The Fast One

Sinclair User

John Gilbert

APPLICATIONS FOR THE SINCLAIR AT HOME AND THE OFFICE Why not stop playing games and do something interesting with your computer? John Gilbert assesses the software. Both Sinclair machines can be used for storing data of any kind, such as names and addresses, telephone numbers and even an ever-changing record of appointments. The ZX-81 needs the 16K RAM pack for any kind of data storage and both information and program have to be SAVEd together. That operation can take up to six minutes and is not very reliable. The Business and Household cassette was one of the first packages available from Sinclair for the ZX-81. It contains three programs. One will keep a record of names and addresses, the next will keep a diary of events and the final program will handle all your financial transactions. The first two programs worked well but the Bank Account program on side two took six minutes to load and SAVEing the program back on to tape with the data proved very difficult. The Business and Household cassette may not be very reliable but it is good value at £3.95. One of the best data management systems available for the ZX-81 is The Fast One, from Campbell Systems. It allows the user to set up files of information in any way which suits him. The program will sort and search for specific bits of data and if numbers are being used it is possible to total them. The program is a step forward for the ZX-81 and is very flexible. It will do any kind of filing job, given the limitations of the machine. The Fast One costs £15 and has a comprehensive manual. Spreadsheet programs are an easy way to store numerical data in a format in which it can be used for calculations. The spreadsheet is a matrix, or table, on the screen and any box, or cell, in the table can be addressed by using the letters and numbers which run horizontally and vertically at the sides of the sheet. This type of program can be used to plan the family budget and calculate automatically running totals of family expenditure. That is only one of the many applications for which it can be used in the home. MiCROL produces a spreadsheet program called Matrix Planner. It is easy to use and has a spreadsheet of eight rows by 30 columns. That configuration can be changed by the user through the program variables. Approximately 300 cells can be created in the matrix before all the 16K of memory is used. Sinclair Research markets two programs similar to the Matrix Planner. Vu-Calc is a program which uses the spreadsheet. It has limitless possibilities and can be used for financial modelling, keeping track of bank accounts and even setting-up scientific experiments which rely on number-crunching for their outcome. The second is Vu-file. It is like Vu-Calc but the user can only store information and not perform calculations on data. Both programs are available for the ZX-81 and Spectrum. ZX-81 versions cost £7.95 and Spectrum versions £8.95. The arrival of the Spectrum set software houses the task of writing programs which can use data files separate from the programs. It has opened the way to storing large amounts of data on cassette and, when the Microdrive arrives, on floppy tape. There are several good programs for data storage on the Spectrum but most of them can be used only on the 48K version. The Database from MiCROL is one such program. The files can be split into documents. Those documents are useful in splitting-up topics within the machine. You can give each document a heading, such as tax, income or budget, and you can have several of them in memory at one time. Documents are split further into records, with one record corresponding to each datum. With that system it is possible to do your tax and budgets at the same time, without having to load the computer twice with information. The program can store up to 999 record lines in memory. The Database costs £9.95 and is complete with handbook. The Masterfile program from Campbell Systems is the most comprehensive of the databases available. It is the successor to The Fast One for the ZX-81 and provides fast access to large amounts of information. The user can also model the program to meet specific requirements. Data can be sorted and searched and reports can be compiled using the system. Masterfile costs £15 for the 48K version and £12 for 16K. The spreadsheets which proved so popular with the ZX-81 are starting to creep on to the Spectrum market. The best, so far, are from MiCROL and Microsphere. Both are remarkably similar. The MiCROL version costs £9.95 and provides the basic calculating power of most spreadsheet programs. It is easy to use and can help the business or home user with complicated calculations. Omnicalc is the spreadsheet from Microsphere. It is ideal for someone who has just found the spreadsheet concept but it is also a very powerful tool for anyone who has used one previously. The program seems to work faster than the MICROL spreadsheet and information can be accessed almost immediately. The screen format is easily understandable and very clear for the first-time user. The program contains a help option which lists the commands available through the spreadsheet. Omnicalc costs £9.95. It is complete with a user manual. All-Sort is an interesting utility program for the 48K Spectrum. It enables a user to sort data which has been set up within a home-built program. The data is stored initially in an array and All-Sort can sort up to four of them at once. It can be obtained from Alan Firminger. The program is useful and very fast but at £18 exclusive of VAT it is expensive. Listfile is a program which does exactly what its name suggests. The program allows a user to store lists of data, such as names and addresses, and to access that information very quickly. Data is entered in blocks which can be up to eight lines of 26 characters long. An extra line, called the info line, can be used to index information but that is not printed-out when the printer is used to list the information. Listfile is available for the 16K and 48K Spectrum and can be obtained from G and J Bobker. It costs £10 and has full documentation. Now that the Spectrum has arrived, software manufacturers are beginning to think about software uses other than games on Sinclair machines. The data processing programs could handle many tasks which are centred on the home. Databases, such as the one from MiCROL, are useful for storing textual information, such as a list of favourite records or even knitting patterns. The Microdrive could expand the data processing capabilities of the Spectrum. Information can be accessed more quickly and as a result bigger programs could be stored in memory and data could be fed in bit by bit. The capabilities of the Spectrum could be extended in this way but soon we will have to decide whether it is necessary. Most data processing programs can already deal with more information than the ordinary user needs. It may be proved that that type of application for the Microdrive is a waste of time. Sinclair Research, [redacted]. MiCROL, [redacted]. Campbell Systems, [redacted]. Microsphere Computing Services Ltd, [redacted]. Alan Firminger, [redacted]. G and J Bobker, [redacted].

