                     On Disk Monthly's

     *    *    *    M  A  I  L  B  A  G    *    *    *


                          LETTERS
                          -------

Is there a way to advertise for a donation of some "used,"
or "new" computer equipment? I am physically disabled with a
half of an arm on my left side and two fingers on my right
side. I don't know if other readers know of any non-profit
organizations which could assist in any way. My local
business supply store will allow me to print up items, but
it is starting to become costly. I have an IBM compatible
computer (Tandy 1400 LT).

                                  Greg F. Fuller
                                  Hyde Park, PA

RESPONSE: Subscribers? I'll forward any correspondence or
suggestions to Mr. Fuller.

                      *    *    *

This note is in reference to issue #70. I especially liked
the "PCX 'Rangler" program. The clip art which came with the
program worked great. Other .PCX grpahics, which came on
previous ODM issues, would not work with the printer. I
would only get a solid printed block.

My printer (a Panasonic KX-P2123) also has the color option
added and I was thrilled to see a color clip art picture,
however the color picture would only print in B/W. Any help
in getting this picture to print in color would be greatly
appreciated. I would love to see more colored clip art and
Print Shop graphics. Please consider a complement to "PCX
'Rangler" which would allow resizing of the clip art.

                                  Alfred Westbrook
                                  Ball Ground, GA

RESPONSE: Until we developed 'Rangler, we mistakenly thought
that all .PCX files are created equal. Not so. Certain paint
programs save .PCX files in different ways--different pallet
and header information. We've discovered that our previous
.PCX files may work fine in some programs and not in others.
In short, the pallet is wrong and that is why the "old"
images won't print correctly. Try using the "Save As"
command in 'Rangler or your own paint program to alter the
pallet. Then try to print the re-saved file from 'Rangler.
We may add a color printing option to 'Rangler in the
future, but doing so will mean reworking all the print
routines used in 'Rangler. Why? Memory allocation. Color
printing requires a whole lot more memory. Finally, if
'Rangler also resized the images, and allowed them to be
edited as others have suggested, it would be, in effect, a
paint program. Look for a .PCX compatible paint program in
a future issue of ODM.

Speaking of 'Rangler, we've fixed a few minor bugs since it
was first published on issue #70. The corrected version will
be available around the first of October to anyone who calls
our 800-831-2694 number and requests it.

                      *    *    *

Two things:

#1 - Please mark the outside of the envelope, indicating "Do
Not Bend." Our mail-lady just jams the envelope into our
mailbox, not caring how it is inserted into the container.

#2 - Just when do you send out the subscription diskettes?
When I started receiving the diskettes, they came at the end
of the month, but now it's into the middle of the next month
of the subscription date. It would be nice if you could be
consistent.

                                  Carolyn M. Smith
                                  Warsaw, IN

RESPONSE: We've got a new envelope design and you should see
the "Magnetic Media; Do Not X-Ray; Do Not Bend" logo
prominently displayed. Complain to your postmaster if your
disks continue to be bent. Your mail-lady may not be aware
of what she's doing or she really may not care...but your
postmaster will. In regard to our mailing schedule, you're
right...we're off schedule. Don't blame our mailing
department, however. We've fallen behind in the program
development department as we've tried to give you some
signficant programs of late. I.e., Family Tree 3.0, PCX
'Rangler, DOS Manager, Print Shop Utilities 5.0 and
others--all of which required more than four weeks of
development time. In some cases we had allotted extra time,
but in others we hadn't. With a monthly product, there's no
choice: "the show must go on"...even if it's slightly late.
Another thing to remember: we will not ship an issue with
"known" bugs...even if fixing those bugs means you receive a
quality product a few days late.

                      *    *    *

As soon as I received ODM #69 I immediately placed the
"Family Tree 3.0" on my hard drive and transferred my
"Enhanced Family Tree" files. It was great. I love the new
format and I find it very easy to use. However, when I
printed out an index by ID#, the numbers from #53 to #58 are
missing.

On the marriage window, no matter what date I place in the
space "Marriage Ending Date:" the date is recorded at the
top of the page as the date of the death of the spouse. So,
if a man had three wives, my records show that all three of
the marriages ended on the same day, the day HE died.

                                  Michael Dickey
                                  Akron, OH

RESPONSE: There's an easy fix to the first problem. Go to
any print report that gives you a dialog box in which you
can change the number of lines on the print out. Change the
number from 66 to 60. The index will now print correctly.

We're investigating the Marriage Ending Date problem. Call
our technical support number (800-831-2694) in a couple of
weeks to see if we've found a fix for this bug.

