AppleWorks Questions (was Re: AppleWorks emulator for MS-DOS?)

[dempson@atlantis.actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

In article <40ernb$o42@agate.berkeley.edu>,
Sergio Cesar Mairena <surge@uclink.berkeley.edu> wrote:
> 
> My father owns a 128K Apple //e with a (I believe) Titan Accelerator Card.
> Although he has 128K RAM available, his copy of Appleworks only allows him
> to load 56K at a time. 

Not surprising - the program and operating system have to be loaded as
well as the data it is accessing.  They take up just over half the
available memory, leaving you with just under half for your data.

> 3 newbie questions:
> 
> 1) Is there a newer version (>1985) of appleworks that allows one to work
> with larger files? 

No.  Newer versions of AppleWorks will only work with SMALLER files in
the amount of RAM you have.

In a 128k Apple IIe, AppleWorks versions 1.0 through 2.1 give you a
desktop of about 56K.  AppleWorks 3.0 gives you a 40K destop.
AppleWorks 4.0 gives you a desktop of about 20K, and AppleWorks 5.0
or later will not run at all.

You need more RAM to able to work with larger files in AppleWorks.

AppleWorks 1.3 through 2.1 will support a standard slot RAM card such
as the Apple II memory expansion card, or the Applied Engineering
RAMFactor.

AppleWorks 3.0 and later also support an auxiliary slot RAM card such
as the Applied Engineering RAMWorks.  A patch program was supplied
with the card to modify earlier versions of AppleWorks to use this card.

Another point is that AppleWorks 3.0 and later have a much higher
limit on the size of a data file.  Earlier versions are limited in the
number of lines/records/rows that can be used (though the patch
program for the AE RamFactor can also increase these limits).

Another possibility would be to change computers to a IIgs, or if you
already have a Mac LC, LC II, LC III or Color Classic (or a later
machine with the same expansion slot), getting an Apple IIe emulation
card for the machine.  This will give you access to a lot more memory.

You would need AppleWorks 2.1 or later on a IIgs (2.0 works provided
you don't have more than about 1 megabyte of RAM).

> 2) Is there a more powerful spreadsheet program that will allow him to
> handle larger files? 

Same answer - get more memory.  Later versions of AppleWorks have more
features in their spreadsheet modules, but need more RAM to be usable.

There are no other Apple IIe spreadsheets, other than rather obscure
ones that aren't available any more (which would probably have less
memory available, not more), or really old ones like Visicalc, which
are less powerful and usable than the AppleWorks spreadsheet, and
would also have less memory available.

> 3) Is there any way that he can convert the Apple //e Appleworks files
> into an MS Excel (Mac) compatible format? 

Probably, but it isn't very easy.  There are Mac-based programs that
can translate AppleWorks files into Mac files.  For example,
ClarisWorks can directly import them.  There is also a set of
translators for Apple File Exchange that can convert AppleWorks files
into MS Works files.

I don't know about Excel, but there is probably some way of getting
the files there, even if it means going through another spreadsheet
program first.

The main problem will be getting the AppleWorks files to the Mac.  You
would need a Mac LC (or compatible) with the Apple IIe emulation card
and a 5.25" drive connected, or an Apple IIe/IIc/IIgs with 3.5" drive
and 5.25" drive, or an Apple IIe/IIgs connected to an AppleTalk network.

It might be possible to use a serial connection between the IIe and a
Mac, and use comms software to transfer the files to the Mac, but this
would introduce further problems, because the Mac won't know what type
of files they are.  Besides, I doubt you have a serial card in the IIe.
-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand