ST PRODUCT NEWS
ST reviews
HIPPO DISK UTILITY
Hippopotamus Software
985 University Avenue
Los Gatos, CA 95030
(408) 395-3190
$49.95
Reviewed by Patrick Bass
Sharing a million characters between computer and disk can be really
nice-until you go looking for one five-letter word somewhere in all that.
If you don't know where the word is stored, you may wind up feeling like
Stanley looking for Livingston through deepest, darkest RAM/ROM, or deeper,
darker DISK.
If you ever found yourself in a situation like the one
described above, then you owe it to yourself to get the Hippo Disk Utility
for the Atari 520ST.
Retailing for only $49.95, this software could save you
hundreds of dollars in lost programming time. In fact, we use it at Antic
on our own 52OSTs.
Hippo Disk Utility for the ST (DUST) allows the user to
search for any string of characters or numbers anywhere information is
stored in the ST system-on disk, in specific disk files, or most importantly...
inside memory itself! It also allows direct editing of information found
in RAM or on disk.
No matter where you ask it to search, DUST presents a
full "page" of information (256 bytes or 1/2 sector) on the screen at one
time, in both hexadecimal and ASCII formats, so you can easily scan through
words. If you prefer the computer to do the searching, DUST allows the
user to enter a search string, consisting of as many as 16 bytes of either
words or numbers, and it will find all occurrences of that string wherever
you tell it to look.
An even more powerful feature of DUST allows direct editing
of the information you call up on the screen. Just move the mouse pointer
until it points at the word, or number, or memory address you need to change.
Then single-click and, when a block cursor appears, type in your correction.
DUST will verify whether you really want to change the string.
If you accidentally delete a file, don't worry. DUST will
take care of it. It also allows you to copy print, rename, delete, or wipe
a file completely and irretrievably from the disk. You may also interrogate
the disk as to its title, type, and amount of space currently in use.
Up to 16 disk drives are supported, from disk A: to disk
P:. DUST can change the "attributes" of a disk file, which would allow
the user to render a file invisible to a directory search. Or DUST can
change a file from "read/write" to "read only." You may also create or
delete directories and sub-directories.
Hippo Software uses the GEM interface fully. All Hippo
software reviewed by Antic so far has made full use of the drop-down
menus, mouse pointer, and Alert/Dialog boxes. In turn, this makes learning
to use any of the Hippo products easy and fast.
But I do wish the program was better trapped for errors.
If you try to look at areas of memory that are not there, the utility crashes
right to the Desktop. C'mon fellas! who needs this?
HIPPO SIMPLE
Hippopotamus Software
985 University Avenue, Suite 12
Los Gatos, CA 95030
(408) 395-3190
$49.95
Reviewed By Gil Merciez
Ever since the arrival of home computers, database and filing programs
for personal use have been a solution in search of a problem. The effort
required to master this type of program, enter the data, and maintain the
database has seldom proven productive for the average home user who doesn't
have massive amounts of information to organize. The whole operation quickly
turns into a large chore. Index cards usually win out.
HippoSimple, from Hippopotamus Software, is the
first general purpose database to hit the shelves for the ST Geared to
the home market, HippoSimple promises ease of use, flexibility, and power
in organizing those smaller mountains of paper that clutter your desk.
It nearly succeeds.
Extensive use of the mouse, drop-down menus and dialog
boxes make navigating through the program a breeze. Mastering HippoSimple
is quite easy, as soon as you grasp the concept of the four templates used
for inputting and outputting the records in your database.
These templates control which records are involved in
many of the available commands such as viewing, sorting, printing, and
deleting. Templates can be saved separately for use with a variety of database
files.
As an example, I started a database of software that was
available for the ST or would soon be. One input template was set so that
only records with the "available" field equal to "yes" would be passed
through it. The other template only passed those records where the "available"
field equalled no.
The entire database is RAM resident, so the available
memory of the ST is the limiting factor in how much information you can
work with.
HippoSimple does not require that you first define a fixed
field length. Data compression techniques reduce dead space to a minimum.
You can add a field to a record whenever you wish. Not all records have
to contain the same fields. A field is defined when an equal sign [=] appears
directly after its name.
An online help manual is available from the drop-down
menu and is organized into logical topics. Screen editing and file commands
are accessed either through the drop-down menu or the function keys.
Unfortunately, version 1.0 seems to have been rushed to
market a little too quickly.
First shipments of HippoSimple were sent without a printed
manual. Hippopotamus said that the 63-page manual would be sent to all
owners who returned their registration cards.
