Hi-Res III - Fancy Screens the Easy Way

Hi- Res III is a utiity program that enhances the CoCo 3 text display.

After the program is loaded , the user has a multitude of options for text display, accessed with combinations of the CTRL key or CLEAR key followed by other single-key commands.

The default display of t he program is 80 columns by 24 lines. This can readily be changed from 14 to 212 characters per line (displays of up to 128 characters a reeasily read on the CM-8 monitor) . Font styles can be changed from regular to italic, bold , underline, double-wide, double-height, etc . , with simple keyboard commands. Reverse video is also available, and the white on black text is exceptionally sharp . Other color combinations can be defined with the use of the CoCo 3 palette command (palettes 0 and 1 supported).

  In addition to the text variations, a number of other useful functions are implemented . Toggles for blinking / non-blinking cursor, standard / Hi -res display, reverse/ normal video, destructive/ non-destructive cursor, underline on /o ff, etc . , add to the program's power. Many editing features are included, as well as the ability to "protect" text lines, a particularly powerful feature. A variable speed key-repeat function has also been added .

For ease of use in incorporating the functions into your own programs, all of the key board functions can be accessed via simple print statements (e.g. PRINT CHR$(27) ; " I " would turn on italics). Compatibility with existing BASIC programs is good , though complicated mainly by the PRINT @ statements which , of course, would not position characters the same for different character widths. However, even the simplest of BASIC programs are easily made to have impressive displays.

Documentation is well-written , and due to ease of program use, only a quick scan is needed to begin experimenting with the features of the program. The program is supplied on a single nonprotected disk for user convenience.

Cer-Comp and author Bill Vergona have again managed to put together a package which accesses the full power of  the CoCo . If you have a high resolution monitor and CoCo 3 , I highly recommend Hi-Res III.

  - Leonard Hyre - Rainbow Nov 1987 pg 133
 

Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]