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I am delighted to be able to announce that KeyNote Software is now the distributor of the RISC OS version of SharpEye, the impressive Optical Music Recognition package by Graham Jones, author of Sleuth OCR.
SharpEye is the musical equivalent of a text-OCR package. It converts scanned images of printed music into Rhapsody 4, PMS and MIDI files.
SharpEye is the most accurate and powerful software of its kind on the RISC OS platform, and the only such software to be compatible with RISC OS 4.
A minimum of 16Mb of RAM is recommended.
A StrongARM processor is a significant benefit.
In order to scan music directly, TWAIN scanner software must also be installed. Alternatively, SharpEye can process monochrome sprites.
Tel 01484 460280
Fax 01484 654186
Email <mailto:Richard@Hallas.net>
Web <http://www.hallas.net/sharpeye/>
(Please make cheques payable to Richard Hallas.)
CamPins has been updated to v1.11 and now includes a few extra scripts to allow you to enjoy the many pictures there are on the Internet.
Basically CamPins is a collection of free Task Obey scripts that when run will download an image off the Internet, process it via ChangeFSI to convert it into a graphic suitable to display as a backdrop on your Pinboard!
With these scripts I offer over 400+ great look images.
Some are educational, interesting or just plain calming or beautiful to look at.
You can get CamPins V1.11 or my site at:
http://www.quantumsoft.co.uk/files/internet/campins111.zip
Please read its Help file before using the scripts please.
Here is a list of what is enclosed.
Dare I say it. Something for everyone? :-)
ENJOY!
After an extended period of hibernation, Kulture have unpacked their RiscPCs and have started doing some more development work.
The first product of this is that a new version of Delirium, our screen saver software, is available to download now from http://www.kulture.org.uk/
We also intend to release a new saver pack in the near future, featuring more high quality demo-style effects for StrongARM RiscPCs.
The main new feature in this release of Delirium is that savers can cycle after a configurable time - much more interesting to watch! :)
This is also the first release to be compiled on and tested with RISC OS 4.
As of this release, version 2.40, Delirium is freeware. We'd like to thank everyone in the past who has supported us by registering the software during its shareware days.
We are pleased to announce that the first release of Messenger Pro Server Edition will be at the SouthWest Show this Saturday.
Messenger Pro Server Edition is a top-of-the-line part of the Messenger Pro email software family for RISC OS. The software allows RISC OS users to share email across a network to all manner of computer platforms (RISC OS, Winodws, Linux etc.).
For example, a child could be sitting playing games on a Windows PC, and be viewing mail without changing machines, whilst their parents were on the RiscPC working away. By using Messenger Pro Server Edition as the central server, you are building on Messenger's well known ease of use and reliability. Enabling the Server can be done in just a couple of mouse clicks!
What's more, the server appears just like standard Messenger Pro 2 in use, making the move from existing versions simple and straightforward.
Additionally, messages can be sent easily between different users on the server (without the need to go online) for effective internal messaging.
If you travel a lot, and carry a laptop, you can download mail from your home machine onto it from MPro server, allowing you to view your mail on the road.
Remember, you will need a network to run Messenger Pro Server Edition!
To make things a little easier, the Server Edition comes with a home-licence (4 client machines) which is also suitable for most small businesses. Messenger Pro Online is included in the box for use on RISC OS machines, so that there are no "hidden extra" costs.
The RRP of Server Edition is 100ukp inc VAT and delivery.
Existing users of Messenger Pro 2 can upgrade as follows:
From Messenger Pro 2.50 standard version - 70ukp inclusive
From Messenger Pro Online 2.50 - 60ukp inclusive
If you require a licence for a larger network, simply add the normal Messenger Pro site licence cost (100ukp), although bear in mind that current RISC OS machines are perhaps not the best choice for large networks due to limitations with hard disc and network speeds.
Chris & Lee's Photodesk hints & tips web site has been updated:
Find the site at http://www.nocanews.new.labour.org.uk/chris/index.html
Feedback is very welcome, as are requests for features.
NurseW, a macro inserter for the Dr Wimp programming library, is now at version 1.63.
Enter functions and procedures at the click of a button. Saves time, effort and spelling mistakes. Now updated to complement Dr Wimp v3.62. Incorporates a couple of improvements to usability.
http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/genealogy/index.html
I am in the process of cancelling my Demon account (if they ever answer the phone), so I have moved all my webspace to:
http://wind.prohosting.com/alantrew/
Not of great interest to a lot of people, and the site is a mess considering how small it is. Nonetheless, this is where you can get my two GREAT desktop games from in future:
X-Word - The scrabble-like game
Clumps - A desktop distraction, with cute bunnies
Just click on the software links to get there. Thank you for your kind attention. I am no longer checking for e-mail at the address here.
RISCOS.be visits OS/2 User Group Belgium ============ 8th March 2002 ============
The Belgium RISC OS User group RISCOS.be has been invited by the OS/2 User Group Belgium to give a presentation about and a hands-on experience of RISC OS for all their OS/2 members and other interested people.
