PARSONS@KSUVM.BITNET (Scott Parish) (04/07/88)
Here is some information concerning the aquisition of any Compute! book
and De Re Atari.
To order any Compute! Book or check the availablity thereof:
Call: 1-800-346-6767 Write: Compute! Books
Customer Service
(As published in Apr 88 issue.) PO Box 5038
FDR Station
New York, NY 10150
For De Re Atari:
Call: San Jose Computer Cost is approx $13.00
1-408-224-8575
As of February, when I ordered my copy, they had "a few left."
Before purchasing De Re Atari, I'd like you to consider what it offers.
The book comes unbound so you will need to buy a 1 1/2 inch notebook to
keep it organized. It has sections covering the Antic chip and what it
does/how to use it, DLI's, PM graphics, Scrolling, Sound, the OS, DOS,
and an Atari BASIC overview. It also has appendices that cover memory
utilization (how to use memory efficiently in programming, NOT how the
computer uses the memory), user friendly programming, a cassette drive
overview, artifacting, and the GTIA.
For the last week or so some people have been interested in making boot
disks. For those people, I will summarize what De Re Atari has to
say about DOS.
De Re on DOS 2.x: * explains (somewhat) the Resident Disk Handler
and the File Management System (FMS)
* overviews DOS commands
* talks about RND Access files (how to make them)
* Gives simple Diagram on disk format
(what is where--ie sector 1 boot sector,
sectors 2-81 DOS.SYS....)
* explains Volume Table of Contents (VTOC) layout
(VTOC tells how much of the disk is used)
* explains Disk Directory format
(simple diagram included)
* explains individual sector format
(simple diagram included)
* briefly mentions the boot sector
* explains AUTORUN.SYS files and how to make
them
For those interested in an indepth explaination, I would suggest purchasing
Inside Atari DOS. For an overview an short explainations on DOS--De Re Atari.
De Re tells somethings, but not quite enough (as with all Atari related
documents).
By far the most usefull section of De Re is the section on scrolling.
Chris Crawford wrote that section (along with 3 other sections), and explains
scrolling fairly indepth (better than any other publication). For those
interested in graphics this section is a help.
All in all, De Re is a worth while purchase. Heck, its only $13.
I hope I have assisted many Atari people in their purchasing decisions.
Scott Parish
Kansas State University
** Listen to me now, and believe me later all statements
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has the right to agree, disagree, or have no opinion--
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