Help finding an old extended BASIC routine

Hello Spec-chums,

I have a request. I've finally got around to going through all my old
Spectrum tapes and Discovery discs, archiving what laughably passes for
my "work" to TZX files ready for the Great Sinclair Clear Out.

(I look at some of the creations I wasted weeks on back in the 80s and
wonder where I'd be now had I concentrated on my O-Level revision like I
was supposed to be doing).

Anyhoo, among the assorted crap I've discovered a small BASIC program
that makes use of both 'fill' and 'colour swap' commands from a typed-in
BASIC extender program. Alas the machine code routines themselves are
missing and I would like to replace them if possible.

The commands themselves are of the form

"filX,Y,I
(where X and Y are coordinates and I is the INK colour)
and
"scrP,I
(where P and I are the PAPER and INK colours)

I have vague memories that the whole routine had several other commands
based loosely on the Turtle Graphics elements of Logo, and thus may have
included "rot and "for and similar commands.

Google and Sinclair InfoSeek searches have found several similar
Logo-esque routines on TTFn but not the one I'm after. Most BASIC
command additions used * or . before the command; the use of the single
quote character is unique as far as I can remember. Unfortunately it
makes it very difficult to Google for pages with those commands on
because Google insists on stripping or adding its own quote characters.

It's likely the routine was printed in ZX Computing or Sinclair Programs
sometime in the mid 1980s (probably no later than 1988) since those were
the two magazines I bought most often back in the day. Having said that,
one of my favourite routines came from Your Computer magazine, so it
really could be from anywhere.

If anyone recognises the commands and their syntax, or recalls a
graphics extension routine that might be the one I'm after, please let
me know. The program I'm trying to resurrect is in itself
extraordinarily trivial, but I'd like to get it working and archived for
the sake of completeness.

TIA


--
Kev
__________________________________________________________________________
"For NASA, space is still a high priority."
Dan Quayle

I do not recognize it, but if I were you I would also post this
request at [url]www.worldofspectrum.org[/url], forum section. I'm sure there are
lots of people who would love to see your work preserved as .TZX
files, especially Andrew B.

This rings a bell as well. Your Computer does but it may well be due to
there was a heck of a lot of stuff on the dialsoft link that eventually came
to me to code in CET for Prestel download, which I was handling at the time.

Ducks behind cactus as I've just admitted to being Naffsoft indirectly I
suppose.

Brian

--
Brian Gaff - [email]briang1@blueyonder.co.uk[/email]
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Kevin Reilly" <usenet@denali.org.uk> wrote in message
news:xKyFnUK6egGIFwtR@spamtrap.denali.org.uk...[color=blue]
> Hello Spec-chums,
>
> I have a request. I've finally got around to going through all my old
> Spectrum tapes and Discovery discs, archiving what laughably passes for
> my "work" to TZX files ready for the Great Sinclair Clear Out.
>
> (I look at some of the creations I wasted weeks on back in the 80s and
> wonder where I'd be now had I concentrated on my O-Level revision like I
> was supposed to be doing).
>
> Anyhoo, among the assorted crap I've discovered a small BASIC program
> that makes use of both 'fill' and 'colour swap' commands from a typed-in
> BASIC extender program. Alas the machine code routines themselves are
> missing and I would like to replace them if possible.
>
> The commands themselves are of the form
>
> "filX,Y,I
> (where X and Y are coordinates and I is the INK colour)
> and
> "scrP,I
> (where P and I are the PAPER and INK colours)
>
> I have vague memories that the whole routine had several other commands
> based loosely on the Turtle Graphics elements of Logo, and thus may have
> included "rot and "for and similar commands.
>
> Google and Sinclair InfoSeek searches have found several similar
> Logo-esque routines on TTFn but not the one I'm after. Most BASIC
> command additions used * or . before the command; the use of the single
> quote character is unique as far as I can remember. Unfortunately it
> makes it very difficult to Google for pages with those commands on
> because Google insists on stripping or adding its own quote characters.
>
> It's likely the routine was printed in ZX Computing or Sinclair Programs
> sometime in the mid 1980s (probably no later than 1988) since those were
> the two magazines I bought most often back in the day. Having said that,
> one of my favourite routines came from Your Computer magazine, so it
> really could be from anywhere.
>
> If anyone recognises the commands and their syntax, or recalls a
> graphics extension routine that might be the one I'm after, please let
> me know. The program I'm trying to resurrect is in itself
> extraordinarily trivial, but I'd like to get it working and archived for
> the sake of completeness.
>
> TIA
>
>
> --
> Kev
> __________________________________________________________________________
> "For NASA, space is still a high priority."
> Dan Quayle[/color]

On Thu, 1 May 2008 zxbruno wrote:
[color=blue]
>I do not recognize it, but if I were you I would also post this
>request at [url]www.worldofspectrum.org[/url], forum section.[/color]

I try to avoid web forums if at all possible these days. Too much
administration in setting up an account, and too many web pages to check
in an already overcomplicated world. I like the purity of
offline-readable when-you-have-five-minutes Usenet.
[color=blue]
> I'm sure there are
>lots of people who would love to see your work preserved as .TZX
>files, especially Andrew B.[/color]

I think you misunderstand (although to be fair perhaps my original post
could have been clearer). The missing published routine isn't mine,
alas, but a third-party program culled from the pages of a listing
magazine. Trust me, nobody other than me would want to preserve any of
MY output from that era! I just need that routine to make one of my own
programs run.