We gladly accepted this kind invitation and are more than happy to pass on the details of this event in order to have an as much broad audience.
Details on this event can be found on the webpage
<URL:http://www.os2ugbe.org/meetings/2002/maart.html> of the OS/2 User Group Belgium website <URL:http://www.os2ugbe.org/>. Both webpages are in Dutch only.
Where:
Kultureel Centrum "De Kam"
Beekstraat 172
B-1970 Wezembeek-Oppem
Belgium
Contacts:
+32 (0)2 731.43.31
When:
8th March 2002
at 20 o'clock
Announcing Oww 0.67.2
http://melhuish.info/simon/projects/oww/
Oww is for running a Dallas / AAG weather station from Risc OS or Linux (and now FreeBSD or Cygwin).
Version 0.67.2
Added daemon mode for Linux owwnogui.
Added long versions of command line arguments.
Fixed Weather Underground upload for one-shot mode.
[In one-shot mode (i.e. interval 0) owwnogui will wait for http exchange to complete before exiting. Set httptime 0 for this to work.]
This message to advise that a new version (v0.3) of CWDSupport is available @ http://bgilon.free.fr/RISCOS/CWDSupport/bin/CWDSupport.zip
As a reminder, CWDSupport provides every registered Wimp task with private file system settings and a private set of RISC OS environment variables (thus trying to mimic the UNIX process environment inside RISC OS). CWDSupport is designed so that it is transparent both to Wimp tasks designers and to end users (eg. the API for reading and writing a system variable value is unchanged as well as the supporting implementation).
As CWDSupport may consume quite a bit of memory in some conditions (I personaly use it as a companion utility to a telnet session server), I had to find a new memory mgmt. system for not interfering with the RMA, thus the new version provides Dynamic area support for computers running RISC OS 3.5 or later (The behaviour is unmodified for RISC OS 3.1 hosts). As the source is provided, every reader is able (and encouraged!) to replicate this support in his own developpement.
On the technical side:
CWDSupport is written in C (Norcroft);
Calls to ANSI functions malloc/realloc/calloc/free are forwarded to dynamic area aware versions if needed;
Build option for generating a "Tiny" version with only core functionality builtin.
Build option to let the programmer decide to let the module shrink the dynamic area when suitable (as part of the free block function) or to keep things unchanged builtin.
I noticed yesterday that LAME 3.91 was released while I wasn't paying attention, so I've updated my RISC OS port.
This is the first non-beta release of LAME for ages. It runs at about the same speed as my last port, possibly a smidgen faster. The main differences are sound quality gains, in theory (if your ears are good enough).
Anyway, it's available from here: http://www.toth.org.uk/~mech/
There's a StrongARM version and an ARM7500FE version and the sources are available too.
The Wakefield RISC OS Computer Club (organisers of Wakefield 2002, The Acorn RISC OS Show) are pleased to announce that we now have a new domain name.
The new website can be located at http://www.wrocc.org.uk/
and email addresses are all of the form <someone>@wrocc.org.uk. See the website for a list of contacts.
As a reminder, the Wakefield Show is to be held at Thornes Park on the 18th and 19th of May. For details of the show, see:
http://www.wakefieldshow.org.uk/2002/
Hope to see you all there.
The new ROUGoI website was launched today. It provides details on what is ROUGoI, dowloads, news, links and contact information.
ROUGoI is the RISC OS User Group of Ireland. Please visit <http://www.rougoi.riscos.org.uk/about.html> for more details.
Please send comments to <rougoi@eircom.net>
NurseW, the macro inserter for Dr Wimp has been updated to eliminate a couple of minor bugs. This version complements Dr Wimp v 3.61.
SimpWeb, the simple text to html converter has been updated to create ordered lists as well as unordered lists.
Both are available from http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/riscos/soft.html
As of 22 February 2002 the distribution of new versions of Translator, Creator and GreyEdit has changed.
The versions currently available via
http://web.inter.nl.net/users/J.Kortink/software.htm
are the last versions that may be distributed freely, subject to the conditions in the guide (see Docs.Guide). Later versions will only be available to, and may only be used by, registered users. They may not be distributed in any way (not even by registered users to other registered users). Registered users are notified of new versions by email only. If you are a registered user, you are kindly requested to contact me at kortink@inter.nl.net to establish your current email address and add yourself to the list of registered users that will be notified of new versions. Do not assume you will be notified unless you are explicitly told so by a (standard) email from me. No new versions are available yet, but some are expected to appear soon.
Note also that, contrary to what Docs.Guide says:
Also note that, as of 22 February 2002, a new payment method, 'online' registration by credit card, is available via
http://shareit1.element5.com/programs.html?productid=155093&language=English
If you have downloaded Translator 8.10, Creator 3.32 or GreyEdit 1.35, you are kindly requested to download them again from the website at
http://web.inter.nl.net/users/J.Kortink/software.htm
to have the proper notices in place.
Nettle is a terminal emulator and telnet client for RISC OS.
Nettle's aim is to be the definitive terminal emulator and telnet client for RISC OS. A range of terminal emulation options will be supported, along with full colour and graphics. An ANSI task window is provided, so that ports of unix programs which provide ANSI output can be run on RISC OS in full colour and form. (Programs such as ncftp2, BitchX, nano, lynx). Other highlights include an optional line editor with history, hotlisting, multiple terminal support and URL launching. Eventually, Nettle will also contain Secure Shell (SSH) support.
Version 0.2020 is now available from http://nettle.sourceforge.net/
For the full list of changes, please see the website.
This is to announce the beta release of version 0.29 of Director
There are two archive available for download. One contains the main Director programs and associated utilities and menus. The other also contains the source code and CVS information.
Both archives can be downloaded from:
http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/director/
Since the last stable release of Director, the following changes have been made:
Director also allows an alternative and faster view onto files in the form of directory menus and allows these menus to be attached to other menus also.
Director has some other useful features such as remembering the most recently used files, the ability to add key strokes into the keyboard buffer and the ability to produce directory menus over drive icons.
Director is fully customisable by the user, and can do many or all of the functions of Pinboard+, TreeMenu (AKA DirMenu), Filer-, QuickDir, DeskUtils, Memorizer, Menon and some of the functions of Filer+.
TEK will be released on April 15th 2002.
The realtime strategy game which features multiple camera windows, lots of units, buildings, and different levels, will be released on CD, suitable for all state-of-the-art RISC OS computers, such as the RiscStation R7500, the RiscPC (including the Kinetic), the Mico, and the Omega. The game runs in screen resolutions from 640x480 up to 1024x768.
The TEK package will also contain the full versions of the best-selling strategic simulation "Exodus - The Colonisation of Space" as well as the graphical adventure game "Ankh - The Tales of Mystery" and the puzzle platform games "BotKiller" and "BotKiller 2".
"We are sure that all RISC OS gamers will enjoy TEK, and by adding these other great Artex games, the package definitely offers very good value for money", says Dominik Heide from Artex. The TEK package will be availabe for about 30 UKP incl. VAT.
More details will be available during the next few days at www.artexsoft.com.
For additional info please mail to tek@artexsoft.com
APDL/ProAction Software
20th February 2002
By agreement with eKits Online, we're delighted to announce the availability of the Design and Make your own Clock kit version 2 for RISC OS users. Everything available to PC and Macintosh owners is equally available to RISC OS users; with all of the tutorials supplied on CD-ROM in a format suitable for use with Fresco, WebsterXL and Oregano.
Use your computer, to design and make your own clock! This special edition e-kit includes software, manual, clock mechanism and all fittings.
The pack features:
Design it...
The easy to use manual on the CDRom tells you all you need to know, including ideas and inspiration for your own clock design. Choose from a wide selection of templates and clock elements. Combine them and add your own images if you wish. Alternatively, design your clock from scratch using the clock templates. Square, ellipse, star and other shaped templates are included.
Make it...
Simply follow the numbered stages to produce your finished working clock!
Find out more...
And it doesn't stop there! Browse the online resources and find out about clocks and time. Then test your knowledge with the worksheets and interactive clockquiz.
Pricing and availability
The triple-platform eKit is priced at 14.90ukp including postage within the UK. Replacement clock kit components are available from eKits Online at just under 2ukp each (containing everything you need to make more clocks!). This eKit will launch on 26th February 2002, and can be ordered from APDL on 020 8778 2659 or by post from APDL, 39 Knighton Park Road, Sydenham, London SE26 5RN.
Verions 3.07 of !Rename is available for download.
This version includes a number of enhancements (including significant performance improvements, better progress feedback, etc).
!Rename is a smart file renamer using !Edit-like wildcards to define rules for renaming multiple files within the desktop.
It can be downloaded by going to
http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/tigger/
and following the "Programs" and "Desktop Utilities" links.
A new version of BDRand incorporating a number of user-requested enhancements is available.
It can be downloaded by going to
http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/tigger/
and following the "Programs" and "Desktop Utilities" links.
BDRand is a highly configurable backdrop randomiser for RO3.1+.
An updated version of GraphDraw (now at version 2.61) is available from the following urls.
http://www.bulldog.u-net.com/software/graphdraw.html
or
http://www1.che.hw.ac.uk/~soft/graphdraw.html
or
http://www.graphdraw.riscos.org.uk/
For those that still do not know about GraphDraw:
GraphDraw allows the entry, and editing, of x,y values, and the data may then be fit to
The resulting graph may be printed via any standard RISC OS printer driver, saved as a draw file, or exported as a MultiPlot file to allow several graphs to be combined.
Announcing Oww 0.67.1
http://melhuish.info/simon/projects/oww/
Oww is for running a Dallas / AAG weather station from RISC OS or Linux (and now FreeBSD or Cygwin).
Version 0.67 Adds client / server data exchange; e.g. run oww or owwnogui on your Linux box and view it with Oww on a Risc PC over your LAN - or vice versa.
>From the NEWS file:
Version 0.67.1
Changed command line option passing. Now using simple parser (shame popt hasn't been ported to RISC OS!).
