info-mac@uw-beaver (06/10/85)
From: Moderator John Mark Agosta <INFO-MAC-REQUEST@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA> INFO-MAC Digest Monday, 10 Jun 1985 Volume 3 : Issue 7 Today's Topics: Mac LaserWriter header file (PostScript source) MazeWars posting Appletalk cable data ROM policy (sigh...) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 7 Jun 1985 2324-PDT (Friday) From: Brian Reid <reid@Glacier> Subject: Mac LaserWriter header file (PostScript source) ! Macintosh LaserWriter header file. This is a file of PostScript definitions that can be affixed to the front of the PostScript files generated by Macintosh applications in order that they can be printed on a LaserWriter that has not been initialized with the "LaserPrep" package. This situation will arise if you are trying to share a LaserWriter between Macintosh users and non-Macintosh users. Macintosh applications do not normally generate straight PostScript. They generate a file in PostScript format, but the contents of the file is a series of calls on functions that are not part of the PostScript language. This file defines those functions. This is not the official Apple header file. It is neither endorsed nor condemned by Apple. I suspect that it probably started out its life as a bootleg copy of a version of the Apple header file. It has been slightly modified by me and perhaps heavily modified by various other people. I have substantially augmented the comments so that they explain what I think the code is doing. Brian Reid Reid@SU-Glacier.ARPA Stanford {decwrl,hplabs,bellcore}!glacier!reid WARNING: There is no guarantee that Apple will stick to this particular set of definitions. This header file works with the applicati on software that came with my LaserWriter; I make no promises that it will work with the software on anybody else's LaserWriter. [ This introduction, together with the full postscript source may be found in: LASERWRITE-HEADER.PS 26467(7) 9-June-85 This file may be used either as a header file or it may be downloaded to the printer, so that it "interprets" each incoming file. -jma ] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Jun 85 17:59:25 edt From: roy@nlm-vax (Roy Standing) Subject: MazeWars posting Mazewars is a game several people can play over AppleTalk, in which each player moves around a maze searching for 'enemies' and destroying them, after which they are reincarnated in a randonmly chosen new location. When you find an 'enemy' it appears as a huge eye which may be looking at you, to either side, or away. If it is looking at you, its owner is seeing you and will undoubtably fire on you if he/she recovers from the sight of you before you fire. Points are awarded for destroying an 'enemy', 1 or 2, depending on the conditions. You see views of the maze on the screen, a bird's eye view and a rat's eye view. You see your position in the bird's eye view as an arrow, complete with direction. Enemies are diamond shapes. As you get close to an enemy, the display of maze-tenants disappears so you HAVE TO BE CAREFUL. Kindly, you are provided with two keys ('E' and 'T') which let you peek around corners one poistion in front of you, 'E' peeks left, 'T' peeks right. I specifically mention this because it seemed to take an inordinately long time for me to figure out what the peek commands were doing. The initial screen tells you the active keyboard keys and their function. There doesn't appear to be a quit so you'll have to reboot your Mac when you want to leave the game. To obtain and play MazeWars, Neil Groundwater's message of April 21, 1985 on net.micro.mac was correct but incomplete. He neglected to mention that to connect to the AppleTalk network you must invoke the 'CHOOSE PRINTER' desk accessory and choose 'connect to AppleTalk'. This seems obvious now but I wasted a lot of time thinking that my system file, cable, or copy of MazeWars must be bad. [ These are the Mazewars files: DEMO-MAZEWARS.HQX.1 21891(7) 9-Jun-85 A fun way to test AppleTalk links. Originally written for the Altos. .TXT.1 3360(7) 9-Jun-85 roy@nlm-vax (Roy Standing), from Compuserve. This includes Neil Groundwater's explanation from Net.sources.mac DEMO-MAZEWARS-EYEBALLS.HQX.1 23734(7) 9-Jun-85 "Eyeballs, screen and title" are MacPaint files that Mazewars uses. DEMO-MAZEWARS-SCREEN.HQX.1 32138(7) 9-Jun-85 DEMO-MAZEWARS-TITLE.HQX.1 17425(7) 9-Jun-85 This is the only "between Mac" application for AppleTalk I know, Enjoy! -jma ] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 7 Jun 85 21:26:51 pdt From: (Mike O'Dell[x-csam]) mo@lbl-csam Subject: Appletalk cable data The connectors are 3-pin miniature DIN connectors. Wiring is as follows: pins 1 and 2 are signal - connect them one-to-one, ie pin 1 at one end to pin 1 at the other end Pin identification: look at the connector pins. They form a triangle with one pin adjacent to the index notch on the shell. With the notch UP, the uppermost pin is pin 3, with pins 1 and 2 being in line horizontally. Got that? Cable specs: Conductors: 22 AWG stranded 17 ohms resistance / 300 meters Sheild: 85% coverage braid Impedance: 78 Ohms Capacitance: 68pF per meter Rise Time: 175 ns 0 to 50% at 300 meters (velocity spec) Diameter: 4.7mm (0.185") max (for Apple connectors) I can't find my Belden catalog at the moment, but that looks pretty mundane. It was designed to be cheap. This info taken from the Applebus Developer's Handbook. -Mike O'Dell ------------------------------ From: crash!bwebster@SDCSVAX.ARPA Date: Sat, 8 Jun 85 11:40:18 PDT Subject: ROM policy (sigh...) > I begin to suspect that there is no policy in place at this time. It > may be premature to gripe about a non-existent policy. Sigh . . . I should probably let this drop, but I feel that (1) this is too important an issue to ignore, and (2) my own integrity is somehow being called into question. Let's review some of the facts. (1) I have heard this information from at least *five* completely separate and independent sources. (2) In three cases, the information has been volunteered to me, i.e., people have told me about it without me having asked any questions about it. (3) The sources include the following: (a) a large Apple dealer (rather smugly) told me about it when I made some comment on the price of the Apple 512K upgrade vs. 3rd-party/DIY upgrades. (b) a university professor had seen my earliest comments on INFO-MAC and asked Haeberli about it while in a Consortium meeting. Said professor (whom I didn't know and have never met) tracked *me* down and told me about it over the phone. I'm not sure what motive the professor would have for lying about it, since he/she did not want to be identified. On the other hand, Haeberli would have a strong motive for, er, equivocating when being asked point blank about it by someone with no "need to know". (c) a Mac hardware developer who originally criticized me for "spreading an unfounded rumor" later sent me a message saying that I was right, after all. (d) two Mac software developers told me about hearing similar information from members of the Mac development team (who have since departed Apple). (e) other journalists and Mac users have picked up matching information. I suspect that with Jobs being kicked "upstairs" and thus removed from all Mac decision making, the policy may indeed be reconsidered and altered. But given all the sources above, I can hardly characterize the policy as "non-existent". And there is a very real reason for "griping" about it before Apple officially announces it: once it is announced, the odds for it being modified are slim to none. If it's going to be changed, it has to be done *before* it is announced. ..bruce webster.. crash!bwebster@ucsd {sdcsvax, noscvax, ihnp4}!crash!bwebster [ These are, of course, my own opinions, etc.] ------------------------------ End of INFO-MAC Digest **********************