Atari XL User manual

Table of contents

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THE

ATARIXL

HANDBOOK

THE

ATARIXL

HANDBOOK

PETER

LUPTON

&FRAZER ROBINSON

CENTURY

COMMUNICATIONS

LONDON

Copyright

e

Peter

Lupton

and

Frazer

Robinson

1984

All

rights

reserved

First

published

in

Great

Britain

in

1984

by

Century

Communications

Ltd,

12 - 13

Greek

Street,

London

WI

V

5LE

ISBN

0

7126

02259

Reproduced,

printed

and

bound

in Great

Britain

by

Hazell Watson &Viney Limited,

.

Member

of

the

BPCC

Group,

Aylesbury,

Bucks

Typeset

by

Spokesman,

Bracknell

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1

Computers

and

Programs

1

2

Setting

up

your

XL 3

3

First

Steps

8

4

Programming

18

5

Program

Control

31

6

Data

and

Programs

45

7

Pieces

of

Strings

52

8

Functions

63

9

Logical

Thinking

70

10

Memory

Managemen

t74

11

Sound

and

Music

77

12

Characters

105

13

Graphics

136

14

Advanced

Graphics

153

15

Player-Missile

Graphics

172

16

Permanent

Storage

188

17

Advanced

Techniques

196

APPENDICES

1

BASIC

Commands

204

2

BASIC

Error

Codes

3

Speeding

Up

Programs

4N

umbering

Systems

5

Graphics

Modes

6

Colour

Codes

7

Character

Codes

8

Display

List

Instructions

9

Useful

Memory

Locations

10

Music

Frequencies

11

Musical

Notation

12

System

Memory

Map

Index

215

223

225

230

231

232

234

236

238

239

243

244

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Our

thanks

to

all

those

who

in

some

way

made

the

creation

of

this

book

possible,

especially

friends

and

colleagues

whose

enthusiasm

and

interest

was

invaluable

as

our

stocks

of

midnight

oil

burnt

low.

Special

thanks

to

Herbert

for

all

his

contributions,

and

to

Richard

Gollner

for

his

continuing

optimism

and

sense

of

humour.

Once

again

our

families

have

given

us

much

encouragement,

for

which

we

are

grateful,

and

sound

nutritional

advice,

which

we

have

ignored.

INTRODUCTION

This

book

is

an

introduction

to

the

ATARI

XL

range

of

computers

and

their

facilities.

It

takes

you

from

the

first

steps

in

BASIC

programming,

pointing

out

the

pitfalls

and

explaining

how

to

make

the

most

of

the

features

of

ATARI

BASIC,

through

to a

detailed

understanding

of

how

to

write

good,

structured

programs,

with

many

illustrative

examples

along

the

way.

A

chapter

is

devoted

to

the

extensive

sound

capabilities

of

the

XL,

including

details

of

the

sound

generating

chip

itself

which

allow

you

to

create

a

wider

range

of effects

than

is possible

using

the

standard

commands.

Four

chapters

cover

the

incredible

graphics

facilities

of

the

machines,

including

many

spectacular

examples

and

useful

programs.

An

advanced

chapter

shows

how

a

detailed

knowledge

of

the

way

graphics

are

created

leads

to

even

more

exciting

effects.

A

comprehensive

set

of

appendices

ensure

that

the

book

will

remain

a

valuable

reference

work

long

after

you

have

grasped

the

principles

of

the

machine.

We

hope

that

you

will

find

this

book

both

enjoyable

and

instructive

and

that

it

enables

you

to

exploit

the

potential

of

your

XL to

the

full.

PETER

LUPTON

and

FRAZER

ROBINSON

1984