Usage: OwwNoGui [-s setup_file] [-S stats_file] [-D devices_file]
Changed behaviour after repeated 85C temperature errors. Oww will now execute a restart, causing a reset of all bus devices.
Fixed a bug in Oww data exchange (T < 0C [32F] were coming out crazy).
[Linux / BSD / Cygwin]
Added build options - see News file.
!FSI_Batch 2.8 is now on my website. Go to the bottom of the index page and follow the link to my software.
This version fixes two related bugs. When more than 77 files were dropped onto the window, the program automatically created sub-directories but would hang up if you tried to delete these with the button provided. This has been fixed.
The above feature also applied to RISC OS 4, which does not need sub-directories. If you have this operating system FSI_Batch will now store all files in the same internal directory or in another directory of your choice.
For those that don't know the application: It is a front-end to ChangeFSI and allows you to drop up to 200 image files on its window. It will now convert all these images according to the options selected, while you can go away and have a cup of tea or a well deserved nap.
You can, for example, set the option to half size, output JPEG at 65%. Now drop 200 photo CD images on the window and come back half an hour later to view the results.
If your filer only allows 77 files per directory the program will automatically create sub-directories to store the overflow.
The program will handle anything that ChangeFSI can process. A wide range of processing choices have been provided, but those that know ChangeFSI have also been given easy access to the command line.
FSI_Batch will work on all RiscOS 3.+ machines. It supports interactive help.
The program is shareware.
http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/tudor
As usual,
Serious Statistical Software
will be at the South West Show, held at the Webbington Hotel in Loxton (not so far from Weston-super-Mare) on Saturday 2nd March.
On our small stand we'll be showing our products performing their usual miracles ;-)
We'll also be offering very special discounts for any product ordered at the Show.
Come along and talk to us.
If you have numerical data in the form of text or CSV files bring them along on a disc and we'll demonstrate how to go about analysing the data in a thoroughgoing manner.
PS There'll be other developers there too!
However; it is important to note that you do not need to have any particular condition or impairment to find some enjoyment, interest or even benefit from the use of our programs. Most of them are quite good fun.
We will be at the RISCOS SouthWest 2002 Show on Saturday the 2nd of March, 2002 showing our range of software. We will be selling 2 CDs of our software - one for native RISC OS machines and one to install on the Virtual Acorn emulator. We hope to see you there.
http://www.strngarm.demon.co.uk/
On behalf of the ROX-Filer team, I'm pleased to announce a new stable release of ROX-Filer! 1.2.0 comes more than a year after the previous stable release (1.0.0) and introduces a huge number of new features (details below).
ROX-Filer is a small, fast, powerful filer for Unix, Linux and compatible systems. Its user interface is based on the RISC OS filer, and it supports similar concepts, such as application directories, drag-and-drop saving and popup menus. It also implements a RISC OS like pinboard, and a panel which can be used in a similar way to the RISC OS iconbar. It also supports many features not found in RISC OS, including thumbnails of images, keyboard short-cuts, many more options, powerful search facilities, etc.
ROX-Filer can be used on its own, with another desktop (such as GNOME, KDE or XFCE), or as the core component of the ROX desktop. The ROX desktop aims to bring all the good features of RISC OS to modern systems.
ROX-Filer can be downloaded here:
http://rox.sf.net/rox_download.php3
Source code and Linux-x86 binaries are currently provided for 1.2.0. Since 1.2.0 is identical to the latest developer release, the RPMs and Debian packages for 1.1.14 may be treated as stable too (packages for new releases usually take a day or two to appear).
Here are the differences between the new release and the previous stable release:
... plus many bugfixes and other minor improvements. Thanks to the huge number of people who have contributed to this release! Of especial note are:
Christopher Arndt, Jens Askengren, Liav Asseraf, Wilbert Berendsen, Francesco Bochicchio, Andrzej Borsuk, Richard Boulton, Simon Britnell, Arnaud Calvo, Andrew Clover, Fabien Coutant, Couderc Damien, Andreas Dehmel, Dmitry Elfimov, Mattias Engdegard, Andrew Flegg, Olivier Fourdan, Eric Gillespie, Thierry Godefroy, Alex Holden, Jasper Huijsmans, Bernard Jungen, James Kermode, Jim Knoble, Krzysztof Krzyzaniak, Vincent Ledda, Vincent Lefevre, Victor Liu See-le, Anders Lundmark, Jose Romildo Malaquias, Denis Manente, Andras Mohari, Christiansen Merel, Jimmy Olgeni, Andy Piper, Marcelo Ramos, Michel Alexandre Salim, Chris Sawer, Taras, Simon Truss, Jan Wagemakers, Stephen Watson, Andre Wyrwa, Diego Zamboni
... not to mention all those who helped with bug reports, testing and suggestions!
