Update of The Word
+ By Amida/CrN +
Welcome to another issue of The Word, as its been an eventful month
where The World of Amiga Show have been staged at Hammersmith in London.
And importantly The Word is 100% on-line which can now be obtained
freely within the Internet. This proves to be a big advantage over the
original disk-back service where by many traders who demand The Word
will no longer need to rely on slow mail services. Big thanks to
contrilbutors Dick and Andy for their efforts. For more detailed and up
to date information please check out Dick's update file.
Changes to this Issue of The Word
The most noticeable change which you can all see is the new real-time
clock/timer which is placed at the top right corner of the screen. It
was one of the recommended improvements in Dave Diamond's article (Issue
13). I did state that this could be done which it has.
Its quite a useful feature that gives some attention and indications
to the reader of how long you've been reading an article or running the
disk mag and so on. I've been testing it recently of how long it takes
to make my tea, talking on telephone, pop to the shop and back etc...
Anyway it works.
How the clock was done
======================
The clock was first written as a separate program before merging with
the main Word source. The main bulk of the work was the integration
stage where the clock needed to synchronise with the entire program. It
didn't seem simply but fortunately I've already inserted a routine just
so the clock can operate independantly to the rest of the program. Even
so in the next stages I'll be looking into making sure that the clock
operates more effectively without too much program interference.
About the clock itself
======================
The clock ranges from 00:00:00 through to 23:59:59 before reverting
back to its initial state. In addition - if you press <R> on your
keyboard at anytime during The Word - this will reset the clock back to
00:00:00. This extra function is added to the info. file on "How to
use The Word".
Why isn't the clock visible during the Preferences?
===================================================
I feel it was only necessary to display the clock during the main menu
and whilst you're in "viewing artcle" mode. There was no need for the
clock to show up in the prefs. unless you really want me to I could...
Clock Accuracy
==============
If you place a wrist watch or a real clock against the one in The
Word, you will find that the internal clock will tick about a split
second faster for every second it increments. But this is very
unnoticeable. I will at some point make attempts to fine tuning the
clock. But so far I'm very satisfied with its current tick speed. It
doesn't make a big difference to the timescale we're currently using.
At least the World is not connected to this clock! Or may be?
Well theres little else to mention about the clock. Otherwise just
sit back and watch it tick!
Future Changes of The Word
One of the next steps of improvement is to create a print function for
The Word. Unfortunately I don't have access to a printer whatsoever
which makes test very unrealistic and difficult. If printing becomes
available I will or possibly write a small util for back issues of
articles to be printed. I'll decide then what needs to be done.
Once the print function is implemented this should allow me to create
a "search for a string" function, since both features have quite similar
behaviour.
Theres one other future improvement which should have been built into
The Word. The use of the numeric keypad to scroll textfiles. PgUp to
scroll up a page, PgDn for vice versa. "Home" for top of page and "End"
for bottom etc.. I'm one of many users who frequently use the numeric
keypad for numbers and scrolling text. No doubt that other readers
would benefit from the extra functions. Unfortunately it can't be done
right now coz I'm only using an A600 (VERY unlucky!). Although
emulation is possible but I'd rather do the job properly when I return
to my A4000.
For readers of The Word, please don't hesitate to send in comments and
recommended improvements of The Word. We will answer every question
where possible.
Its not me who deals with the Adult Passwords & Clues
=====================================================
We once had streams of email questioning why I've made the clue and
password so hard to find + dis and dat. Sorry but you've got the wrong
guy, I'm not even qualified for this field, besides my English is fairly
crap. In situations like this I leave these password sections to the
English literature experts in the group.
If I could ever think of a good clue and password for an issue - I'll
be looking for a new job!
Amida.
end
|