info-mac@uw-beaver (05/09/85)
From: Moderator John Mark Agosta <INFO-MAC-REQUEST@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA>
INFO-MAC Digest Thursday, 9 May 1985 Volume 2 : Issue 43
Today's Topics:
UCSD native code generator
Re: SUMACC under new VMS ?
draft mode weirdness
MacPaint on Write protected disk
computer insurance
Send me your NEON questions.
Will Apple take over Hyperdrive?
MacBinary discription and comment [from Usenet]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: <bang!crash!bwebster@Nosc>
Date: Mon, 6 May 85 08:56:23 PDT
Subject: UCSD native code generator
I posted some Mac benchmarks here a while back that included an NCG
time for the Mac p-System. SofTech has talked about bringing out an
NCG for MacAdvantage (UCSD Pascal compiler running under the Finder),
but I don't know how far advanced those plans are. Anyway, here's a
extract from those benchmarks, along with some IBM PC benches for
comparison.
..bruce..
Bruce Webster/BYTE Magazine
bang!crash!bwebster@nosc {ihnp4 |
sdcsvax!bang}!crash!bwebster
Language Compilation Linking Execution Normalized
-------- ----------- ------- --------- ----------
MacASM..................1.1........--.......3.1.......1.1
longword fill.........1.1........--.......2.9.......1.0
Megamax C...............3.2.......27.8......6.5.......2.2
and improver.........+6.8........--.......6.2.......2.1
register vars.........3.1.......26.8......4.4.......1.5
and improver.........+6.4........--.......4.2.......1.4
Mac p-System...........16.9.......--.......92.6......31.9
no rcheck, FillChar..18.8.......--.......59.6......20.6
native code gen......18.6......19.3.......6.5.......2.2
Turbo Pascal (3.0).......................173.8.......59.9
user interrupts turned off {$U-}.........25.9........8.9
and range checking turned off {$R-}......14.5........5.0
and using FillChar.......................11.6........4.0
------------------------------
Subject: Re: SUMACC under new VMS ?
Date: 07 May 85 00:59:03 PDT (Tue)
From: Van Jacobson <van@lbl-csam>
I'm running SUMACC under (a beta release of) Eunice for VMS v4. The
distributed Eunice SUMACC runs with no mods & no problems. You should
find that Eunice binaries linked with the sharable C library (all the
SUMACC binaries were linked with the sharable library) run unchanged
under v4 Eunice.
- Van Jacobson, LBL
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 22 Apr 85 16:31:38 PDT
From: Steve Loving <GA.SJL@Forsythe>
Subject: draft mode weirdness
A mac user brought in a 16k MacWrite file with headers and footers.
When he tried to print out the file in standard mode it worked fine.
When he tried to print in draft mode, after the Imagewriter did a
reverse form feed to number the page, he gets a dialog box saying the
printer is not responding. Now, no matter what he clicks , ok or
cancel, the file just keeps on going (although he must select one of
those two choices).
Removing the headers solves this weirdness.
Anyone else run into this? Why does one get that particular dialog
box and why no distinction between cancel and ok?
thanks for your answers
steve l
To: INFO-MAC@SUMEX
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 7 May 85 22:27:10 EDT
From: Joel Malman <malman@BBNH.ARPA>
Subject: MacPaint on Write protected disk
Has anyone noticed that you can NOT run MacPaint (version 1.4) on a
write protected (protect tab 'up') disk? For example: if you have
MacPaint in the internal drive (write protected) and a scratch disk in
the external drive (un-protected) you STILL get the error message:
MacPaint can't find work space on default drive
Why doesn't MacPaint try for scratch space on the external drive?
In my case, I have many files on the internal disk (with MacPaint)
that I want to protect against loss. On my external drive I have my
working paint files.
joel
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 6 May 85 02:17:34 EDT
From: Dan_Bower%RPI-MTS.Mailnet@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA
Subject: computer insurance
The Kemper Group offers a general computer equiptment policy with the
following features: Policy covers hardware, software and data.