The filer is distributed under the GNU General Public License, which means that anyone can modify it, use bits of it in their own (GPL) programs, etc. Indeed, many of the improvements made to the filer were added by other ROX users and posted as patches to the mailing list.
http://rox.sourceforge.net/install.php3
http://rox.sourceforge.net/guide.php3
You can read more, download ROX-Filer, read the comments people have made, and look at some screenshots here:
http://rox.sourceforge.net/
http://rox.sourceforge.net/comments.php3
http://rox.sourceforge.net/screenshots.php3
There are two mailing lists; rox-users and rox-devel. You can subscribe here, or look at the archives:
http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=7023
A selection of tutorials on writing ROX applications is available on-line:
http://rox.sourceforge.net/tutor.php3
Fleur Designs will be at the South West Show on the 2nd March but...
..apparently like the BBC we've run into a squiggly problem.
We did have a game called Squiggle but it appears that that name is already being used elsewhere so, to make sure that no-one is confused, our game will appear under the name Wiggul in future. So just drop the Sk.. sound off squiggle and you should get the new name. And unlike the BBC we won't have to change our dog's name as well!
Fleur Designs use ArtWorks (and a touch of ingenuity!) to produce a range of board games designed to appeal to intelligent people with enquiring minds and a gently competitive edge; just the sort of people you're likely to encounter at a RISC OS Show - which is why we'll be there.
As well as selling our games we'll be interested to discuss how we use ArtWorks to produce our games' designs together with our other interests in a User Group in the North West and the forthcoming Show at Wakefield.
We hope to have Wiggul available in time for the show and, along with all our other games it will be discounted - to 10 pounds for single board games like Wiggul.
You won't be able to use any of our games (not even Wiggul) on a computer but it's exactly the right gift to take home for the rest of the family (to make up for everything you've spent on yourself?) and you can explain to them that these games are designed to look good and, come Spring, they're nice and compact to fit in a bag to take on holiday. What's more there's a range of unique games that you just can't buy anywhere else.
In the meantime have a look at our web-site. www.cartmell.demon.co.uk
If there are any games that you'd like to order in advance just send us an e-mail and we'll make sure we have them available for you at the South West Show at the discount price. If you can't be at the Show then between now and 9th March we'll offer readers of csa announce all our games by post at Show prices (+ postage) but any orders to be in time for Mothers' day (10th March) should be with us ASAP.
See you on the 2nd March.
John Cartmell0161-969-9820
07747 89 88 80
fleur@cartmell.demon.co.uk
http://www.cartmell.demon.co.uk/
I've released an early but useful version of a RISC OS VNC server on my site:
http://www.soup-kitchen.net/software/
It's potentially useful because it's a small module and hooks into RISC OS at quite a low level, so works for playing games, clicking on WIMP error boxes etc. or otherwise when RISC OS is 'single-tasking'.
It's potentially not very useful because it doesn't actually serve the display contents to the client, only passes along the keypresses, mouse clicks and movements. I may add the display part later but only if I need the space on my desk :-) Beware there's a nasty bug left in it which can render the machine unusable, and performs no connection authentication at all. So not industrial strength, but useful enough for me to stop having to swap my keyboard and mouse all the time.
Any fixes or new features will be very welcome.
After 7 years, I have decided to release my RISC OS GUI programming library as Open Source, along with API documentation and tutorials.
It is available from http://rovlib.sourceforge.net/
It has been used in a number of applications, including:
ROVlib's key features are:
I am currently working on the tutorials, and these will be uploaded on an ongoing basis.
A small selection of hints, tips and work-throughs for the RISC OS graphics package Photodesk can be found at:
http://www.nocanews.new.labour.org.uk/chris/index.html
Comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.
http://rox.sf.net/rox_download.php3
Since there are no known bugs at this time, this is a stable release candidate. Hopefully, this release will be identical to 1.2.0.
Changes since 1.1.13:
Bugfixes:
Translations:
The filer is distributed under the GNU General Public License, which means that anyone can modify it, use bits of it in their own (GPL) programs, etc. Indeed, many of the improvements made to the filer were added by other ROX users and posted as patches to the mailing list.
The filer comes with translations for Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Russian and Spanish.
http://rox.sourceforge.net/install.php3
http://rox.sourceforge.net/guide.php3
You can read more, download ROX-Filer, read the comments people have made, and look at some screenshots here:
http://rox.sourceforge.net/
http://rox.sourceforge.net/comments.php3
http://rox.sourceforge.net/screenshots.php3
There are two mailing lists; rox-users and rox-devel. You can subscribe here, or look at the archives:
http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=7023
A selection of tutorials on writing ROX applications is available on-line:
http://rox.sourceforge.net/tutor.php3
Due to a slight error on my part the single tasking mode of RiscX v0.05 doesn't work overly well... I've uploaded a new version to my website that fixes this problem.
If you've already got V0.05 and don't use the single tasking mode, then there's probably no point in upgrading.
Go get it here...
http://www.beyondthought.co.uk/
For those that don't know, RiscX is an X Server application for RISC OS. It allows you to run the various X client programs on a remote server (Usually a Unix/Linux based system) and see the output on your RISC OS desktop. Its one way of getting Mozilla to run on a RISC S box.