                      *    *    *

I think the menu and graphics are getting better. The
characters on the screen are a bit big and have a blocky
appearance, making for slower reading. I'd like to see a
bigger Mailbag, no Marketplace, less clip art and some
programming.

Pop-Up Notepad on ODM #67 is great. It has helped me clean
up the clutter on my desk. Is there a way to alphabetize the
directory displayed when one presses F-4? I also discovered
a problem when I activate it in Word Star v. 7 (document
mode). The "F" keys are not displayed at the bottom of the
screen although the definition of them is. It may have to do
with the graphic color defaults selected in Word Star and
Notepad?

                                  Jeff Erbele
                                  Bismarck, ND

RESPONSE: First, I try to use a variety of letters in each
Mailbag. Keep in mind that we often get many letters on the
same topic or with the same question and thus don't use
every one, but do use as many as is practical. Second, to
skip seeing any Marketplace ads, type "GO /NOAD" at the DOS
prompt. Third, clip art--both .PCX and Print Shop is one of
our most popular regular features. Not wishing to load any
one issue down with both types, however, you'll see them on
every other issue. In regard to programming, few subscribers
have expressed interest in it as a topic for ODM. Many
books and progamming magazines do a far better job in this
area than ODM could do. Finally, your assessment of the
Notepad-Word Star problem seems to be correct. Word Star is
apparently affecting the pallet of Notepad. Try altering
your Word Star pallet.

                      *    *    *

I finally got a chance to write you! The Check Tracker
program (issue #52) is so far the best of my favorites. I
find it very practical, easy, time-saving, convenient to
use....

There is just one big short coming in it! You can only input
amounts of up to $99,999.99 and you can only have a maximum
balance of $999,999.99.

If you are manipulating in terms of U.S. dollars, these
figures are more than enough for the average small business
user. But I am from the Philippines, where the Currency
Exchange floats from P23.50-P29.50 (Phil. Pesos) to $1.00
(U.S.). Under these conditions, the Check Tracker is
insufficient.

I wish you would come up with a "big brother" of Check
Tracker that can handle bigger figures and our currency
exchange requirements.

                                  Mike H. Lagman
                                  Pampanga, Philippines

RESPONSE: To be honest, we hadn't thought about doing an
update to Check Tracker, but your letter makes it sound like
a good idea. Maybe you'll see an update in a future issue of
On Disk Monthly.

                      *    *    *

So far, I am not even slightly impressed by your
programs--nor by my ability to get hardware up and
running...'tis tough all over.

It is hard to be impressed by programs one cannot get to see
or run. I had thought I would long since have gotten my XT
back up to 640K...but I still cannot get it to run more than
512K. I suspect that most of your 640K and CGA or better
requirements are based on your menu program, which I
consider to be shooting yourself in the foot. I strongly
suggest you support Hercules video and perhaps mention in
the unreadable menu the required memory sizes for the
different programs....

Don't count on me re-subscribing until I have actually been
able to read and use your programs...

                                  Woody McPheeters
                                  Gold Hill, OR

RESPONSE: I'm sorry you haven't been able to view all of our
programs. And there have been some very worthwhile programs
in recent issues. Our requirements have been 640K RAM, DOS
3.3 or higher and at least CGA graphics (a CGA graphics
card) for some time. Without a graphics card, subscribers
won't be able to run any of the programs, including the
menu, which contain graphics...only the text-mode programs.
The 640K RAM requirement has nothing to do with the menu,
which uses only about 80K RAM when it comes up on your
screen (for a second or two it uses around 144K, then 64K of
that is restored). It has everything to do with our larger,
more fully-featured programs. Recent programs that have
required most of that 640K include Family Tree 3.0, Grocery
Kart, My EntertainMate, Klondike2, Print Shop Utilities, PCX
'Rangler and others. We have never specifically supported
Hercules video. Now that Hercules is beginning to
"disappear," we probably won't spend time developing
routines for it. Finally, click on the Copy button in our
menu, arrow through the list of programs and you'll see size
and accompanying file information for each program.

                      *    *    *

Having been a former subscriber to ODM, I was pleasantly
surprised to compare the difference between the old and the
new. As far as what I would like to see in the future, the
following has occured to me: a fairly simple program that
would allow me to list my collection of cassettes or books
or videos and to be able to sort them easily. I mean a KISS
program (Keep It Simple for the Stupid).

                                  Ralph Grauso
                                  Ft. Worth, TX

RESPONSE: You're in luck. My EntertainMate, published on
issue #71, sounds like the program you've described. Its
pick lists are user-configurable and there's no limit on the
number of entries per file. You can order issue #71 by
calling our toll free number and asking for customer
service. I urge all subscribers to scan through their back
issue catalogs. The program you've been waiting for may
have been published just before your subscription began.

