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Workshop, from Acornsoft, as you might expect, provides the user with a workshop environment in which to build things. The main fun comes from being able to take objects or shapes such as triangles, squares and circles, then chop bits off them, drill holes and glue them to each other.

Educationally, the idea is that users set their own aims, develop their own plans and experiment as they explore alternative methods of working. Experiments are encouraged as their effects can be immediately reversed by pressing the Delete key thus ensuring no damage is done. There are four main pages or operating areas: Shelf, Plan, Machines and Look.

At the start you are presented with the Shelf page from which you can select an object to work on - either a circle, square or triangle. Once you've made your selection you move on to Plan by pressing ESCAPE.

Here your object is shown in a large box in the centre of the screen. Surrounding the box is a set of icons representing the various machines you can use.

You can position your object around inside the box by using the cursor keys and then select a machine from the following:

*Drill bores a hole at the centre of the main box, the position of the object being drilled having been selected by the cursor keys. The size of the drilled hole increases with each press of RETURN.

*Paint paints your object in any of seven colours.

*Not acts like a mould which surrounds the chosen shape. The mould then becomes the new shape.

*Scale allows you to enlarge or reduce your object.

*Cut has a blade which can be moved left or right. When RETURN is pressed the blade cuts down through your object.

*Squash squashes or stretches your object.

*Glue will glue your present object to one you have previously made and stored.

*Rotate turns your object through 90 degrees so that you can work on all sides.

These machines are very versatile and the graphical effects quite clever. One very good feature is the Look option. As you build your object, each key press you make is stored.

On selecting Look every process you have taken your object through is impressively replayed in graphic detail.

This is a very useful feature for the teacher or parent who does not have the time to work through the program with the user but wishes to review the work later.

The environment provided by Acornsoft's Workshop is definitely conductive to logical thinking and closely simulates that of a real workshop.

Robin Nixon