News from Third Party Developers

All the latest news about software and hardware products from third party developers

The news is organised in chronological order, with the most recent stories at the top. Choose the month you require, then click on a topic heading to jump to the associated announcement.

2003 Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul 2003
Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan
2002 Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul 2002
Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan
2001 Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul 2001
Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan
2000 Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul 2000
Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan

March 2001


ROX-Filer 1.1.2

30th March 2001

Thomas Leonard

NEWS
ROX-Filer 1.1.2 - a new developer release of the filer, has been released (source and Linux-x86 binaries only at the moment):

http://rox.sourceforge.net/rox_filer.php3

It's a developer release, so you may wish to stay with the current stable version, although the new one should be OK.

The filer now requires libxml to be installed (available from 'http://www.xmlsoft.org/' if you haven't got it already).

The main new feature is support for panel applets (small programs which run inside the panel/iconbar). Some example applets are on the web here:

http://rox.sourceforge.net/applets.php3

Changes since 1.1.1:

BACKGROUND
ROX-Filer is a graphical file manager for Unix/Linux which provides a RISC OS-like interface. It is also the core component of the ROX desktop; a RISC OS-like desktop for Unix/Linux.

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, Italian and Polish.

ADDRESSES
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 now two mailing lists, rox-users and rox-devel. You can subscribe here, or look at the archives:

http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=7023

Enjoy.

Thomas Leonard

Shine v1.00 first release, a fast MP3 encoder

28th March 2001

Peter Everett

Shine is a port of an MP3 encoder based on freely available source code. It has been optimised for speed and you will not believe how fast it goes.

Available for free download from

http://www.everett9981.freeserve.co.uk/

This is not a high quality encoder and as such does not perform well below 96k bit. In fact at 32k bit, you get the added bonus of an interesting sound effects generator.

But for a quick zip, you won't beat it.

There are 2 versions, 1 for StrongArm, and 1 for all others. Make sure you get the right one. The operating speed should make it usable on older machines although the only other machine I tested it on was an A3010 which was still rather slow.

Peter Everett


Bernard's RISC OS Software Address Change

28th March 2001

Bernard Veasey

Please note that 'Bernard's RISC OS Software' web address is now:

http://www.bapfish.org.uk/

The OLD web address (http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/bernard.veasey) will cease to exist as from 3 April 2001 - as will this e-mail address.

The current list of software is:

Bernard Veasey

SHAREWARE: jpg2pdf 1.2

27th March 2001

SANFACE Software

What is jpg2pdf?

jpg2pdf is a very flexible and powerful PERL5 program. It can convert a collection of jpeg images into a PDF album. You can use jpg2pdf like a module inside your applications (cgis, ...).

Why do you need jpg2pdf?

jpg2pdf is a PERL5 tool, so you can use it in every OS supported by PERL5
we distribute also a Windows executable versions
jpg2pdf is a native converter, you don't need to pass through PostScript format
jpg2pdf is specific to put your jpeg images inside a PDF, so you can create (batch) a unique PDF file from your JPEG archive (using * and ? metachars: e.g. a*.jpg or recursively)
you can add to your PDF collection of jpeg images transition effects
you can set PDF full-screen mode e.g. to show to your friend your digital photos made by your digital camera

What's new:

With scale feature is now possible to set the scale factor for your images. The default is 1 (no scale). You can use e.g. 1.5, 0.25 ...
Executable version also for AIX
Validate HTML 4.0 documentation

Test jpg2pdf 1.2!
You can find it at http://www.sanface.com/jpg2pdf.html

Test also our tools:
txt2pdf 4.4 at http://www.sanface.com/txt2pdf.html
txt2pdf 4.x PRO at http://www.sanface.com/txt2pdfPRO.html
txt2pdf PRO + Japanese at http://www.sanface.com/txt2pdfPROj.html

SANFACE Software

Updated Acorn Liturgy Suite

27th March 2001

Colin Randall

The Christian Acorn User Group is pleased to announce the long-awaited upgrade to the Acorn Liturgy Suite.

This Resource for users of RISC OS Computers comprises the following:

Common Worship - Eucharist - material from Standard Edition and some from the President's Edition
Common Worship - Initiation - as above
Common Worship - Services of the Word - from the Standard Edition
Common Worship - Pastoral Services (Wholeness, Marriage, Funeral)
Common Worship - Calendar, Lectionary and Collects
Calendar application that enables the user to generate Collects and Readings for any year.

The Suite comes on 2 HD floppy disks and costs £2.50*
The modules interact with ExpLAN's HolyBible software and will not work without this.

The modules permit the export of the text, and allows the user to take advantage of the excellent search facilities available to HolyBible.

Cheques payable to 'Christian Acorn User Group'
Snail mail contact:
Rev'd Colin Randall
The Vicarage
Warwick Bridge,
Carlisle
CA4 8RF

01228-560332

*The low price is because this is a non-profit product.

The Christian Acorn User Group are grateful for the support and co-operation of Church House Publishing in producing this material.

As well as myself others have been involved and I would like to thank Andy McMullon for producing the Eucharist module and Alan Archer for !Calendar.

Colin Randall
(Hon. Sec. of the Christian Acorn User Group)

Personal Accounts 4

27th March 2001

David Bradforth

Personal Accounts is a comprehensive program designed to make management of your personal finances easier than - well - managing it in your head. With a highly intuitive user interface, the program has been described to Apricote Studios as 'fun to play with', although we find it difficult to understand quite how this is possible...