                      *    *    *

For almost a year I have been trying to convert my .PCX
files to the landscape mode, with no luck unless I spend
about $400.00 on a new program. In comes 'Rangler; I thought
I had my .PCX problem solved, but no such luck.

Since my printer isn't listed (an HP Paintjet) I tried the
two HP products listed and all I get is you don't have
enough memory. I tried the other printers listed and all I
got was ASCII language.

Is there any way you can: 1) upgrade to include the HP
Paintjet printer; 2) upgrade to allow a portrait conversion
to landscape and saved in the landscape mode?

                                  Clifford Franklin
                                  Redding, CA

RESPONSE: You don't indicate what type of computer, amount
of RAM, etc., that you have, but I strongly suspect that the
reason you cannot print (the not enough memory message) lies
with your computer. 'Rangler must load the entire image into
memory before it prints. It will utilize any expanded or
extended memory that your computer might contain. You may
simply be trying to print an image or a page of images that
requires too much memory for your computer to handle. Your
printer should print a small .PCX image (try making a very
small clip) just fine using one of the two HP drivers
listed. If not, consult your printer manual about how to
activate ProPrinter or Epson emulation.

Without a doubt we will upgrade 'Rangler at some point in
the future. However, it is unlikely that 'Rangler will ever
allow you to save the image with a different screen
orientation (it currently will print in a different
orientation). You don't explain what you mean by portrait
and landscape. There are two ways of looking at it: changing
the shape of the image (including any background) from a
vertical shape to a more horizontal one...or rotating the
image 90-degrees so that it is sideways on the screen. Both
are best accomplished in a drawing program that will load
and save .PCX files. Keep an eye out for one on a future
issue.

                      *    *    *

I have been a subscriber for some years now and enjoy your
programs very much. One thing that bothers me though is I
miss not having you send the info sheet which listed what
was on the disks and a brief description. I found them very
helpful when I was looking for a certain program.

                                  Brenda L. Davis
                                  Finley Park, IL

RESPONSE: There were several reasons why we discontinued the
"contents" sheet. First, we saw it as a way for Softdisk to
further its committment to the environment (by saving a few
more trees). Second, we wanted to keep the subscription cost
as low as possible and this decision helped make that
possible. And third, we wanted to take the "on disk" concept
to its fullest extent--everything you need is actually "on
disk." To print out a list of each disk's contents, click on
the Departments button, then on the Contents button. Next,
press F5 to print it out. Hint: set your printer to print
condensed type. You should be able to easily clip out or
fold the resulting copy so that it will fit in your disk
sleeve.

                      *    *    *

I have been a satisfied customer of yours since issue #49
and have enjoyed many programs and games. I have upgraded to
a 386DX 40Mhz system to enable me to function more quickly,
but find I am "growing old" waiting on your programs to load
(unload and reload). Change is great, but this is a step
backward in computers.

I am renewing my subscription, but find I'm loading the
programs from the DOS prompt instead of using your cute
little menu, which makes getting "into and out of" much
easier and also limits your advertisements.

RESPONSE: Our MENU.EXE program is quite small, considering
that it utilizes graphics. One way to speed it up would be
to make the text presenter (with which you read all the
departments including this one) a separate program. That
would mean waiting while the text presenter loaded, each
time you select a department. The menu on #67 (not yet
developed to its current state) worked this way and we sure
got a lot of complaints. Another is to revert to a text only
menu and that is counter to current national trends, as well
as to the "look" and "style" we've created for our entire
issue.

You don't say whether you're running from a floppy or your
hard drive, but we recommend that you run each issue from
your hard drive. Why? Because floppy drives read and write
data at about the same speed--no matter how far you've
upgraded your computer. In fact, hard drives access the same
data about 40 percent faster. I have a 386 16Mhz computer.
Using my hard drive, the average text-mode program takes
about 4 seconds to load from the menu and a comparable
amount of time to return to the menu. Graphics programs take
more time because they generally are larger and require more
memory. From my floppy drive, that delay is tripled to about
12 seconds for the average ODM program. And that's still
often a lot faster than loading Windows or some of my
Windows applications, which are also in graphics mode.

So you don't want to see or "wait" on the Marketplace ads?
Type "GO /NOAD" from the DOS prompt and you won't see a
single ad.

                      *    *    *

Upon using my Print Shop Utilities 4.0 to retrieve the
graphics from ODM #68, I noticed there were no names under
the graphics as there usually is. I proceeded to Edit Image
Names and put names for every graphic...except "N" and "X."
the pictures stumped me. What are these animals?

