December 1979 — Vol 1 No 11

Overview

The year-end double-thick issue (28 pages — more than twice the average). Mark L. Crosby's editor's note explains: "we just couldn't do much better" with November, "we have, however, made up for that in this issue." Anchor content: the complete final version of Alan G. Hill's Ampersort (machine-language array sort callable via &SRT#(...) — reprinted from MICRO July 1979); a complete Apple Memory Atlas including William F. Luebbert's "What's Where in the Apple" and a 0-to-65535 memory map from The Cider Press; a calculator program by Paul Sand; a worldwide Apple User Groups directory; instructions for adding HI-RES colors via hardware modification; and Hersch Pilloff's graphics driver for the freshly delivered IDS 440 Paper Tiger printers. Sandy Greenfarb delivers an unsolicited editorial "In My Opinion" with observations on the club's direction. First full Programma International display ad campaign appears.

Table of contents

Articles

Editor's REMs (page 3) — Mark L. Crosby

Apology for short November; this December "makes up for it." Promotes Greenfarb's editorial. Important admin: new 1980 Membership Application Form required for renewal, plus order forms for a group disk purchase and a program library for sale. NOVAPPLE application form is now included after being inadvertently omitted last month. Note that anyone who joined Pi by mistake can transfer to NOVAPPLE on request — "of course, there is nothing wrong with belonging to both clubs for the best of both possible worlds."

Minutes of NOVAPPLE 11/14/79 (page 3)

Next meeting moved to Nov 29 (Thanksgiving conflict). Member-list printing discussed but tabled. Motion approved: set up tutorial programs on other Apple aspects similar to Kim Woodward's machine-language course; volunteers needed (view-graph aids will be provided). Program: a presentation on a game-expansion I/O scheme and a joystick for the Apple.

Minutes of NOVAPPLE 11/29/79 (page 3) — Gerald Eskelund

December 12 set as the last NOVAPPLE meeting of 1979. 1980 schedule continues alternating Computers Plus / Computerland Tysons. Kim Woodward continued his machine-language course with view-graphs and live Apple demos. Dues reminder: $6 for six months payable to "Northern Virginia Apple Users Group" at PO Box 10411, Alexandria VA 22310.

"Ampersort" (pages 2 multi-page) — Alan G. Hill

Reprinted from MICRO July 1979. Fast machine-language sort utility for the Apple II callable from BASIC via Applesoft's ampersand (&) feature. Benchmarks: ~900 integer / 700 float / 300 30-character records sorted in ~60 seconds. Hill's writeup is also the most accessible primer in the wild on the ampersand interface, which APPLE documented in the October 1978 Call-A.P.P.L.E. (no user docs from Apple itself):

• The Applesoft interpreter does JSR $3F5 whenever it sees & at the start of a statement; user places a JMP there to dispatch to ML
• Ampersand handlers — CHRGET ($00B1), FRMNUM ($DD67), GETADR ($E752), GETBYT ($E6F8) — described in Call-A.P.P.L.E. Nov–Dec 1978
• Calling convention: &SRT#(ARRAY$, B, E, F1, F2, A/D, F3, F4, A/D, ...) where B/E are subscript range, F-pairs are field positions, A/D selects ascending/descending per field

"Auto Number" (page 3) — Gerald Cahill

A BASIC line-number auto-incrementer utility.

"In My Opinion" (page 4) — Sandy Greenfarb

Unsolicited member editorial (called out by Crosby as "astute observations about our club") — content not fully captured in the extract; appears to weigh in on club direction following the IAC formation.

"Adding a Calculator to your Apple" (page 5) — Paul Sand

Cover-highlight article. Add a calculator routine to the Apple — likely calls the Applesoft floating-point routines through Moon's earlier interface.

Product Review: Softside / Apple Seed (page 6) — Sandy Greenfarb

Review of two magazines from the same publisher (Milford NH).

"Page List for the Apple" (page 7) — Robert D. Diaz

Utility to aid in programming — likely a page-by-page memory listing.

"Lowers" (page 9) — Paul Rinaldo

Likely covers adding lower-case support to the Apple II (the original Apple II had only uppercase by default).

"Adding Colors to Apple II HI-RES" (page 10)

Hardware modification instructions from Apple Inc., distributed by Hersch Pilloff at October meeting. Step-by-step electrical mod to expand the HI-RES color palette.

