HAPPY DRIVING

Memory: 16K
Price: Cartridge £12.95, Cassette £6.95

A new version of the Friendly Face microdrive utility contains several routines, including a piece of code which can be merged into other programs to catalogue and auto-run programs by asking for numeric inputs entered with reference to a menu.

The RUN utility can be automatically saved to any cartridge for use with its programs and does away with the need to type in long microdrive commands which are needed when using Sinclair Basic. RUN can also be batch auto-saved onto several cartridges, one after another, using a program loop within the routine.

The utility has to be adapted for use with some programs but the manufacturer has included ready-made routines to merge Friendly Face into Masterfile and Tasword Two. That means both programs become instantly microdrive compatible so that data can be SAVEd and LOADed using microdrives.

Two new options include an intelligent FORMAT routine which will make sure that the maximum amount of storage space on a cartridge is made available every time. As with the auto-save facility it can perform its task on a batch of cartridges.

The second new function is a CATalogue of the files on a selected microdrive cartridge which will be listed on a printer. It gives a hard copy of files on a cartridge.

Also included is a Masterfile file which contains two formats. The first, Action, can be used as a database in which you can include a diary of events. These records can be displayed on the screen or printed out for later use.

Memo allows the input of notes and memorandums on a variety of subjects. These can be accessed efficiently using Masterfile.

Memory: 16K
Price: £7.95

The Friendly Face microdrive utility, from Monitor, is intended to provide a user-friendly software interface between the user and a microdrive.

It is designed so that it can be MERGEd into your programs and will then give a standardised method of LOADIng and SAVEing to tape or drive.

Included with the standard form are two additional versions designed to be MERGEd with Tasword 2 from Tasman Software and Masterfile from Campbell Systems.

Part of the Friendly Face advertising claims that it "adds microdrive commands to Basic". Perhaps someone should tell the company that all the microdrive commands are already in Basic.

If you are experiencing difficulty becoming used to a microdrive, this program may be of some use but £7.95, or £14.95 on cartridge, for a 1K Basic program is scarcely good value.