RMC100@psuvm.psu.edu (Randy Carraghan) (03/14/91)
I'd like to use an Apple IIe as a message center for students who use our department. Standard characters (40 across) are still a little to small to read from across the room though, so I'm looking for a utility which would allow me to display/scroll/flash/etc larger characters on the screen. All I have language-wise is BASIC and a BASIC compiler. I was going to have the receptionist type in a file which would describe the messages and how they are to appear (scroll, flash, boldface, length of time on screen, etc) and then run the compiled program to display the messages based on this file. Thanks for any help... Randy Carraghan (rmc100@psuvm.psu.edu)
johnc@pro-sherwood.cts.com (John Cloninger) (03/16/91)
In-Reply-To: message from RMC100@psuvm.psu.edu
I COULD probably write that type of program in machine language. I haven't
had any experience with a BASIC compiler, but word has it that they don't
do the best job. If you want adjustable speed, flashing rates, etc., it
would be better to write in ML. By the way, ML looks hard at first, but
once you get used to hex numbers, it's not such a big deal.
ProLine : johnc@pro-sherwood
Internet: johnc@pro-sherwood.cts.com
UUCP: crash!pro-sherwood!johnc
ARPA: crash!pro-sherwood!johnc@nosc.milsb@pnet91.cts.com (Stephen Brown) (03/21/91)
RMC100@psuvm.psu.edu (Randy Carraghan) writes: >I'd like to use an Apple IIe as a message center for students who use our >department. Standard characters (40 across) are still a little to small >to read from across the room though, so I'm looking for a utility which >would allow me to display/scroll/flash/etc larger characters on the screen. >All I have language-wise is BASIC and a BASIC compiler. I was going to >have the receptionist type in a file which would describe the messages >and how they are to appear (scroll, flash, boldface, length of time on >screen, etc) and then run the compiled program to display the messages based >on this file. > >Thanks for any help... > >Randy Carraghan (rmc100@psuvm.psu.edu) If you're interested in old stuff, the Apple Programmer's Aid (APA), had the HRCG (HiRes Character Generator)... Beagle Bros. and their Apple Mechanic disk had a neat utility for doing this. Basically, these things use Shapes, something you could write completely in BASIC, if you were so inclined. The APA and Apple Mechanic are both in DOS 3.3. IMHO, you're better off with Apple Mechanic. Firstly, you're supporting Beagle Bros. (a good thing in itself) and secondly, you could probably convert it quite easily to ProDOS. I'm sure as soon as I logoff I'll be able to think of many more programs to do this... even on a II-Plus. UUCP: lsuc!graham!pnet91!sb INET: sb@pnet91.cts.com