Either way, Personal Accounts now forms part of the APDL / ProAction range, available from APDL on 020 8778 2659 or email info@apdl.co.uk. The new price will be 29ukp.

David Bradforth

Dare Devil Denis is back!

26th March 2001

Michael Foot

Do you remember playing the game Dare Devil Denis on your BBC Micro?

Now you can play it again under RISC OS!

After the last release of my BBC emulator, I though I'd see how difficult it would be to convert a BBC game and make it run under RISC OS without the aid of an emulator. The approach I took was to write a translator program that would take a 6502 binary, disassemble it and then produce 'C' source code to do exactly what the original game did. So, instead of having to rewrite the game from scratch and trying to get everything the same, I now have an exact conversion that looks, plays and feels the same as the original.

While Dare Devil Denis is quite a simple game and did not take long to convert, I'm sure this method can be used on a lot more BBC games. I'd like to hear if you have any sugestions as to which game I should tackle next. Bear in mind that I cannot do any game still in Copyright. That means Acornsoft, Superior Software or 4th Dimension titles. Titles such as Zalaga, Guardian, Chuckie Egg etc. should be ok (I'm sure I'll get told if they aren't).

Anyway, please download the RISC OS version of Dare Devil Denis from http://www.voyager.co.nz/~mikef/ under RISC OS Software.

Enjoy.

Michael Foot

Hard Disc Companion has a new owner

23rd March 2001

David Bradforth

Hard Disc Companion 2 is the complete backup utility providing excellent security for your valuable data. It provides a structured approach to the backing up of hard drives to floppy discs, and the recovery of files after disc failure or accidental file deletion. Both Full and Incremental backups are supported, and the files to be backed-up or ignored are chosen using simple drag operations. The entire backup specification may be saved in a script file for use at a later date. A compression system ensures that the data is backed up quickly and efficiently.

Features

New features in version 2.61 (RISC OS 4 compatible)

The new price will be announced as soon as possible.

David Bradforth

Ovation 1 has a new owner

23rd March 2001

David Bradforth

Ovation is the acclaimed desktop publisher used on thousands of sites across the country. With its superb range of facilities and competitive price it is the ideal choice for all document production ranging from simple letters to complete books. Ovation is acclaimed for its ease-of-use, and we guarantee that in no time at all you will be producing professional-looking documents. Many of the features you would expect in much higher priced software are provided, but in an easy-to-learn and intuitive package.

Features include

Ovation comes with a 250-page user guide, widely regarded as an excellent introduction to desktop publishing. It includes a concise guide to getting started, a detailed description of all the facilities, plus sections on DTP techniques, document design and printing.

The new price is expected to be ukp9.90 + ukp2.50 p&p UK, overseas at cost. For further information, please email info@apdl.co.uk or call 020 8778 2659. As usual, orders may be placed by post to: APDL, 39 Knighton Park Road, Sydenham, London SE26 5RN

David Bradforth

'Pocket Reader' OCR pen with RISC OS S/W!

22nd March 2001

The Fourth Dimension

The Siemens 'Pocket Reader' will scan printed text almost anywhere! OCR documents anywhere quickly and simply.

Specification:
Memory Capacity: About 20 A4 pages internally.
Character sets: English, French, German, Spanish & Italian.
Dimensions: 160x40x20mm
Weight: 110g (inc Batteries)
Power Source: 2x AAA / LR03 Batteries
Operating Period: Longer than 20 Hours
Scanner Resolution: 8 to 16 Point
Fonts: Sanserif (Helvetica, etc); Serif (Times, Courier etc)

RISC OS text transfer software included.
Transfers as plain text, Ovation DDL, Impression DDF or HTML.

Price 62ukp Inc Post

Credit or debit cards welcome, cheques payable to 'The Fourth Dimension' please.

The Fourth Dimension
78 Brighton Road, Worthing, BN11 2EN, England.
Tel: +44 01903 523222 Fax: +44 01903 523679
Email: 4D@cje.co.uk Web: http://www.cje.co.uk/

Further details & Photo will soon be at http://cje.co.uk/pocketreader/

We had originally expected to launch this product at the Wakefield show, but thanks to good information from Siemens and some speedy programming by Ian Jeffrey of Paradise Software, the project was completed well ahead of schedule, so we are launching it early!

*****Competition*****
The Pocket reader has many uses, so many we can't possibly think of them all, so here's a competition, send us your suggestions.

Categories:
Most practical use of a Pocket Reader
Most bizarre use
Most unlikely use
& funniest use

The prize for the overall winner is a 'Pocket Reader'

Category winners will be presented with certificates at the Wakefield Show. Judge for the overall winner: to be announced.

Entries to: 4d@cje.co.uk or snailmail to the above address, with subject 'Pocket Reader Competition'

Chris Evans

!X-Word v0.10 released

22nd March 2001

Alan Trewartha

!X-Word is a 'Crossword-style' game in the spirit of the expensively copyrighted game 'Scrabble' (owned by Spear's Games/Mattel) but different in many important ways (tile frequency and scores, board arrangement and size, scoring details, etc.).

It is available free from my web-site: http://www.alant.demon.co.uk/ or from

http://www.xword.riscos.org.uk/

New in this release
**Alternative board layouts**
Different sized boards and sprites are accomodated by putting all the sprites and templates for the game in folders. Currently you have to edit the "Messages" file and change the value of the "pref_board" token to the folder of resources you want. The standard is "Board48", but I supply "Board72" too, which is 50% larger.

