SpeedScript: Difference between revisions

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{{Redirect|Scriptor|the scriptwriting word processor|Movie Magic Screenwriter}}

{{Infobox software

|name = SpeedScript

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|latest release version = 3.2

|latest release date = {{Start date and age|1987|5}}<ref name="mitchener198606" />

|platform = [[VIC-20]], [[Commodore 64]] [[Commodore 128| / 128]], [[Apple II series|Apple II]], [[Atari 8-bit family|Atari 8-bit]], [[MS-DOS]]

|programming language = 6502 [[assembly language]],<ref name="brannon198401" /><br>[[Turbo Pascal]]<ref name="thompson1989" /> (MS-DOS)

|genre = [[Word processor]]

}}

'''SpeedScript''' is a [[word processor]] originally printed as a [[type-in program|type-in]] [[MLX (software)|MLX]] [[machine language]] listing in 1984-85 issues of ''[[Compute!]]'' and ''[[Compute!'s Gazette]]'' magazines. Approximately 5&nbsp;[[Kilobyte|KB]] in length, it providedprovides many of the same features as commercial word processing packages of the [[8-bit]] era, such as [[PaperClip]] and [[Bank Street Writer]]. Versions were published for the [[Apple II series|Apple II]], [[Commodore 64]] and 128, [[Atari 8-bit computers]], [[VIC-20]], and [[MS-DOS]].

==Versions==

In April 1983 ''[[Compute!]]'' published '''Scriptor''', a word processor written by staff writer Charles Brannon in [[BASIC]] and [[assembly language]], as a [[type-in program]] for the [[Atari 8-bit familycomputers]].<ref name="brannon198304" /> In January 1984 version 1.0 of his new word processor SpeedScript appeared in ''[[Compute!'s Gazette]]'' for the [[Commodore 64]] and [[VIC-20]].<ref name="brannon198401" /> 1.1 appeared in ''Compute!'s Second Book of Commodore 64'',<ref>SpeedScript's Lineage; Pg 11 June 1986 Compute! https://archive.org/details/1986-06-compute-magazine/page/n11/mode/2up</ref> 2.0 on ''Gazette Disk'' in May 1984,<ref>The SpeedScript Family; Pg 71 May 1987 Compute!'s Gazette https://archive.org/details/computes.gazette/Compute_Gazette_Issue_47_1987_May/page/n71/mode/2up</ref><ref>Gazette Disk Premiere ad Pg 33 April 1984 Compute!'s Gazette https://archive.org/details/1984-04-computegazette/page/n33/mode/2up</ref> and 3.0 in ''Compute!'' in March and April 1985.<ref name="Brannon198503" /><ref name="Brannon198504" /> Corrections that updated 3.0 to 3.1 appeared in May 1985,<ref name="capute198505" /> and the full 3.1 version appeared in a book published by Compute!, ''SpeedScript: The Word Processor for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20''.<ref> SpeedScript: The Word Processor for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 https://archive.org/details/Computes_Speedscript</ref>

POKEs[[PEEK and POKE|POKE]]s for the VicVIC-20 and 64C64, to update 3.0 or 3.1 to 3.2, appeared in the December 1985 ''Compute!''<ref name="Brannon198512" /> and the full 3.2 version was available on the January 1986 ''Compute! Disk''.<ref name="mitchener198606" /> The POKEs for the 64 were also included in the full SpeedScript 3.2 article when it was reprinted in the May 1987 ''Compute!'s Gazette'' issue and the full program, plus three additional utilities, were available on the May 1987 Gazette Disk.<ref name="Brannon198705" />

SpeedScript 3.2, alongside SpeedCalc, Fontmaker, and five other utility programs, was included in the special Best of COMPUTE! & GAZETTE<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/1988-Best-Of-computegazette/page/n103/mode/2up | title=Compute! Gazette Issue 1988 Best of | date=December 1988 }}</ref> disk/magazine in 1988.

Also of note was theThe Reader's Feedback column in the January 1986 ''Compute!'' which hadhas POKEs to eliminate the DISK or TAPE? question.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/1986-01-compute-magazine/page/n11/mode/2up | title=Compute! Magazine Issue 068 | date=January 1986 }}</ref> There was, however, aA typo in the listing and that was corrected in the March 1986 CAPUTE! column.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/1986-03-compute-magazine/page/n127/mode/2up | title=Compute! Magazine Issue 070 | date=March 1986 }}</ref>

Ports of V3 for the [[Atari 8-bit family]]computers and the [[Apple II series|Apple II]] were printed in ''Compute!'' in May<ref name="Brannon198505" /> and June 1985 respectively.<ref name="Brannon198506" /><ref name="mitchener198606" /> SpeedScript was written entirely in assembly language, and Compute! Publications later released book/disk combinations that contained the complete [[Comment (computer programming)|commented]] [[source code]] (as well as the machine language in [[MLX (software)|MLX]] format) for each platform.<ref name="Brannon1985commodore" /><ref name="Brannon1985atari" /><ref name="Brannon1985apple" />

A version of SpeedScript for [[MS-DOS]] was created in 1988 by Randy Thompson and published in book form by Compute! Books.<ref name="thompson1989" /> This version was written in [[Turbo Pascal]] with portions written in assembly language, and added incremental new features to the word processor such as additional printer commands, full cursor-control (to take advantage of the PC's Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn keys), and a native 80-column mode.

