Software

Some of the large(r) programs and some former commercial software: the companies that marketed these are no longer in business. Besides the download size some of the unzipped file sizes are shown too (as some are quite big). This page will be expanded: it is the first page to 'certify' the proper working on the PCW 9512, PcW 9256/9512+ and PcW 10. The others will be reviewed later.

Unzip:

  1. UNZIP.COM (3,328 bytes). Unzip for the PCW, can be used to extract .ZIP files (up to version 1.10). Not archived: do not run on a PC!

English games:

  1. APPLE.ZIP (34.097 bytes - 103,424). Applejack (basically a game for kids). Tested on the PCW 9000 and 10 models as well. By K. Boothroyd.
  2. SLIDER.ZIP (17,742 bytes - 61,824). Sliding tile puzzle: 4 pictures supplied. Tyresoft Games. Tested on the PCW 9000 and 10 models as well.
  3. TETRIS.ZIP (9,725 bytes - 97,280). The classic Tetris: I hate it! Tested on the PCW 9000 and 10 models as well. Rowan Software, Mirrorsoft.

Spanish games:

  1. SKY-WAR.ZIP (21,198 bytes - 49,152). By OMK Software. Bootable EMS file: runs on 8000 models - drive A only. OMK Software.

English software, various:

  1. LETAFONT.ZIP (56,357 bytes 102,955). Letafont. By John P. Stevenson. A great font editor and several executable fonts, plus: their UDG sources. COMmand file version of the earlier User Defined Graphics (UDGs) in BASIC. Plus documentation. Tested on the PCW 9000 and 10 models as well.
  2. MBASIC5 (18,263 bytes) Fixed 31/8/2008: MicroSoft BASIC 5.2 interpreter (not the compiler): the equivalent of the Mallard BASIC interpreter (as supplied with the PCW). Comes in handy when dealing with public domain software that is not fully compatible with Mallard.
  3. MBTUTOR (7,512 bytes - 21,248). Introduction to the Microsoft BASIC Interpreter.

dBaseII Applications

All sources require dBaseII as from v2.4. Although they will not always suit your needs, the code can be useful learning material! Most of the programs have been patched for the PCW in that respect that they refer to the [ALT] key rather than the standard [CTRL] and they make use of the extended character set of the PCW for displaying lines and boxes on the screen. Screen sizes still default to the standard 24x80 instead of the potential 31x90 on a PCW: the code should therefore run on other machines too.

