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

1 -2 -3! A comprehensive manual foc uses
on program use, not OS-9. Once the system
is configured and set up correctl y, users
(familiar with spreadsheets) will have no
trouble. Novices, be patient, you can learn
thi s more rigorous program wi th some dili ­
gence. It is a powerful spreadsheet implementation
and well worth obtain ing.
OS-9 Profile: Thi s database management
system is easy to learn and use, parti al
thanks to a well -written manual. It is a
powerful and flexible database management
system for OS-9, li kely to be all the
database most users wi ll ever need. N ine
different types of screen design and numerous
report formats make thi s a versatil e
package.
* Biosphere: A simulation of an ecological
system in a future setting. T hi s is actually a
quite rea li stic, well-designed and elegant
si mulation, with good graphi cs - an excell
ent va lue.
* Korom·s Rift, and Rescue on Fractal us: If
you li ke high-powered graphics, a good
chall enge and fast acti on, these two games
are for you. In Koronis Rift (see photo
above), you are looting hulks full offuturistic
weapons and tools for survival, while
being shot at by nasty guardian saucers. In
Fractalus, you are t1y ing to rescue a clowned
space pi lot in sim ilar peril ous situ ations.
Both are fun arcade-style strategy games,
and are excellent demonstrations of OS-9
Level II (CoCo 3) graphics. Great for beginners,
who want to have fun with OS-9.
* Rogue: Thi s is an im plementation of an
old favorite game. W ith OS-9 Level II
graphi cs it is challenging and enjoyable as
a combin ation maze/dungeon style game.
* Tondv HnmC' Puh/ishC'r: Thi s low-end
desktop pub li shing system from Tandy
would actuall y be very good fo r an introduction
to OS-9 and productivity. Thi s is a
fa irl y simple-to- learn and -use program fo r
creating integrated text and graphi cs
(newsletters) on a page. TH P has a number
of different graphics, fo nts and styles to
work with. It does. however. expect text to
be generated by another editor under OS-9,
76 THE RAINBOW August 1989
although you can enter text directly into
THP.
Note: This is a good sampling of programs
avail able from Tandy, nota complete li st of
OS-9 titles ava il able.
Frank Hogg Laboratory
Scu lptor: The most powerful software
system made fo r OS-9. It is a 4GL (Fourth
Generation Language), SQL (System Query
Language) and an appli cati on generator,
database system and programming language.
all ro lled into one. Once you know
it, it is ex tremely easy to use as a programming
language, and you will be abl e to
wri te program in about one-tenth of the
time you could wri te the same thing in C.
Thi s is a very seri ous developme nt system .
It is not for novices. Sculptor runs on a
5 I 2K CoCo 3 with fl oppy dri ves, but a hard
drive is strongly recommended. O n sale for
$ 199.95 ($60 fo r upgrade to Version 1.16).
If you want to pick a language to learn,
Sculptor is it. Programs that run on the
CoCo are directl y transportabl e to PC or
other computers (modified at runtime).
DynaStar/DynaSpe /1: In my opini on, DynaStar
is the best, most seri ous word processor
under OS-9. It is very sim ilar to
Wore/Star in command fo rm at, has pull ­
down menus and Help screen. A good SOcolu
m n screen (in / w7 or whi chever screen
you want) is easy to insta ll, and you can
format text and use many diverse printers.
Bold, doubl e-strike and unde rline are all
supported with WordStar work-alike
commands. DynaStar ($99.95) has a mail ­
merge feature, 29 configurable macros, and
edits f il es larger th an memory. Now that is
word processing! DynaSpe/1 ($75 or $25
with DynaStar purchase) is a spell checker
fo r DynaStar or any text un der OS-9. It has
a 20,000-word dictionary, which is surpri singly
small , but is genera ll y considered the
best spelling checker fo r the CoCo 3 running
OS-9. Written by Dale Puckett.
The Wi::: U nquestionably one of the f inest
OS-9 terminal programs avail abl e. Bill
B rady. the program 's author (a nd ed ito r of
MOTD). is a programming ace when it
comes to OS-9. Thi s program, although
difficul t to install for the nov ice, is most
reward ing in its operation. W indows fo r
dialog, system messages, conference mode,
up/downloads, she ll commands- The Wiz
has it all. For the CoCo 3 onl y. $59.95,
incl uding free Wi::Pro d isk.
Inside OS-9 Level II: Thi s authori tative and
compre hensive look inside OS-9 Level II
for the CoCo, by Kevin Darling, is not for
the novice. Thi s 200 plus-page book
($ 19.95), publ ished by FHL, is onl y for
those interested in the bi ts and bytes and
memory registers that actuall y comprise
OS-9 Level II, and how they work to make
the operating system function.
Second City Software
''' Check-09 M\1 \1 ersion 2.0: T his handy,
easy-to-use, versatile program runs under
Multi-\lue to balance your checkbook. It
works well , is easy to install, and even
inclu des an editor now to enable adjustments
to be made after the fact when needed.
It even incl udes A TM transactions for your
records. Thi s is the first program I have
seen under OS-9 that actually makes doing
financial work fun ($25 .95).
* The OS-9 Solution: This easy-to-install
and -run program replaces 20 of the most
commonl y used commands under OS-9
Level I or II. A menu fo rmat a ll ows you to
type onl y the first letter of a command, and
a fil e stack poi nter on the screen points to
the file that the com mand w ill act upon.
Other commands check free d isk space,
format disks, etc. T hi s is a great program
fo r novices because it all ows them to interact
di rectl y with the shell by providing
Help screens and good docume ntation. The
Solution works under both OS-9 Level I
and Level II, however, in its current release,
some aspects of The Solution do not
work under Level II ($24.95).
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* Ultimuse Ill (see photo above): Thi s program
is one of the best exam ples I've seen
of what OS-9 Level II can reall y do. The
program is designed to ed it and play m usic
scores through a MIDI keyboard synthesizer.
It is the only example of a program of
thi s type running under OS-9 th at T have
seen. Ultimuse Ill uses windows and a
mouse for control. There is careful, thorough
documentation, and even a tutori al
fo r the novice user to install the program
quickly and easily. The documentation
carefully expl ains all terms, and shows