Amiga Computing - Commodore Is Awesome

If you run out of room on your Workbench desktop
there is a way you can make the screen larger. This
really only applies to those of you using a proper corn
puter monitor and riot the TV
Go to the Prefs drawer and run the Overscan program.
Select Edit Text Size and drag the four perimeter
boxes to their outermost limits. Click on use and then
do the same for Edit Graphics Size. Now click on the
Save button and you will find yourself with a larger
Workbench than before. You may need to alter the
screen settings on your monitor in order to re-position
Workbench.
A
IGGER IS BETTER
-11
11RECOVERY
1E
AT
If you take a look in the DOSDrivers drawer
in Storage you'll notice a program
called RAD. RAD is very similar to the RAM
disk and is faster than floppy disk drives
arid hard drives.
RAD is actually a recoverable RAM disk
which keeps its contents even when you
reboot your Amiga or it crashes. The only
time it is emptied is when you turit
othe
Amiga on and off from the power
i
.r
supply. Obviously, if you're running from
floppy disk RAD can prove an invaluable
i
ally.
You can copy files to and from RAD
k
by simply selecting the directory RAD:
or by double-clicking on the disk icon
on the Workbench desktop. As an
example:
Copy tAO:tef Hite to dill:
If you want RAD to automatically b
run every time you boot your Amiga yo
can simply drag its icon to the DOSDrivers
drawer in the Devs directory. It's as simple
as thati atm
CONS
When you start to personalise your
Workbench and start designing your own
icons (everyone does it), you'll realise that
the RAM disk can't have a disk icon attached
to it. This is because when you reboot
your Amiga everything in RAM is erased —
including any icons.
Once again, there is a solution. First create
yourself an icon in IconEdit and make sure it
is a disk type. Now save it as RAMIcon to
your S directory. Load your User-Startup file
into ED as explained above, type in the
following and then save it
copy WI: SAAN1con to 1
,1
10:111sk,info
This copies your RAMIcon icon in the 5
directory to RAM as diskinfo (the name of
disk type icons) when Workbench loads.
Provided you have done everything right you
should see your icon on the Workbench
screen with Ram Disk underneath.
to verscart Preferences
Jargon
L P U A
ottrot - , AmtgaDOS a7nmood
thc' a baattakck to
loononeci is so h a it *AV auro-
arctic* boat by ttre#
DIV - the naore at die ArnegO'S
.nretnoi de,k dote Subsequent disk
Owes are robrg. iect OF), 0F2 and
Ek9
E0 - Ea o w tor Eckior and
anahe: ArrygoD05 command is
the Anb9a's penanal tett edting
POCfirr
r,Stolup•Sequence - this isa red hie
baitede S cArectory oh the
Workbench disk When Workbench
rs booted the Ar7590 Ionia ror this
tk and runs ony cominonds U7
You shovia ?Pow the Stortioo-
Seat:emir clone entemg tour
corswno'id i the User-Stomp rem'
Me ailsa baled in 5
Reladayi >eittL
- Reudent is yi-b o rrit r orrynood
rtiOs the Arrb9a to &tad the
!.iific,fird CADS CDMMETAI onto the
RAM (Random kleSS Memory)
dmk50 that no boger needs th
be :hacked from ask
Mel-5Mo - d'in Me is boded ty
9)81 and contains off mai doses
Alas - this foicoom adows ro
asuir diaft-ctito to Amitgo005
coruii,,,A in the Shed-Stortio
50effillikde - the program '1...S0.c
in the Prefs dlower clod crams yot;
to set :he rest iktoon we oikt
wirms ot mut Workbench
AMIGA COMPUTING
FEBRUARY 1996
Monitor- Types
Dimensions
ti in until" Size: 6 4 0 x 256
Text S i z e 648 x 256
Graph ics Size 648 x 256
Max knurl Size
1
724 x 283
NEW
Edit T e x t S i z e . . .
t Graphics S i z e . . .
Cancel
Using Ove rsca n I n the Pre is dra we r you ca n I ncre a se the size a t your Workbe nch withoui running out of me mory
ETTING THE SCENE
When you first load your Workbench disk it looks rather bland. This is because it is preset to
display itself in only four colours. You can change this by altering the amount of colours in the
ScreenMode program located in the Preis drawer. However, you should be warned that
using more colours takes more of your Amiga's memory and slows down Workbench quite
considerably.
If you have Fast memory, using more colours won't be a problem and you can customisei
your Amiga to your heart's content. Just look at how exciting Workbench can
really be.
Wolso World:tench 390,576 graphics mem 4,370,896 other mess
EicaoTiioes Mon ',ors
DOSDr Ivory PYintyrie
n Workbe nch looks initia tly Wa nd but you ca n pe rsona lise
It to your individua l ta ste with little e ffort
HE RIGHT FUNCTION
Above the numencai cnaraders on your keyboard
is a line of keys preceded by F and
numbered from 1 to 10. These keys are
normally used by games software
but Workbench also allows you to use
them through the IKey program in
the Commodities drawer in the Tools
directory.
When you run this program, a window
appears in which you can attach certain
events to any of the F (Function) keys. To
create a new key simply press the New Key
1
13-
button and type in F preceded by the key
number. By clicking on the Command button
you can cycle through a list of options
regarding Workbench operations. It is even
possible to get a program to run from an F
key by typing in the program name and
location in the Command Parameters box.
To make your F key changes permanent,
select Save Defined Keys from the menu.
You could even drag the FKey program to
your WBStartup drawer so that it nuns every
time you boot your Amiga.
• Wrlt e rn r="
4 Def
Fl 01W11 ine
-
d
111
K
e
.ert
I i
Cones a nd
R u n Pr ogr
Connand Pa ra note rs
Fri
y
Illorkbonch3.0:Toots/iconEdit
New Kelp s f Delete
, K i m
fl You ca n a tta ch ce rta in Workbe nch functions to the
iFt•irt 0 ke y by using Flie y in the Corrnrooditie s dra we r in roots