& LIGHT-YEARS! - TRS-80 Color Computer Archive

with its parent, DAtabase;
you'll probably want to adjust
the form once you start enter
ing data.
Vantage is a good desk ac
cessory for people who share
text files with other computer
formats. As a mini-word pro
cessor, it can't compete with
something like QuickLetter,
but as a utility for stripping
control characters, sorting text
lists, adding line numbers, and
editing text, it's a good package.
Even if you perform these tasks
only a few times each year, you
still may want a program to do
the dirty work. Vantage will
clean up cheerfully.
DAtabase retails for
$129.95; Vantage, for $99.00.
For more information, contact
Preferred Publishers at 5100
Poplar Avenue, Suite 706,
Memphis, Tennessee 38137;
(901)683-3383.
— Heidi E. H. Aycock
Wouldn't it be nice if you
could switch between two pro
grams at a moment's notice?
One way to do this is to use
Juggler 2, from MichTron
(576 South Telegraph, Pontiac,
Michigan 48053; 313-334-
5700; $49.95).
The package actually in
cludes two programs. The first
is the original program, called
The Juggler. It displays several
programs in separate windows
at the same time. To switch be
tween the programs, you just
click on the window contain
ing the program you want.
While The Juggler is handy, it
doesn't work with programs
that don't follow the rules for
60 COMPUTE!
COMPUTE!. _
specific
programming under GEM.
Juggler 2, the other pro
gram in the package, works
with many more programs.
Depending on memory, as
many as eight partitions can be
set aside, each independent of
the others. To switch between
the partitions, simply press
Shift and Alternate simulta
neously. The partitions can
contain either GEM or TOS
programs, and these programs
can even be in different resolu
tions on a color monitor.
The first time you switch
to a partition, that partition is
booted to the desktop with any
programs or accessories that
you have in your AUTO folder.
By naming boot disk folders
AUTOI,AUTO2,AUTO3,
and so on, you can customize
the partitions and what auto
matically appears in each. The
desktop layout of each parti
tion can also be customized by
placing a DESKTOP.INF file'
in the AUTOX folder.
You may find two small
glitches in Juggler 2. The
JUGGLER2.PRG file must be
the last to run from an AUTO
folder; however, even then,
JUGGLER2.PRG doesn't run
all the programs ahead of it
when booting a partition after
it's been added to an existing
AUTO folder. The problem is
easily solved: Simply delete
the AUTO folder and rebuild
it by dragging files to it in the
exact order that they should
run in.
The desk accessory Univer
sal Item Selector II (mentioned
in this column in the February
1989 issue) caused Juggler 2 to
crash repeatedly. Oddly,
though, UISII didn't cause this
crash when used inside Multi-
Desk, perhaps because the ac
cessory is loaded after Juggler
2 in this configuration.
Another switching solu
tion is Revolver (Intersect Soft
ware. 2828 Clark Road, Suite
10, Sarasota, Florida 34231;
800-826-0130; $49.95). Revolv
er aWows you to separate your
ST's memory into partitions of
256K. or more. The partitions
can be different sizes and offer
different resolutions on a color
monitor.
Cycling through the differ
ent partitions takes just a key
stroke. A partition can be
rolled out—saved to disk in a
compressed format—or rolled
in—retrieved from disk. The
first time you access a parti
tion, it's booted from disk.
Pressing Reset reboots only the
current partition, leaving the
others alone. You can even
view one partition while in an
other partition.
The package includes a
reset-proof ramdisk, a print
spooler, and a disk I/O buffer,
all of which will survive a
warm boot.
A control-panel button
gives you access to a screenful
of file functions, such as copy,
rename, move, and delete. The
control panel also lets you ad
just such items as key-click
control, key repeat on/off, bell
on/off, mouse speed, and time
and date settings. A built-in
VT52 emulator is also includ
ed, along with a timed auto
matic reminder to roll out a
partition. You'll also find a fix
for the famous 40-folder bug
(this bug crashes the ST after
you've accessed 40 folders).
The one problem with Re
volver is that you can't perform
certain operations on the partilion
you're in. so you must
first switch to another parti
tion. The control panel, how
ever, doesn't tell you which
partition you're in and will let
you choose the active partition
or even a nonexistent partition.
Bloody Games
There's nothing delicate about
Technocop, from Epyx (600
Galveston Drive, Redwood
City. California 94063; 415-
366-0606; $39.95). In this
graphically violent game, you
play a police officer of the fu
ture. In the first segment you
drive your car down a winding
road. If you're feeling nice, you
can avoid enemy cars and
motorcycles, but if you're feel
ing belligerent, you can run
them off the road or blast them
with your guns. The game
ends when your vehicle be
comes damaged (by running
off the road, ramming a tree,
and so on).
In the second segment,
you arrive at a crime scene.
You enter a building and. un
der a time limit, try to appre
hend the criminal. You can
duck, jump, use elevators, and
defend yourself in the quest for
the miscreant, whose presence
is monitored on a wristmounted
radar.
As you move through the
building, various toughs as
sault you with axes, whips,
knives, and other instruments
of mayhem. Blasting them
with your .88 Magnum re
duces them to a quivering pile
of bloody bones. You must
also avoid blasting innocent
bystanders. This game is load
ed with gratuitous violence
and is not recommended for
the squeamish.
Accessorize
The six-desk accessory' limit of
the ST has become a problem
as larger memory configura
tions become more common.
A variety of all-in-one desk ac
cessories have been marketed
to address this problem, but
they share one drawback: You
may not need everything that
such packages offer, but you
still have to sacrifice the mem
ory required for the whole
package even if you only need
one or two of the tools offered.
Yet another ST desk ac
cessory limitation is that the
accessories are set when you
boot up and can't be changed
unless you reboot.
Codehead Software (P.O.
Box 4336. North Hollywood,
California 91607; 213-386-
5735) intends to change ail
that. Its Multi-Desk ($29.95) is
a remarkable utility that cir
cumvents the ST's desk acces
sory problems.
Multi-Desk lets you access
as many as 32 desk accessories
from a single slot in the Desk
menu. (And because Multi-
Desk can occupy more than
one of these slots, the number
of desk accessories is virtually
unlimited.) Further, Multi-
Desk lets you load and unload
accessories at any lime. Con
figuration options allow you to
store accessories in a folder.
load a slate of desk accessories
at boot-up, and reserve memo
ry. You can even run Multi-
Desk as a regular program—
just change the extension—so
you can run desk accessories
from the Desktop the same
way you run regular programs.
— David Plotkin 0