Classic Computer Magazine Archive COMPUTE! ISSUE 46 / MARCH 1984 / PAGE 10

"Atari Softkeys" Printer Utility

I've grown tired of typing myriads of CHR$(X) printer control commands, and looked for something better. I checked through my files, and rediscovered Bill Wilkinson's program "Atari Softkeys" ("Insight: Atari," COMPUTE!, May 1982). This program is an ideal solution to my problem, except for the caution that the equates to the OS routines are for the Revision A ROMs.

I suspect that most people now have Revision B ROMs, so could Wilkinson (or someone) please provide the equate changes necessary for the program to run with Revision B ROMs.

G. J. Marrs

True, the majority of Atari owners now have the new upgraded Operating System (and many may not even know they do). The improvements required some changes, primarily in the interrupt handling system. Fortunately, both operating systems are fairly compatible, as long as no illegal calls are made. The Softkeys program required patching into some of those illegal entry points, so Wilkinson warned that his equates were for the Revision A ROMs.

As it turns out, none of the entry addresses required by the Softkeys program changed; Softkeys will run on either Revision A or Revision B ROMs. It won't run on the 1200XL, and likely won't run on any of the newer XL series computers, since more drastic changes have been made to their operating systems.