info-mac@uw-beaver (08/23/85)
From: Moderator Richard M. Alderson <INFO-MAC-REQUEST@SUMEX-AIM.arpa>
INFO-MAC Digest Thursday, 22 Aug 1985 Volume 3 : Issue 34
Today's Topics:
Backlog
KeyCaps accessory posted 13 Aug - problem
IEdit
Unpacking Manx Archives
DA/Font Mover errors
A Mac Draw Bug
MacDraw and Laser Problems
MacPaint to Laser Printers
problems with macdraw+laserwriter
Advice wanted: Laserwriter under VAX/VMS
LAZlife, a request
Request for Info - File Servers
Expense tracking program, a request
Printer Drivers & Spoolers, a question
Cache Programs & Switcher, a question
Quick Circuit, a question
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed 21 Aug 85 17:54:12-PDT
From: Rich Alderson <ALDERSON@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA>
Subject: Backlog
Due to the recent change in moderator for Info-Mac, there is somewhat of a
backlog in messages to the list. I will be sending out some entries which are
older than recent digests, in order to catch up. I think the items have not
suffered by the delay. My apologies to those whose submissions are in this
category.
Rich
------------------------------
Date: 28 Jul 1985 21:29-EST
From: mss%dartvax <@csnet-relay.arpa,@apple.CSNET:mss%dartvax@dartmouth.CSNET>
Subject: projects underway
[ Here is Dartmouth's progress report from "info Mac App". This is one message
plucked from the info-mac-app board, about Dartmouth's project. -jma ]
Larry's original message had quite a list of people who apparently were doing
work with MacApp, yet the list has been silent on what people are doing. I'm
curious about what other people are doing. Also, I'd like to avoid duplication
of efforts. So while waiting for 0.3 to be announced/shipped, I'd thought I'd
let everyone else know what's happening in my group.
My group (in the Math & CS Dept at Dartmouth College) is developing materials
in an attempt to move our software engineering course onto the Macintosh w/
object Pascal and MacApp. We are developing example programs to illustrate
algorithms, data structures and some "software architectures". One theme of
the course is reusing available facilities, so we try to provide tools and
libraries.
In a preliminary release form are a graph manipulation application (data
structure illustration), a digital logic simulator (example application) and a
kd (k dimensional) tree application (data structure illustration). All three
are based on 0.2 MacApp. An FSM illustrator is under construction. We are
building a set of libraries for stacks, sets, queues, dequeues and lists of
objects. The libraries are primarily object Pascal instead of MacApp, but they
rely on the MacApp materials since only objects derived from type "TObject" can
participate and TObject is not in object Pascal. Each library has a trivial
sample application using the package. The libraries are in various states of
repair.
In the design stage are two tools. One is a "Music editor"--the idea is to
create a new type of resource "MUSK", which is a record that can be passed to
the sound manager, along with the equivalent of a resource editor for MUSK.
One can then edit the tune you want your program to play, and then paste it in
later.
The second tool is a way to specify simple dialogs: we extend the RMaker file
syntax so that i) dialog item lists can label each alterable item with a record
field name, and 2) radio buttons that can be collected. The extended RMaker
file is run through the tool which creates a RMaker file in the standard format
along with a Pascal unit that contains a procedure which will bring up the
dialog, keep grouped radio buttons consistent, and when the dialog is over,
close it down and return a record with its fields set to the values gathered by
the dialog. The Pascal Unit is compiled separately and included/linked with
the rest of the user's program. The tool is partially speculative since we
don't have the Macintosh version of the Pascal Development System.
We plan to have two example programs for illustrating backtracking: instant
insanity and morse code word lookup. For syntax directed processing, we'll
probably have an example of a recursive descent arithmetic expression evalua-
tor. MacApp will be used for object oriented programming. The stack/queue/etc
will be used for abstract data types. I still have not come up with a good
clean, way to implement "active variables" or "data oriented programming"
(PARC/Loop's terminology). I think that it may be tied closely to the new
Frame system (since I cannot think of a good example outside of dials or meters
--I do not have enough state to do a good debugger, performance monitor or
logger). I do not have a good idea about illustrating constraint programming
with Pascal (objects or not). Any ideas short of building my own language/
translator system are welcome.