This will be made easier to configure in future. Briefly, the number at the end of the name of the resource folder refers to the OS units of the "tile" sprites.

I intend to polish up the documentation and include a "Board 60" v soon.

Changes behind the scenes
Tested on RISC OS 4, and working mighty fine! The annoying "eternal hourglass at shutdown" bug *appears* to have gone I *think* I've got rid of the problem with long font menus Various small bugs and annoyances removed I have taken the Adult lexicon out of the main download, as it was accounting for about half the filesize.

X-Word features:
Up to 4 players
Computer opponents playing at any of 10 skill levels
Configurable board size and layout
Configurable tile scores and frequency

Alan Trewartha

RISC OS Expo 2001

22nd March 2001

Matt Hendriks

This time again the Big Ben Club organises its yearly national show, this year called

RISC OS Expo 2001

The Big Ben Club is the nationwide Dutch Acorn User Group. The show is an excellent opportunity for users from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany to see RISC OS Hardware and Software.

For the exhibitors is this show an excelent opportunity to promote and sell their RISC OS Hardware and Software to the Dutch, Belgium and German RISC OS users.

There will also be a theatre for presentations to take place.

date:
Saturday, June 16th, 2001

venue:
Expo and Concorde hall,
Hotel Mercure
Buizerdlaan 10, Nieuwegein
(near the city of Utrecht)

A first class location, with restaurant, parking garage (free) and rooms for the night.

from:
10.00 am to 5.00 pm

admission:
members free, non-members Dfl 15.00

The Show offers exhibitions/promotions by various companies, including Dutch, German and British Acorn/RISC OS dealers, demonstrations by club members, etc.

Matt Hendriks


Slash2Dot V1.5 released

21st March 2001

Patrick Mortara

I've just uploaded a new version of slash2dot to my homepage at www.mortara.org.

changes in V1.5:

For all of you, who don't know about slash2dot:
Do you know this problem: you'ld like to send a file from your RISC OS-computer to a friend using Windows. The file is called 'test/xyz' on your computer, for example. If you attach this file to an email and sent it to your friend via !Newsbase/!Messenger (and others probaply, too), it arrives as 'test/xyz,ffd', but your friend is unable to use it because he has expected a file called 'test.xyz'.

slash2dot tries to covert the slash (/) to a dot (.) automatically and also removes the filetype information which sometimes appear in the attachment filename.

Patrick Mortara

JPEGObject module for ArtWorks released

21st March 2001

Martin Würthner

Today's topic: * Rotated and skewed JPEG images in ArtWorks documents

JPEGObject
I am proud to announce the release of the JPEGObject module for ArtWorks. It allows you to embed JPEG images directly in your ArtWorks documents without having to decompress them to Sprite format first. Obviously, this makes your documents much smaller compared to using Sprite images. In contrast to Draw, which handles JPEG images natively starting from RISC OS 3.6, JPEGObject even allows you to rotate and skew JPEG images.

JPEG handling is very similar to sprite handling: You can move, scale and rotate JPEG objects like any other ArtWorks object. You can resize them by dragging any of the selection handles and there is a JPEG object info box that allows you to position and scale the image numerically. Undo is fully supported.

EPS and Draw import and export are fully supported - you can even create Draw files with transformed JPEG objects that cannot be rendered by the most recent version of Draw (but OvationPro is able to render them). JPEG objects can also be exported as 16M colour sprites in Draw files for compatibility with RISC OS 3.5.

Please note that JPEGObject requires either RISC OS 3.6+ or RISC OS 3.5 together with a JPEG-enabled version of SpriteExtend (version 0.99 or higher). It will not work under RISC OS 3.1 or below. JPEG-enabled versions of SpriteExtend are supplied as standard with RISC OS 3.6 or higher. There is a soft-loadable version of SpriteExtend 0.99 for RISC OS 3.5.

JPEGObject costs 15 Pounds (via email; add 2.50 for snail-mail delivery) and is available in the usual way: For e-mail delivery, send me a cheque or bank notes and send me an e-mail with the subject "JPEGObject order".

Online ordering via credit-card is being setup at the moment and will be available within a few days. As soon as it is available, you will find a link to it on the JPEGObject page.

You can find the JPEGObject page at
http://www.mw-software.com/software/awmodules/jpegobject.html

Martin Würthner

Locate v0.10 released

20th March 2001

Steve Fryatt

Locate is a Desktop utility to search for files, directories and applications meeting a given set of criteria. It will match filenames using wildcards and will also compare size, age and type; the idea is based very loosely on the 'Find files' utility in Windows and the equivalent on the Mac.

Given the early nature of this version, I'm hoping that people who download it will let me have comments and feedback on any bugs or features that could be added/improved. This isn't to say that it is necessarily unstable, but so far it has only been tested on RISC OS 4 on my machine. In addition, some planned features are yet to be implemented. It should work on any machine running RISC OS 3.1 or above.

The program is Freeware, and can be downloaded from my website at

http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~stevef/software/locate/

Also new on the site is an updated version of Float (coincidentally also version 0.10), an alternative Interactive Help application. Recent improvements include being made fully compatible with the Nested Wimp, better use of RISC OS 4 and a better Choices interface. It should still be OK on RISC OS 3.1 and is also Freeware.

Steve Fryatt

RiscStations used at Earth Summit conference

19th March 2001

Roy Heslop

RiscStation Ltd.
http://www.riscstation.co.uk/ info@riscstation.com
01942 797766 Fax 01942 797711

RiscStation machines are to be used to both present and provide PC virus free access to the Internet for the last UK Eco conference before Earth Summit 2002.