'There are programs for data storage on the Spectrum but most of them can be used only on the 48K version.'

ZX Computing

TRACKING DOWN THOSE POUNDS Not only can you play games in your ZX81, but now, with a number of programs, you can keep track of your personal finances. Among these programs is the J P Gibbons Personal Banking System, which can also be used to check bank statements. The system can be used to help in budgeting and is designed to be easy to use, even by relatively inexperienced computer users. A number of controls and facilities have been built in with this in mind. The Personal Banking System includes a full page detailed bank account, which can be dumped to the printer, as well as automatic generation of standing orders on due dates, and validation of all entries. You can correct any item previously entered (with single or multiple field correction), and enter a previously omitted item in the correct date order of the account. You can search for any item or items by cheque number, description or amount. There is a continuous display of statement extract, which is updated continually during input of entry. A file of standing order details can be displayed, printed, added to, cancelled and amended. The program is provided with a detailed user manual, and Mr Gibbons says he'll provide after sales maintenance. The Personal Banking System (including a cassette and users' manual) is £9.95. You can get a copy of the manual for £1.00. A 32K version, offering multiple accounts, more entries and bar charts - among other features - is also available. J P Gibbons, [redacted]. DATABASE Most businesses and many other activities require the filing of names and addresses for mailing and reference, and DATABASE - available from Campbell Systems - fulfills this function admirably. Almost any kind of list can be accommodated, but most users just make use of name, address, interest codes, and text - as the standard data to be stored in each record of the file. The file is maintained by machine code in a way that ZX81 BASIC cannot, such that no space is reserved until after it is filled with data. All items and records are variable length, so there is no waste of space. You start with 12688 bytes of file space, and extra RAM above the 32K address will be usable as well. There are various display formats and search methods. All file handling, searching and display is done in machine code, so DATABASE is very fast. The program is designed to be crash-proof. The cassette, which costs £10.00, is accompanied by a detailed user guide, and is available from Campbell Systems, [redacted]. BUSINESS GAMES A company called CCS have developed two business games for the ZX81. They are AIRLINE and AUTOCHEF, which are available for £4.75 each. In AIRLINE your objective is to make enough capital by trading at a profit to take-over British Airways. You are required to decide on the number of aircraft to operate, whether to buy or charter, the level of staffing and maintenance, whether to enter into long term contracts for supply of fuel and whether to repay loans. Problems encountered are tax demands, strikes, cancelled flights, hi-jacks and aircraft crashes. In AUTOCHEF your object is also to trade profitably, so that the company accumulates sufficient capital ($25 million) to take-over Trust House Forte in the shortest possible time. The quality of the decision making is of even greater importance in achieving the objective than it is in Airline. From information supplied you have to decide on which type of outlet to operate, the price of the menu, whether to enter into loan contracts or purchase consignments of food or wines and the level of advertising, wages and dividends. You are warned that if results and dividends are insufficient to satisfy the shareholders, you will be made to resign. There are three levels of difficulty. Cases Computer Simulations are at [redacted]. VIDEO-PLAN Video-Plan, developed by Video Software Limited, is designed to enable the ZX81 to be used as an analysis tool. It performs many functions which could otherwise be carried out using an analysis book and calculator. Video-Plan can be used for such tasks as keeping stock records, analysing sales orders or invoices, analysing expenditure by nominal headings, cash flow forecasting or production scheduling. The heart of the system is a user-defined chart stored in the computer's memory (say 50 lines by 20 columns). Data may be added to the chart and a full range of calculations performed across the lines, together with column totaling and subtotaling. The TV screen acts as a window through which the chart may be viewed. This window, of course, can be moved under user control to any part of the chart. The cassette is well designed, with two copies of the program on one side, and a spoken explanation of the Video-Plan demonstration supplied is on side two. The program is very long (14K?) and starts running automatically. It takes nearly eight minutes to load. No loading difficulties were experienced. When you first get the program up on the screen, a menu of seven choices is displayed: 1 - set up new chart 2 - define functions/titles 3 - enter data 4 - move window 5 - save the system 6 - reset chart 7 - re-calculate totals If you wish to set up a new chart, you are invited to enter the dimensions (line and columns). A chart which is too big is rejected by the program. The program is supplied with a clearly written, detailed 20 page booklet. Although it may seem overwhelming at first, the demonstration application, along with spoken word description, should enable any careful user to discover the value of the program. In summary, this is a carefully written, well-documented program, which should prove a definite asset to a company wishing to carry out any of the tasks mentioned at the start of this article it is available from Video Software Ltd., [redacted].