RiscX should run on any RISC OS 3+ machine (Assuming you have the memory) And has a single tasking and multi tasking mode. The multitasking mode runs quite happliy on a StrongARM machine, and the single tasking version is fast enough for most things on non-StrongArm machines.
Please note that we have changed our FREE phone 0800 number to 0800 619 2426. This is reflected at our web site (http://www.futurecomputers.co.uk/) and all future announcements. The old number will cease at the end of the month.
Our other numbers are therefore, Tel 01279 303878, Tel 0800 619 2426, Fax 0870 705 8397
ARMalayser version 0.26 is now available from http://www.armclub.org.uk/free. The following enhancements have been made for this release:
ARMalyser is an ARM code analyser that understands RISC OS executable, module, object and library formats. It can output disassembly or ObjAsm assembly styles, in plain text, fully hyperlinked and syntax coloured HTML, XML or custom formats for import into Impression, EasiWriter and Ovation Pro. It is available for RISC OS with a desktop front end, and command line versions for Win32 and Linux x86.
I've just put an update to !PDF on my website: http://www.pdf.iconbar.com/. It has the following changes.
!PDF is a public domain PDF (Adobe Acrobat) file viewer for RISC OS.
Version 0.05 of RiscX is now available from
http://www.beyondthought.co.uk/
The main improvements in this version are
For those that don't know, RiscX is an X Server application for RISC OS. It allows you to run the various X client programs on a remote server (Usually a Unix/Linux based system) and see the output on your RISC OS desktop. Its one way of getting Mozilla to run on a RISC S box.
RiscX should run on any RISC OS 3+ machine (Assuming you have the memory) And has a single tasking and multi tasking mode. The multitasking mode runs quite happliy on a StrongARM machine, and the single tasking version is fast enough for most things on non-StrongArm machines.
Upgraded at http://www.dacha.freeuk.com/free/
!Jclean is a desktop front end for the Independant JPEG Group utilities 'jpegtran' and 'wrjpgcom'. It allows all operations available from these utilities to be performed by clicking and drag-and-drop rather than having to resort to the command line.
Version 3.00 is a complete rewrite providing a more friendly interface and greater functionality, including better control over comment insertion, recursion through deeply nested directory structures, the option of retaining the original filedate or re-stamping, and easy customisation.
And, with a bit of luck, no more deleted JPEGs if 'jpegtran' throws a wobbly.
VirtualAcorn are delighted to announce that version 1.10 of VirtualA5000 is now available as a free download from our website at
http://www.virtualacorn.co.uk/
VirtualA5000 turns a Windows PC into an Acorn compatible running RISC OS 3.11. Now you can run RISC OS applications, including those written in BBC Basic, on a PC.
Version 1.10 of VirtualA5000 is faster than previous versions and has a much quicker screen update. The mouse operation is therefore much smoother than in version 1.00. The latest version also allows you to manually enter the processor speed of the host PC, thus fixing the problem of VirtualA5000 running far too slowly, or indeed far too quickly.
Also available is an upgrade to the latest version of the on screen manual, this documents the new configuration options. There is also an extended trouble shooting section covering the most common problems users have reported, along with the solutions.
VirtualA5000 speed tests
Also available from the download page is an upgrade that installs a set of speed test programs. These allow you to measure the relative performance of VirtualA5000, and RISC OS, on different machines.
The Web site
We have also taken the opportunity to add more information to the website. The FAQ page now has more questions and answers, which are based on the most common questions potential customers have asked us. There is also a new specification page that makes it easier to see if your Windows PC is suitable for running VirtualA5000.
As always feedback from our users is always appreciated.
The LibXML, LibXSLT and XSLDebug tools xmlcatalog, xmllint, xsltproc, and xsldebug as well as the RISC OS source for libxml 2.4.14 and libxslt 1.0.11 have been updated at:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/justin.fletcher/XML/
This update follows the release of the libxml 2.4.14 and libxslt 1.0.11 sources yesterday.
XML is a structured description format used in many modern applications. XSLT is a mechanism for transforming data in XML-based formats to other formats (most usually HTML or some similar markup). XML Catalogs are structured, extensible way of providing cached copies of externally accessible documents.
XMLCatalog manipulates catalogs.
XMLLint checks validity and well-formedness of XML documents.
XSLTProc applies stylesheets transforms (XSLT) to XML documents.
XSLDebug allows debugging of stylesheet transformations.
The tools contained in these releases are used by in the 'RISC OS documentation project', which I am working on. They have been tested by myself and those working on the project.
Relevant changes in LibXML (from Daniel's release note) :
Relevant changes in LibXSLT (from Daniel's release note) :
XSLDebug has been updated to build with the above (no changes necessary) and so gains from all these fixes (except stringparam).
More information about libxml2, libxslt and its related tools can be obtained from http://xmlsoft.org/. More information on xsldebug can be obtained from http://xsldbg.sourceforge.net/. libxml2 and libxslt is developed by Daniel Veillard, as an open source project in collaboration with many others. xsldebug is developed by Keith Isdale, as an open source project in collaboration with many others.