The event is being held at the London School of Economics on Tuesday the 20th of March 2001.

A full report will be released after the show.

Roy Heslop MD

Roy Heslop

Another beta release of GraphDraw

19th March 2001

Chris Johnson

Yet another updated version of GraphDraw (currently at version 2.59beta5) is available from

http://www.graphdraw.riscos.org.uk/

GraphDraw is currently undergoing a complete rewrite. This is an interim release, in which GraphDraw has been converted to use the Toolbox modules.

In the process a number of new features have been introduced. These include:

Beta 5 adds some new non-linear least squares fits

and also now allows the linear least square line to be forced through the origin.

Treat it as a beta release - let me know of any problems.

Rather than make lots of announcements here for minor changes, I am setting up a mail list (very low traffic) which will notify any changes to GraphDraw and my other applications. If you would like to be added to this list please let me know by sending a message to
software@chris-johnson.org.uk
stating for which software you would like to receive updates.

For those that do not know:
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.

Manuals in Ovation Pro or Impression format may also be downloaded.

Chris Johnson

StrongHelp and StrongMen: New release

18th March 2001

Jérôme Mathevet

StrongHelp (2.71) and StrongMen (1.24) are now re-released on the freenet web site:

http://freenet.barnet.ac.uk/manuals/g.vik/strong.html

No major addition, except StrongHelp now includes an index generator called !Contents (by Chris Morison). Well worth a look. As for StrongMen, the link was broken and the archive was not on the Freenet site anymore ! (Thanks to Richard Hallas for spotting this).

If you have any comment to do on the web site or otherwise, feel free to contact me at: speedsterh@yahoo.com. My internet access was very flakey during the last 6 months, but now everything is sorted out (my serial port was blown up) - hopefully.

Jérôme Mathevet

Aleph One Support changes

16th March 2001

Paul C Robinson

As from the 16th March 2001 all PC card and ARMLinux support calls and faxes must be directed to the main Aleph One office.

Tel: (0044) 01223 811679
Fax: (0044) 01223 812713

Email support remains unchanged.

We also now have a supply of LART development boards and ARMLinux installation CDs for RPCs. Are you ARMed with Linux?

Paul C Robinson

Phantasm

16th March 2001

David Bradforth

Have you ever felt the intense desire to create Transparancies? You know the sort of thing - a transparant element to a vector graphic you've spent some time yourself designing. Sure, you can do it on Xara X for the PC, but what if it's ArtWorks you wish to use?

Phantasm is a colour control addition to ArtWorks enabling a new level of control, including:

These, when combined, will enable you to create the illusion of transparancies within your ArtWorks documents. We're offering Phantasm on a CD-ROM, together with a printed manual, for just ukp9.90 + ukp1 postage and packing. The CD-ROM is hoped to also contain a number of other utilities selected especially to improve your productivity with ArtWorks. Upgrades from the Astute Graphics or BEEBUG versions will be available at ukp5.90.

To order, or for more information, please call APDL on 020 8778 2659 or email info@apdl.co.uk.

David Bradforth

WimpBasic competition

15th March 2001

David Jackson

The WimpBasic website is pleased to announce a competition for the the best WimpBasic applications in four categories.

The best utility
The best game
The best educational program
The best application not fitting any other category

Anyone wishing to enter their applications, or vote for their choice, should visit the WimpBasic Website at http://www.wimpbasic.com for further details. Entries should be in by 20th April. The results will be announced at the Wakefield show.

Prizes of ProArt24 and Rhapsody 4 have been donated by Clares Micro Supplies Ltd, who publish WimpBasic 2.

WimpBasic 2 is an application for producing Wimp based programs without having to worry about calling Wimp SWIs. That is all handled by WimpBasic, leaving you free to write the code which actually does something useful.

Details can be found at http://www.claresmicro.com/

David Jackson

DrawText v1.22

14th March 2001

Stephen Murphy

Just a quick message to tell you that version 1.22 of DrawText has just been released on my website: http://www.stephenmurphy.org.uk/. DrawText is a freeware Draw text area generator for all RISC OS computers. New features in this release include:

Enjoy!

Stephen Murphy


Masterfile III

14th March 2001

David Bradforth

We're delighted to announce that Masterfile III, previously from BEEBUG, is now available once more. Masterfile 3 is the latest development in the best selling family of database programs for RISC OS computers. It is fast, simple to use and provides powerful data management facilities suitable for home, education and business use. Included amoungst its many features is a very comprehensive indexing system, allowing data to be accessed in any order.

In addition, subsets may be created allowing access to just those records which match the search criteria. Both indices and subsets are updated automatically when records are added, modified or deleted. The report generator allows databases to be printed in card or spreadsheet format, and provides full label printing facilities.

Features

Masterfile 3, now supplied on CD-ROM, includes an enormous number of sample databases and a user guide featuring a step by step tutorial and reference section on all facilities provided.

The new price is ukp14.90 inclusive. Please add ukp2 postage for overseas sales.

To order, or for more information, please call APDL on 020 8778 2659 or email info@apdl.co.uk.

David Bradforth

HardCash Version 4 (2001-02)

14th March 2001

Graham Waterworth

RaspSoft are pleased to announce the release of version 4 of !HardCash the ultimate payroll system for the RISC OS platform. This version complies with the new rules for the tax year to 5th April 2002.

New to this version are:

In addition to this all new rules for SSP and SMP have been incorporated.

