Peter Gosling

The Operating System

Only the very simplest kind of microcomputer is without any form of backing store, that is, discs or cassettes. Any system which is as simple as this has all the programs which make it work stored in ROMs. Such programs are called firmware and they can only be changed by replacing one ROM with another. Anything in the way of instructions or data stored in RAM is transient, and disappears when the power is turned off. Only when cheap mass storage in the form of bubble memories becomes available will discs and cassettes be no longer necessary. Bubble memories have no moving parts and will eventually offer vast amounts of storage very cheaply — but they are still several years off yet.

Introduction to BASIC

So far you have been introduced to the way in which you can use programs written for your computer by other people and saved on the program library stored on the backing store discs. However, often the library programs fail to do quite what is wanted for the solution of a particular problem and so eventually ‘homegrown’ programs are required. To be able to write your own programs you must learn how to express yourself in a language which is understandable by the computer. The computer language we use is one which is available on the majority of time-sharing computer systems, of the type described in the preceding chapters, and is known as BASIC. These initials stand for Beginners’ Allpurpose Symbolic Instruction Code, but do not be misled into thinking that BASIC is a trivial ‘baby’ language. It is a very powerful and versatile language which can be used for both scientific calculations and business data-processing applications.

How to do

disturbance in the limbs and/or face that categorically indicates a brainstem problem. Isolated vertigo and isolated diplopia are only rarely caused by intrinsic disorders of the brainstem. Although dysarthria, dysphagia, ataxia and bilateral symptoms and signs in the face and limbs occur with brainstem lesions, some of these features can also occur with lesions outside the brainstem (eg, nondominant hemisphere problems, cerebellar disturbances and bilateral anterior cerebral artery problems) and therefore do not defi nitively indicate brainstem pathology. In the examination, a cranial nerve palsy with weakness and/or sensory signs in the face or limbs, or crossed sensory signs (see below for an explanation), also strongly point to the brainstem as the site of the problem (with the notable exception of carotid dissection where unilateral cranial neuropathies and contralateral pyramidal signs may rarely be observed because the cranial nerves below the skull can be directly affected by the dissection).

Laptops and communications

With the constant improvement in technology we are now seeing many changes in what we have come to accept as “conventional” word processing. In the early days word processors were bulky machines and dedicated solely to the one task. Now we have PCs in abundance that can run programs to handle accounts, draw graphs, make financial projections and then incorporate the results from these programs into word processed documents. All this can be done by one small machine sitting on a desk.

Aids to writing

There are now several software packages available that aim to help you to write better English. All the word processors now on the market contain a spelling checker and probably a Thesaurus as well. But neither of these will check your grammar or give you any idea of the readability of what you have written. Two such programs are Grammatik (Versions IV and V) from Reference Software and Correct Grammar for Windows from the Writing Tools Group distributed in the UK by WordStar International. Both of these are “bolt on” programs that can be run in conjunction with a large range of word processing packages and DTP systems. Grammatik IV, a straight MS-DOS program, and Version V; are available in MS-DOS, Windows and Unix versions. The latter is a program that works through MicroSoft’s Windows 3. It thus can be used with any Windows application that can copy text to the clipboard as well as ASCII files and documents from non-Windows applications.

Seven popular programs

The first versions of LocoScript were, and still are, supplied packaged with all Amstrad PCW 8256, 8512, 9512 and 9526 computers. It is supplied on side 2 of the disk that contains the CP/M PLUS operating system. However, the program proved to be so popular that a version to run under the MS-DOS operating system was produced so that it could be used on any IBM PC or compatible microcomputer. By providing this new version it has become possible for users, particularly people such as freelance writers, to transfer their PCW based LocoScript files onto the more powerful PC type of machine and carry on using them with a word processing program that works exactly the same as the one they were used to. The most efficient way of doing this is to use the special LocoLink cable that connects a PCW machine with a PC and transmit the documents from one to the other. A certain amount of editing will need to be done at the PC end because the two programs, although very similar, are not identical in every way. Apart from this the document conversion is automatic.

Basic word processing

In order to start your word processor going so that you can create a document you will have to make sure that the correct start-up disk is in drive A, if you have a twin floppy disk machine. If you have a hard disk machine check that you are in the correct directory. Make sure that you have found the command to start the program working from the manufacturer’s manual. It is usually a simple command word or sequence of letters that relate to the name of word processor. For example will start WordStar and will start WordPerfect. Usually the next thing to happen is that you are presented with some sort of opening menu from which you choose what you want to do. An opening menu will give you a set of options including such things as 1. Create a new document. 2. Edit an existing document. 3. Print a document.

Desk top publishing

Desk top publishing (DTP) programs started to become available for PCs towards the end of the 1980s. It might be worthwhile, before looking at what is now available, briefly to examine the process that has been in use for years when any printed document has been produced. This applies equally well to newspapers, books, catalogues of goods or company reports.

Why use DTP

Why should we bother to use a Desk Top Publishing program? It is, after all, only another piece of software that we have got to learn, goodness knows. The word processor took long enough to get to grips with so why should we spend the time, effort and money to stumble along learning yet another new “language”? The answer to these, and all the other questions of a similar nature, is not that we have to do it in order to keep up with the Joneses. It is not that we have to use it just because it is there. Also, we do not want to use it just because it would be a nice idea to design and print our own forms, letter heads, newsletters and sales information. Desk Top Publishing, like so many of the latest computer packages coming onto the market, is actually designed to make our life easier. It can also help to make our business more efficient and, ultimately, to improve the image of our company both to the outside world and to our own staff. However, these things can only happen if, and only if, we learn how to use the DTP system we buy intelligently and properly. There are many new skills to be learned if we are to take full advantage of what such a program offers.

Seven of the Best

When I first set out to work on my part of this book, I began to wonder whether in fact I had drawn the short straw. Being an experienced writer and trainer of all things connected with word processing, I thought the step up to DTP would be easy. How wrong I was! For a start the concept of publishing has to be learned at graphic design school or on the shop floor in a newspaper office. A crash course in desk top publishing can be achieved by reading the first section of this book thoroughly before venturing further into the jungle of jargon. By this stage in the book terms such as style sheets, mice, leading, picas, points and kerning should no longer be a mystery. Unfortunately, while the “other half” was being compiled on a word processor — bliss upon bliss — I was four thousand miles away in the Middle East with a deadline to meet.