                                  Madeleine F. Qualter
                                  Cambridge, MA

RESPONSE: The person who normally "prepares" our Print Shop
images was on vacation, so I "subbed" and "flubbed." The "N"
was a "Narwhal" and the "X" was a "Xiphosura." Whip out your
encyclopedia for these!

                      *    *    *

I have been a loyal subscriber for nearly two years. One
aspect that I used to really enjoy about the subscription
was all of the beautiful colors that the interface, and most
of the programs, put on my Tandy 1000SL. I am quite upset
that your firm chose to take that away from we CGA
subscribers.

Some of us, myself especially, are much too poor to buy
expensive EGA or VGA equipment. I feel that I am being
penalized for being broke. I have really enjoyed the vast
majority of your programs over the past couple of years.
Unless ODM is willing to give we subscribers who are in this
situation some kind of compromise, I will unfortunately be
forced to let my subscription expire as of issue #72 and
purchase from another vendor who will allow me to use my
Tandy 16-color setup. I do not want it to come to that,
because I have really like your software.

                                  Gary Skelton
                                  Chico, CA

RESPONSE: First, let me give you some background. The
current menu resulted from two concepts: 1) reduce the size
of the menu and 2) keep it graphical. The only way to do
both was to use the same "guts" with different graphic
overlays (CGA and EGA) that were of the same resolution. Due
to the detail our menu demanded (logos, wording, etc.), the
resolution had to be fairly high, but still equal to a CGA
resolution. We chose medium resolution EGA (640 x 200
pixels) as our "top" end, which matched the highest CGA
two-color graphics resolution. The keys here are the words
"matched" and "graphics."

Though you may well understand the difference between
graphics mode and text mode (often referred to by our
subscribers as Tandy 16-color), many apparently do not. Text
"graphics" are created by assigning colors to ASCII
characters. All the text is of the same size and font. It is
difficult to impossible to do programs requiring small
shapes, complex screen designs, lots of type, etc., in text
mode. That's why most games, including ours are usually done
in graphics mode, while many productivity programs and
utilities, including ODM's, are done in text mode.

The ODM #61-#66 menu included a text mode. It required twice
as much disk space as the current menu, which meant that
each issue contained fewer programs and/or programs that
weren't as fully featured as the ones we're now producing.

Finally, let me add that we don't want to lose subscribers.
However, it's difficult to judge how many people would
prefer a text mode menu when we only occasionally receive a
letter about it. Subscribers: if you would prefer a text
mode menu for ODM, write me. I'll tally the results and
we'll go from there. However, I can make no promises or
guarantees.

                      *    *    *

Please tell me what to do whith ZZT's City (I'm stuck in the
elevator).

                                  Christian Dory
                                  Otterburn Park, Quebec

RESPONSE: A new, "re-mastered" version of ZZT's City is on
its way to you. Though we've reported this bug and our
subsequent fix in other Mailbag columns, you must have
missed it somehow. Enjoy!

                      *    *    *

It's time to speak up. I can understand your reluctance to
allow us to run your programs freely and without hassle
because of the raft of thieves out there. However, your
total obsession with ways to prevent anyone from running
your programs except the way you want them run is placing an
undue burden on we the subscribers.

To run your programs from floppies is absurd, and in my
opinion, to run them from the menu is a pain in the butt. I
just want to get into the program, do my thing and get out.

I also like to split the programs up into several
directories, e.g. the games in one directory, the business
in another, etc. With this latest incarnation of yours, we
can't even run them from the DOS prompt! They must be run
from your menu. So much for separating them into useful
directories.

And the number and placement of your copyright screens is
putting On Disk Monthly well into nagware!

                                  Robert N. Fagan
                                  Erie, PA

RESPONSE: If you are unable to run our programs from the DOS
prompt, something is wrong. Either with your computer system
or our programs. We test every program by running it from
both the menu and from DOS. As far as we can tell,
everything is working fine...providing the computer running
the programs has 640K RAM, CGA or better graphics and DOS
3.3 or higher. Many of our programs won't run (due to memory
conflicts) from Dosshell or Windows. Call our technical
support department at 1-800-831-2694 if you continue to have
this problem.

Copying individual programs to different directories is a
snap. Choose the Copy button in the Menu. Select the drive
you plan to copy to, type the name of the directory you wish
to save to, highlight the program you wish to copy and
select the Copy button. All the necessary files will copy
along with the program's .EXE.