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[[File:SpeedScript 128 in action.png|thumb|right|SpeedScript 128]]

A native version for the C128 called SpeedScript 128, written by Bob Kodadek, was finally released in October 1987 ''Compute!'s Gazette''. This version eliminated the problems of the patch and took full advantage ofsupports the C128's 80-column screen, its expanded memory and the enhanced keyboard.<ref name="kodadek198710" /> A later update (SS128-Plus) appeared in September 1989 ''Compute!'s Gazette'', adding full text justification, tab setting, and online help.<ref name=gruber198909 />

In December 1987, ''Compute!'s Gazette'' published ''Instant 80'', a utility for the C64 version of SpeedScript that allowed 80-column document previewing (though not editing) on a standard C64. This wasis done by using half-width characters on a high-resolution graphics screen.<ref name="mackinnon198712" />

==Utilities==

Although SpeedScript did not include a built-in [[spell checker]], additional utilities were soon published. In December 1985, SpeedCheck was published in ''Compute!'s Gazette''.<ref name="cowper198512" /> This external utility acceptedaccepts SpeedScript files (as well as those from compatible word processors, such as ''[[PaperClip]]'') and spell-checked them against a user-defined dictionary. An enhanced 80-column version for the C128, SpeedCheck 128, was published in September 1988.<ref name="smith198809" />

Another utility, ScriptSave, was developed to provide automatic saving functionality to the Commodore 64 version of SpeedScript 3.0.<ref name="lambert198505" /> This program would set upcreates a timer program to save documents to disk, before loading and running SpeedScript itself.

Several additional utilities were published in the May 1987 issue of ''Compute!'s Gazette'' along with SpeedScript 3.2. ScriptRead<ref name="childress198705" /> was developed to identify and preview SpeedScript documents on a disk, with the ability to [[File deletion|scratch]] any files no longer needed. This was an important addition as on a single-drive system there would be no way to save work if the disk became full. SpeedSearch<ref name="stclair198705" /> providedprovides full-text search of all SpeedScript documents on a disk, returning a count of how many times the searched word or phrase was used in each document. Date and Time Stamper<ref name="kodadek198705" /> introduces a program to the disk drive that adds time stamps to files on disk, then executes SpeedScript.

==Reception==

In a review of four word processors, ''[[The Transactor]]'' in May 1986 praised SpeedScript as "extremely sophisticated", citing its large text buffer, logical cursor navigation, and [[undo]] command. While criticizing its lack of [[typographic alignment|right justification]], the magazine concluded that SpeedScript was not only "an easy winner" among budget-priced word processors, but also "a serious contender even when compared with the higher priced programs".<ref name="bose" />

SpeedScript was sufficiently popular to receive coverage in reference works, such as the "Wordprocessing Reference Guide" of [[Karl Hildon]]'s ''Inner Space Anthology''<ref name="inner" /> and [[Mitchell Waite]]'s ''The Official Book for the Commodore 128''.<ref name="128book">{{cite book | chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/The_Official_Book_for_the_Commodore_128#page/n87/mode/2up | title=The Official Book for the Commodore 128 Personal Computer | publisher=Howard W. Sams & Co. |author1=Waite, Mitchell |author2=Lafore, Robert |author3=Volpe, Jerry | year=1985 | pages=76 | isbn=0-672-22456-9 | chapter=The C64 Mode}}</ref> [[Columbia University]]'s [[Kermit (protocol)|Kermit]] software for Commodore computers supportedsupports transferring SpeedScript files.<ref name="c64ker">{{cite web | url=http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ftp/c64cross/c64ker.txt | title=File Transfers: Transferring Files | publisher=Kermit Project, Columbia University | work=Commodore 64/128 Kermit User's Guide | date=1 January 1992 | access-date=23 February 2016 | author=Sullivan, Kent | pages=18}}</ref>

==Gallery==

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|image1=VIC-20 SpeedScript.gif

|width1=392

|caption1=SpeedScript 3.0 for the [[VIC-20]]

|image2=SpeedScript 3.0.png

|width2=332

|caption2=SpeedScript 3.0 for the [[Atari 8-bit family]]computers

}}

<!-- should get a SpeedScript for Apple screenshot too -->

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[[Category:1984 software]]

[[Category:Word processors]]

[[Category:Atari 8-bit familycomputer software]]

[[Category:Apple II word processors]]

[[Category:Commodore 64 software]]