the assembly code, only
the machine code. Thefore, we
need a translator program that will
translate the easier-to-understand
code on the right into the
impossible-to-understand code on
the left. This translator program
is called an assembler.

A program that goes in the
reverse direction, translating
machine code to assembly, is called
disassembler. It may seem like a
bother to go through all the hassle
of using an assembler, but it is
actually much easier.

Assembly language is not only
more readable than machine code,
but it is also assembly-time
relocatable; this means you can
move it around in RAM freely before
you start the assembly process. A
good assembler also offers a number
of extra features that make it
easier to keep track of your
program or modify it quickly.

USING AN ASSEMBLER

There are three steps involved
in writing an assembly language
program: editing, assembling, and
debugging. Editing is the process
of typing in your assembly language
statements. Assembling is the
invocation of the assembler.
Debugging is the process of running
your program and analyzing why it
doesn't work. Thus, the entire
process of writing an assembly-
language process can be described
by a fictitious BASIC program:

FOR 1= 1 to 1,000,000,000...
EDIT PROGRAM
ASSEMBLE PROGRAM
DEBUG PROGRAM
NEXT 1

THE 6502 MICROPROCESSOR

The first item in the 6502 that
I will describe is the accumulator.
This is a single one-byte register
in the 6502. It is the central
workbench of the microprocessor;
almost everything happens in the
accumulator. Your first three
instructions on the 6502 are:

LDA address (Load the
Accumulator with the contents of
address)

This instruction loads the
accumulator with the contents of
the memory location specified by
the value of address. The address
can be specified by either an out-
right value, such as $0600, or a
symbolic reference, such as FISH,
ere the value of FISH has been
previously declared by, say, an ORG
statement or an equate statement.

LDA #value (Load the Accumulator
with value)

This is much like the earlier
statment; it loads the accumulator
with a number, only the number
loaded is specified immediately
rather than stored in a memory
location. Thus, the command LDA # 9
will put a 9 into the accumulator.

STA address (Store the
Accumulator into address)

This command will store the
contents of the accumulator into
the RAM location whose address is
specified in the command. It is
just like the first command, except
that the direction of data motion
is reversed. The LDA command is
like a read, which the STA is like
a write.

You are now equipped to move
data around inside the computer.
These commands will allow you to
readata from one area of memory
and store it into another. LDA and
STA are the two most common
instructions used in any 6502
program.

Exercise: Write a program that
will read the contents of address
$FE00 and store the result into
address $680. Your biggest problem
here will be just getting your
assembler to work. Therefore, I
will give the answer away:

ROMADD ORG $FE00
RAMADD ORG $680
ORG $600
LDA ROMADD
STA RAMADD
BRK
END

That's the program. Try to get it
running with your assembler.


[Next Week: Part 2 of this series]

XxBBS Rewview
By:Walt Drummond


BBS Review

This week, I'm giving the review
to Ron Kovacs, SysOp of The Syndicate
BBS, because he was having a problem
with one of his Users, or Abu, in this
case. Ron and I think ALL Users should
share his experences, and see what a
SysOp has to put up with.
Heres Ron->

I have thought about putting the
following text in Zmag for about
3 days. After all this pondering
I decided I would extract the bad
language and let you see what a
us on my BBS thinks of some of
the changes made on the BBS. Due
to the length and the language left
in the text I have trimmed it down.

Board :SYSOP
Message # :243
Date & Time :06/08/86 23:27:26
Subject :HELP/OPINION
To :SYSOP
Sent by :THE SOCIALIST

First of all you must have some
weird control stuff in your main
menu which is screwing me over
something bad over here... Jus'
doesn't look right in ASCII.

Now for the "who asked you?" Depar-
tment. Very honestly, I think this
BBS is going downhill and I think
something should be done about it!
First off, why cant you be indepe-
ntdant? Why must you be in a big
interstate network, have a big
interstate magazine extending all
the way to Chicago, and be so
damn stuck up.............I mean,
you're still the same but you seem
to want to jump on the bandwagon,
and as a result this BBS isnt just
a BBS, it is a collection of BBS's
all the way around the tri-state
area. I am beginning to feel like
I'm on some big timesharing thing
like Compuserve or something. My
suggestion, drop the whole thing
and stop catering to all these
stupid BBS's and user groups. I
have never heard of BAT, or even
BAUD, before a month or so ago.
And I don't care. I also don't
care wut BBS's are in this great
Atomic Network which in my opinion
is a fluke...............
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I am sure you all get the picture
of this text. Now I will respond
with my opinion. I feel that
grouping good systems and people
together is a great thing to do.
Expanding one's horizons and
looking around you is the best way
to keep learning and knowing what
is going on. To stay 100% local
means you are shutting yourself out
and not opening up for new ideas.
I intend to connue advertising
Zmag where ever I can, get these
local systems interested and get
a group of people together who want
to work together at someing
more interesting than playing
games all day. I feel that what has
been accomplished so far is proof
that users want more than reading
messages and seeing things like
you read. If I had the room and
the guts to print the exact wording
you would see what the other users
did. However, this will never
happen here. I want to thank the
many people who have offered their
assistance for the summer, and the
SysOps who have joined the fast
growing Zmag family. I am sure
there are many SysOps out there who
have received many messages like
this one and I think I will do a
future edition on the subject.

Thanks to Walt for the space and
the positive response in this
matter.

XxZmag Notes
Next week I will have a short text
with some comments from Scott
Brause about Sourceview. And a
few other topics.

Part 2 in our continuing series
on Assembly language programming.

News from The Brooklyn Atari Team
newsletter.

BBS Review returns with another
review from Walt Drummond.

BBS Watch, ST NEWS, and more....

See you next week.
-----------------------------------
Zmagazine Vol 1 No.4 June 11, 1986
NEXT ISSUE June 18, 1986.
Please contribute. NJ Edition
-----------------------------------