REMBRANDT GRAPHICS MADE EASIER
                  by Bob Hill DKA

Users  of  CP/M Kaypro 84 series microcomputers  are 
probably  aware  that these systems are  capable  of 
surprisingly  good  screen  graphics   --  (provided 
diagonal  lines  are  avoided!).   In  other  words, 
horizontal  and  vertical bar charts are  a  reality 
with these tried and true CP/M systems.   One of the 
few   commercial   software  products   that   takes 
advantage  of this capability is the Rembrandt  (tm) 
software  from  Spectre  Technology  -- specifically 
their HBAR and VBAR programs.  

HBAR  and  VBAR are very powerful and  flexible,  in 
that  they  give the user precise control  over  the 
locations,  widths, and intensities of each bar in a 
bar  chart.   However,  this flexibility comes at  a 
cost  -- considerable time and patience is  required 
to  wade through the manual preparation to  lay  out 
visually  attractive  graphs,  particularly for  the 
first  time.   And once a graph is produced,  it  is 
difficult   and  awkward  to   incorporate   certain 
changes,  such as rearranging bars, inserting and/or 
deleting existing bars, or changing from one type of 
graph  to another -- for example,  from a horizontal 
bar  graph to a vertical bar graph.  Each  of  these 
operations  usually  requires recalculation  of  bar 
widths  and  locations of the remaining  records  -- 
almost paramount to starting over.

To overcome these problems,  I have developed PR.COM 
-- a  "Preprocessor  for  Rembrandt",   which  I  am 
donating  to  the  DKA  CP/M  library.  

This  program  features  a  built-in   WordStar-like 
screen editor,  which is used to collect the initial 
data.   When  entering the data,  the user does  NOT 
need   to  be  concerned  with  specific   Rembrandt 
requirements  such  as bar  widths,  bar  locations, 
number of bars allowed, number of positions allowed, 
dim/bright  indicators,  etc.   The user only enters 
graph  titles,   labels,  values,  and  an  optional 
special  field that can be used as a  sort  key.   A 
common  layout is used that is compatible with  both 
HBAR and VBAR, as well as PIE chart generation.  

After  the data is entered,  the user simply selects 
various  menu  options.   PR contains  routines  for 
sorting the data,  for automatically calculating bar 
widths  and locations,  and for generating  "format" 
and  "data" files which are subsequently input  into 
the  Rembrandt programs.   PR's sort  allows  either 
ascending  or descending sorts by value,  label,  or 
the special sequence field.   The bar chart  options 
will  format  in  either "separate bar"  or  "paired 
overlapped"  layouts.   The user can also select  an 
option for generating input to Rembrandt's PIE chart 
program.   PR displays the calculated results  after 
each  step,  thus  encouraging the user to  interact 
with the various options. 

It  must be emphasized that PR in no way alters  the 
existing  flexibility,   functionality,  or  program 
coding of the Rembrandt software.   It only provides 
a  flexible and easy to use "front end" to  existing 
Rembrandt  programs.   PR  is compatible  with  both 
versions  of  Rembrandt  (versions 1.00  and  3.00).
Users  of double-sided floppy disk systems should be 
able  to  store  the 22K PR.COM  file  on  the  same 
"working copy" diskette used to hold their Rembrandt 
programs.  

This  version  of  PR was written  specifically  for 
Kaypro  84 series CP/M machines that include the  2-
84,  2X,  4-84,  and Kaypro 10's.   However,  due to 
hard-coded  screen functions,  PR will probably  not 
function   with  other  CP/M  computers   on   which 
Rembrandt 3.00 is available,  such as several Osborn 
models.

Packaged  with  PR.COM will be a complete  ten  page 
Reference  Manual and a six page  Tutorial.   Kaypro 
Rembrandt  users should look for PR soon in our  DKA 
CP/M library.

                                [prwsart.* 87-03-29]