While most of the printed manual is contained in the online
help files, the book also includes a short, but valuable, tutorial as well
as an index and a command summary.
Trying to learn HippoSimple from the help files was extremely
frustrating, particularly when you have to constantly refer back to them
while trying to set up a file.
The documentation also suffers from some omissions. Nowhere
is it explicitly stated that the capacity for a record is 16 screen lines.
One nice feature, a vertical scroll bar which can quickly
move through many records, is not mentioned.
There is no warning of any limitation on field lengths,
but the output template will not handle a field longer than 80 characters.
This can cause some messy output when printed or viewed.
A dialog box shows the capacities and current usage for
the database in memory but doesn't explain what the four criteria mean.
Some dialog boxes confuse you with a YES/NO choice when an "OK" would suffice.
A rewrite of the documentation would go a long way in
making HippoSimple truly simple for its intended audience.
HABAWRITER
Haba Systems
6711 Valjean Avenue
Van Nuys, CA 94106
(800) HOT-HABA (USA)
(800) FOR-HABA (Calif.)
$74.95
Reviewed by Ian Chadwick
Probably the most indicative thing to say about Haba's word processor
for the 520ST is that I'm not using it to write this review. It's not very
reassuring when you don't feel you can write a review of a word processor
using the program itself!
HabaWrlter is one of those programs that seems to have
been rammed through production and testing in order to gain market presence
before anyone else.
I am a professional writer and have used several word
processors on a half-dozen microcomputers-including the Macintosh-to ply
my trade. HabaWriter is essentially patterned after MacWrite, Apple's popular
Macintosh word processor. HabaWriter makes good use of the GEM interface-windows,
drop-down menus, scroll bars, multiple documents through windows, graphic
fonts and dialog boxes.
HabaWriter documentation omits several important
items and its explanations of covered topics are terse, to say the least.
Many features are buried or explained ambiguously. An "errata" sheet accompanies
the slim manual to try and cover problems discovered after printing. But
these problems should have been caught during alpha and beta testing.
One of the HabaWriter problems not dealt with in the manual
is double spacing. The program doesn't handle anything except single spacing.
Also, when loading a document from another word processor- STWriter for
example-you get strange results such as blank lines, unexpected spaces,
ignored carriage returns and the like.
Haba's own letters from their Business Letters Solutions
disk won't format properly with HabaWriter! You get one large block of
text if you attempt to format one of the business letters. All carriage
returns and formatted paragraphs are gone.
At other times, HabaWriter crashes randomly or produces
strange and unpleasant results such as duplicating lines of text when switching
to or from ASCII mode. Some files seem to generate unwanted characters
when loaded into HW. A C source file from CompuServe added small triangles.
In the same document, very long lines seemed to confuse
the hyphenation routine which continually asked for hyphenation of groups
of blank spaces and wouldn't quit asking me to hyphenate the same spot
over and over again. Holding down the [RETURN] key during this process
produced several thick black lines running down the screen. [ESCAPE] cancels
the hyphenation mode, leaving your document partially formatted at the
point you escaped.
I also had my share of difficulties making the text on
the screen accept my commands. I couldn't get paragraphs to align individually
left, center or right, or to obey all my margin changes every time. Also,
although the document is supposed to format only from the cursor down,
it sometimes formatted from the beginning.
HabaWriter can open as many as seven documents in different
windows and cut and paste between them. You can also selectively print
a document, choosing only those pages you prefer (and not merely a sequential
group). Only an Epson printer driver is provided, and there's no explanation
of how to create one for another printer. Text is supposed to be aligned
by any character, not just tabs and decimal tabs-useful for creating tables
and charts. However, tabs did not work as described and didn't align properly
Unfortunately, any good features in HabaWriter are hidden
by its flaws and bugs. I have had it crash on me too often, returning me
precipitously to the desktop. I have lost documents I was working on by
selecting a format or ASCII mode which either destroyed or permanently
altered my text in an unwanted manner. The cursor would vanish at random
for several moments at a time, leaving me with no control over the screen.
Blocks that I selected would de-select all or part of themselves unasked.
Despite all this bad news, HabaWriter shows promise. But
it needs a major overhaul before it can be considered even minimally competent.
This software demands proper, correct and more detailed documentation;
and adequate testing and development. Haba should examine the Mac products
seriously before upgrading this program to discover what they are also
missing.