LibXML and LibXSLT are currently in API freeze for Gnome. XSLDebug is currently undergoing major work to integrate with other unix debuggers.
As in the past, I intend to keep RISC OS libxml2/libxslt releases within 24 hours of the base unix source release.
http://rox.sf.net/rox_download.php3
It's mainly bug fixes this time. The filer is now in feature-freeze until 1.2.0. Please test it thoroughly!
Since there are no known bugs at this time, this is a stable release candidate. Hopefully, there are no major bugs remaining.
Changes:
Bugfixes:
Translations:
The filer is distributed under the GNU General Public License, which means that anyone can modify it, use bits of it in their own (GPL) programs, etc. Indeed, many of the improvements made to the filer were added by other ROX users and posted as patches to the mailing list.
The filer comes with translations for Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Russian and Spanish.
http://rox.sourceforge.net/install.php3
http://rox.sourceforge.net/guide.php3
You can read more, download ROX-Filer, read the comments people have made, and look at some screenshots here:
http://rox.sourceforge.net/
http://rox.sourceforge.net/comments.php3
http://rox.sourceforge.net/screenshots.php3
There are two mailing lists; rox-users and rox-devel. You can subscribe here, or look at the archives:
http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=7023
A selection of tutorials on writing ROX applications is available on-line:
http://rox.sourceforge.net/tutor.php3
We are pleased to announce the release of "Network in a Box", a product designed to bring the ease-of-use for which RISC OS is famed, to the complex-seeming world of Networking.
By providing everything you need to get going, combined with manageably-sized step-by-step guides covering each aspect, it has never been simpler to get your computers talking to each other for file sharing, printer sharing and internet sharing.
The basic "Network in a Box" covers both RISC OS and Windows machines, providing hardware and software for both systems. A unique feature is that unlike the modern trend for "on disc" minimalist instructions for PC software/hardware, all the guides are printed, paper documents, which can be followed easily! The step-by-step instructions not only cover RISC OS, but also Windows 95/98/ME and Windows 2000/XP.
The standard "network in a box" consists of:
1 x RiscPC/A7000 network card
1 x high speed PCI network card for Windows PCs
1 x box for sharing internet (broadband or modem) and printer, which acts as the centrepiece (hub) of the network for 4 computers. This is actually a high speed "switch", which is much faster than a normal network hub, ensuring no corners are cut.
5 x printed guides, explaining how to set up both RISC OS and Windows systems. Topics covered include how to install the cards, how to share printers, how to share internet and so on.
2 x network cables
Software for both RISC OS and Windows systems.
RCI offer technical support for the kit, to the usual "RISC OS standands", for both the RISC OS and Windows aspects of the package.
The price for the kit is 299ukp inclusive of VAT and UK delivery. This is actually significantly cheaper than buying the components individually, and also includes technical support. We are using quality, branded components, thereby ensuring confidence in the product(s) purchased.
Additional network cards/cables may be added either at the time of purchase, or at a later date. Other options include PCMCIA network cards for laptops and the like.
"Network in a box" solves this by providing you with a complete solution, backed up by support and manuals covering the whole process.
Melotech is delighted to announce a brand new addition to the Downloads section. Developed by Martin Carradus, BBC_C translates from Acorn BBC BASIC into Acorn ANSI C, with output presented in a text file suitable for an Acorn C compiler.
There are advantages in translating BASIC code into C. To understand these, it is important to know a little about the different between compilers and interpreters.
All computer languages need to be translated into the fundamental instructions of the particular computer (machine code). A compiler is presented with the complete program and translates the whole thing into machine code. The machine code is then run on the computer in a separate stage. An interpreter, however, translates the program and obeys it as it goes along. The advantage is that you do not need a preceding stage before you run the program. The disadvantage is that, since the whole program has not been seen, the final code is usually less efficient and runs more slowly than compiled code.
The compiled C that BBC_C produces runs approximately three times faster than the same interpreted BBC BASIC.
BBC_C is shareware. Download the demonstration version from Melotech Downloads now at http://www.melotech.co.uk/downloads/
I am embarrassed to have to announce a new version of DiscImage, version 1.02, which cures a very silly bug in version 1.01. The bug meant that when creating plain images of certain types of disc, the output would not be written correctly and the image would be useless. DSK, EDSK and Stroiczek images were not affected by this bug. For those who would like to know, the discs affected were those where the sectors do not appear on the track in strict numerical order, but are "skewed" so that (for example) the next numerical sector is the next but one on the track.
The new version can be downloaded from:
http://www.sinenomine.freeserve.co.uk/software/
DiscImage is a utility for creating image files from floppy discs. These are often used by emulators as an alternative to accessing a real disc drive. DiscImage can create images of any type of floppy disc recognised by RISC OS, whether natively or by means of modules such as DOSFS, MacFS and CPMFS, as well as images of Amstrad CPC discs and some Einstein disc formats. Images can be created in various formats: plain, DSK, EDSK, and Stroiczek. DSK and EDSK are used by emulators of Amstrad 8-bit machines, and the Stroiczek image format is used by CPCEmu, a CPC emulator for RISC OS.