  1. ASSI.ZIP (26,477 bytes). ACW-Soft DB-ASSI menu driven dBaseII application (German software, English manual).
  2. DBPRINT.ZIP (3,244 bytes - 8,322). JCC instructions (Y. Elsinga) on how to use a PCW 8256/8512 and PcW 9256/10 dot matrix printer in dBaseII.
  3. CHECKBK2.ZIP (10,646 bytes - 24,320). Small banking system (Walnut Creek CPM CD-ROM: files have been uncrunched and zipped only). Program was not adjusted for the PCW character set. No manual - note the required user operation by means of CAPITAL letters!.
  4. CHECKSDB.ZIP (32,511 bytes - 109,952). Personal checkbook (Walnut Creek CPM CD-ROM: files have been uncrunched, WordStar manual was converted to ASCII and files were zipped). CMD files still present in pseudo-compiled format.
  5. DBAR-12.ZIP (16,836 bytes - 28,160). CP/M program that creates dBase .CMD source code for bar charts, including run-time variables to be entered when running the dBase application. (Walnut Creek CPM CD-ROM: files have been uncrunched and zipped). No manual.
  6. DBASEDIR.ZIP (2,611 bytes - 3,394). dBase application that reads a directory into a DBF file: works on a PCW. Instructions enclosed.
  7. DBCLINIC.ZIP (10,387 bytes - 26,147). MBASIC program that allows (limited) access to a dBase II .DBF database file or a .TXT file. Can fix corrupt "record counter" in the header and change the "last update" stamp. Instructions enclosed. Could be useful for corrupt JetSam keyed-index files as well (but needs modification to allow for separate index and database files). Runs only under the MBASIC5 (18,920 bytes) interpreter: Mallard BASIC malfunctions! Terminal codes have been altered for the PCW screens.
  8. DBLINES.ZIP (1,119 bytes - 1,922). Programming tip how to break up a large field into lines of whatever length you want.
  9. DBMUSIC.ZIP (13,952 bytes - 92,255). Music Management System (Walnut Creek CPM CD-ROM): manages tapes, records, CD's. Search routines could use improvement: only the screen presentation has been adapted to the PCW. No manual, except for the original code provided as WordStar document.
  10. DBSQUASH.ZIP (20,445 bytes - 30,435). MBASIC program to strip redundant spaces and codes from the source files (creates a second file). Full-length dBaseII commands in capital letters are abbreviated to the three-letter equivalents. Saves disk-space and improves program performance. It should be noted, though, that comments are also stripped from the code. A compiled COMmand file has also been supplied.
  11. DBSHOP30.ZIP (19,814 bytes - 60,140). dBase Shopper is designed to help ease the pain of grocery shopping. It allows: Easy selection of items to purchase from a list, Print out of purchase selections by grocery aisle, Comment and coupon fields for notes and reminders of savings, Up to 26 different stores to work with, Easy changes to database. Manual supplied, in addition to that: the graphics parameters have been tailored for the Amstrad PCW, the original settings are renamed to GRAPHICS. The Epson .EPS settings are still present as well.
  12. DBSOURCE.ZIP (124,932 bytes - 201,242). Set of excellent CP/M programs to disassemble pseudo-compiled CMD files back into editable CMD files and compile .SRC into pseudo-compiled .CMD files. Pseudo-compiling dBase applications will result in disk savings and will improve the performance by up to 30%. MBASIC equivalents (equals source code) and manual included. Note that DBSOURCE demands proper dBase syntax and source code may require modification to allow DBSOURCE to compile it: especially the GET command may cause trouble. See VIDSRC.ZIP (10,569 bytes - 27,648) for the modified and ready to compile files of VIDLOG20. Do note the differences when compared to the original CMD files. I strongly recommend consolidation of as much code into one CMD file as possible, plus efficient memory use through variables. VIDLOG is not a good example in these respects: the multiple CMD files require frequent disk access (slow) and are confusing to the user when it comes to backing-up. Moreover: the efficiency of the "CHR()" coding stuff could have been improved greatly by using a couple of variables (did that myself, though, will fix it one of these days). MBASIC5 (18,920 bytes - 24,320) required to run the MBasic equivalents of the COMmand files (if you stick to the COM files you will not need it). Also see DECODE. November 23, 2000: added ENCODE version 1.05, a newer release: without the MBASIC program but with more extensive documentation. Also renamed the old help file to .OLD and created a CLS.DAT with the "clear screen" command sequence for the Amstrad PCW's and PcW's.
  13. DBTIPS.ZIP (42,778 bytes - 113,152). dBase II Anomalies Index, Frequently Asked Questions, Programming Tips and Usage Tips. Useful...
  14. DBTUTOR.ZIP (55,194 bytes - 13,837). Tutor on dBase II in 10 parts.
  15. DB-GEN.ZIP (13,595 bytes - 59,251). Application for generating dBaseII source code: sufficient functionality incorporated to generate stand-alone database systems. Fast menu generator for quickly creating fancy, empty menu's that can be filled-out later (in an editor). Modified for the extended character set of the PCW screen. Meagre documentation but self-explaining and very easy to use! When "nesting" menu's care should be taken to apply an additional "SET TALK OFF" command in the prior menu, in order not to damage it's display when being called by the other menu.
  16. DECODE.ZIP (7,011 bytes - 12,416). Excellent CP/M program to disassemble pseudo-compiled CMD files back into editable CMD files. C source code included. Note the peculiar syntax for de-compilation in the header of the source code: the space in DECODE <SOURCE.CMD >TARGET.CMD is important to get the output into a file! See DBSOURCE (for compiler) too.
  17. DLIBRARY.ZIP (18,697 bytes - 48,768). Library cross-referencing system. "This system allows the user to store references to journal articles and books, along with a list of keywords (subjects) for each reference. It automatically maintains a "history" of all the keywords that are in the database. New additions to the database, and changes to the database, automatically update the keywords database. The user can display a list of all available keywords, and can also search for references that contain any given keyword, or group of keywords." By no means a flawless application, but interesting nevertheless. Uses a B drive.
  18. DOZ.ZIP (7,189 bytes - 20,516). Front-end system for dBase: suitable for starting users (or for learning to program). The manual refers to the DOS dBaseIII version but provides enough information: the system is self-explaining anyway.
  19. FAMILY.ZIP (22,400 bytes - 63,292). Church membership management system: it's menu's were clearly generated by DB-GEN. Modifications I made (to the Walnut Creek CPM CD-ROM original) were unpacking and unsqueezing of the file(s), modifying the screen control codes, fixing some bugs (among others forgotten SET TALK OFF's plus the missing menu option 7) and zipping the files. Works with B drive: can run on single drive machines by means of the "put the disc for drive b in a" prompts.
  20. COMM.ZIP (16,976 bytes - 49,216). Extension to the Church membership management system: to maintain track of members of the Church's donation and communion records.
  21. FAMTREE.ZIP (107,817 bytes - 268,447). A huge genealogy application that (in original configuration) requires two drives: A uses 160kb (including dBase and boot files) and B 70kb. As B is used for data-storage this can easily be changed to the Ram drive M for the unexpanded 8256/9256/9512(+)/10: the 8512 will do fine as it is. Consult the manual to find out which files go where: the contents of a PROFILE.SUB would depend on the machine and the size of the database you are using. An 8256 requires multiple disks, the other models could even do with just one 720kb disk. Features, besides to odd ones: a unique 4 digit reference number, Surname, 2 Given names, Name commonly "Known as", Birth place and Birth date, Death date and resting place (if applicable), Reference numbers of parents, Marriage date, marriage town, spouse ref. number and no. of children to the marriage. (There are facilities for up to 3 marriages and a total of 16 children from the marriages). Free form biography of up to 6x60 lines per individual. Current postal surname (for women). Letter control field e.g. for notification about reunions etc (WordStar mail merge)... A persons relationship to family members can be displayed by entering a reference number or by a search. You can move directly to the mother, father, 1st spouse or 1st child by a single letter command or to any persons record on the screen. The program can type out gummed labels to those whose control field is set in the address database. On-screen help available: some records need screen dumping (EXTR+PTR) rather than printing. A neat application that did not need adapting to the PCW, except for configuration-dependable settings. It deserves pseudo-compiling when actually used. Otherwise a nice application to learn from (in original state, except for the converted WordStar documents).
  22. FOOD.ZIP (11,224 bytes - 41,454). Food additives in Australian foods: a simple but effective application.
  23. PI-EVAL.ZIP (5,756 bytes - 10,780). Evaluation of a personal injury claim, including documentation. Small, perhaps outdated, yet funny.
  24. VIDLOG20.ZIP (22,648 bytes - 62,806). Logging home videotapes. Actually a useful application: including index start and end positions etc. Generated by DB-GEN, so I corrected it for the missing SET TALK OFF commands and the extended character set of a PCW. Instructions included: also see DBSOURCE for a pseudo-compiled version.