HIPPO SPELL
Hippopotamus Software
985 University Avenue, Suite 12
Los Gatos, CA 95030
(408) 395-3190
$39.95
Reviewed by Brad Kershaw
Is your speling poor? Are you constantly luking up words in the diktionery?
Well, never fear, HippoSpell is hear..
HippoSpell is a spelling checker that enables you to correct
spelling errors with any word processor currently available for the Atari
520ST -ST Writer, Express, HabaWriter and Regent Word 1.
After you use the drop-down menus on the opening screen
to choose a file, HippoSpell immediately starts checking your spelling.
The software finds the first word it thinks is misspelled and asks you
"Is this a correctly spelled word? Yes or No? I don't know about you, but
if I knew whether the word was correct or not, I wouldn't need the program.
If you answer "Yes," the program continues checking. If
you answer "No," it looks up words that may be similar in spelling. The
program is very fast because all the words seem to be in RAM. A list of
possible replacement words is shown. You can choose one of these words
by simply pressing a numbered function key or you can type it in. Once
you have gone through the entire file, Hippo-Spell will make the corrections
for you and rewrite the finished product to your disk.
You can build an auxiliary dictionary that saves correctly
spelled words which the program didn't find in its main dictionary. This
auxiliary dictionary is accessed via the Use New Words menu option. Also,
corrections can be saved and reloaded for automatic use if you tend to
repeat the same mistake, such as typing "Bard" instead of "Brad."
The only thing I thought could be improved is that HippoSpell's
screen just displays a single word it thinks is misspelled. You cannot
see the suspect word in the context of its sentence.
I found HippoSpell easy to use and a helpful composition
tool. It should be part of any writer's ST software library, especialy
mine.
FORBIDDEN QUEST
Pryority Software
25570 Chiquito Place
Carmel, CA 93923
(408) 625-0125
$39.95
Reviewed by Harvey Bernstein
As all true Atarians probably know, the wait is over, the flood gates
have been opened, and a battery of new products are being shipped for the
5205T Unfortunately for us adventure-game players, that category has been
among the slowest to develop. Infocom, of course, came on the scene early
using their own easy-to-convert Adventure Development Language. Now they
have been joined by Pryority Software, which brings us Forbidden Quest,
a somewhat original text adventure.
Actually, the game is not all that new, having originally
been released for the Apple II and Macintosh. But since it is all text,
it was a simple matter for the program to be ported over. Several elements
make Forbidden Quest distinctive, but unfortunately the storyline is not
one of them. Once again, you are a space jockey seeking a mysterious race
whose superior knowledge can save mankind from a rising barbarism brought
about by some future galactic civil war.
Along the way you encounter the usual collection of puzzles,
mazes, and mysterious artifacts. What lifts EQ. above the mundane is a
technique the developers call 'Artext". Simply put, Artex is a series of
five drawings that convey information not provided in the text. At certain
junctures, you match the name of the room to the appropriate drawing in
order to gain information that will help you succeed.
A problem with this method is the game's somewhat limited
vocabulary. For instance, is that bank of controls in drawing #2 to be
referred to as a machine, a control panel, or a doohickey? As you'd imagine,
this can be quite frustrating. The drawings are nicely done in "Amazing
Stories" pulp-magazine style. (One is even by the famed EC comicbook artist
Wallace Wood.) But I suspect they were mainly added as a marketing gimmick
that also provided some sugar-coated copy protection.
Forbidden Quest is the first game I've seen that really
takes advantage of the GEM interface. After the game boots, a series of
drop-down windows are in place. One is for inventory, and replaces the
standard typed-in "Inv" command. A checkmark next to any item listed in
the box indicates it is being worn, and you can examine an inventory item
by pointing and clicking with the mouse. You can also use the mouse to
move from room to room by pointing and clicking on a compass at the lower
right of the screen. However, I found that typing in standard N,S,E,W direction
commands was less cumbersome.
Other drop-down windows are used for saving and loading
games, issuing oft-used commands such as look, wait, etc. Hints are also
available, but you lose points whenever you take a clue from any of the
three levels of online help. Even the ST desk accessories are available
so you can, for example, pull up the Control Panel and change your colors
if you wish.
Forbidden Quest is a well-done standard text adventure.
The puzzles are logical and help is just a click away. Its standard storyline
suffers only from the inclusion of some unfortunate bathroom humor. And
the Ar-text prints are an interesting idea, if not always successful. All
in all, a good addition to your ST library.
