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[comp.sys.apple2] The UMICH Apple II archive guide (1/24/93)



____________________________________________________________________________
       The Hitchhicker's Guide to the UMICH Apple II Archives
____________________________________________________________________________

Contents:
 - Finding your way around the UMICH Apple II archive
 - Dan's favorite programs from each category
 - A list of the various communications programs
 - How to decode files on the archive

============================================================================
Finding your way around the UMICh Apple II archive
============================================================================
What:
  The UMICH Apple II archives are a storage place for new an old Apple II
  software, including the Apple ][+, //e and IIGS.  Check out the files in
  the apple2/faq directory for everything you ever wanted to know about
  the Apple II.

Why:
  For Apple II enthusiasts everywhere. (BTW: people still program on it!
  Check out the newsgroup comp.sys/binaries.apple2 if you don't believe me.

Who:
  You can e-mail comments, suggestions, homework problems, etc to:
       apple2-archivist@archive.umich.edu  or dmag@umich.edu

Where:
  The UMICH Apple II archives are avaliable via AFS in the directory
  /afs/umich.edu/group/itd/archive.  If you don't have AFS, you can use
  anonymous FTP to:
    apple2.archive.umich.edu   apple2
    wuarchive.wustl.edu        mirrors/archive.umich.edu/mac
    src.doc.ic.ac.uk           packages/mac/umich 
    archie.au                  micros/mac/umich

How?
  There are several ways to find files on the Apple II portion of the
  archive:

  1) the file "00ls-lRfile" contains a list of all the files.
  2) In each direcory under 8bit (all Apples) and gs (Apple II GS only),
     there is an INFO file.  It contains pointers to my favorite programs
     in that directory
  3) At the start of each file is a short header giving a description,
     contents, key words, etc.
  4) At some point in the future, I will take these descriptions and put
     them in 1 file.  As soon as I figure out Perl, that is.

============================================================================
Dan's favorites
============================================================================
8bit/archivers - Programs to compress/archive files
  binscii    Makes programs/archives into text files. You need this!
  shrinkit   Unshrinks programs.  You need this too!

8bit/basic - Programming under AppleSoft Basic
  como       Save screen output to file
  dhr        Use double-high rez graphics from basic
  messydos   Use MS/DOS commands (CD, DIR) in basic

8bit/game - games for all Apple IIs
  wheel      Wheel-Of-Fortune with good graphics
  columns    a great tetris work-alike
  lifelike   for those intrested in the game of 'Life'

8bit/shell - Program launchers, Command Line Interperters
  Davex      A great shell for the Apple II, writen by Dave Lyons!
  SSelect    A replacement for ProDos quit code w/cool interface

8bit/util - Utilities
  A2FX        Allows //e to read Mac 800K disks
  chameleon   Convert between CP/M, Pascal, ProDos & Dos 3.3
  dearc       Extracts from ARC archives
  fazz        Painlessly change filetypes
  msdos.cnvt  Read MS/DOS disks [needs High Density Drive & card]
  setup.sys   Automatically execute programs (i.e. clock drivers) on boot

gs/arch - Archivers for the GS
  gscii         Binscii for the GS, as an NDA!
  shrinkitGS    _THE_ program to use for archiving on the GS.

gs/demo - Demonstration versions of real programs
  crystalquest     Great arcade game w/great sounds. Better than the Mac!
  rade.demo        An Applesoft debugger written for the GS
  t.forcedemo      TaskForce GS demo.  Arcade game with lots of action
  dream.grphx      Demo of DreamGraphics, a 3200 color paint program
  symbolix.demo    Demo of Symbolix, a math manipulation program
  gstdemo          Demo of GSTape, a SCSI tape backup utility

gs/game - Fun & Games for the GS
  one-armed-bandit, milestones     great graphics & sounds
  BJtutor, solgolf, video poker    card games
  montecarlo, pyramid              card games
  plotting                         fun game
  roge                             ported from unix - text D&D
  quadronome                       a must-see.  3D racquet ball.
  tetrotrix, columns               Tetris look alikes
  gamenda                          3 fun games: Mines and 2 tetris work-alikes

gs/graphics - programs with lots of color & graphics:
  fillmaze         Run through a 3-D maze
  plasmalab        Fun to play with, several games in one
  shrconvert       Interchange several graphics formats
  dvoirv131        Plays soundsmith songs and views 3200 color pics
  pics.3200        A directory with a few 3200 Color pics
  fta.gate         A driving game
  fta.harrier      Space Harrier, the video game, but you don't die
  fta.nucleus      The orignal demo that took the GS world by storm
  fta.ferno        A cool, Marble Maddness like game.