The price for the Advanced version is 99.00 ukp and 149.00 ukp for the professional version.

Current version 3.xx users can upgrade to version 4 for 30.00 ukp

For full details of !HarcCash and a working demo please visit our web site.

http://www.raspsoft.co.uk/

Graham Waterworth

Reporter v2.43

13th March 2001

Martin Avison

The Reporter module provides commands and SWIs which enable debugging information to be easily displayed in a separate multi-tasking window.

Reporter v2.43 is now available, and the main changes are ...

Previous versions of Reporter already provided ...

Full details are available from http://www.avisoft.force9.co.uk/ and it can be downloaded from there as a zip archive file.

Reporter will also be available from Chris Morison's web site at
http://www.organizer.ukgateway.net/

Any comments on the web sites, or the application, always welcome.

Martin Avison

R-Comp release DialUp 1.50

12th March 2001

R-Comp

We are pleased to announce that DialUp 1.50 has been released to customers over the weekend.

DialUp is our highly acclaimed internet connection software, which makes getting online quick and easy. Features include support for industry standard .ins files, multiple internet accounts, multiple email addresses/account, Email/news "quickfetching" (where you connect, fetch and then neatly disconnect afterwards) etc.

The latest version of the software includes scripts for many more Internet Providers "out of the box" both in the UK and overseas (thanks to everyone who submitted files).

In addition, DialUp 1.50 includes many "under-the-hood" tweaks, fixes and improvements, as well as some changes to the setup procedure to ensure that it is as easy as possible.

The software has been sent out automatically to registered users via email. If you haven't registered, or have changed your email address and have consequently not received the update, please contact us by phone/email, or return your disc with a stamped addressed jiffy bag for a free upgrade.

R-Comp

Easier His/Hers Planner (ImpDoc)

11th March 2001

Andrew Harmsworth

Mick Martin's His/Hers Planner: ROSES RELEASE
Thanks to Mick for his permission to adapt his 2002 planner into an Impression Document. This can now be found on the ROSES website. You and your partner's [1] names can be entered on the January page, and they will repeat throughout the calendar. Neat!

All this, and more, on the RISC OS Educational Resources Website:

http://roses.jellybaby.net/

Hosted by ROUGOL.

[1] need not be his/hers.

Andrew Harmsworth

Memphis updated

11th March 2001

paulf.johnson

The ever popular RAM disc replacement, Memphis, has been updated to enable it to use new style RISC OS 4 sprites.

Providing an effective replacement for the RAM disc, Memphis offers a pile of extras - the most popular being that can resize the disc without having to clear, quit and allocate more space in the taskmanager.

Download it now from http://www.acornusers.org/cbsa/index.html - follow the links for Utils or the main Downloads.

The full sources are available also.

paulf.johnson

Superior CD update

10th March 2001

David Bradforth

We have now taken the software as far as I think we can, with regards to RISC OS 4/SA compatability. The final updated image will be sent to our duplicators on Friday of this week, with updated CD-ROMs being sent to all who have returned the version one disc. It'll not be sent to anybody else, unless I have already agreed with them to do so.

For information on where to send the disc, please email me. The new APDL/ProAction website will NOT include details of this product, cos the games aspects of ProAction do not form a part of that partnership. For information on ordering the Superior CD, RCi may shortly make an announcement.

David Bradforth

New release of AMPlayer

10th March 2001

Justin Fletcher

AMPlayer 1.29 can now be downloaded from:

http://www.armware.dk/files/

Since the last release (1.26), AMPlayer has undergone quite extensive development. Significant changes include:

Bug fixes include:

AMPlayer is a module for playing Audio MPEG files. It supports MPEG 1.0, 2.0 and 2.5 layer I, II, and III. ID3 is a means by which files containing Audio MPEG data can be 'tagged' with information about the file, like the Author, Album, Track name, etc.

Thanks to the beta testers who have been very helpful in tracking problems over the last month.

AMPlayer was originally developed by Thomas Olsson. Justin Fletcher and Robin Watts have continued his work to produce this version.

Justin Fletcher

DateCopy Backup updated to v2.01

10th March 2001

Peter M Hillman

Version 2.01 of DateCopy is now available from

http://www.ee.ed.ac.uk/~pmh/ART/

DateCopy is a utility to assist with regular backups of your files. It copies either all your files, or just recently modified files, to a new directory which can then be stored safely. It also produces a list of all files on your system, to aid with retrieval of your files.

New to version 2.01 is a history file, which remembers when previous backups were done, drag-and-drop selection of source directory and of directories to be ignored, and support for automatic and multiple backups.

A StrongHelp manual is included which contains advice about backing up in general, as well as detailed instructions for using the program.

DateCopy is a freeware [Egoware] software release from Square Eyes Software

Peter M Hillman

ISPMaker released

10th March 2001

Paul Vigay

I'm pleased to announce that the first Beta release of my AntUtils ISPMaker plugin is now available to download from http://www.vigay.com/shareware.html

ISPMaker is designed to be easy to use and understand, and will allow users to create Ant Internet Suite provider files from scratch, simply by entering the relevant server details provided by the ISP.

However, the biggest benefit of ISPMaker is its ability to convert Windows INS files into Ant format. Therefore if you have a CD supplied by an ISP which only includes Windows settings, simply drag the .INS file onto ISPMakers window and it will create an Ant provider file for you.

It will also convert RComp's DialUp provider files into Ant files for you.