New Products
Penguin Software just sent Antic two new graphics
adventures for the ST Their classic, Transylvania, and the fantasy
follow-up, The Crimson Crown ($34.95 each). The Crimson Crown is
the first in a series of "illustrated interactive novels"
Penguin Software, P.O. Box 311, Geneva, IL 60134. (312) 232-1984. FINAL.
Progressive Computer Applications is building a major business-graphics system based-interestingly-on a Computer Aided Design (CAD) core. The Graphic Artist ($495) will automatically integrate created images into spreadsheet data. Word processing will also be part of the package. An optional language interpreter ($245) may be purchased to customize the system.
Progressive Computer Applications, 2002 McAuliffe Drive, Rockville, MD 20851. (301) 340-8398. DEMO.
For those UNIX practitioners allergic to mice and windows, David Beckemeyer Development Tools offers Micro C-Shell ($49.95), a command shell based on BSD UNIX C. This comes complete with history mechanism, I/O redirection, pipes, environment variables, and a complete assortment of UNIX-style utilities.
David Beckemeyer Development Tools, 592 Jean Street #304, Oakland, CA 94610. (415) 658-5318. FINAL,
While scouting the elusive ST floppy drive connectors and monitor plugs, Antic came upon Alpha Products, Inc. which carries a whole slew of odd connectors, LEDs, and assorted electronics- including the rare ST plugs. So, if you're looking for this stuff, give Alpha Products a call... and tell them Antic sent you.
Alpha Products, Inc., 5740 Corsa Avenue #104, Westlake village, CA 91362, (818) 889-9304.
Solution Technologies announces a "powerful and easy to use" relational database for the ST, called STbase ($39.95). ST base will be fully in GEM, with drop-down menus, windows and mouse control.
Solution Technologies, 11145 Rotherick Drive, Alpharetta, GA 30201. (404) 662-9611. PRESS.
XLEnt Software was showing Typesetter ST ($34.95) at COMDEX. This will probably be the first graphics/printer program for the ST- similar to XLEnt's fine 8-bit printer products (reviewed in Antic last month). Typesetter ST will come in two versions, one for RGB monitors and a monochrome monitor package for super high-resolution printouts.
XLEnt Software, P.O. Box 5228, Springfield, VA 22150. (703) 644-8881. DEMO.
Also at COMDEX was a demonstration of Flight Simulator (no price at press time) for the ST With this version, you can choose to fly a prop plane, Lear jet, or WWI biplane. You can also open multiple view windows and simultaneously watch yourself from the cockpit, tower, and a spotter plane!
Sublogic Corporation, 713 Edgebrook Drive, Champaign, IL 61820. (217) 359-8482. BETA.
As an example of vertical product marketing, Word of God Communication is working with Atari to establish their Com-WORD II in Christian schools throughout the country. This powerful educational software is a huge, 9.5 megabyte database holding the complete KingJames Bible, Strong's Concordance, plus Greek and Hebrew dictionaries for intensive cross-data referencing. Aimed primarily for institutional use, ComWORD II requires a hard disk. The company hopes later to place their software on CD ROM.
Word of God Communication, 88 Long Court, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360. (805) 495-4441 BETA.
Word for Word (39.95), a computerized blend of crossword puzzles and Scrabble, just landed on our desk. One to four players may participate at various skill levels and the program has a dictionary of over 20,000 words.
Bay View Software, 177 Webster Street, Suite A-295, Monterey, CA 93940. (408) 373-4011. FINAL,
If your ST feels a little cluttered, with all those cables and power supplies kicking around the back of the desk, you might want to organize things with the Micro Mate 520 Station ($95). This shielded, custom-designed cabinet stores all power supplies and cables in a tidy, streamlined chassis that doubles as monitor stand, and contains space underneath to slide your ST and mouse neatly out of sight.
Micro Mate, Inc., Pioneer Building, 600 First Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104, (206) 643-9697. FINAL.
Softronics was demonstrating what appeared to be the Rolls Royce of ST terminal software at the COMDEX show. Com Pak ($49.95) will emulate practically any existing terminal and includes hooks to configure, compile and create your own customized terminal modules.
Softronics, 10820 E. 45 Street, Suite 206, Tulsa, OK 74145. (918) 664-0955. BETA.
New ST product notices are compiled from information provided by
the products' manufacturers. Antic assumes no responsibility for
the accuracy of these notices or the performance of the product. Each mention
Is followed by a code word indicating that, at press time, Antic
had seen a FINAL marketable version, near-final BETA, earlier ALPHA, incomplete
DEMO, or PRESS release.