ALL ABOUT RS-232 COMMUNICATIONS BY PETE LYALL =========================================================================  The way a computer or terminal determines that data is arriving is for it to CONSTANTLY watch the state of the RECEIVED DATA line. When it goes into a "SPACING" condition (a +3 to +12 volt level; a logic FALSE or 0), this means a START BIT is being received. This 'START BIT" is nothing more than a warning that says: "data is arriving.. one byte of data will be following me". As you see, the start bit is how the computer detects the arrival of data in the asynchronous serial communications world. Asynchronous simply translated means that data may arrive at any time, and may be in groups as small as one byte or character. (As a side note, synchronous communications usually deal in terms of sending messages back and forth, so the "data arriving" warning usually need only be sent at the start of a message, which may be multiple characters. The advantage is that each character need not be preceded by a START BIT, which reduces transmission overhead. The disadvantage is that synchronous communications is more complex in terms of the software and hardware used, and is therefore more costly.) After the start bit, the data bits arrive IN REVERSE ORDER (bit 0 first, then bit 1, etc.). After all the data bits arrive, the parity bit is sent (if any parity is selected [even, odd, mark, or space]), and lastly the STOP BIT is sent. The STOP BIT is the opposite of a START BIT, and it drives the line to a 'MARK' condition (which is a -3 to -12 volt level, also a logical TRUE or 1). This stop bit is simply a way of returning the RS-232 data line to an idle state after a character has been transmitted. This stages the line for the next START BIT. The START BIT and the STOP BIT together are called 'FRAMING BITS' because they surround the data byte being sent. If the receiving computer sees a start bit, assembles the bits coming in, and does not see a stop bit at the end, this constitutes a FRAMING ERROR. What probably happened is that either the line got some noise or interference on it and corrupted the character, or the sending system was not at the same baud rate as the receiving system, and their time-per-bit didn't match. Other errors that are common in serial data communications are PARITY ERRORS and OVERRUN ERRORS. Parity errors simply indicate that the arriving character did not pass & typestyles within the same zone - Automatically flows text onto one or more pages - Fully adjustable tracking, kerning, and leading Graphic design: - Import pictures directly from DeluxePaint , Aegis Images , or any other standard IFF graphics program - Mix multiple DeluxePaint graphic images and multiple color palettes on a single page - Stretch and crop graphics to any size - Overlay graphics on other graphics in either opaque or transparent modes - Use any graphics display mode of the Amiga (low-med-high-interlaced) in any number of bit-planes (colors) - Draw boxes, lines, borders - all from a built-in graphic toolbox - Comes with professional clip art and font library Printer support: - Output your document to any Amiga Preferences-supported printer - Print on Postscript devices - Four-color separation for camera-ready printout - Lets you print & edit simultaneously System configurations: - Shakespeare works with any Amiga with 512K RAM. - Compatible with the Amiga 500, 1000 and the 2000. - Shakespeare also supports expansion RAM and hard disks. It will allow the creation of documents of unlimited length. It also recognizes Disk Full conditions and will allow the insertion of another diskette for more data. INFINITY SOFTWARE, INC. 1144 - 66th St, Studio C, Emeryville, CA 94608 (415)420-1551 Look for a review of this package as soon as we can get our hands on one. Meanwhile" ä‰ <Ô(j8N•Jf$Gìì" ä‰ <Ô(j$N•r <Ô(jPN•"å‰J°f,"* <Ô(j$N• <Ô(jN•r <Ô(jPN•"å‰J°g#pÈ$*åŠv0(#CÌB©Ðx#DÔB©Ø#CÜ`$"*å‰Ò©Øt0")Àå‰Ò©Ø‚R©Ø")ܲ©ØlÔ`v#iÌØ`N")Àå‰Ò©Øt0r/´f$)ØS‚#BÌ`0")Àå‰Ò©Øt0r:´f #iØÌ`S©Ør²©Øo¬rÿ#AÐ$)À助Ï(R©Ô")Èå‰Ò©Ôt0r/´f$)ÀåŠv0(¶©ÔlÿbJ©Ðg²B©Ø")Èå‰t0´©Ôm”$)ÀåŠÔ©Ìv0(t:¶‚gv#CØÖ©Ì()ÀåŒØƒv/ƒH")Èå‰t0#Bà#iÔÜ`.R©Ø")Èå‰Ò©Üt0")ÌÒ©Ø&)Àå‹Ö‚8R©Ü")಩ÜlÊ$)ÌÔ©Ø&)Àå‹‚8#iÀÈ")È <ä(jìN•%AdJf0$åŠGìø" ä‰$0( <ä(j(N•r <ä(jPN•` "<ÜÒ‰ä‰#AØx&)Èt: <Œ(j¬N•#A€$*dåŠ%p( X$)Ô"*d <Iì¨N•Jf`r <(j(N•#A¼$åŠGì" ä‰$0( <(j(N•")¼ <(j N•$)¼rÿ <(j(N•r <(jPN•")Ôå‰tJ°xlF‚#B¸J‚g,&å‹$08Gì " ä‰ <(j(N•r <(jPN•")Àå‰t0#BˆB©„`$")Àå‰Ò©„t0"*å‰Ò©„‚R©„")ˆ²©„lÔJ©€f2$*åŠÔ©Ìv0(t:¶‚gR©Ì&* if you'd like to see the demo, order it from us- check the "MDServices" in Subs&Extras. * OTHER DEMOS The best demo I've yet seen for the desktop video capabilities of the Amiga is from NEWTEK, who brought us DIGI-VIEW, DIGI-PAINT and soon DIGI-FX, a hold-and-modify (4096 colour) special effects program for jazzing up your graphics. The demo, called REEL, comes