UTILITY HEAVEN with Andy Davis
USCHI COMPILER: A strangely titled program. This is one of many that comes from the library WOMO. This short piece of code has the ability to convert BASIC programs into M/C. The benefits are great; faster running, neater presentation, anti-hacking protection and so on. This great program was given a thorough testing in Alch News 13.
REMSTORE: Now getting on a bit. This program allows you to store up to 7K of code, screen$ or anything you fancy in a basic REM statement. It also allows options such as relocating, self calling of the code and so on. It's main use is to pop a piece of code into a basic program, eliminating the need to load in a short piece of code which may accompany your program.
FILETEST +D: This program gives a 64 column display of all programs and their filetypes and checks to see if the files are corrupted. From this you can then erase any bad files to prevent further contamination. There are 2 versions, the MTW remix gives an almost instantaneous cat of your disk and performs far faster. The only drawback is that the program doesn't recognise Multiface snapshots and perceives them as bad!
DOSCOP +D/OPUS: Two programs here, one for each disk system. The program allows you to read an MS-DOS disk and remove the files from it which are converted to Speccy format and saved onto a respective disk. This program is wonderful for transferring textfiles, which could be edited in Tasword.
DISKBASIC: A fairly new program to Alchemist PD, something which +3 users have been crying out for since day 1 - a way to use the drive in 48K Basic. The program also gives the opportunity to reprogram any of the ROM, so keywords can be redefined, bugs cured and new fonts added. Unlike previous programs which allow a custom 48 mode, full access of A,B,M and T drives are available and there is no slow-down when using tapes. New commands have also been added to give a +D style disk cat and most processes are faster.
TURBO: Something of a golden-oldie. This gives tape based users the opportunity to speed up their programs loading by either 20, 50 or 100%. The actual results and quality all depend on the tape deck used.
TRANSIT: My final selection for this issue must be this +D program. Written by our regular Mark 'Miktor' Harris, it gives a very reliable tape to disk or disk to tape transfer. This program is regularly used in Alchemist PD orders. The extra bonus of the program is a CLONE feature to copy +D disks. There are many options available, including one which will even copy PC or PCW disks!
ALCHEMIST RESEARCH, 62 TITHE BARN LANE, WOODHOUSE, SHEFFIELD, S13 7LN (TEL: 0114 269 7644 - after 6pm)
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