The QHJ is back. After a year of taking a break, I’m back in the programming spirit again. Of course, I have not been inactive during that time, as any reader of QL Today can attest. I just have not felt like writing any programs for a while. I guess I did get burnt out a bit. Now we’ll see how long before I get burnt out again.
Having recently purchased Qliberator, I have found its manual similar to the original QL manual, full of information, but kind of hard to find without reading the whole manual. I’m all for reading the whole manual, but sometimes it takes a while to figure out exactly how to apply what you are reading. I sometimes like manuals that are more “If you want to do this, this is how to do it.”
From this thought, came the idea for the “Qlib Source Book”, which will be something similar to the “Z88 Source Book”. The Z88 Source Book was a collection of existing knowledge about the Z88. Most of the Z88 Source Book came from older published sources. With Qlib, there does not seem to be a wealth of published material helping the beginning Qlib user. So, time to send out a query and ask for material.
If you are an experienced Qlib user and have a few tricks that you would like to pass on, please send them to me (either hard copy, disk or e-mail). If you are a beginning Qlib user and you have questions that you would like to see answered, send them too. Since I do not have the knowledge to really do the subject well, I will play the role of editor. I’ll collect the different submissions and put them in an organized document. The Qlib Source Book will be Freeware in its electronic form. Like the Z88 Source Book, a hard copy version will probably be available at minimal cost. With the Z88 Source Book the price of the book covered the cost of production and a small profit to FWD Computing. It was my way of supporting the primary US QL dealer.
Through the QHJ and QL Today I’ll keep QLers informed of my progress. I’ve already volunteered Dilwyn Jones to help in writing some parts. Dilwyn has a number of years of experience with Qliberator and producing commercial software.
So, here is the long awaited next issue of the QHJ. Feel free to send any comments, complaints, articles, large denomination bills, etc. Enjoy.