Trans-Express

Personal Computer News

Features 5/5

Documentation 4/5

Performance 5/5

Value For Money 4/5

David Janda 4/5

TRANS-EXPRESS David Janda takes a cool look at a mail order package of utility programs for the Sinclair Spectrum. PUBLISHER: Romantic Robot, [redacted] PRICE: Trans-Express (full version) on tape £9.95. Full 'fast access' cartridge version £14.95. Conversions available separately on cassette at £5.95 each. OUTLETS: Mail order Trans-Express from Romantic Robot is a suite of programs that enable you to perform four types of backup operation with your Microdrive and cassette. They are: tape to tape, tape to Microdrive, Microdrive to Microdrive and Microdrive to tape. As far as the Microdrive operations are concerned, one drive is all that is necessary to use a particular feature. The idea behind a backup medium such as the Microdrive is to give you greater flexibility in using the Spectrum. One of the benefits is file handling which cannot be done with cassette. But the biggest advantage is the speed at which programs can be saved to and loaded from the Microdrive. The naive Spectrum user may wonder what use this type of utility has. After all. It's a simple operation to transfer programs between cassette and Microdrive, isn't it? Well it's not. The fact is the user can have great problems in transferring programs (even their own). This is due to the crummy Microdrive filing system as well as the different syntax of loading and saving machine code and worst of all, programs with multiple parts and position dependent code. At this point it is worth pointing out that Trans-Express will copy commercial programs. Now many say this is an offence and not to be done. Indeed, Romantic Robot, which produces TransExpress, clearly warns anyone that the package must not be used to infringe copyright. FEATURES Probably the best feature of the package is its ease of use. You could be forgiven for thinking that the transfer operations the package performs are simple. But this is because they are all automatic. At no time is it necessary to scribble down start addresses and such like. Transferring programs from tape to Microdrive is very simple, yet the checks are not. If necessary, Trans-Express will relocate Basic and machine code, as well as search and change any file handling commands that are in Basic or machine code. Headers and program length are thoroughly checked and altered if necessary, and multiple part programs can also be transferred. Microdrive to Microdrive is a little deceptive in its title because it can perform all functions just as well if you have only one drive. A whole cartridge can be backed up by the press of a button, and this includes program files which are not the easiest to transfer, ie Basic. Microdrive users will be aware of how access time increases after a cartridge has been used frequently. This is because the files are scattered over the cartridge. Transferring selected files using Trans-Express saves them sequentially, thus considerably decreasing access time. It is also possible to erase and overwrite existing files. The tape to tape facility allows programs with multiple or single parts to be transferred. A program of up to 40K can be transferred in one go using Tape to Tape, and for larger programs up to 48.4K. Supertrans is used. False headers and such like are handled without any trouble. The final part of the Trans-Express package is the Microdrive to Tape transfer. There probably isn't too much call for it except as an invaluable way to archive cartridges onto another medium. No modification is made to the programs as they are transferred to tape, so it can only he used for backup purposes. IN USE The copy of TransExpress reviewed was supplied on tape, but at the time of writing a cartridge version was made available. The only real difference is that the Microdrive to Microdrive incorporates a format function as well as an easier to use delete operation. Unlike most back up tapes there are no complex operations which require the user to note down addresses and so on. The menu-driven software is very straightforward. VERDICT Backing up programs and data or simply transferring them is a boring task that should not be made any more complex. The real asset with Trans-Express is that practically all operations are automatic, and those that are not 'guide' you through. Highly recommended.

USER INTERFACE Trans-Express consists of several programs that run on 16K and 48K Spectrums. The programs are preceded by a front panel menu which invites the user to select the operation required. Once selected, the program searches for the required part, loads it and runs automatically. Depending on which operation is chosen, different types of information are displayed. Microdrive to Microdrive provides a detailed catalogue of the Microdrive cartridge. Information displayed includes details on file position (sector number), length, file type, file, cartridge name and remaining amount of memory. Files for transfer or deletion are selected by using the cursor keys to move the cursor to the desired file, then pressing s. A number of files can be selected this way and they will be transft'irred in order. The second type of display is the two line status report used in cassette operations. The reason for this is that the screen map is used as a buffer for the file to be transferredEvery operation requires just one key response and these are mainly of the Yes.'No variety, in all operations error trapping is extensive and various error reports are provided. The objective of a user 'buffer' of this type is to make complex operations simple for the user.

Sinclair User

Gilbert Factor 8/10

John Lambert 8/10

Memory: 16K Price: £9.50 Trans Express from the oddly-named Romantic Robot is a utility program which will allow microdrive and tape users to transfer programs freely between the two. The first use of the program is its microdrive-to-microdrive commands. From an enhanced CAT, files can be selected in any order and they are then saved in that order. That is useful for speeding of loading. The transfer can be either from drive one to drive two or the same drive, in which case you are told when to swap the cartridges. The microdrive-to-tape section of the tape has a similar function but the programs are output to a cassette. It is a very simple way of making a security copy of a part or the complete cartridge. Another program on the tape allows you to transfer tape programs directly to a microdrive, the program changing the relevent LOAD and SAVE commands in both Basic and code to microdrive ones. Finally, routines are included to allow tape-to-tape transfer. Both programs worked very well. For microdrive users it is a valuable utility but its inability to copy itself means a frustrating wait while it loads, something surely it is designed to avoid. Tape users will also find uses for it. Each of the functions is available separately at £5.50, tape-to-drive and drive-to-drive together at £7.50, or all together at £9.50.

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

Your Spectrum

ROMANTIC TRANSFERS At first sight you might think an outfit calling itself Romantic Robot would be heavily into mechanical clones of Barry Manilow or even worse (What could be worse? Ed.). But you'd be wrong, for RR is a software house, eager to help users 'exploit' the Microdrive and all its charms. In a software series called Trans-Express, Romantic Robot is offering cassette versions of such snappily-named programs as Tape To Microdrive, Microdrive To Microdrive, Tape To Tape and Microdrive To Tape. From a brief glimpse snatched while visiting this year's Computer Fair, the facilities offered are user-friendly and contain various error-trapping routines and tests to stop you losing your precious code. No doubt, what many buyers will have in mind is to copy vast quantities of commercial-based software to Microdrive. So far, there's been little reaction from software houses - perhaps because they've yet to grasp the implications. But, if you're the proud owner of Microdrives and fed up with the amount of software currently available on this medium (ie. none) then this package will allow you to transfer across some of the material you now have on tape. What's the point of having a Microdrive if you're not able to use it? Of course, the software houses may take a different point of view. Anyone interested in this clutch of programs can contact Romantic Robot direct at [redacted]. The prices are £5.50 each, £7.50 for any two, or £9.95 for the lot.