THE WRITE STUFF: Using BB File Reader by Dick Estel BB File Reader, a public domain program found on the original Write Stuff program disk, can be used with your own Write Stuff data files. This allows you or any C64 or C128 owner to read these word processing files without having the TWS program. In order to be read with BB File Reader, your file name must begin with a hyphen (-). Example: -letter to mom When you have all the files that you want to use with the file reader completed and collected on a disk, load and run BB File Reader. If you have The Write Stuff, insert the program disk and type LOAD "BB FILE READER",8 [RETURN]. After you load the file reader, you will see a menu of the files on the disk it was loaded from. Press the left arrow key and the menu will be blanked out. Remove the disk and insert your own data disk. Press F2. After a few moments, a new menu will appear, listing all the files on your disk that start with a hyphen. You can then enter and read any of these files from the menu. IMPORTANT: The BB File Reader will use about 35 blocks--be sure to allow for this when creating your data disk. If you have a directory manager, you can rename the BB File Reader file and/or move it to the beginning of the directory. If you do the latter, you can load by typing LOAD"*",8. One use I have found for BB File Reader is with the data files I have created for my record collection. If I need to look something up, I can read the file with BB File Reader instead of going through the process of loading TWS. If you decide to add or delete files from the disk, you will have to go through the steps described above to change the menu. If you go through these steps after changing the name of BB File Reader, the new menu program will again be named BB File Reader. If you have used a directory manager to create informational notes in your directory, any of these that start with a hyphen will be listed in the BB File Reader, even though they are not loadable files. Example: --game reviews-- ----------------- The program is public domain, and will work with some other word processors as along as you start the file name with a hyphen. I have tested it with Speedscript and Fontmaster 128. Speedscript appears to be fully compatible with TWS. Fontmaster files will load, but will have some extraneous garbage added at the top and the return characters will show up as a solid square. BB File Reader is a handy way to create a disk of text files that can then be shared with any Commodore user. (From The Interface, newsletter of Fresno Commodore User Group, via the Commodore Information Center, http://home.att.net/~rmestel/commodore.html)