The closest match I've found is Extended Basic by one Robert Newman
(that's him, that is) on TTFn ([url]http://tinyurl.com/6mzcf7[/url] and scroll down
a bit).

It's close in that it uses a similar colour swapping routine and command
structure (dots rather than quotes as the command leader) but it's from
1984, making it a bit too early to be directly related to the routines
I'm after.

I figured someone with a better memory than mine might have recognised
the odd 'leading quote' format of the extended commands and been able to
point me in the right direction. The really frustrating thing is that I
recently recycled a whole bunch of old Spectrum magazines, and I'll bet
dollars to doughnuts the routine I need was in one of them.

--
Kev
__________________________________________________________________________
"I couldn't settle in Italy - it was like living in a foreign country."
Ian Rush

Kevin Reilly <usenet@denali.org.uk> wrote in
news:xKyFnUK6egGIFwtR@spamtrap.denali.org.uk:
[color=blue]
> Hello Spec-chums,
>
> I have a request. I've finally got around to going through all my old
> Spectrum tapes and Discovery discs, archiving what laughably passes for
> my "work" to TZX files ready for the Great Sinclair Clear Out.[/color]
..
..[color=blue]
> Anyhoo, among the assorted crap I've discovered a small BASIC program[/color]
..
..[color=blue]
> The commands themselves are of the form
>
> "filX,Y,I
> (where X and Y are coordinates and I is the INK colour)
> and
> "scrP,I
> (where P and I are the PAPER and INK colours)
>
> I have vague memories that the whole routine had several other commands
> based loosely on the Turtle Graphics elements of Logo, and thus may have
> included "rot and "for and similar commands.
>[/color]
..
..[color=blue]
> TIA[/color]

Dear Mr. Reilly.

I am convinced that the program you are looking for is called "TURTLE",
written by one Ian Collier (well here is a name that rings a bell, eh?),
and it was published in the September, 1985 issue of "Your Computer".
Now it happens that this issue is available at WOS, however, I am in
possession of the original article, and would be happy to type it in for
you, and of course also submit it to The Type Fantastic. It will take me a
couple of days, I think, but I hope your patience will last that long.

Regards, Gert B. Nielsen.

--
Niven's 1. Law:
Never throw **** at an armed man.

Hello Gert,

Thanks for the follow-up (and e-mail!)

On Thu, 15 May 2008 Gert B. Nielsen wrote:
[color=blue]
>I am convinced that the program you are looking for is called "TURTLE",
>written by one Ian Collier (well here is a name that rings a bell, eh?),
>and it was published in the September, 1985 issue of "Your Computer".
>Now it happens that this issue is available at WOS, however, I am in
>possession of the original article, and would be happy to type it in for
>you, and of course also submit it to The Type Fantastic. It will take me a
>couple of days, I think, but I hope your patience will last that long.[/color]

You are spot on with the magazine reference, but I hope you haven't
started to type the program in because with the help of a couple of the
guys on the WOS forums I've already managed to resurrect a copy of the
listings. (Please accept my apologies for not posting this info here
sooner).

The thread dealing with this is at

[url]http://www.worldofspectrum.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20526[/url]

and if you're curious about the program itself there is a link to it
within that forum thread. Indeed it may have made its way onto The Type
Fantastic by now.

Thanks anyway for the offer of the type-in! Maybe the guys at The Type
Fantastic or WOS might be interested in getting some higher resolution
scans from your magazine for archival purposes? The one currently on WOS
is pretty dire, as a read through the quoted thread will show.

--
Kev
__________________________________________________________________________
"Be kind -- please rewind."
Label on DVD at rental store

On May 15, 12:39 pm, Kevin Reilly <use...@denali.org.uk> wrote:[color=blue]
> Hello Gert,
>
> Thanks for the follow-up (and e-mail!)
>
> On Thu, 15 May 2008 Gert B. Nielsen wrote:
>
> Thanks anyway for the offer of the type-in! Maybe the guys at The Type
> Fantastic or WOS might be interested in getting some higher resolution
> scans from your magazine for archival purposes? The one currently on WOS
> is pretty dire, as a read through the quoted thread will show.
>
> --
> Kev[/color]

Scans are always welcome. For WOS you can use the upload feature, for
T.T.T. I can't recall how to do it.