Although the current release is in a beta state, the Windows/DialUp conversion is working, as is most of the stand-alone creation (multiple telephone numbers and script writing is not yet available).

AntUtils is a comprehensive utility application to aid Ant Internet Suite users obtain the most from the Ant Suite. More information is available from http://www.vigay.com/shareware.html

ISPMaker is free to ALL AntUtils users and does NOT require a registered version in order to work.

As always, feedback is welcome.

Paul Vigay


RISC OS 2001 Show

9th March 2001

Neil

The ARM Club, in conjunction with ROUGOL and SASAUG, are proud to announce that the two day RISC OS 2001 Show will take place on the weekend of 20th and 21st of October.

The venue will be the Blue Mountain Conference Centre at Binfield, Bracknell. The venue offers excellent road and rail links, being only 5 minutes from Junctiion 10 of the M4 and fast trains from Paddington taking only 30 minutes. A shuttle bus service will operate from Reading Station.

The conference centre features a number of interconnected rooms giving greater space and flexibility for exhibitors and visitors. A dedicated theatre will allow the usual popular presentations to take place.

Epsom, the venue for the last two years, has increased its price substantially and the move to Bracknell allows stand prices to be reduced relative to last year. Ensuring more exhibitors, larger stands and an even better show.

More details will be announced shortly.

Put it in your diary now.

RISC OS 2001 Show 20th and 21st of October.

Neil

Release of !Topcat2

9th March 2001

Cumana Sales & Support

Cannon Computing & Cumana are pleased to announce release of the new !Topcat2. The new distribution right with Microlynx will enhance the product even more with sales, marketing and support handled by ourselves with the continued backup of Microlynx.

A new version of the Topcat Client Rom for Sprinters/NCs and Acorn/i-cubed/DesignIT ethernet cards is included, however, it is not essential to upgrade existing clients. Indeed, for those clients not fitted with flash devices it would pose a logistical problem to update them. Hence the new version has been designed to work with the existing Topcat Client Rom software too.

One of the new features is the use of LanmanFS version 2 which provides long filenames in RISCOS, and is compatible with LanMan98. The new version of Topcat comes already converted to the new standard, this will require user files and applications to be updated to replace the LanMan v1 style naming (10 characters max) with the new standard. A one-way utility is provided to allow this, but as there is no utility to revert. Users are strongly recommended to make a backup before embarking on this task.

One of the most eagerly awaited features of Topcat v2 is a new ICA Client with sound support. As Microlynx has had to develop this in-house, the client is NOT free to be distributed to anyone - it is ONLY available to existing Topcat customers. (We can provide the ICA sound Client on its own, direct from us, for which we are charging an administration fee of ukp25.00).

Prices:
Site Licence Version (per server) ukp499.00 + vat
Upgrade for existing users of !Topcat ukp250.00 + vat
ICA Sound upgrade only for exisiting users ukp25.00

Anyone who has purchased and received Topcat since the BETT 2001 show please contact us.

Other New Features in Version 2:
Long Filename support in RISC OS
Sound support for Windows
Client Support DHCP*
Simple load sharing of multiple Citrix Servers
Compatible with Windows 2000
Sample Scripts for printing and e-mail
Includes Demo version of Oregano web browser
File conversion utility
Client upgrade utilities
Local settings allowing easy way to selct files
Boot Password configurable in DHCP Manager

For placing orders or to enquire further please e-mail
sales@cumana.co.uk or telephone 01279 730800 / 900

Cumana/Cannon Computing
RISC OS Centre of Technology
Authorised Silver Citrix Reseller and Partner

Tel:+ 44 (0) 1279 730900/800
Fax:+ 44 (0) 1279 730809
www.cumana.net

Any price given in any message does exclude VAT and carriage unless otherwise stated.

Cumana/Cannon Computing

!euroCalc updated

9th March 2001

Wim Ekels

Our !euroCalc currencies calculator has reached version 0.03c.

We have added the Greek Drache and Portugese Escudo as new Unit currencies.

Some small improvements were made to the actual program.

!euroCalc was made in S-Base for our own needs as an importer, but a demo version is downloadable from:
http://www.ekels.nl/eurocalc/index.html

From there you can find details for buying the full version.

Registered users have been informed today about the new version. If you are a !euroCalc user and have not been informed, please contact us at : mailto:eurocalc@ekels.nl

Wim Ekels

New beta release of GraphDraw

8th March 2001

Chris Johnson

An updated version of GraphDraw (currently at version 2.59beta4) is available from

http://www.graphdraw.riscos.org.uk/

GraphDraw is currently undergoing a complete rewrite. This is an interim release, in which GraphDraw has been converted to use the Toolbox modules. In the process a number of new features have been introduced. These include:

Treat it as a beta release - let me know of any problems.

For those that do not know:
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.

Manuals in Ovation Pro or Impression format may also be downloaded.

Chris Johnson

Ant Suite mailing lists resurrected

8th March 2001

Paul Vigay

I would like to announce that I have now taken over the management and day-to-day running of the various Ant Suite mailing lists - InetAnnounce, InetBeta and InetChat.

These were formerly running on Argonets mail server, who hosted them for Ant Limited.

The InetAnnounce list is a one way, moderated, list that I would recommend that all users of the Ant Internet Suite join, and is for announcements and news about the suite itself.

InetChat is a general purpose list for users to chat about and discuss the suite and help each other with problems/suggestions etc.

InetBeta is to discuss development and the future of the Ant Suite (and is rather quiet at the moment....)

