What is Funnelweb?
By Andy Frueh

Funnelweb began as FunnelWriter, a replacement for TI-Writer. TI-Writer, published by Texas Instruments, was released in the public domain when TI pulled out of the market. TI released what was to be version 2 of the word processor to user groups. Many individuals made modifications to the program, but FunnelWriter caught on because it offered several unique features.

Over time, it grew to become a complete operating environment. It has the ability to load Extended BASIC programs, if it is itself loaded from the Extended BASIC cartridge. Just insert the cartridge, insert the disk, press any key at the master title screen, then press 2 for Extended BASIC and Funnelweb loads. It can also run its version of TI-Writer, the TI-Writer formatter, used to get special print features such as centering, bold, justification, and so on, and almost any Assembly language program. Most good disk utilities and games were written in Assembly, and you had to have the Editor/Assembler cartridge to run them. It also includes a great disk manager in its DiskReview program. It's goal seems to be to run the greatest number of programs from the least hardware possible. All that's required is a console, 32K, disk system, and either the Extended BASIC cartridge, strongly suggested, or the Editor/Assembler cartridge. It can take advantage of other devices including the RS232, for telecommunications programs or for printing, and most 80-column devices including the Geneve computer.

The package includes documentation on disk. The docs only describe using those features created especially for Funnelweb. There is no TI-Writer manual, but you can find that manual many places, often for just the cost of shipping.

This is a highly customizable piece of software. You can create your own menus of programs, set screen colors, set a default "program" disk drive and "work files/documents" disk drive, and set other options. These options are described in the documentation. By Andy Frueh

Funnelweb is shareware from Australia, and users are asked to send a donation to the authors, Tony and Will McGovern. This program has evolved greatly over many, many years, and is one of the finest examples of programming on a TI-99/4A.
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