gs/gsos/cda - Classic Desk Accessories (text based)
  niftylist     THE programmers utility - Does everything, knows everything.
  areacode      If you need that sort of thing
  calendar      short, sweet and to the point
  errorcodes    list of error codes for PRODOS, Basic, GSOS
  tooltrace     a utility for programmers

gs/gsos/cdev - Control Panel Devices
  automenus     automagicly pull down menus by moving over them

gs/gsos/fext - System 6 Finder Extensions
   Do everything from view pictures to play sounds from the Finder!

gs/gsos/init - Startup items
  desktopimg    puts a background picture on your desktop
  next.color    gives you a Next-like feel
  vmmp          for ROM03 programmers
  guimaster     give your GS a new look

gs/gsos/nda - New Desk Accessories (graphical)
  cronos        the best of the menubar clocks - time, date, stopwatch, etc.
  memorybar     the best of the 'free memory' NDAs - click on it!
  packman       It's Pacman!
  scrapbook     just like as the Mac version - save pics, sounds, etc.

gs/util - Utilities (for non-programmers)
  resource.spy     Convert Mac icons, fonts to GS!
  gs.spy           a menu-bar hard drive light

===========================================================================
Communications Programs
===========================================================================
8bit/comm - Telecommunications programs for all Apple IIs
gs/comm - Telecommunications programs for the GS

Program   Comp Emulations     Protocols             Note
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ProTerm    E$  PSE, VT-100     Kermit, X,Y,Z-modem  From InSync
Kermit-65  E   VT-100          Kermit, X-modem      Hard to use,Works on ][+
Z-Link     E   VT-100          X-modem              Good.
CommSys    E   none            X-modem              Works on ][+
TIC        E$  VT-52 (+)       X-modem              For hackers. From Q-Labs
Agate      E   mono ANSI       X,(Y,Z rec'v only)   Unpacks ZIP, Buggy
ColorTerm  GS  color ANSI      X-modem              Desktop based
MegaTerm   GS  color ANSI      none                 ProDOS 8
ANSITerm   GS$ color ANSI, PSE X,Y,Z-modem          Haven't seen it.
SnowTerm   GS  VT-100 (+)      none                 Desktop based
FreeTerm   GS  none            X-modem              Desktop based
GenComm    GS  none            none                 Text, Shell Compat.
GSVT       GS  VT-100          none                 Desktop
GTerm      GS  color ANSI      none                 Written in BASIC/ML
Telcom     GS  VT-100, PSE     X, (Y rec'v only)    Shell compat
----------Key:---------
Key: $ = A commercial program [i.e. not available in the archive!!]
Computer:  E = works on GS and //e, GS = only works on GS

The All-Time best program is ProTerm.  If you can't afford it, then
I would suggest Z-link (if you don't need the Kermit protocol) or
Kermit-65 (if you do)

===========================================================================
How to decode files on the archive:
===========================================================================
  The main programs you will need are called BINSCII and SHRINKIT.
Most files are in .BSQ format, which means it's a SHRINKIT archive inside
a BINSCII wrapper.
  Instead of boring you will the full story, you can look in the
apple2/help directory for the full story!

                Sea ya!
                        Dan DeMaggio
                        dmag@enign.umich.edu <or> dmag@umich.edu

============================Apple II Forever===============================
P.S. I'm graduating in May, so I'm looking for an Apple II enthusiast
     to take over the Apple II archive maintenance.  E-mail me!
============================Apple II Forever===============================
-- 
      -=- Dan DeMaggio -=- dmag@caen.engin.umich.edu -=-
"That is really incredible. That is truly incredible.  That is so
incredibly incredible that I think I'd like to steal it." -Zaphod