The Rainbow Vol. 09 No. 01 - August 1989 - TRS-80 Color ...

Tandy has ensured this place for the Color
Computer. They are throwing in all their
support to it, and we know the CoCo will be
around for a long time to come. Of course,
OS-9 users can relax and breathe easier,
because long after the CoCos are gone (if
they ever go), OS-9 wi ll still be there.
A Rainbow of Colorful Applications
OS-9 is exciting, new, and on the forefront
of what is to come. But what good is
any of that if you can 't get the computer to
work for you? What is needed is the right
tool forthe right job, and with OS-9 you can
be assured of finding exactly what you
need. Word processors, spreadsheets,
communications, databases and high-level
lan guages are all there for the asking.
One of the things that makes OS-9 so
powerful is its ability to use available tools.
That is to say, if someone has already
written a program that plays "The Star
Spangled Banner," you do not have to
reinvent the wheel by writing it again for
incorporation into your own patriotic program.
You may be able to utilize the program
like taking a book out of a library.
Another powerful feature ofOS-9 is that
with in a relatively short period of time, a
user can learn how to make his or her own
ideas work with a minimum of programming
effort. For new users, this is not as
important as finding software to get the job
done for you now, not when you have
learned enough to do it yourself.
The following is an extensive list of
software applications available to the CoCo
user. The list is comprised entirely of products
and companies advertised in THE RAIN­
BOW. (Products highly recommended for
new users are preceded by an asterisk.)
Tandy Corporation
OS-9 Levell and OS-9 Level II operating
systems: Tandy has li censed OS-9 from the
original manufacturer, Microware Systems
Corporation. OS-9 runs on 6809 computers
like the CoCo 1, 2 and 3, and a globespanning
array of other computers, including
the 68000 series computers.
Mufli-Vue: This is an excellent windowing
system designed to take advantage of the
capabilities of OS-9 Level II windows and
the CoCo 3. It has a major shortfall when
used on a 128K system, in that you can keep
only one Lo-Res window open at a time. If
you are serious about Multi-Vue and OS-9,
you must have 5 l2K to get good use of the
program. With a combination of 5 12K RAM
and multiple drives or a hard disk, this is a
great way to use the CoCo to its full poten-
tial, by running a number of different programs
si multaneously in separate windows ·
(see photo below).
OS-9 Development System: This is a series
of software tools, bundled together and
sold as a package called development tools
from Tandy. They are neither the best,
fastest, strongest, nor fullest-featured, but
they can get the job done. The system
includes an interactive debugger for testing
programs and accessing the CoCo's memory;
a screen editor (SC RED) for editing text,
but this has too few formatting commands
for use as a serious word processor; and a
Relocating Macro Assembler (RMA), which
functions as a macro assembler and linkage
editor. RMA lets you write, test and then
assemble separate parts of the program.
Utili ties include Mak e, which helps keep
track of programs and files that need to be
updated because of system changes; Touc h,
which updates the modification date of
files; and a virtual disk or RAM disk driver
for high-speed storage in RAM - just
don 't forget to save the information on the
RAM disk before shutting off the system.
Lastly, there is a set of 12 commands for
OS-9 that make life a little easier when programming.
OS-9 Pascal Version 2.0: This high-level,
structured computer language was originally
written to provide simple solutions to
complex problems, and to actually teach
programming. The OS-9 version is very
faithful to industry standard, and has a
native source code translator that can run
programs at four to five times the speed of
the compiler using P-code methods. This
version cannot teach you Pascal, but does
include references for learning it. Pascal is
not as popular as C, or some of the other
languages that now make code (programs)
easier to transfer and translate between
computer systems of different types.
OS-9 C Compiler: This is a programmer's
language. It is one of the most popular and
powerful programming languages available
today. It produces programs that are
very easy to move to computer systems of
different types. C works in terrific combination
with the 6809 (CoCo) and OS-9
(like UNIX), since all three were essentially
made for each other. It is not an
instruction manual, but a reference manual
(not for beginners).
TIS Word, TIS Edit, TIS Spell: This versatile
set of three programs makes a good,
solid word processing trio for everyday
use. The heart ofthese three separately sold
programs is TIS Edit (also available under
RS-DOS), which is a screen-editor type
program. Don't expect miracles from this
package, but it can handle the basics well.
Tl S Word is a formatting system that works
on any OS-9 text fi le, a,lthough it is specifically
geared for TIS Edit files. It is a graphically-oriented
program, which shows you
what your printed pages will look like, and
then allows you to print or edit them. It is
interesting, very easy to use, and sophisticated
enough for general purpose everyday
use. TIS Spell also works with any OS-9
text file, and spell-checks it for you. TIS
Spell has a full-featured correction capability
against a 100,000-word master dictionary
and a quick dictionary of more commonly
used words. The combination makes
for a relatively fast, effective spell checker.
This program requires a little knowledge
about OS-9 pathnames and command formats.
* DeskMate: This integrated set of programs
for the CoCo 1, 2 or 3 was what all
the rage was about four years ago, when it
was introduced for the CoCo. It was an
instant hit running under OS-9, and turned
the attentions of many users towards OS-9
for the first time. DeskMate is versatile and
easy to learn and use with a mouse and
icons. It has calculator, filer, telecom, text,
paint and spreadsheet programs to work
with. They are all bare bones as far as
programs are concerned, but can make a
good introduction to OS-9, or if your needs
are very simple and straightforward make
for a very easy-to-use little package. Don't
count on any serious text or number crunching
or graphics masterpieces. It does include
an excellent manual, one of the best
for OS-9 applications.
* DeskMate 3: This is a rewrite of Desk­
Mate to take advantage of the CoCo 3's
upgraded capabilities.
* Phantomgraph: This package allows the
graphing of data, either input from the
keyboard or from a spreadsheet file (like
DynaCalc). It provides good graphing
capabilities for the CoCo 3, and a good
demonstration of OS-9.
DynaCalc: This is the be all, do all and end
all of OS-9 spreadsheets. Watch out, Lotus
August1989 THE RAINBOW 75