philm@astroatc.UUCP (Phil Mason) (12/27/87)
My father recently bought a second-hand IBM-PC that happens to have a Hercules Graphics Card. No documentation for the card was supplied with the system. My question is : Can one utilize the Hercules Card from IBM BASIC? If so, could someone E-mail me a list of proper incantations and maybe a sample program or two? Thanks! -- Kirk : Bones ? | Phil Mason, Astronautics Technology Center Bones : He's dead Jim. | Madison, Wisconsin - "Eat Cheese or Die!" ...seismo-uwvax-astroatc!philm | I would really like to believe that my ...ihnp4-nicmad/ | employer shares all my opinions, but . . .
T20@PSUVM.BITNET (Stephen G. Simpson) (12/27/87)
The Hercules card emulates an IBM monchrome adapter, so all text-based
applications written in IBM BASIC should work fine. However, IBM BASIC
is certainly not set up to take advantage of the Hercules card's graphics
capabilities. You might try one or more of the various public domain
programs which are supposed to make a Hercules card emulate an IBM color
graphics adapter (CGA). However, those programs don't work very well.
A better solution would be to get hold of a BASIC which includes Hercules
support. I have heard that the latest version of Turbo BASIC (from Borland)
includes such support. You can probably buy it for about $60, and it will
certaily be worth the money -- much better than IBM BASIC.
mvolo@ecsvax.UUCP (Michael R. Volow) (12/28/87)
> support. I have heard that the latest version of Turbo BASIC (from Borland) > includes such support. You can probably buy it for about $60, and it will > certaily be worth the money -- much better than IBM BASIC. In my review of my Turbo Basic manual, I see only support for CGA and EGA graphics, not support for monochrome graphics (Hercules). You might check with Borland to make sure. In Microsoft QuickBasic 4.0 I cannot find reference to Hercules support in the three manuals (perhaps I missed it), but the outer package states, "New! Support for Hercules graphics cards". I wouldn't sell the Hercules emulators, such as simcga.arc and hgcibm and (a commercial one, can't remember the name) short. I have used simcga with simple basic graphics pro- grams with some success. --Mike Volow, Psychiatry, Durham Veterans Administration Medical Center Durham, NC, 27712 919 383 3568 mvolo@ecsvax.UUCP
wcf@psuhcx (William C. Fenner) (12/29/87)
Microsoft Quick-Basic V4.0 and Borland Turbo Pascal V4.0 both support Hercules graphics. The program you specifically asked for, however, is called HBASIC. It is supplied on a disk with the Hercules card, and patches IBM basic to use the Hercules routines. I'm not sure if HBASIC can be bought seperately from the card. Your best bet might be to get either QB4.0 or TP4.0 ... __ _ _ _____ Bill Fenner wcf @ psuhcx.bitnet / ) // // / ' wcf @ hcx.psu.edu /--< o // // ,-/-, _ ____ ____ _ __ ihnp4!psuvax1!psuhcx.bitnet!wcf /___/_<_</_</_ (_/ </_/ / <_/ / <_</_/ (_