As far as MacApp suggestions go, we look forward to a new way to organize a
window. In 0.2, we were frequently unsure where a call was going to go or
where to place certain state. A more general concern was the size of resulting
applications. MacApp applications seem big. We also had minor glitches when
converting from 0.1 to 0.2--unfortunately the 0.1 versions were still legal
object pascal but had rather different interactions in its methods and derived
objects. But, we expect these problems in the current software versions.
Since we have an extensive Appletalk network on campus, we also look forward to
adding network events in MacApp. We assume that we'll see two kinds of
objects, one for handling simple network events that's similar to CmdObjects
for menu and mouse activity, others for providing higher level support, e.g.,
doing NBP when necessary, retransmission for ATP, etc. Anyone else have ideas
about this? We have a simple Maze War that might be worth converting as an
exercise.
What have been other people's experiences? What are other people working on?
-Mark
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 85 09:26:05 mdt
From: jad%a@LANL.ARPA (John De Vries)
Subject: KeyCaps accessory posted 13 Aug - problem
If the font you wish to see does not exist in one of the smaller sizes (like 12
point), then this desk accessory can be difficult to use. F'rinstance, I have
slim-f as one of my fonts, and it exists in only 24 point. The resulting
keyboard and example-line display are nearly illegible. Otherwise, this looks
like a good DA.
Zozzles T. Freep
ARPA: jad@lanl
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 85 10:17:37 EDT
From: Robert E. Yellen (MISD-SEAD) <ryellen@Ardc.ARPA>
Subject: IEdit
Here is IEdit version 1.0 written by Kent Flowers. It is a ICON and ICN#
Editing and Installation Utility.
[This program has been archived as [SUMEX]<INFO-MAC>UTILITY-IEDIT.HQX. --RMA]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 85 23:52:10 EDT
From: winkler@harvard.ARPA (Dan Winkler)
Subject: Unpacking Manx Archives
Here at Harvard there are several programmers working together on a large
program written in Manx C. They keep each other updated by occasionally
archiving all the sources (with the Manx mkarcv program) and uploading them to
this Unix Vax. If you do that too, you can use this program which unpacks
those archives on the Vax. It does the same job as the Manx arcv program,
which is only supplied in Macintosh executable form. If you ever lose or
damage your copy of arcv on the Mac, this program can also be downloaded,
compiled, and run on the Mac.
[This program has been archived as [SUMEX]<INFO-MAC>UTILITY-MANXARCV.C. -RMA]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 85 01:53:15 EDT
From: Stephen C. Hill <STEVEH@MIT-MC.ARPA>
Subject: DA/Font Mover errors
I pulled down the above program and ran it with good results. I removed the
PUZZLE accessory and then put in IDLE and URIAH HEAP, without any problems.
However, ever since that time, everytime that I try to import a desk accessory,
I get the bomb alert with ID: = 2,-104. Can anybody shed any light on this
problem?
------------------------------
Date: Thu 8 Aug 85 15:44:40-PDT
From: Dikran B. Karagueuz <SANDMAN@SU-CSLI.ARPA>
Subject: A Mac Draw Bug
I think I have come upon a bug. I would appreciate hearing from anyone wh
knows why this occurs or how to fix it. If one groups two small objects, oe of
them a letter, and moves them across the screen, their position relative to one
another changes. This effect only occurs when there is a large an complicated
diagram elsewhere in the document. Needless to say, it is ver annoying,
especially when one is trying to move characters with subscripts around. This
occurs on MacDraw disks with and without the LaserWrite installed.
