One of Berkeley Softworks' first GEOS support products, DESKPACK 1, has been repackaged and thoroughly updated. Now called DESKPACK PLUS, this newly revamped collection of assorted GEOS applications and desk accessories now offers optional 80-column support under GEOS 128. Not to worry, though - all of the programs have been designed to run under both the 64 and 128 versions of GEOS. Each has been functionally updated as well, with new features and capabilities added.
DESKPACK 1 originally offered Graphics Grabber, Icon Editor, Calendar and Blackjack. DESKPACK PLUS gets its "plus" from the addition of two more programs once sold separately: geoDex and geoMerge. Also included is the Photo Manager DA (Desk Accessory), with both C64 and C128 (40/80-column) versions provided. Lastly, there is the Commodore 10-point font for use with geoMerge's letter-quality printing mode.
Let's take a look at the complete package, shall we?
%cGRAPHICS GRABBER
This application allows users of Print Shop, PrintMaster and/or Newsroom to import clip-art graphics into the GEOS world. Any clip-art graphic may be converted into a GEOS photo scrap and pasted in an album for later use in geoPaint, geoWrite, geoFile and geoPublish.
The Graphics Grabber provides easy photo scrap manipulation through the use of icons. Using the page flipping icon, you may leaf through a collection of graphics until you find one to grab. Click on the Photo Manager icon and that graphic is pasted into a photo album. Click on the Photo Scrap icon and the graphic becomes a scrap instead. This rapid-fire point-and-click approach greatly accelerates the task of converting a large number of graphics into the GEOS environment.
There are many graphic library disks available for these programs as well as public-domain clip-art. Using Graphics Grabber, a vast resource of professionally-designed artwork may now be imported into GEOS. And it never looked so good.
%cICON EDITOR
This is a handy utility that lets you change the appearance of any file's icon as it appears on the GEOS deskTop. It can also "convert" non-GEOS files to the GEOS format by assigning them a blank icon and complete header information.
Icon Editor is very easy to use. A dialog box first appears with the names of all GEOS files on your disk. You may switch disks or drives at this point by clicking on the DISK or DRIVE buttons. After you select a file its icon appears in an editing box and allows editing in a manner similar to geoPaint's pixel edit mode. The file icon also appears actual size below the edit window.
To the right of the editing area is the icon buffer, an area similar in appearance to the edit window. Just click on the COPY TO BUFFER arrow to preserve your icon before making changes. Clicking on LOAD FROM BUFFER restores the icon. Because the buffer is not cleared after an icon is saved, it can be used to make copies of an icon for several files - a nice feature.
The new version of Icon Editor incorporates the ability to manipulate photo scraps created with geoPaint. This is done through a new EDIT pull-down menu, which includes CUT, COPY and PASTE functions.
Before a photo scrap is pasted into the icon edit window you must first use the mouse to maneuver the photo scrap into position. All you see at this point is a piece of your photo scrap floating around within the confines of the "actual size" icon (below the editing field). When the mouse is moved around the screen, the photo scrap scrolls around within the icon's boundaries.
The icon scrolling is fairly slow-moving, even in the 2MHz FAST mode of an 80-column C128 using RAM expansion. Vertical scrolling is pixel-by-pixel while horizontal scrolling jumps left or right eight bits. This may make it difficult to center an image without having to go back to geoPaint and adjust the positioning of the graphics within the scrap.
Photo scraps have a practical size limit, too. Scraps that are too large cannot be scrolled completely because mouse movement is limited to the size of the screen. If a scrap is too large, it will have to be brought back into geoPaint and cut down to size.
Moral: when using photo scraps with the Icon Editor, always keep geoPaint handy.
Icon Editor also has the ability to create photo scraps out of file icons with the COPY and CUT options. An important aspect of this is that icons may be easily incorporated into geoProgrammer source code.
%cCALENDAR (DA)
Here is a pop-up desk accessory that lets you makes dates for any year up to December 31, 9999. It is fun to use and makes date-making a breeze.
A CHANGE pull-down menu gives you three ways to change the date on the calendar. Click on MONTH and a sub-menu will appear containing all twelve months. Just click on the month you want and that's it. Click on YEAR and a prompt will appear on the bottom of the calendar asking you to enter the year. For 20th century dates, only the last two digits are needed. Finally, there is a TO PRESENT item. Click on it and the calendar quickly changes to the current date set by the Preference Manager.
It is also possible to flip through the pages of the Calendar by clicking on the dog-eared flap in the lower corner. You may page forward and back at will, leafing through the months one at a time.
Although this looks impressive, Calendar is more than just a visual aid. Click on any of the days displayed and a notepad will appear, ready to accept whatever notes you would like to jot down. These notes are automatically saved in a separate "datebook" file on your work disk.
New in this version of Calendar is an EDIT menu for the datebook function. Using standard CUT, COPY and PASTE options, Calendar can now freely manipulate full-page text scraps. This feature makes the Calendar DA infinitely more practical.
But there's more. When you CUT or COPY text from the datebook into a text scrap, Calendar offers the option of including the date as part of the text scrap. Select this and the text scrap will contain, for example, "October 23, 1988," followed by your notes. Very handy.
