Alpha
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The Name Generator
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Copyright 1992, David Becker
GEnie mail to D.Becker8
Compuserve 73030,3562
You still have'nt chosen a name for the new baby?
Trying to decide on the perfect name for the family iguana?
Are you still using wimpy names when playing Dungeons and Dragons?
Here's a neat new utility that may or may not help you out. It's called
'Alpha' (The Name Generator) and it does only one thing. It creates lists of
names, thousands of them, using your own custom parameters. Sounds like fun!
Alpha will run on all ST platforms with a monochrome monitor. It is freeware
and you are welcome to copy or distribute it. You use this program at your
own risk.
When first run you will be see a standard GEM drop down menu and two
windows, 'Configuration' and 'Output'. The window on the left lets you
configure the name creation parameters and the window on the right will
display the name list during the creation process. The drop down menu called
OPTIONS lets you:
Begin creation process
(After all the needed parameters are set.)
Printout list of names
(Lists can be sent to the printer or to a disk file.)
Choose length of name
(Names can be no more than 10 characters in length and no less than 2.)
Suppress screen output
(You can temporarily stop screen output to make creation faster.
A checkmark appears next to this menu when output is suppressed.)
Lets get started by clicking 'Choose length of name' from the drop down
menu. You will be presented with an input box, type 5 for the name length and
press RETURN. Now all names created will be 5 characters in length. Lets look
at the 'Configuration' window below on the left.
At the top of this window are boxes representing each of the letters in the
name. In this case they are numbered 1 through 5. You can click the left
mouse within any of these boxes to select it.
Just beneath is an alphabetical keypad that allows you to mark the alphabet
and show the computer what it can choose from when creating names. Click once
to select any box of the alphabet, click again to de-select it. Simply click
on the letter number at the top then click on the boxes of the alphabet that
you want used for that letter number. Each letter number can have its very own
alphabet! You can choose only vowels, only consonants or a mixture.
You can clear any letter number by pressing the CLEAR LETTER button or you can
clear the whole name by pressing CLEAR NAME. The RANDOM button lets the
computer make alphabetical selections for each letter number.
If you have chosen at least some alphabet boxes for each letter number then
we can begin the creation process. Click the first drop down menu under
options, the one labelled 'Begin creation process' and away we go! The
ouput window on the right fills with random names as the indicator at the
bottom of the configuration window clicks away! You can can cancel the
listing at any time by clicking either one of the mouse buttons. Alpha can
create a maximum of 9998 names, and it does'nt take long at all.
When the list has been created you can scroll through it by using the
following key presses:
UP ARROW ... scroll up one line
DOWN ARROW ... scroll down one line
SHIFT UP ARROW ... scroll up one page
SHIFT DOWN ARROW ... scroll down one page
CLR ... top of listing
INSERT ... bottom of listing
After name creation you can send a list to your printer, or to a disk file
for editing later in your favorite word processor. The print configuration
box pops up and lets you set the page length (use 9998 for a continuous
printout, the page width (80 is the default, Alpha will fit as many columns
on each page as it can), and the number to start printing from. Use the
right mouse button to exit this box.
That's all there is to it. With a little creative selection, you can come
up with some interesting (silly, goofy, ridiculous) names. If you name your
next kid using this program, drop me a letter! Have fun.
Dave Becker