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and justification. A text realignment program may be used to reassemble and amend presentation of paragraphs, as required. (Star Computer Group, Threeways House, 40/44 Clipstone Street, London WIP 7EA, UK. Tel: 01-637 9741) []

Publishing transactions A minicomputer-based system has been developed by AEDS, UK, to deal with publishers' transactions. The develop- ment is based on the CTL8020 mini- computer, which has~ a 96 kbyte proces- sor with one 9.6 Mbyte disc and drives two VDUs and a 150 character/s printer. Programming is in COBOL, CORAL and CTL's TAD (Transaction Application Driver), which is used for processing, stock file interrogation and invoicing. Fundamental batch jobs are carried out with CTL Reporter software for users to develop their own reports.

The C'EL 8000 series incorporates processing and updating of common files, invoice processing and sales and purchase ledgers. A customer file pro- vides relevant information on individual customers, accessed by account number or name. Each displayed record con- tains details of discounts, insurance and delivery requirements.

The title file can be accessed by the international standard book number, a keyword taken from the title, or a string of consecutive characters setting up a display of a selection of titles con- taining these references. Title records hold details of author, publisher, list price and discounts. It will also show whether or not a publication is in print or awaiting rejacketing, and stock figures. List prices or discounts can be ammended and entered. Credit notes are produced against book returns, picking lists, monthly statements and statistical reports. File maintenance is carried out in response to transactions. (Computer Technology Ltd, Eaton Road, Hemel Hempstead, Harts. HP2 7LB, UK. Tel: 0442 3272 Tx: 825052) []

Viewdata A private viewdata system for the busi- ness market has been announced by

Phillps based on the P857 minicomputer with 128 kword (16-bit) memory and 70 Mbyte disc-store units. The equip- ment includes a viewdata editing key- board for data-entry terminals giving colour, graphics and special effects.

The software runs under MAS (Multiaccess System) and is written in RTL2 to be consistent with Prestel; the system can also be used for Oracle and Ceefax. (Philips Viewdata Centre, Wilec House, 82 City Road, London ECI, UK. Tel: 01-253 8467) []

Electronic mail Prototype high-speed document- communications terminals are being developed by AM International Information Systems, USA, to be de- monstrated in early-1980. Computer control, digital lever scanning and non- impact printing will be used to send exact copies at up to 3 600 pages/h to a distant station, via satellite. Operat- ing over satellite will give a capacity of 1.5 Mbit/s, compared with 9 600 bit/s using telephone lines.

Correspondence would be processed into electronic storage at local mail rooms; at the end of each day all mail would be transmitted to be put into storage and reproduced at their destina- tions. It would be possible for trans- mitted correspondence to have varied addresses and multiple-copy distribu- tion, for which material need only be transmitted once accompanied by ins-

Documents transmitted by satellite

tructions for the receiving device. (AM International Inc. rue des Chevaliers, 18, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. Tel: (02) 5/3. 70.33 Tx: 25021) []

Swipe reader A hand-driven magnetic-card reader is available from Roxburgh Electronics, UK. There are versions of the HR-3S to read magnetic cards encoded to IATA standards (track 1 at 210 bits/in) and to ABA standards (track 2 at 75 bits/in). Variable card-drive speeds of 100-1 600 mm/s are allowed for.

The magnetic card passes the read heads once; a head life in excess of 200 000 card passes is expected. A single + 12 V DC power supply is required with a maximum power consumption of 80 mA. (Roxburgh Electronics Ltd, 22 Winchelsea Road, Rye, East Sussex TN31 7BR, UK. Tel: 079 73 3777 Tx: 957066) []

Swipe reader

Interface software

Two protocol interfaces, for the IBM 3270 and the ICL 7181, have been de- veloped using the Aims-6 operating sys- tem to enable Arbat systems to com- municate directly with local or remote IBM 370 or ICL 1900/2900 communi- cations front-end processors. The ICL version features full ASCII character- set support and online tracing. The equivalent IBM 3270 supports an un- formatted screen display and point-to- point or poll-select transmission at up to 4800 bit/s.

Interface software has been deve- loped in conjunction with the Swift net- work interface. The link with the Swift network is controlled within the minicomputer-based system, so that a direct interface is unnecessary. (Arbat, 160 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4DA, UK. Tel: 01-248 6499) []

136 computer communications