#We're here!
14 messages in this thread
Hi, we're here to support and publicize ASDG products including;
CygnusEd Professional, which is fast becoming the standard editing system for
the Amiga.
Twin-X, a general purpose I/O board which allows the Amiga to enter the
commercial and industrial fields. Twin-X will be available soon and priced at
$329.
SpectraScan, an extremely powerful software/hardware combination which will
give you total control over the Sharp JX family of color scanners. SpectraScan
offers 24 bits per pixel and up to 300 dots per inch. It will be shipping
October 24th priced at $995.
The Sharp JX450 color scanner (also available from ASDG) is $6995. It is based
on Twin-X with our IEEE488 interface. Also available soon our SBX-GBIB general
purpose interface bus, SBX-Serial/2 (2 serial ports), and SBX-SCSI (SCSI
controller).
For info on the above and other ASDG products, leave us a message and we'll be
happy to answer your questions.
Perry Kivolowitz
Perry,
Can you tell usa little about CygnusEd Professional? Does it have an
ARexx interface? Can you cut and paste easily with the mouse? Does it support
the Clipboard? Thanks
-John
CEDPro does have an ARexx interface. In fact, it has the most extensive
ARexx interface implemented to date with over 200 functions and variables
available through ARexx.
Cut and paste is easily accomplished via the mouse including operations on
vertical blocks rather than just horizontal blocks. Anything in CEDPro can
be accomplished with the keyboard or the mouse with equal ease. Except text
entry, which is normally done with the keyboard 🙂
The Amiga clipboard is not supported per se, although CEDPro has some of
the strongest interprocess communications facilities ever provided in an
Amiga editor. Data can be shared between files, windows, etc trivially.
Data can be sectioned off into DOS files as well. Heck, CEDPro can even
identify sections of memory for other programs to use directly.
CEDPro is, without a doubt, earning the monicker, The New King Of Editors.
Perry
You _must_ mean that Cygnus Ed Pro has the SECOND most extensive ARexx
interface implemented to date. Because PCLOplus has far more than 200
functions, and besides that has full recursive capability as a host (well, up
to 100 levels, anyway), has the ability to call a specific editor for it's
internal scripts; That means that if F1 contains (for instance) a script name
like rexx:myscript.rexx if you push SHIFT-F1, it invokes an editor (any editor
– like yours, ed, uedit, etc) like this: CED rexx:myscript.rexx. It can also
force a particular screen like the WB to the front so that the editor is right
there in front of you for a really decent way of interactively editing the
scripts. Of course, you can tie ARexx scripts to mouse buttons, so you can
point and click on items and automatically execute scripts or fkeys at that
time. And FKEYS, like any good arexx host, can have regular ARexx cmds in em,
like "address command 'info >ram:infostuff'" or whatever. Or a mix.
Furthermore, there's a three level evaluation for things… first, we send it
to arexx as a script or implied script. If ARexx sends us back a cmd we don't
recognize, we give a shot at invoking it as a script, so that arexx scripts can
be embedded commands in other ARexx scripts. That can go a hundred levels deep.
You meant, "most extensive ARexx interface implemented in a text editor",
right? <grin>
–Ben–
This is gonna be good. The two undisputed masters of hype together…for the
first time in any forum! I mean that in a cordial way, of course. — Art
Of course! <grin> –Ben–
I stand corrected Ben. I'll widthdraw to the stance you've suggested:
On a related note, is there any reason why one would want PCLOPlus and
CEDPro to talk together? IE: does PCLOPlus have any need for a text editor?
If so, would you be interested in writing ARexx programs to marry the two
packages? We'd distribute them free on our disk (and you might do the
same).
Perry, there is every reason – and it's ARexx itself that's the root of it
all.
PCLOplus is a complete ARexx host, with the ability to have a short stream
of ARexx commands in a macro key – or the name of an external script – or
a combination of the two.
