Regarding routines that transfer commercial programs from tape to disk, I note that many of them load only the first program from a tape and not the subsequent parts. The solution at first seemed to be to keep reloading the copy program(s) and transferring the next bit as I was trying to transfer Typing Tutor, a program comprising eighteen lessons.

However, I then found that I could not transfer files beyond lesson nine. The reason for this lockup lay in the fact that tape files can have up to ten characters (and so can ADFS files) but DFS systems will only accept seven of them hence "LESSON9" with seven characters was fine but "LESSON10" was not. Using EUG #19's transfer program by Derek Walker was even worse; it pretended to load the problem lessons but was really stricken with the same problems as the one I already had.

Lesson 10 onwards could only be transferred using the routine listed on page four of the Pres ADFS User Guide; i.e. LOADing "LESSONxy" from tape, then transferring it to disk with the filename "AFGxy" (All Fingers Go). From the prompt, this works like this:

      >*BASIC (RETURN)
      >*TAPE (RETURN)
      >LOAD "LESSONxy" (RETURN)

      Wait for the tape to load

      >*DISC (RETURN)
      >SAVE "AFGxy" (RETURN)

      Then:

      >CHAIN "AFGxy" (RETURN) checks the disk version is working.

Being a Car Boot Sale addict, I purchased a dozen or so copies of the Beebug magazine for 50p (Big Spender!). Vol 7 No 3 July 1988 page 30 introduces the DFS command *INFO which seems to give more information than *CAT. This general command is not mentioned in the handbook. I'm sure it can be of some use, but what?

I have had my Acorn system for approximately two years to date and the subsequent addition of a printer was the icing on the cake. The one part of the View handbook that seemed to taunt me for a long while was the need for a printer driver. One of our members Bill Woodall helped me initially but I wanted to crack the majority of the problem myself.

I have a dozen or so copies of Electron User which were included with the machine I purchased. Behold, in the August 87 issue, there's a View Printer Driver and included was an incomprehensible listing. Now since the mid 1950s when I first came across logic circuits and the subsequent advent of computers, these machines have been aware that as soon as I touch their keyboards they are free to do things their way and not mine. Hence the Printer Driver listing was a real challenge and, after much sweating, it ran. Ironically, I've have little use for the Driver to date but I'm a master now!

By the way, thanks for the replacement EUG #18 disk, the lost article was well worth having.

Ron Kilroy, EUG #20