Dikran
------------------------------
Date: 09 Aug 85 08:30 EST
From: CML5A9%IRISHMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA
Subject: MacDraw and Laser Problems
There seems to have been quite a bit of discussion on here about problems with
Draw and the LW. I just thought that I would throw in my two cents worth. The
other day we were laying out the cover for our users' group newsletter. We
were using ReadySetGo and needed to pull in a picture to go on the cover. The
picture was too big to cut via paint, and we didnt have PaintGrabber at the
time (we do now). What to do? I thought that we could turn the picture on its
side, cut it into the clip board, move to Draw turn it back right side up, cut
to the clipboard and we would be all set. It looked like it worked perfectly,
and prints on the imagewritter were perfect. The problem came when we tried to
print it on the LW. Apparently, Draw images bitmaps in vertical bands, and
when they are printed on the LW, they appear with annoying white vertical lines
in them. At first i thought this was ReadySetGo's fault, but i printed the
picture with Paint (no problem) and with Draw (vertical lines again) so i
concluded that Draw was the culprit. *FLAME ON* What annoys ME about Draw tho,
is the fact that it saves the pictures into the clipboard with this funny
vertical banding, thereby messing up LW output for programs that are used with
pictures copied from Draw. *FLAME OFF* If anyone has found a workaround for
this, I'd like to hear it, although our problem of copying the picture is now
solved.
- Tom Dowdy
------------------------------
From: microsof!chrisma@uw-beaver.arpa
Subject: MacPaint to Laser Printers
Date: Thu Aug 8 11:04:17 1985
This concerns printing MacPaint documents to the LaserJet (or LaserWriter) from
the Desktop. If a number of documents are selected, and Print is chosen from
the File menu, MacPaint is opened and the documents printed, assuming you have
the correct driver.
My problem is, the driver I'm using with the LaserJet only works with Print
Draft mode. And MacPaint 1.5 works fine with the new LaserWriter driver, in
both Print Draft and Print Final, but when printing from the Desktop, MacPaint
assumes you want Final. Final is nice, but I usually prefer having the square
pixels that Draft mode creates...it's more veridical, especially for
"half-tone" pixel patterns.
So...is there any way to modify MacPaint (with Fedit perhaps) so that it will
default to using Draft instead of Final when printing from the Desktop?
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 85 14:57:28 PDT
From: DAVEG%SLACVM.BITNET@Forsythe
Subject: problems with macdraw+laserwriter
From: David M. Gelphman 415-854-3300 x3186 DAVEG at SLACVM
I have found in MacDraw that the coordinates in the document do not correspond
to the coordinates on a LaserWriter page. The top left corner labelled 0,0 in
MacDraw seems to correspond roughly to a .4 in top and left margin. While
checking this problem out, I came across a bug (the previous problem is
evidently a feature of the LaserWriter) in either MacDraw or the LaserWriter.
I tried to test the margins by making a two page document with text and a
patterned rectangle which crossed the boundary of the two pages. As expected
the text and rectangle cut off some distance from the edge and continue on the
next page at some distance from the left edge. The UNEXPECTED part however is
that the pattern filling the rectangle was NOT continued properly and the
patterns on the second page are completely different than the ones on the first
page. I didn't try this with a variety of patterns, but it certainly is
bothersome.
David Gelphman DAVEG@SLACVM.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12-AUG-1985 00:06 CDT
From: Stephen L. Arnold <ARNOLD%WISCPSLB.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA>
Subject: Advice wanted: Laserwriter under VAX/VMS
Sorry if this has been answered before, but I am not a member of this list...
We are interested in using a Macintosh/Laserwriter for creating "compound"
(near-typeset quality text and graphics) documents, and simultaneously (or
alternately) using the Laserwriter for a spooled printer for a VAX/VMS system.
We'd like to send graphics and TeX output from the VAX, as well as use the
Laserwriter for utility printing. We would like to hear from anyone who can
provide pointers or relate experiences in this area. In brief:
Please send mail if you know how to use a Laserwriter with VAX/VMS
(or if you know someone else who does)!
Please mail *direct*. If there is enough interest, I'll summarize to the list.
Regards,
Stephen L. Arnold, Joiner Associates
Mail P.O. Box 5445, Madison WI 53705-0445 U.S.A.
