Specifications

to set up printer files for any printers not included. We merged 'CLIP with the
disk printer file for DIABLO and were printing in five minutes. Once the printer
file is merged, you needn't ever set up for that printer again, for you file the
merged version to disk. We have two such files: clip.diablo, and clip.ascii, the
last being most handy for output of printer files to disk for telecom and mED in
6809. If you have the wrong version loaded, you can stuff another printer file
into ’CLIP just before you print— quickly.
Ranges in 'CLIP can be set to lines, words or characters, not just to lines,
as in WordPro. A range is reverse field set by you to mark text you want to er
ase, delete, move, or save...A lot of complex commands/options come to screen
with a YES/NO prompt; the most comrbon response is pre-printed so you can hit a
RETURN and accept it...You can change device numbers on disks/printers within
’CLIP...Batteries provides character generators for foreign languages which you
can employ from ’CLIP.
You can search/replace five phrases at once (want to??); but after you find
a phrase, you have the option to replace/not replace (bingo!)...’CLIP provides
a multiple line insert— tell it how many blank lines you want; it creates them,
complete with hard carriage returns... AND the best trick yet: you can jump in
stantly to end-of-text with SHIFT/RUN, and need not spend all day Saturday cur-
soring down...’CLIP deletes a range of text quickly, far faster than WordPro...
You can COPY any phrase on the screen to the screen up to 255 times (superb for
creating forms)...and ’CLIP makes perfect ASCII files with the ’True Ascii’ file
on the ’CLIP disk— without the prefixed quotation marks WordPro creates...If you
want semi-proportional spacing, ’CLIP supports it, but you must create your own
printer file, using the 'CLIP instruction manual.
And more: In formatted output, you get a word-count of each page...And there
is a built-in sort for lists... Plus a simple way to create a Table of Contents,
which is automatically saved to disk. You mark all entries you want for the ta
ble; ’CLIP saves that entry and its page number...And you can restart output at
the top of any page if you catch an error...You can move, erase, or reproduce a
column in text...And you can add/subtract both rows and columns of digits, to a
specified number of decimal places. Plus some other goodies. As might be expect
ed, you must learn a gob of new commands, but you cannot get power without com
plexity. Those who need only a text-processor for simple jobs will find 'CLIP as
easy to use as WordPro in that context; switchover to ’CLIP commands is easy.
An integral spelling checker may be available about March ’84, with a dictionary
of 20,000 words, and space for another 5,000 on a 4040 disk. Reported time to
check a full screen page (over 700 lines): about 150 seconds.
Want to update to newer versions of ’CLIP? Keith Hope, the Technical Director
of Batteries, writes: "Current owners can update their program to the newer ver
sion several ways. They can request a copy of the new diskette from their local
Commodore dealer, or they can send $15.00 to Batteries Included and we will send
them an updated diskette." That is a responsive and sensible arrangement.
We’ve covered the good changes— those that particularly impressed us. There are
some things we don’t like:
1. The directory readout in ’CLIP is a disaster; it mars the whole program.
If there is a way to send one to printer, we couldn't find it. 'CLIP returns to
SuperPET Gazette, Vol.I No.11 -174- December 1983/January 1984