RISC OS Companion Volume 1 is the first product from Software Solutions, a new company which aims to produce fully legal RISC OS software. So has their first offering lived up to that claim? The Companion is really a set of small RISC OS Desktop applications designed to perform a variety of tasks. Before any of the utilities can be used, you need to make a working copy of the disc and merge the !System directory from the companion disc with the equivalent directory from Applications Disc 1. This is because all the programs have been compiled using ABC2 (see RISC User Volume 2 Issue 8), and therefore need the runtime library in the !System directory.
A large number of the utilities are for converting text files. There are programs to convert from Edit; Wordwise Plus and View into 1st Word Plus; from Wordwise Plus and View into Edit, and from Edit into 1st Word Plus. These all sit on the iconbar and you simply drag files onto them, and then drag the converted file to a directory viewer. Wherever possible, the conversions maintain highlights and formatting within the text.
There are four utilities which I would class as being system related. The first of these is a filetype converter which will change the filetype of any file dragged onto it to a specified type. Then there is a utility to set up the copy options used by the Desktop. This can be quite useful, particularly as the Desktop will not, by default, overwrite existing files. Of course, all these options can be set up using *SET. TheBin is a dustbin similar to the one published on the RISC User magazine disc. However, it has the disadvantage that files are deleted immediately, and cannot be dragged out again. StarComms must surely be the most useless of the utilities. It allows a number of star commands to be issued, though I am sure that most users would find it much easier to press F12 and type the command directly.
Three of the most useful commands are StartUp, Cache, and GenBoot. The first of these will set up a !Boot file so that autobooting will enter the Desktop with your particular choice of applications installed, and directory viewers open. Cache builds up a list of files and their corresponding applications, so that a file can be run before its application has been 'seen', while GenBoot is a utility to simplify the process of transferring Arthur applications to RISC OS. The final two utilities are a note-taking facility for Edit, and a very simple teletype terminal which could be used with a modem for logging on to Telecom Gold and the like.
Riscware is a new term coined to mean software that follows the standards and style of applications such as Edit. The Companion claims to be Riscware, and indeed at first sight it does appear so. However, there are a few discrepancies. For example, Acorn state that if you wish to close a file-save box without performing a save, then you should do this by pressing Escape. With the Companion, though, this is done using a quit icon on the save box. Whatever the merits of either approach, the consistency which Acorn has tried to lay down is lost. Similarly, there are a number of dialogue boxes in which options are set by clicking on an 'OK' button, but can be left unset by clicking on the window's close icon. I would much rather have seen a 'CANCEL' button, as it is then immediately obvious what the exact effect is going to be.
Worst of all, when I tried to drag a directory into one of the file converters, rather than complaining nicely, it splatted a text error across the screen and hung up with the hourglass on. Very friendly for a new user!
This is the sort of product that users will buy for just one or two of the utilities, but at the high cost of the Companion, I suspect that purchasers will be few in number. However, it is nice to see the appearance of Desktop utilities, and I am sure that this will not be the only such product to be released. However, most of the utilities will be of use to some people, and it is nice to see Riscware products appearing.
Product RISC OS Companion Volume 1 Supplier Software Solutions, Broadway House, 149-151 St Neots Road, Hardwick, Cambridge CB3 7QJ. Tel. (0954) 211760 Price £57.45 inc. VAT