WMJ Data Systems
4 Butterfly Drive
Hauppauge, New York 11788
Price: $10 (TS1000), $12 (TS2068)
APPOINTMENT WATCH is a spread sheet program written in machine code and BASIC. It requires at least 16K of memory. In 16K, Appointment Watch allows the user to enter and store 100 appointments. It allows you to enter the Date, Time, and Place of your appointments, as well as with whom they are, and the subject of the meeting. Also provided is space to mark whether or not the appointment has been confirmed.
Data entry is done from the main menu with the “Enter A Record” selection. Screen prompts lead the user through filling in the individual fields of a record, and provide an indication as to how long a field may be. If you make a mistake, or if, say, the time of the original appointment is changed, corrections can be made to individual fields. Such commands are available from the spread sheet display. Other main menu selections are View Spread Sheet, Print Out Information, Clear Spread Sheet Of All Data, and Save Info To Tape.
The View Spread Sheet command displays the program title, ten of the data/appointment entries, and menu options. APPOINTMENT WATCH uses a “window” to view the appointment data, via scroll routines invoked with the arrow keys. The up/down scroll advances or regresses the appointment list, and the right/left scroll allows you to view each of the data fields in an appointment line. The scroll routines are written in machine code, making them very quick and truly fascinating to watch.
The Print Out Information selection does just what it says. It works with full size printers equipped with Memotech or Aerco printer I/Fs, as well as with Timex/Sinclair printers. When the Print Out command is invoked, screen prompts lead the user to printing out all the data contained in the spread sheet or just selected items. However, if the user accidentally enters “0”, the program will halt, requiring a “GOTO 100” command to restart without losing all the data.
The Clear Spread Sheet Of All Data command can be suicidal as implemented in the program. Selecting this command will IMMEDIATELY cause all data fields to be blanked, sending all of your data off to never-never land, with no chance of recovery. In my house, with kids and cats, all of which seem to take great joy in pressing the computer keybord keys at the most inopportune times, such commands should always be protected with “Are you SURE you want to do this?”. Since the program is written mostly in Basic, this program can easily be user-modified to include such protection.
The Save Info To Tape main menu selection is self explanatory. APPOINTMENT WATCH will allow you to enter a title as a name for subsequent loading. If you just press “ENTER” for the name, or if you press the BREAK key on the prompt “Press Any Key”, the program will stop, again necessitating a “GOTO 100” to restart. No problems were encountered modifying APPOINTMENT WATCH for disc use.
If you’ve overcome the “Oh, another one of those good-idea-but-impractical-to-use programs” train of thought, and have followed along this far, then read on. The “meat” of this review is yet to come! Like most programs of this genre, APPOINTMENT WATCH probably isn’t worth your time and money at face value. What makes it worth $10 of your hard-earned cash are the MC routines. Dissecting the 395 bytes of machine code that controls the window IS worth your money, time, and effort. The MC program used in APPOINTMENT WATCH, or your own variations of it, could be used in your own programs. Moving windows, pull down drawers, etc., such as are used by IBM and Apple, can thus be implemened on the Timex/Sinclair.
APPOINTMENT WATCH comes on cassette tape with a brief instruction sheet. Side one of the tape contains a 22 second test program that allows you to check the playback volume control for the proper setting. Side two contains the actual APPOINTMENT WATCH program.
Reviewed by:
Jeffrey Moore 602 S. Mill Street Louisville, Ohio 44641