I am pleased to announce !SerMon version 1.00
This monitors the serial buffers, allowing you to see what is buffered in the serial queues, and thus the usage of the serial port.
This application provides an icon on the icon bar with two verticle bars that show the current serial port buffers.
Requirements:
A massive 8k of free memory when running.
A massive 8k of free harddisc space (quantisation dependent) to
install the application.
And um, a serial port.
Only tested on RISC OS 3.7
Available from
http://www.f451.freeserve.co.uk/
It is being distributed to the wider public due to positive feedback from a number of developers, who have found its features useful. I will not have a huge amount of time to support this application, so it is important that feedback is selective and precise.
New at http://www.dacha.freeuk.com/free/
!Chromax is designed to map any tint sequence to any other tint sequence in all 8-bit sprites (256-colour sprites) in a single Spritefile that either have no palette or have a standard palette. Its main use would be for creating colour variations on sets of icons, although it can also produce negative images as colour only inverse, grey only inverse or both. Any sprite mask is unaffected by the process.
ToolSprites in vibrant colours; dozens of matching tiles for window, desktop or file backgrounds; chunky directory icons.
I have just moved and updated the style of my web site to make it easier for me to maintain.
http://www.acornusers.org/krsoulsby
You can find here a number of applications written in Wimpbasic 2 along with the libraries you need to run them.
In brief they are:
All of the applications are freeware - enjoy
You can also find some examples of the graphics I have produced with Draw and TopModel 2.
Now that I have changed the web site I should find it easier to up date it more regularly.
Hope you find it useful
Transprites, a tiny part of the forthcoming, overambitious, all-singing all-dancing !FANLib runtime library, is now available.
Transprites is a runtime-compiled set of graphics routines that can plot 32bit RGBA sprites (24bits RGB + 8bits alpha mask) in the following ways:
It's an early version. The source code is IMHO quite readable so, if nothing else, it may be an interesting method to examine how to write high-level assembly!
You can download Transprites from the following URL:
http://users.hol.gr/~fantasia/fan/fanlib.html
Or if you have a little more time to waste, take a more overall look at Fantasia FAN`s new site:
I am looking forward to getting "frames per second" measurements from Kinetic users.
Version 1.12 of the Audiogalaxy Satellite for RISC OS is now available and is awaiting your download!
The main changes between this and the previously released 1.10 were mostly made by Justin Fletcher:
You can get it at http://www.alpha-programming.co.uk/ in the Software section.
(information from the Audiogalaxy website)
My ISP's shutting down its website support, so the RegEx module [as used at least by JSD's !Pluto] will no longer be available from the onet or orangenet.co.uk URLs.
The permanent new home is http://www.fnxweb.com/ - which is my domain, so it should always point to whereever I happen to have my site.
RegEx contact via regex@fnxweb.com please.
http://www.everett9981.freeserve.co.uk/pete.htm
Based on Kino v0.3 from eQ R&D, this version has been produced to provide improved operation on StrongArm machines. It does not however contain any StrongArm specific code.
Requirements are the AMPlayer module v1.36 or later.
Both the previous (6.50) and the new (7.03) versions are stored at this site. For version 7.03 you only need:
The RISC OS specific bits of source and build information are in:
ROSsrcGS.zip
To avoid overloading the acornusers server please use a cache if you have access to one. Demon users should consider using BatchFTP:
http://www.demon.net/services/ftp/batchftp.html
!Ghostscr performs a simple check on the installation when first seen by the filer and will warn if there appears to be a problem.
I've just uploaded some new gamepatches.
They are:
Fire & Ice (RISC OS 3.7 and RISC OS 4)
Gribbly
Enter the Realm (Version2)
Simon the sorcerer (Disc version1)
You can find them on my homepage:
http://www.vd-boogaert.myweb.nl/
A full and detailed simulation of (more than one) mechanical signalbox. Pull those levers, ring those block bells and see the trains move (and the signals and points operate)!
http://www.sandt.freeuk.com/SigBox.zip
See below for a description and screen shots:
http://www.home-in-bristol.fsnet.co.uk/Software.htm
The Stryker Software website has been further updated and appears to contain much...some...very useful and occasionally essential application(s), modules & utilities (and some utterly pointless ones too) to make using RISC OS just that little bit more fun.
Recently added:
| BuffMon | Dynamically monitor the status of system buffers |
| CompactMsg | Compact and expand Messages file using !Help tokens |
| FakeScrap | Removes need for !Scrap (on floppy only machines) |
| Reset | System reset command for all versions of RISC OS |
| *** ShutraFS *** | Dismounts all raFS discs on machine shutdown |
| TimeSwitch | Conversion of 1983 Spectrum adventure game by C.Carruthers Available for all versions of BBC BASIC - even non-Acorn(!) |
All software has been tested and found to work on RISC OS 3.00 to 4.24. Some of the above software will even work on an Electron. More not-so-totally-pointless stuff coming soon. Pointless stuff available on spec.
Visit Raven's Roost/Wolf's Lair at: http://www.stryker.freeserve.co.uk/
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