At present a copyright and "not shareware" message appears
on the title screen (or on the screen immediately after the
title screen) for each program. There are several reasons
for this. First, though you may view the entire "issue" as a
whole, i.e. sort of like a magazine with different parts,
the Library of Congress (copyright division) does not.
Hence, each program must be copyrighted, etc., as the
"stand-alone" program that it actually is. Our menu, which
is simply another program on the disk that just happens to
tie everything together, must also be copyrighted. Second,
when or if we ever market our programs separately, each must
contain these notices to protect our artwork, logos,
concepts, computer code, etc. Third, our programs are often
uploaded to bulletin boards and those messages alert
diligent BBS managers to the fact that our programs are not
shareware or freeware.

We are making every attempt to limit the number of "screens"
you must move past in order to reach the main program screen
to two--and one screen (a title screen) is preferred.

                      *    *    *

On this floppy you have Print Shop and .PCX. It says on your
Help that these pictures can be used with my word processor.
How? With other clip art I've seen, you highlight which
picture you want and it copies to where you want it copied.
How do you do it with this? In later issues I've received it
has more .PCX programs. These don't tell you how to use them
either! Did I miss the original program where you can use
these others with? I'm sure I'm not the only new member who
is having problems. Please send information on how to use
these programs.

                                  Samantha Tanner
                                  Louisville, KY

RESPONSE: It's easy for those of us who have been using
computers for years to innocently "omit" or not fully
explain details that can be vital to people who are just
getting started. Though you can both view and print our .PCX
and Print Shop images from our issues using our "viewer"
programs, these viewer programs were designed to allow you
to do just that--view the clip art. Other commercial
(retail) software is required to use them to their fullest
extent. Most PC owners also own one or more of these
commercially-marketed programs.

In order to use Print Shop images, you must own Broderbund's
Print Shop or New Print Shop program. Print Shop images will
also work with the Print Master program. You may index and
catalog them...or even print labels with them, using
Softdisk's Print Shop Utilities 5.0 (published on issue
#71).

.PCX images can be loaded into and edited in many commercial
paint programs, including Deluxe Paint II Enhanced, PC
Paintbrush, Paintbrush for Windows, Corel Draw, etc. Many
desktop publishing or page layout programs, such as Aldus
PageMaker, Publish It, etc., also will allow you to import
or "place" .PCX graphics into your page layout documents.
Some word processors, such as Microsoft Word for Windows,
Word Perfect, Windows Write, and Lotus AmiPro for Windows,
also will allow you to place .PCX files into your documents.
Check your program manuals to see if your programs have this
feature.

We published PCX 'Rangler on issue #70. The purpose of this
program was to give users a way to save .PCX images with new
filenames, clip an image from a "page" of images and save it
with its own filename, clip a section of a .PCX image, etc.
We plan to publish a paint program that will allow you to
create, edit and manipulate .PCX files on a future issue.

                      *    *    *

When you give us something like Word Finder, give us more
puzzles without the basic .EXE in later issues...a la Print
Shop and .PCX graphics.

                                  Bob Surridge
                                  Lakeport, CA

RESPONSE: Unfortunately, due to the nature of subscription
software--new people coming on board EVERY issue--this is
not possible. And, as the previous letter illustrates, we
can't even be sure that every subscriber owns the commercial
programs necessary to utilize items like the graphics to
their fullest. By the way, we DO include "viewers," or .EXE
files with our clip art. Otherwise, there'd be no way to
view them from our menu.

                      *    *    *

I don't like the look of the text programs (DOS Manager,
Grocery Kart, etc.). It hurts to look at them.

                                  Larry Sexton
                                  Harriman, TN

RESPONSE: I feel that the colors our design staff is
choosing are quite good and that we've developed a nice
consistent "graphic" look for our text programs. These
programs don't hurt my eyes, but I do have an adjustable
monitor. Try adjusting your monitor's brightness. Hint: If
you're seeing a "gray border" around the edge of this
screen, your monitor is set too bright. Adjust it until the
outer "border" appears to be black. If you're seeing dull,
dark colors (dark blue looks purple), your monitor's
brightness is not correctly adjusted. If your monitor isn't
adjustable and everything seems too bright (hurts your
eyes), you might consider spending around $40 for one of
those "glare reduction" screens (it fits on your monitor)
that are advertised in most software catalogs.

                      *    *    *

                   Mail your letters to:
                    Attn: Ronda Faries
     ODM Mailbag, 606 Common St., Shreveport, LA 71101

              Or fax them to: 1-318-424-0174

NOTE: Letters and Report Cards used in On Disk Monthly's
Mailbag may be edited for clarity and length.

      *    *    *    T H E  E N D    *    *    *