Turbo Pascal Applications

  1. Weather source code (20,276 bytes), example programs for the weather-devices (not 100% debugged) on the DIY-pages, CPC International. The graphics routines and examples (Lissajous pictures) are universal, though.
  2. JT source code (10,768 bytes), JT program 2.1 GEM hard disc version in English (executable on PD page).
  3. LocoCon source code (10,792 bytes), LocoCon version in English (executable on PD page).
  4. Turbo Pascal 3.0a (26,999 bytes). Released in public domain by Borland. PCW patched version. For the MS-Dos 3.02a version, see Borland museum
  5. TUTOR.ZIP (61,840 bytes - 137,275). Turbo-lessons: a tutorial in Turbo-Pascal.
  6. TUTOR1.ZIP (37,483 bytes - 86,382). Actually for Pascal/MT (DR) but quite useful and aimed at the Basic programmer.

C Applications

  1. CTUTOR1.ZIP (102,610 bytes - 298,067). C tutorial. MBUG volume 063
  2. CTUTOR2.ZIP (64,362 bytes - 156,511). C programming examples with CTUTOR1. MBUG volume 064

Z80 Machine code

  1. XLATE2.ZIP (3,015 bytes - 5,632). Converts 8080 to Z80 machine code.
  2. Z80TUTOR.ZIP (26,497 bytes - 72,461). Z80 Machine Code Tutorial

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