For any macrro you're building in PCLOplus, it is reasonable to assume a
short "development cycle", ongoing while you get the macro or script
"right". If it's a short macro, you can use the editing facilities that are
provided by the EXEC in a text requester to do the job… if it's an
external script, you need a text editor – which PCLOplus is not, nor will
ever be.
To address this, we built a "special" Arexx key definition into the
program. When you press an FKEY and the control key, the "special" key is
executed with the contents of the FKEY as it's parameter – that is, it's
appended to it. So, if the special key contained:
"arg file; address command; PerryEdit file; address; Plus;"
Then if FKEY 3 contained "rexx:test.rexx", pressing ctrl F3 would execute
the following ARexx stream:
PerryEdit rexx:test.rexx (after switching to address command)
Plus; which brings back the PCLOplus screen to the front when the editor
terminates. What we have here is the ability for the editor to become an
"extension" of PCLOplus for macro handling. You could also have a text
editor do netlist management for you… or other things, unknown to me but
hopefully in the minds of our (possibly mutual) customers.
You might want to take a look at the PCLOplus demo in our DL {_here… it
has a fair bit of the ARexx interface documented, and will show you exactly
what we have done for external editor invocation.
Perry –
Does CygnusEd Professional have an ancestor known simply as CygnusEd (or
CED)? I bought it. Never heard of CED-PRO. Tell me more. Does the
"upgrade" costs I was quoted when I bought CED apply (assuming we're
talking the same stuff of course).
– Nelson (probably one of the few who ever sent you $10 for VD0:)
Nelson,
CygnusEd Professional does in fact owe its roots to CygnusEd. Upgrades are
being provided by us for $25 plus $5 shipping and handling. The retail cost
of CEDPro is $100 and is packed with so many siginificant advances over
CygnusEd that, personally I consider, the upgrade to be a bargain.
Send your original disk and manual to us here at ASDG with $30 and we'll
promptly send you off a spanking new copy of CygnusEd Professional.
We can be reached at:
ASDG Incorporated
925 Stewart Stree
Madison, Wi. 53713
In my first message, I meant to say that SpectraScan is based upon the
Twin-X General Purpose I/O Board, not the Sharp JX-450 Color Scanner. While
I don't think I caused any confusion, I apologize if I did.
Perry,
Tell us more about Twin-X general purpose I/O. Is it IEEE 488 compatible? Is
it IEEE 488.1-1987 only or IEEE 488.1 & .2-1987 compatible? Does it use the
IEEE 488 mechanical specification or the IEC 625-1? Does it have TTL, HCT or
ECL inputs? Does it have analog inputs (specs please!)? What are the specs
for its outputs? Does it have an on-board controller or does the resident
Amiga processor have to shuffle all of the instructions and data in and out.
Will it do DMA? How fast is it? Will ASDG be providing any software drivers?
Will there be PD information that will allow driver development outside of
ASDG? Etc, etc, etc …
I know that's alot to ask in one message, but I have some specific, present and
future needs, that might convince me to buy a Twin-X. (( Dan ))
Boy, that's a mouthful!
Twin-X is itself an IEEE-959/Zorro II converter. That is, it sits in a Zorro II
compatible backplane (namely the Amiga 2000) and provides two module positions
which are IEEE-959 compatible.
IEEE-959 is a standard defined originally by Intel (and still known in some
circles as iSBX) for small special purpose input/output modules. Modules may
have 8 or 16 bit data paths, do DMA, and interrupt.
Among the modules available direct from ASDG is a GPIB module of our own
design, the SBX-GPIB. It is fully compliant with the IEEE-488 1975 and 1978
standards as well as the 1980 supplement.
We provide a fairly full featured GPIB library which is already in use in at
least one commercial application: SpectraScan (our 24 bit per pixel color
scanning system).
Could you re-ask some of those other questions with a bit more detail? If you
overflow my stack I can have the questions answered by one of our hardware
types.