The Sinclair QL Forum

Upon reflection I have spent a considerable amount of my time putting pen to paper or more to the point typing up my words, be it the dreaded Monthly Reports, Management Procedures, Project documents. Hell, I even found time to write six Novels. Then the many notes and copying document while researching family genealogy. I managed to traced a male ancestor back to 1579 and checking the family name and its spelling variants an earlier ancestor who possibly fought at Agincourt.

So yes, writing, typing I’ve done a lot and all of this after a shaky start. My early years at school I had problems with spelling and pronunciation, I seemingly missed out on phonetics. Later spelling rules like ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ’c’, well for some reason my brain had this idiosyncratic urge to rearrange letters and also number sequentially. At the time they put it politely by suggesting I was a slow learner and being conscious of this disfunction made me very wary about pursuing any academic achievements. I was in my twenties when it was pointed out my struggles were related to being somewhat dyslexic.
In the end I didn’t let it hold me back and today I’m more adept. Back in the nineteen eighties I worked with Text editors and Word processor on an IBM PC. At Home I had my QL, QUILL and then TEXY87 with the added Bonus of SPELLBOUND all seemingly very advanced for the time and available at a reasonable price. The quality of my documentation rapidly improved and looking back boosted my confidence in tackling a host of new opportunities. Presentation became my forte. The FORUM’s generous comments on my Screen Layouts and accompanying Prog pdf documantation in part I guess links back to those early beginning.

QBITS
[Expand Your Horizons with QL SuperBASIC] QL Tinkering [..28] QBITSProgs 2023 Review :Download:

Hi,
I’ve looked for the documentation for my Tex87 but haven’t found any. Has anyone a copy a pdf I might download.

QBITS
[Expand Your Horizons with QL SuperBASIC] QL Tinkering [..28] QBITSProgs 2023 Review :Download:

qbits wrote: ↑Fri Feb 16, 2024 5:35 am Hi,
I’ve looked for the documentation for my Tex87 but haven’t found any. Has anyone a copy a pdf I might download.

I have a scaned copy of TEXT87_Plus4_ in pdf format . Maybe this helps.

Hello
i am using Text87 on a regular basis for a small business
problem today is the lack of printers or printer drivers
welcome to the wold of Windows GDI printers
after using a HP Deskjet Inkjet printer for more than a decade
i had to switch to a HP Laserjet 1060 mono laser for a other decade
so i am stuck with the HP PCL (Printer Control Language) or the emulation of it
using currently a OKI B412 mono laser printer, because
HP has dropped the HP PCL support for most of its newer models
I have modified the Text87 HP driver for the HP Laserjet and compatible printers

Greetings from Switzerland
Markus

desin wrote: ↑Fri Feb 16, 2024 1:22 pm Hello
i am using Text87 on a regular basis for a small business
problem today is the lack of printers or printer drivers
welcome to the wold of Windows GDI printers
after using a HP Deskjet Inkjet printer for more than a decade
i had to switch to a HP Laserjet 1060 mono laser for a other decade
so i am stuck with the HP PCL (Printer Control Language) or the emulation of it
using currently a OKI B412 mono laser printer, because
HP has dropped the HP PCL support for most of its newer models
I have modified the Text87 HP driver for the HP Laserjet and compatible printers

Greetings from Switzerland
Markus

There is always the option of the Retro-Printer module which can emulate various dot matrix printers (Epson ESC/P2, HP PCL and more) and create a PDF / print to a USB printer (sorry for the plug).

If you are using QPC2 there is also the option of QPCPrint - an excellent utility. It should also work on q-emulator.

www.retroprinter.com
www.kilgus.net/qpcprint

And if you're looking for Epson-compatible dot-matrix printers: Epson still makes them and sells at prices that look dirt cheap compared to "back in the day" - I paid 150€ for my 9-pin printer which works perfectly with the QL.

Hi Andrew, Thanks, I’ve downloaded the pdf and having a browse. You’ve made my day.

Deslin its good to know Text87 is still being use. I wondered if you have used Spellbound, I did with Quill and possibly with Text87 I can’t recall.

Rich & Tofro back in the day the printer I used was for a single page or continues feed from a roll. It had a Black ink cartridge for general printing but I could print in colour If I swapped cartridges.

QBITS
[Expand Your Horizons with QL SuperBASIC] QL Tinkering [..28] QBITSProgs 2023 Review :Download:

I used Text87 to write the SBASIC/SuperBASIC Reference Manual (admittedly I used QTYP II rather than Spellbound though)

The manual that Rich refers to is excellent. And now also available online and for download as HTML, ePub or PDF.

https://superbasic-manual.readthedocs.i ... index.html

In case anyone is interested that is!

Cheers,
Norm.

Andrew wrote: ↑Fri Feb 16, 2024 12:25 pm I have a scaned copy of TEXT87_Plus4_ in pdf format . Maybe this helps.

Hi Andrew. I've downloaded your PDF file and found that I couldn't search it. I have therefor added a searchable "bit" using "ocrmypdf" which makes the file slightly larger, but allows the content to be searched. The quality of the original is preserved. (!)
Cheers,
Norm.