For more information, or to subscribe/unsubscribe please visit my Ant Support web site at http://www.vigay.com/ant/

Paul Vigay

ARM assembler

8th March 2001

Richard Murray

What is it?
The ARM assembler site is your place for learning how to write code in assembler under RISC OS. While there are examples for C/APCS, to get started you need absolutely NOTHING. Both !Edit and BASIC are built into your machine already, that's all you need to learn assembler. Broken into sections, descriptions, and examples.

Ease of use
Don't fancy the prospect of reading all that stuff on-line, or opening loads of windows, or firing off a dozen fetches? No problem. All you need are two archives - the examples and the site copy. Down near the bottom of the index. You'll need Spark[Plug|FS] in order to extract the files. Non-RISC OS users should email me as the archives are Spark format, so [Win|PK]Zip won't decompress them.

So what's new?
Since the last posting to csaa in February, this has been added:

Wednesday, 7th March 2001

Can I help?
Sure! Tips, tricks, processor detection code are all appreciated. Failing that, I'd sure like some feedback. Tell me what you think, what you'd like to see...

About the author
Richard Murray, geek.
What more can we say?

Will it cost anything?
Depends on how you connect to the internet. Otherwise, not a bean. Fire up your browser, connect, enjoy.

Okay then, where is it?
You'll find the ARM assembler area at:

http://www.heyrick.co.uk/assembler/

Richard Murray

WimpWorks v2.28 released

8th March 2001

Andrew Flegg

Jaffa Software are pleased to announce the release of a new version of WimpWorks, the easiest and cheapest way of producing quality Desktop applications in an integrated development environment (IDE).

The new version has been a little late in coming but marks the start of a whole new redvelopment project.

New in this version:

More details can be found at the Jaffa Software web site:
http://www.bleb.org/jaffasoft/

Existing users can upgrade through the web site and new versions are now supplied on CD, at the same low prices:

Full version - 35.00ukp

Upgrade from WimpWorks v1 - 10.00ukp
[On receipt of original disk]

Upgrade from WimpBasic, - 15.00ukp
HelixBasic, ArchWay or WimpGen
[On receipt of original disk(s)]

If you've got any more queries please feel free to contact us at:
mailto:info@jaffasoft.co.uk

Andrew Flegg

New release of ChartDraw

7th March 2001

Chris Johnson

An updated version of ChartDraw (currently at version 3.12) is available from

http://www.chartdraw.riscos.org.uk/

This release is a bug fix - certain defaults could not be changed from the choices dialogue.

ChartDraw allows the production of a range of charts from data that can be entered and edited from the keyboard. The program plots simple line graphs, stacked and grouped barcharts and piecharts. The resulting graph may be printed via any standard RISC OS printer driver, or saved as a draw file.

ChartDraw runs on RISC OS versions 3.1 upwards.

Manuals in Ovation Pro or Impression format may also be downloaded.

Chris Johnson

LinReg2 vsn 1.07 now uploaded

6th March 2001

paulf.johnson

Just to let you know that a new (and improved!) version of my Linear Regression utility (cunningly titled LinReg2) has been uploaded to the Acorn Education website.

The changes are mainly small fixes and added safety measures - they are listed in the changelog file in the archive.

The software is released under the EducationWare licence. Basically, this means that if you use it in any sort of educational establishment, you should contact me. By doing this, you can have special features added for your own use which may not be released in any updates.

This doesn't mean that I won't release a new version with the changes people have asked for in the future......

The archive comes with the Fortran source to a simple regression analysis (and the compiled version as well). It has been compiled with Acorn Desktop F77 from Intellegent Interfaces (http://www.intint.demon.co.uk/).

Acorn education website: http://www.acornusers.org/education/index.html

(also have a look at http://www.acornusers.org/education/ComingSoon.html for more software improvements.....)

paulf.johnson

Good news and bad news from Photodesk

6th March 2001

Chris Hornby

Bad news:
Olympus have ceased production of the C2020 camera, which is the most popular camera that Photodesk sell.

Good news:
It has been replaced by the C2040 which is almost identical in every way including price.

Bad News:
The C2040 only has a USB port, but we are happy to supply it with a card reader

Good News:
I have some Olympus ex-demo stock of 2020s here. I can provide them for 450ukp including VAT delivery and Photolink. First come first served.

Chris Hornby


AAUG Smartgroup goes Public!

5th March 2001

Andrew Harmsworth

AAUG are pleased to announce that their Smartgroup web pages, previously only available to invited committee members of AAUG member groups, is now open 24 hours a day to full public access.

You can check this out at:

http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/aaug/

On the site, you will find a calendar of events that is supplementary to the events page on the AAUG's own website. There is also additional information on all of the AAUG's member groups, and the ability to take part in votes, etc.

If you are accessing over a filtered network, and Smartgroups is blocked, please contact me directly and I'll tell you the backdoor URL. :-)

Let us hope that the Smartgroups service proves popular, and is helpful in encouraging more of us RISC OS users to attend meetings, where available.

Andrew Harmsworth

New version of Shanghai

5th March 2001

David Chapman

Version 1.03 of Shanghai is now available from the site: http://shanghai.riscos.or.uk/. New in this version:

Shanghai is a desktop version of the ancient Chinese game of Mah Jongg. My version has 15 different game layouts to choose from with a hi-res graphical display.

I would also like to mention that an update of my front-end to MP32WAV is also available: http://mp32wav.riscos.org.uk/. This is just a small bugfix which prevented the WAV icon from being dragged to the users choice of directory.