Phone (608) 238-8134
BITNET arnold@wiscpsl
ARPA arnold%wiscpsl.BITNET@wiscvm.ARPA
UUCP arnold%wiscpsl.BITNET@psuvax1.UUCP
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 85 11:18:46 EDT
From: Craig MacFarlane <cmacfarl@bbnccj.ARPA>
Subject: LAZlife, a request
Does anbody have a copy of this, that they can either post or send me?
LAZlife is a large life game, where each cell is the size of a pixel! Any info
would be appreciated,
[raig
cmacfarlane@bbnccj.arpa
------------------------------
Date: Thu Aug 15 21:20:14 1985
From: mcb@lll-tis-b (Michael C. Berch)
Subject: Request for Info - File Servers
We are planning to select a file server for a Macintosh Office consisting of 2
to 5 Macs, a LaserWriter, and possibly one or more IBM-PCs with the AppleTalk
board. Up and running right now are one Mac and the LaserWriter on AppleTalk,
and a second Mac awaiting cabling.
Can anyone comment on the strengths and weaknesses of existing AppleTalk file
servers (if any such things exist)? We have evaluated the Corvus drive, but it
apparently is NOT an AppleTalk server but runs OmniNet "compatibly" with a Mac
that is on AppleTalk, thus allowing you to use the Mac, in theory, as an
AppleTalk server. We also are in the process of evaluating the Sunol Systems
"Sun-Mac Link" which is an AppleTalk device, but the present firmware/software
does NOT support shared files or multi-user service (this has been promised for
Real Soon Now).
I understand Apple will have a 20 MB server out soon, but that is much too
small for a real-life office environment, and multiple 20 MB drives doesn't
sound cost-effective.
Any opinions, anecdotage, etc., gratefully appreciated.
Michael C. Berch
Control Data Corp. / Lawrence Livermore Natl. Laboratory
mcb@lll-tis-b.ARPA
{akgua,allegra,cbosgd,decwrl,dual,ihnp4,sun}!idi!styx!mcb
------------------------------
Date: Fri 16 Aug 85 08:24:00-PDT
From: Edward V. Berard <EBERARD@USC-ECLB.ARPA>
Subject: Expense tracking program, a request
A marketing firm needs a Mac product which will:
1. allow input of staff hours to a client account (preferably with the
capability of converting hours to dollars),
2. allow input of direct expenses to a client account,
3. keep a running total of monthly and total project expenses for each client
(direct and labor expenses) which can be used for invoicing and to compare
actual expenses against the original estimate.
I realize that there are a number of products out there (e.g., Mulitiplan)
which can be used to do this. I am looking for a product which can be used by
someoone who is intimadated even by a Mac, i.e., the simpler, the better. If
there is enough interest, I will post my findings to Info-Mac. Please send all
replies to my address (EBerard@ECLB). Thanks.
-- Ed Berard
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Aug 85 10:49:03 EDT
From: velu@gyre.ARPA (Velu Sinha)
Subject: Printer Drivers & Spoolers, a question
Has anyone successfuly written a driver for a dot-matrix printer, so that it
could be used with the Mac instead of the Imagewriter?
Also, does anyone have any experience with the printer spoolers which are being
advertised for the mac?
Thanx.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Aug 85 11:46:03 pdt
From: Steven D. Leeke <leeke@Glacier>
Subject: Cache Programs & Switcher, a question
Has anyone tried TurboCharger or MacBooster with Switcher? Will either one or
both work? What configurations work and what programs have been tried? Any
related info would also be helpful.
Steve Leeke (LEEKE@su-sierra.arpa)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 85 13:31:17 PDT
From: wensley%ucbdegas@Berkeley (Paul Robert Wensley)
Subject: Quick Circuit, a question
Does anyone have any experience with a PC circuit board layout program for the
Macintosh called Quick Circuit, developed by Bishop Graphics?
Thanks,
Paul Wensley
ucbvax!ucbdegas!wensley
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End of INFO-MAC Digest
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