TELECOMPUTING-^? - Bombjack.org

The commands that nave Deen
included in COMAL Z.O1 will
KnocK gour socks off! I
can't possiDlg list them all.
The 'VIEWPORT" and 'WINDOW'
commands let sou define
screen windows and scale them
.. .for t»oth text and graphics
)■■
THE COMMANDS THAT HAVE SEEN INCLUDED IN COPIAL 2.D1
WILL KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF! I CAN'T POSSIBLY LIST
THEM ALL, BUT I'LL TRY TO COVER THE HIGH POINTS IN
SOME KIND OF ORDER:
SYSTEPI CHANGES: 'INPUT' HAS BEEN GIVEN AN EXTREMELY
USEFUL NUMBER OF IMPROVEMENTS AND OPTIONS. THE
PROMPT CAN BE TOTALLY ELIMINATED, OR MADE TO BE
ANYTHING YOU WISH (NO '?' UNLESS YOU WANT ONE),
CURSOR MOVEMENT IS NOW IGNORED, AND THE CLEAR AND
HOME KEYS ONLY WORK ON THE INPUT LINE ITSELF, NOT THE
WHOLE SCREEN. 'INPUT AT' ALLOWS YOU TO SPECIFY A
POSITION ON THE SCREEN AS WELL AS THE NUMBER OF
ALLOWABLE INPUT CHARACTERS. THERE IS NOW NO QUOTE
MODE TO WORRY ABOUT, AND INPUT LINES CAN BE UP TO 120
CHARACTERS. OTHER SYSTEM COMMANDS INCLUDE DIRECT
ACCESS TO THE C64'S INTERNAL CLOCK, SINGLE-COMMAND
USE OF THE SERIAL OR IEEE BUSES, AND ONE-LINE CONTROL
OVER SYSTEM PARAMETERS SUCH AS DISK-DRIVE TIMING AND
PRINTER CONTROLS. TWO OF THE MOST USEFUL AND
POWERFUL ADDTIONS ARE THE 'GETSCREEN1 AND 'SETSCREEN'
COMMANDS. THESE ALLOW YOU TO SAVE THE CURRENT
CONTENTS OF THE SCREEN, INCLUDING ALL COLORS AND EVEN
CURSOR POSITION, AS A SINGLE STRING, AND RESTORE THE
SCREEN AT ANY TIME. THUS YOU CAN EASILY PERFORM
PAGE-FLIPPING FOR MENU AND HELP SCREENS. ALSO,
EXTERNAL PROCEDURES AND BATCH FILES ARE NOW FULLY
SUPPORTED. IF YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL, YOU WILL
APPRECIATE THESE CAPABILITIES RIGHT AWAY; HOME
PROGRAMMERS WILL FIND THESE TO BE VERY USEFUL TOOLS
IN TIME. (MANY OF CORAL'S ADVANCED FEATURES WILL BE
NEW TO THOSE WHO ARE USED TO 'NORMAL' HOME COMPUTER
LANGUAGES, BUT MOST HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR SOME TIME AS
FEATURES IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SYSTEMS.)
GRAPHICS: THE TURTLE IS STILL HERE, BUT FASTER THAN
EVER. NEW COMMANDS LET YOU QUICKLY SAVE OR LOAD A
HI-RES SCREEN; ALSO ADDED IS THE ABILITY TO MAKE
INQUIRIES ABOUT THE TURTLE SYSTEM PARAMETERS. THE
'VIEWPORT' AND 'WINDOW1 COMMANDS LET YDU DEFINE
SCREEN WINDOWS AND SCALE THEM TO WHATEVER SIZE YOU
NEED, AND THEY CAN BE USED FOR BOTH TEXT AND
GRAPHICS. (YES, COPIAL DDES WINDOWS!) ADDITIONAL NEW
SPRITE COMMANDS LET YOU MAKE INQUIRES ABOUT SPRITE
STATUS, LINK SHAPE TABLES TO THE END OF YOUR COPIAL
PROGRAM, AND 'STAPP' SPRITE IMAGES DIRECTLY TO THE
HI-RES SCREEN. THERE IS ALSO A WHOLE NEW VOCABULARY
FOR PROGRAMMING INTERRUPT-DRIVEN SPRITE ANIMATION
THAT WILL RUN COMPLETELY IN THE BACKGROUND OF ANY
COPIAL PROGRAM. YOU CAN EVEN STOP TO EDIT THE PROGRAM
AND THE SPRITES WILL KEEP MOVING! THESE COMMANDS
MAKE THE SPRITES INDEPENDENTLY INTELLIGENT, ABLE TO
DECIDE WHEN TO MOVE, WHEN TO CHANGE SHAPE, AND WHEN
TO DISAPPEAR, ALL BASED ON TIME OR COLLISION
CONDITIONS. USER-PROGRAWIABLE CHARACTERS ARE ALSO
SUPPORTED WITH THEIR OWN SET OF CONNANDS IN THE
'FONT1 PACKAGE. WHOLE CHARACTER SETS AS WELL AS
INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERS CAN BE REDEFINED AND SWITCHED
BACK AND FDRTH.
DEVICES: FULL SUPPORT IS PROVIDED FOR EASY USE OF
PADDLES, JOYSTICKS, AND A LIGHT PEN. THE PADDLE
PACKAGE WILL ALSO WORK WITH A KOALA PAD, AND THE
JOYSTICK PACKAGE WORKS ADMIRABLY WELL WITH A
TRACKBALL OR MOUSE. YOU CAN CONTROL FOUR SEPERATE
LIGHT PEN SENSITIVITY SETTINGS, WHICH SHOULD ALLOW
THE USE OF EVEN INEXPENSIVE LIGHT PENS TO THEIR BEST
CAPABILITY.