MP32WAV is a MP3 file converter to the WAV format which is CD compatible.

David Chapman

Parallel MIDI interfaces available again

5th March 2001

Alan Gibson

Having commissioned ESP to produce another batch of parallel port MIDI interfaces, we are delighted to announce that these are now available from stock.

The interfaces provide standard MIDI IN, OUT and THRU connections and also come with MIDISupport drivers for enhanced use with e.g. MelIDI (www.melidi.co.uk).

They work with all RISC OS machines with a parallel port and, as before, cost UKP 89.20 including VAT & UK carriage.

Alan Gibson

New versions of Disc Commander and VZap now available

4th March 2001

Paul Vigay

I'm pleased to announce that v2.02 of Disc Commander and v1.37 of VZap are now available to download from my RISC OS Shareware page at http://www.vigay.com/shareware.html

Disc Commander is my powerful disc editing and file recovery toolkit. It's compatible with all filing systems, including the RISC OS 4 extended filecore, as well as non-standard formats such as MacOS and DOS formats etc. As such it can aid in the recovery of data from virtually any disc you can insert in the floppy drive. Containing a full disc sector editor you can examine, edit and modify any sector on your discs. You can now register Disc Commander online via secure credit card transaction using the popular Sharereg system.

VZap is my popular anti-virus system for RISC OS, which includes free updates and support. Version 1.37 now incorporates automatic detection of Disc Commander and is thus FREE to all registered Disc Commander users. Being automatic, this saves you having to contact me for a separate registration code for VZap if you've already registered Disc Commander. Just make sure Disc Commander has been 'seen' before you run VZap.

Paul Vigay

PsiFS 1.40 released (freeware SIBO/EPOC connectivity)

4th March 2001

Alexander Thoukydides

PsiFS 1.40
The fifth release of PsiFS is now available for free download from:

http://www.thouky.co.uk/software/psifs/

The most significant changes from version 1.30 are:

Bug fixes include:

PsiFS is a freeware RISC OS file system that communicates with a remote SIBO or EPOC device via the Psion Link Protocol (PLP). Files can be manipulated as if they were on a local harddisc, alebit a slow one, so copying is simply a matter of dragging icons between filer windows. Full source code is available under the GNU General Public Licence.

Reasonably complete descriptions of the Psion Link Protocol and EPOC SIS file format are also available from the same web site under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Alexander Thoukydides

A new version of MakeCal

4th March 2001

Stephen Murphy

Just a quick message to tell you that version 1.27 of MakeCal has just been released on my website: http://web.ukonline.co.uk/stephen.murphy/. MakeCal is a freeware calendar generator for all RISC OS computers. Changes in this release include:

Stephen Murphy

Planner A3 Size for 2002

3rd March 2001

Michael M Martin

I was asked if it would be possible to do a Planner with 4 Sections to the sheet.

So I have put one on my Site what is done in Draw format it's in a A3 Size but you will be able to scale this to A4 if you need so.

Note that this version is not a Him and Her one but just the normal planner.

The URL: http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/mmartin/

Then just follow the links to the software section.

Michael M Martin

Masterfile III: CD-ROM edition

2nd March 2001

David Bradforth

ProAction and APDL are delighted to announce that, with immediate effect, we have taken over Masterfile from BEEBUG Ltd. Masterfile started life in 1982 as a cassette-based Database from the then Beebugsoft Ltd (later RISC Developments Ltd). The author of the original, Sheridan Williams, is the Managing Director of BEEBUG, and wrote the program to fulfill a need he had for himself.

Masterfile III runs within the RISC OS desktop environment, and is essentially a simple entry-level database. It does have some powerful features, though - I shall make a detailed posting later, or will send it out upon request. Just to make it clear, we shall ensure that any Y2K issues present with Masterfile III are fixed before the relaunch! We shall now supply Masterfile III on CD-ROM, together with a 100 page manual including a comprehensive tutorial.

The relaunch price of Masterfile III is ukp14.90 inc VAT and postage within the UK. To order, please contact APDL on 020 8778 2659 or email info@apdl.co.uk.

David Bradforth

R-Comp Interactive announce Parallel Port MIDI interfaces in stock!

2nd March 2001

R-Comp Interactive/RCI

After six months (or more!) of not having any Parallel Port MIDI interfaces in stock for RISC OS machines, we are pleased to announce that a new batch of these interfaces has been produced and we now have (limited) stocks again.

We are aware that a number of people are interested in getting hold of these, so orders will be dealt with on a "first come, first served" basis.

Features
The Parallel Port MIDI interfaces will work on almost any RISC OS machine, and provide in/out/thru MIDI connections. This allows connection, recording and playback via a whole range of MIDI keyboards and sound modules etc.

The interfaces are supplied with the latest ESP drivers for wide ranging compatibility with music programs.

Cost
The interfaces cost 95ukp inc VAT or 150ukp in a special bundle with our powerful Anthem MIDI sequencer (a significant saving).

We also have some MIDI podules in stock.

Contact
Please telephone us on 01925 755043 or contact us by email by replying to this posting.

R-Comp Interactive/RCI

Him and Her Planner 2002

1st March 2001

Michael M Martin

I have just put a Planner 2002 for Him and Her, on my Site it's in Draw format so will be handy for Desktop Publishers, Due to popular demand I have left out the Him and Her name, so you can put your or Her Name instead, or if your giving it to a friend there names at the Top where they go.

The URL: http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/mmartin/

Then follow the link to the software section.

Michael M Martin


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