When dates accumulate, as they always seem to do, it becomes difficult to keep track of them all. Calendar offers two ways to help you remember all of your important appointments. First, days which contain notes are noted graphically with an asterisk. Second, and most useful, is the question-mark icon. Click on it and all dates with notes are listed to the screen.
Another new feature is the addition of an EDIT menu on the main Calendar screen. This pull-down menu contains a single item: COPY. Click on it and Calendar's actual screen graphics are dumped into the photo scrap! This scrap may then be pasted into any application which accepts photo scraps.
geoPaint's editing window is just tall enough to accept a calendar graphic. Double-click the window icon to open a full-screen window, select PASTE from the EDIT menu and watch your calendar appear like magic. geoWrite accepts the large Calendar scraps with ease.
One small detail not mentioned in the manual bears mentioning. Creating photo scraps out of the Calendar's graphics in 80-column 128-mode gives you a photo scrap twice as wide as one created in 40-columns. In a print-out, you end up with a "squashed" calendar.
%cBLACKJACK (DA)
This program is unique in that it is the first (and probably the only) computer game written for GEOS. It is also the first GEOS program to use sound effects.
For one player only, GEOS plays a mean but realistic game of casino-style blackjack that is guaranteed to leave you penniless. This one has it all: splitting a hand, doubling down, riding a bet - even insurance against the dealer having blackjack. It is even possible to count cards as you play, since Blackjack uses a "real" 52-card deck.
Version 1.2 of Blackjack adds an on-screen "numeric keypad" that accepts input from the mouse as well as standard keyboard input. (A secret "Easter Egg" from Blackjack's designer appears when you type in too many nines.) Blackjack 1.2 also runs in 80-column mode; it is in this mode that the game suddenly comes to life, thanks to 2MHz clock speed.
Although Blackjack makes a nice desk accessory, it isn't the most thrilling or practical form of entertainment I can think of. I'm still waiting to see someone do a full-blown "Macintosh" version of LODE RUNNER for GEOS. Now wouldn't THAT be something?
%cGEODEX (DA)
Once a stand-alone program, geoDex has been updated and thrown into the Deskpack "grab bag" where it belongs. With convenient new features added plus 80-column support, this program can make organizing phone lists and personal contacts a snap.
geoDex functions like an intelligent Rolodex. There are 26 alphabet tabs plus an asterisk tab (*) for miscellaneous characters. Clicking on any of the tabs shifts everything so that the letter you clicked on appears in front. A dog-eared flap is provided for flipping through the geoDex records one by one. A NEW tab is used for creating new records in the geoDex.
geoDex records consist of a last name, first name, middle initial, address, phone number, miscellaneous info, and up to three "group" codes. These three-character codes can be used for grouping people by any criteria you can think of. Later on, when a database has been built, geoDex can use these codes for selectively printing phone lists and address labels.
Searching for records can be done in many ways. The easiest is to click on the question mark icon and enter the last name you are looking for. (There really should be a way to search ANY of the fields allowed per record.)
Pattern matching (*) and wild card (?) characters are used in a manner identical to Commodore DOS. Typing "Sm*" in the search dialog box will locate the first record beginning with "Sm." Typing "Win????" will locate the first record to match the question mark pattern, such as "Winters" or "Winston."
geoDex has a maximum capacity of 42 records per tab, or 1,134 records total. This is including the asterisk tab, which doesn't see much use in a normal geoDex database. While 42 names per tab may seem like a lot to some, users with serious mailing list needs will find geoDex lacking in capacity. Another weakness: there is no way to sort the names and addresses, or search for anything other than a last name.
On the other hand, geoDex has many clever features. The GROUP icon allows you to view only those geoDex records with specific three-character group codes. Up to three codes may be in effect at once and can be cancelled or rearranged at any time. The group viewing affects both geoDex printing and data merging.
Data created by geoDex may be freely passed on to other applications. By pressing COMMODORE-C, the current record will be copied into the text scrap.
Clicking on the MERGE icon creates a specially-formatted geoWrite document out of your database. This source document can later be used with geoMerge to facilitate the creation of multiple form letters. (geoMerge was examined in the author's review of "Writer's Workshop," Vol. 1 #7.)
As with all the other programs in DESKPACK PLUS, geoDex has been enhanced. Aside from being souped-up to run in 80-columns, geoDex now benefits from keyboard shortcuts for many functions. The graphics have been changed, too. One very noticable difference from the old geoDex is the new stack of icons that replace the labeled buttons used to access geoDex's major functions.
Also new is the AUTODIAL feature. With your modem hooked up, simply find any acquaintance of yours in the geoDex file then click on the phone icon. That person's phone number will be dialed automatically - including an optional extension number!
%cA BETTER DESKPACK
As a user of the original DESKPACK 1, this reviewer found DESKPACK PLUS a definite improvement. The most notable of the enhancements are added 80-column support for GEOS 128 and new CUT and PASTE functions. Overall, DESKPACK PLUS is a handy addition to the GEOS system and a necessary upgrade of the original release.
