TAPELESS
     BY ROBERT GRUNBOK

     (Originally published in the August '87 Antic)

     (A commercial program that prints IBM spreadheets
sideways in a continuous strip is a big seller.  Now you can
type in an 8-bit Atari program that does the same thing for
SynCalc, VisiCalc and SpeedCalc spreadsheets.  Tapeless
Spreadsheet Printer is a BASIC program that works on 8-bit
Atari computers with a minimum of 48K memory and a disk
drive.)

     I use my Atari 130XE and Broderbund's SynCalc
Spreadsheet for both home and business budgets.  I had to
convince a board of directors that the Atari could do the job
of the "big business" computers, but now that I've crossed
that bridge, each board member seems to need his or her own
copy of the budget.
     Connecting spreadsheet printouts with transparent tape
soon became boring, especially after hearing "Let's change
this figure to that amount" a few times.  Tapeless, my
sideways spreadsheet printer for the 8-bit Atari, was born
out of the tedium of taping page after page of spreadsheets.
This published version works with SynCalc, VisiCalc and
SpeedCalc spreadsheets.
     Tapeless supports four major printer families -- the
Epson FX-80, Gemini 10X, Star SG-10 and Okidata 92.  One of
these drivers should work for most printers on the market
today.

     BUILDING IT
     Download TAPELESS.ARC and use ARCX to extract all
eight TAPELESS files.  These files are:
     MAKEAUTO.BAS
     TOPDOT1.LST
     BOTMDOT1.LST
     TITLE.BAS
     TAPELESS.BAS
     FX80LOAD.BAS
     OKILOAD.BAS
     G10XLOAD.BAS

     To enable you to use maximum-size strings, your
version of Tapeless will be constructed from several smaller
files.  This isn't as complex as it sounds. Just check the
listings that apply to your printer and follow the
instructions below.

     Don't renumber the listings:  I deliberately have some
lines overlaying others during "construction" for your
printer.

     Follow these steps and SAVE or LIST to disk as
instructed:

     1. Make sure Listing 1, TAPELESS.BAS, is SAVEd on your
disk.
     2. Make sure Listing 2, MAKEAUTO.BAS, is SAVEd on your
disk.  (This creates an AUTORUN.SYS file needed to RUN other
files.)
     3. Make sure Listing 3, TITLE.BAS, is SAVEd on your
disk.
     4. Choose the file containing character set data for
your printer -- either TOPDOT1.LST for Okidata & Gemini 10X
printers, or BOTMDOT1.LST for Epson FX-80 & Star SG-10
printers.  Make sure it is LISTed to your disk.
     5.  Choose the character loader file for your printer.
(For example, if you own an Okidata printer you would choose
OKILOAD.LST.) Make sure it is LISTed to your disk.
     6.  Type NEW.

     7.  To construct your actual printer character loader,
type LOAD "D:TITLE.BAS", then ENTER the files from your disk
in this order:

     - One character set data file
        (either TOPDOT1.LST or BOTMDOT1.LST)

     - One character loader file
        (FX80LOAD.LST, G10XLOAD.LST, SG10LOAD.LST or
         OKILOAD.LST)

     For example, if you own an Okidata 92 printer, type LOAD
"D:TITLE.BAS".  Then ENTER "D:TOPDOT1.LST" and then ENTER
"D:OKILOAD.LST".

     8.  SAVE this constructed program as PRNTLOAD.BAS.

     9.  RUN MAKEAUTO.BAS.  This creates an AUTORUN.SYS file
for PRNTLOAD.BAS.

     10.  You have now constructed the three major files
composing the Tapeless program -- AUTORUN.SYS, PRNTLOAD.BAS
and TAPELESS.BAS.  Transfer them to a freshly formatted disk
(containing DOS 2.0 or 2.5) and retain the other files on
your "construction disk" both for backup and for making
different versions of Tapeless for different printers.

     11.  Don't be tempted to combine PRNTLOAD.BAS and
TAPELESS.BAS into one file.  Chaining these programs allows
the simulated string array, "P$" in TAPELESS.BAS, to be as
large as possible.

     PRINTING
     If your form has more than 80 horizontal rows, you'll
have to tape a horizontal joint.  However, most spreadsheet
memory restrictions don't allow a very tall and wide form.
     To speed up the program, the screen is blank most of the
time while Tapeless RUNs.  However, you'll still hear the
beeps of the disk being read to let you know that Tapeless is
working.  If you have BASIC XL or BASIC XE ($79, OSS), the
program will run even faster.  Just don't forget to copy the
BASIC XE Extensions file to your Tapeless disk.)
     If your form is exceptionally large or your Atari's
memory is less than 48K, Tapeless will do multiple loads and
prints until the entire form is finished.  So always be sure
to load your printer with plenty of paper.

     IMPORTANT:  If the program instructs you to check a DIP
switch, make sure you've turned off the printer power before
setting switches.  Otherwise, you could blow an integrated
circuit in your printer.

     PROGRAM OPERATIONS
     1.  While in your spreadsheet program, turn off window
and title options and remove any printer commands (such as
condensed print).
     2.  PRINT your file to disk -- don't SAVE it.
     3.  If the form is taller than 80 rows, you will need to
print your form to disk in horizontal sections (80 rows high
times the width of your form).  Those with wide carriage
printers can change the 80 in lines 90, 220, and 520 of
TAPELESS.BAS to allow for the number of columns your printer
can accommodate at 10 characters per inch).
     4.  Turn off the computer and insert your Tapeless disk.
Turn on the computer and follow the instructions on the
screen.

     SYNCALC TO DISK
     1.  Press [OPTION].
     2.  Choose LOAD/SAVE.
     3.  Choose SAVE.
     4.  Choose TEXT.
     5.  Set RANGE by cell numbers.  Remember:  80 rows
maximum per horizontal section to print out.
     6.  Enter filename.  (SynCalc adds a .TXT extender
automatically.)
     7.  Press [RETURN].
     8.  Load the Tapeless disk and follow the instructions
onscreen.

     VISICALC TO DISK
     1.  Position the cursor at cell A1.
     2.  Press [/] to get the command menu.
     3.  Press [P] for Print.
     4.  Press [F] for File.
     5.  Input D:FILENAME.TXT
     6.  Press [RETURN].
     7.  Specify the lower right cell (Remember:  80 rows
maximum per horizontal section to print out.) and press
[RETURN].
     8.  Load the Tapeless disk and follow the instructions
on the screen.

     SPEEDCALC TO DISK
     1.  Position the cursor on the lower-right cell to be
printed.
     2.  Press [CONTROL] [P] to print.
     3.  Enter D:FILENAME
     4.  Now move the cursor to the upper-left cell to be
printed.  (Remember:  80 rows maximum per horizontal section
to print out).  Press [RETURN].
     5.  Load the Tapeless disk and follow the instructions
on the screen.

     Bob Grunbok is a water treatment plant operator from
Newhall, California.  He has been programming Atari computers
since 1981.