Apple User Groups directory (pages 12–15)

A complete worldwide Apple Users' Group listing — likely covering the same groups invited to the SF IAC formation meeting plus many more. Part of the IAC effort to connect user groups.

"Parallel Interface" (page 16) — Dave Skillman

Hardware/software notes on Apple parallel interface.

"Bytes from the Apple Pi" (page 16) — Sandy Greenfarb

News tidbits column from Greenfarb.

"Adjusting the Disk II Speed" (page 17) — Mark L. Crosby

How to adjust the Disk II drive speed — important for reading marginal media or matching standards.

"What's Where in the Apple" (pages 18–21) — Prof. William F. Luebbert

Cover-highlight article. A comprehensive Apple memory atlas — what lives at each significant memory location. Companion piece to the Cider Press memory map.

"Memory from 0 to 65535" (page 22) — The Cider Press

A reprinted/credited 0-to-65535 memory map.

"Graphics Driver for the IDS 440 Printer" (page 23) — Hersch Pilloff

The driver completing his interfacing series — readers who bought into the group purchase now have software to drive the Paper Tiger's graphics mode.

Classifieds (page 3)

• FOR SALE: Jim Manley — Trendcom Printer + Apple interface, $400 (40-column NCR sensitized-paper model), days (202) 261-8250 Ext-1471, eves (301) 426-9248
• Christmas Special — Last Chance: George Hinds — Novation Modem 310ZA + Apple Communications Interface Card, $175 each ((301) 585-0979)

Club news / events / announcements

• 1980 membership renewal underway with new form
• Group disk purchase order form available
• Pi program library now for sale
• Next Pi meeting: December 15, 1979, GWU 9:30 AM
• NOVAPPLE: Dec 12 (final 1979 meeting), Jan 10 1980 first meeting

Notable advertisements

Programma International display ad campaign (page 2): Full-page ad displaying ~20+ Apple programs with screenshots and prices:

"All orders must include 3% postage and handling. California residents add 6% sales tax. VISA and MASTERCHARGE accepted."

Key quotes

• "I want to apologize for the size of the last issue of the Washington Apple Pi. Because of the lack of articles and personal commitments, we just couldn't do much better. We have, however, made up for that in this issue — as you will soon find out." — Mark L. Crosby (page 3)
• "Of course, there is nothing wrong with belonging to both clubs for the best of both possible worlds." — Mark L. Crosby on Pi/NOVAPPLE dual membership (page 3)
• "While no speed records will be set, it will run circles around BASIC, sorting 900 integer, 700 floating point, or 300 30-character records in about 60 seconds." — Alan G. Hill on Ampersort (page 2)

Entities

People: Mark L. Crosby, Bernard Urban, John Moon, Sandy Greenfarb, Hersch Pilloff, David Morganstein, Alan G. Hill, Gerald Cahill, Paul Sand, Robert D. Diaz, Paul Rinaldo, Dave Skillman, William F. Luebbert, Phil Eastman, Nicholas B. Cirillo, Gerald Eskelund, Kim Woodward, Jim Manley, George Hinds Topics: Ampersand Interface, Machine-Language Sorting, Apple Memory Atlas, HI-RES Color Modification, Apple Lowercase, Disk II Speed Adjustment, Paper Tiger Graphics, Programma International Catalog References: MICRO Magazine, Ampersort, Apple Calculator, Page List Utility, Programma International, The Cider Press, Trendcom Printer, Novation Modem 310ZA, Function Plot, Apple Invaders, Shape Builder, Database Mailer, Mini General Ledger, Apple User Groups Worldwide

Connections to other issues

• Ampersort was promised by Mark Crosby back in 1979-08 — V01 N07 (corrected code at next meeting)
• Greenfarb's editorial implicitly responds to Urban's September 1979-09 — V01 N08 merger proposal and the IAC outcome in 1979-11 — V01 N10
• HI-RES color modification was originally surfaced by Hersch Pilloff at the October meeting (1979-10 — V01 N09)
• Paper Tiger graphics driver completes Pilloff's interfacing series begun in 1979-11 — V01 N10
• The worldwide user-group directory operationalizes the IAC announcement

Open questions

• Does Pi continue dual masthead with NOVAPPLE into 1980 or do they fully merge?
• Did Apple's worldwide directory effort become an IAC-published asset?
• What was the final content of Greenfarb's "In My Opinion" editorial — read the PDF directly to confirm.