| Abacus Application: Sorting Files | An alternative to DLO_BAS for listing a disk or microdrive directory in sorted columns, using Psion's Abacus spreadsheet. A short SuperBASIC program by Réal Gagnon writes the directory to a DIRECT_EXP file in Abacus's import format (quoted strings separated by commas); the article then gives the Abacus key sequences to import it, sort it with ORDER, arrange it in columns with COPY, widen cells with GRID WIDTH and clear the leftovers with RUBOUT. | Sinclair QL, Type-in program |
| ETAT_BIN: A SuperBASIC Extension | ETAT_BIN by W. Lenerz, from the QLCF, adds a SuperBASIC function ETAT that tests whether a file exists before a program tries to copy or open it, returning 0 or the QDOS error code instead of stopping the program with an error. The article explains how to load and call it, gives two usage examples (one a safe file-copy routine), and lists the commented 68000 assembler source, a table of the returned codes, and a universal BASIC loader (CHARGEUR_BAS) with the DATA lines that create ETAT_BIN. | Sinclair QL, Type-in program |
| Horloge_bas (Clock Setter) | HORLOGE_BAS, a public-domain SuperBASIC utility by Réal Gagnon for setting the QL's internal clock. The date and time are adjusted with the cursor keys and confirmed with SPACE or ENTER; the result is saved to a HORL_DAT file on FLP1 and read back next time, so usually only the day and hour need changing. A four-line program creates the initial HORL_DAT, and a version compiled with Turbo or QLiberator can be run from a BOOT program. The full listing follows. | Sinclair QL, Type-in program |
| MAJI_EXE: A Multitasking Utility | MAJI_EXE by W. Lenerz, from the QLCF, is a small job that multitasks with Quill and shows "Maj.:" in Quill's status area with two up arrows when caps lock is on, plus a permanent clock; MAJIc_EXE is a shorter version without the clock. The article explains how to start it from Quill's BOOT program and how to change its start-up delay with POKE_W, credits the Quanta library program Capsclock as the inspiration, and gives the commented 68000 assembler source, a universal SuperBASIC loader and the DATA lines for both MAJI_EXE and MAJIC_EXE. | Sinclair QL, Type-in program |
| Sinclair News | News items: the Voyager II probe's Neptune encounter in August 1989, built with 1970s technology and a 30K on-board computer memory; Clive Sinclair's quip in PC Magazine about choosing an 8-bit Z80 for the Z88; the TIBM Wizard BBS in Toronto with a section for Sinclair computers (ZX81/2068/QL); and the shrinking Sinclair press, leaving Update Magazine in the United States and the Toronto club's Sinc-Link newsletter in Canada. | Sinclair QL |
| Tips and Tricks: Easel, Abacus and the QL Screen | Three tips: two undocumented key combinations in the Easel graphics program (SHIFT F3 clears the command lines to free the whole screen for the graph, SHIFT F4 sets a backdrop colour); a workaround in Abacus, which treats an empty cell as zero, using COUNT in an IF formula; and how to save and load the QL's 32K screen memory at address 131072 with SBYTES and LBYTES, using the easier-to-remember 2^17 and 2^15. | Sinclair QL |
| What's New? | Short product news: Digital Precision's Lightning Special Edition, up to 30% faster than the original and supplied on ROM or as a program (£50, regular Lightning £25); a French version of the Text 87 2.00 word processor from Software 87 (£45); and a C++ compiler coming from the Danish company Dansoft, maker of the QL-compatible Thor XVI. | Sinclair QL |
