@f@2                   Magnum Pro Review (Licenceware version)
                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@1
	The life of a computer journalist sounds really easy.  All they
	seem to do all day is play computer games and when they have
	had enough, they'll probably decide to review it for the
	magazine they work for.  Many computer gamers and serious users
	too dribble at the thought of working for a computer magazine.
	So why, you may be wondering, am I talking such rubbish?  Well
	if you can't get into real computer journalism why not set up
	your own magazine?  Yes, it's true, using a wonderful invention
	called a diskmagazine creator, you too can get into the world of
	journalism for very little cost, £3.99 to be precise.

	Magnum Pro is the name of this AMOS production and along with
	Magnum you get a few pictures, some music modules and the AMOS
	source code.  Yes, you did read that right, the author has
	decided to release the source code along with the package so
	that you, the user, can tailor it to your needs.  The reason
	for this is because this is the very last version of Magnum.
	When you have loaded Magnum off the disk, a nice little logo
	will appear while in the background a pleasant tune plays away.
	While the image is being displayed, Magnum is reading an index
	file off the disk.  This file contains all the paths to your
	articles and any pictures you want displaying.  Depending on
	the size of your index file the wait will vary.  When the
	wait is over, you will be presented with a choice of articles
	to load in.  Along the bottom of the screen is a panel which
	allows you to move around different articles.  The up and
	down arrows take you to the top and bottom of an article.  The
	left and right arrows allow you to read the previous and next
	pages respectively.  There is also an icon the toggle the music
	and one, of course to quit.

	In the centre of the screen is the index.  Moving the mouse
	pointer over the writing highlights it.  If you now click, the
	relevant article will be loaded.  Any pictures and Soundtracker
	modules can be loaded in this way, if they are in the index
	file of course.  When you have finished reading an article
	clicking the 'index' icon will take you back to the index
	funnily enough.  You can now load another article.  If all this
	sounds very simple, then you would be right.  Everything is set
	out very clearly and you don't need to read the instructions at
	all to use it.  Any articles you want to use should just be
	a normal ASCII file, and pictures should be IFF files.  Of
	course if you find this limiting, then you can add support for
	other sorts of files, you have no excuse!
@1
	Magnum Pro is an extremely simple idea yet I'm sure as more
	people become aware of this program, there will be diskmags
	springing up all over the place.  It is very user-friendly,
	easy to set-up and runs at a fairly acceptable speed.  Although
	no Amigaguide help is included, the on-disk documentation is
	very clear and easy to understand.  One thing I forgot to
	mention is that you must have a basic understanding of the
	Shell.  This is so that you can create your own index files
	for your magazines and create bootable disks so that your
	diskmag loads automatically as soon as it's inserted into the
	disk drive.  Overall, MagnumPro is a wonderful program that
	allows you to create very attractive front-ends for all you
	budding journalists out there.  Quite excellent I would say!













@2                             MagnumPro - Summary
                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@1
	DOCUMENTATION   : 8/10
@3
		Very clear and easy to understand although Amigaguide
		documentation would have been nice.
@1
	USER-INTERFACE  : 10/10
@3
		Very clearly laid out.  If you don't like the graphics for
		the panel, then you can use your own!
@1
	EASE OF USE     : 9/10
@3
		To use a diskmag created with MagnumPro requires no reading
		of instructions.  The icons are obvious to their use.  Some
		basic understanding of the Shell is necessary though to
		create the index files and bootable disks.


@1
	SPEED           : 8/10
@3
		The actual loading of the articles is nippy enough, although
		the wait while Magnum is reading the index file could do
		with being a bit quicker.
@1
	RELIABILITY     : 10/10
@3
		It never crashed, not once, not twice, not at all, get the
		idea?  Very reliable.
@1
	FLEXIBILITY     : 10/10
@3
		How much more flexible can you get.  You can create any sort
		of magazine with music and graphics.  If you find that not
		flexible enough, then you can alter the source code.  Go on,
		you have no excuse!
@1
	VALUE FOR MONEY : 10/10
@3
		£3.99 is exceptionally good value for money.  Not only do
		you get a great program, you also get to see how the author
		programs.


@1
	OVERALL         : 9/10
@3
		If you want to create your own magazines and you're not
		dribbling by now, then you're very silly.  Buy it, use it
		and study the source code to see how a class program is
		written.  Don't miss it!
@2
	Released as  : Licenceware
	Price        : £3.99
	Author       : Wai Hung Liu
	Published by : F1 Licenceware
	Address      : 31 Wellington Road
	               Exeter
	               Devon
	               EX2 9DU.
	Telephone    : (0392) 493580
@3
PS. Amoszine uses a customised version of Magnum Pro, but you knew that
    already, didn't you?