** 1 page Suggestive Remarks / 802 words ** Mike Kerslake with some suggestions for better Atari computing and some ideas for programmers... In AC#6, I floated the idea of an A to Z sorter, and by AC#8 Matthias Jaap in Germany had come up with A-Z which does the job admirably. Happily Matthias has continued development and A-Z v2.0 is now available so we've included it on Reader Disk. A-Z v2.0 ** A2Z_MAIN.GIF here ** ** On Reader Disk banner/disk here ** A-Z is a GEM utility which can sort ASCII text files from A to Z or vice versa. Version 2.0 offers the following useful extra features including: Taking stock Now to a program suggestion - after all that's what this column is all about! John Firth in West Yorkshire, England recently sent us this letter: I have been using a invoicing, stock control and cashflow program called SYSTEM 3 for about four years. I recently discovered it's not compatible with the the year 2000, so invoices, statements and so on issued after 31st December 1999 will show the date as 89 - when the program was first written. I contacted DIGITA INTERNATIONAL who published the original program, but they informed me it's no longer supported and no upgrade is available. SYSTEM 3 is a very versatile program. Each customer is given an account number along with their details. All goods and services supplied are then entered into the stock control file, each item given a code number along with a description, quantity, purchase price and selling price. To issue a invoice you type in a account number along with the customers name, date and a box to enter their order number is displayed. The code number for goods supplied is then typed in, and the description relating to that item is shown, enter quantity sold and the total price is automatically calculated for you, along with any VAT payable, which is shown separately. The printed invoice shows your contact details along with customers details and items supplied. Sadly I'm not aware of any other similar supported software so it seems likely John will be stuck in less than a year's time unless we can come up with something. I'm wondering if it would be possible to develop an Auto folder utility, TOS patch or some combination of both which could take over date handling at the system level and offer a global fix for programs like SYSTEM 3. Maybe there's already a suitable program or an alternative stock control and invoicing application that will work beyond 2000 - if you know of anything which may help John please do let me know. If there's a programmer reading this who has an idea how SYSTEM 3 could be patched, come up with a global fix or is interested in developing an alternative stock control and invoicing system Atari Computing would be interested in sponsoring the project - much like we have with GEMTrade, again please do get in touch if you can help. Good manners Mention of GEMTrade reminds me that there's been a bit of an interesting discussion recently in the CIX ataricomputing conference between GEMTrade author Mark Wherry and Andy Giddings about GEM and new protocols and calls/features for MiNT, MagiC, NVDI and support for machine-specific features of the Falcon, TT, and other machines. Mark mentioned he found out that you can't really use too many of the newer features offered by MagiC/MiNT as people start moaning at you. Mark used WDIALOG in GEMTrade v2.00 and got complaints! ** WDPD.GIF here ** ** caption ** WDIALOG - a mixed blessing? ** /caption ** Programmers might like to bear in mind that although many people do have quite well specified systems, many others don't, so any programs they write should perhaps not rely too heavily on other programs to take care of the basic tasks. It might be an idea for new stand-alone programs to take advantage of extra facilities offered by other programs or at least co-exist with them. A good example is the Everest text editor which can quite happily do its job without NVDI being installed, but if it detects NVDI it allows you to use that program's font and print systems. Just my thoughts anyway, but please do feel free to submit your suggestions and ideas via the usual editorial address or direct to me at: ** BC ** mike@ataricomputing.com ** /BC ** Finally, my often promised Help Directory will make an appearance soon, but it will be incorporated in a new section in the magazine which will provide help and contact details and details of local user groups etc as well. Mike Kerslake