Software is replaced if media is destroyed with all available backups.
Data replacement means that if your database or text or whatever is
lost, they will pay you at your hourly worth to reconstruct it.
Example: The office burns, destroying everything. You were working
for someone else at a contracted rate of X dollars/hour. They pay you
X dollars/hour to reconstruct. Naturally, claims are more easily
processed if you can document your hourly rate and your last backup.
Rates vary according to value of hardware, the existance of agreements
to borrow equiptment, deductables, and a whole bunch of other stuff.
I'm paying $250/year to insure $10,000 of hardware and software at
$250 deductable. I've never had a claim, so I can't say how well they
process claims. It is a reasonably well known firm, though.
The policy is modeled after a fire insurance policy. Also, you must
provide and maintain an inventory of all insured items.
Items are covered while at the location insured as well as in transit
and at temporary locations. For any other details, contact an
insurance salesman.
(I have no affiliation with this insurance other than as a customer.)
Dan Bower, TIME Support Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
"Dim stars shine bright in dark skies."
------------------------------
Date: Tue 7 May 85 14:02:40-MDT
From: Tony Jacobs <T-JACOBS@UTAH-20.ARPA>
Subject: Send me your NEON questions.
I just got my copy of NEON. They mentioned when I talked to them on
the phone that they didn't have any distributors or dealers, that they
were only selling direct!
The manual looks real nice. Type set or LazerWriter set most
likely. The main sections are:
A Neon Tutorial (about 100 pages, looks good for any level of
programmer) Using Neon (about 65 pages, 6 chapters) Predefined Classes
(Data Structures,Strings,Files,Events,Windows,Menus,Controls
Graphics,Dialogs,Drivers) The Neon Glossary (they say around 1000
words) Appendices (Error messages, Equates, & System Error codes)
Just from the browsing I've done in the manuel so far it looks
like they've taken the best of Forth, Smalltalk, and the Mac and made
a nice product.
They've included lots of examples and source. I have only played
with one example program and that was for a very short time, so I
can't say much about the performance.
I plan on doing some bench testing on it. If you have a favorite
bench, send me the source and I'll see what I can do to implement it
in NEON.
It looks to have very close ties with the toolbox calls and the
guts of the mac so it should prove powerful.
Any way, send me your questions and I'll summarize in a later article.
Tony Jacobs t-jacobs@UTAH-20
------------------------------
Date: Mon 6 May 85 22:45:10-EDT
From: Randy Forgaard <RANDY@MIT-XX.ARPA>
Subject: Will Apple take over Hyperdrive?
From the Tidbytes section of Michael McCarthy's News Desk column in
the current (May 13) issue of InfoWorld:
"Apple and General Computer of Cambridge, Massachusetts, are
reportedly
involved in hot and heavy negotiations regarding the fate of the
latter's
Hyperdrive internal hard disk drive for the Macintosh. Betting
is that
Apple will take over the product."
-- Randy Forgaard
------------------------------
Date: 1 May 1985 1123-PDT (Wednesday)
From: Elgin Lee <ehl@Navajo>
To: info-mac@sumex
Subject: MacBinary discription and comment [from Usenet]
Here's a couple of messages (one mine) from net.micro.mac regarding the
new MacBinary BinHex format.
--------------------
From: jimb@amdcad.UUCP (Jim Budler)
Subject: New MacBinary Protocol from Compuserve
Date: 29 Apr 85 18:42:23 GMT
Lines: 217
The folks at Compuserve have been at it again. Here is a copy of the proposed
standard for transferring files between machines. It differs from previous
binhexes in that it is eight bits wide, and contains all the Macintosh
information about the files including Get Info. Because of this I am
initially just posting the standard. I have BinHex version 5 which
supports it, but that means there is no compatible xbin, and in addition
if a compatible xbin is developed the additional information is lost. A
better way of using it is with a terminal program such as FreeTerm which
decodes the information during the download, as the transfer time then
seems to relate more to the decoded size than the encoded size. It
is rumored that part of the reason for the delay in MacTerminal 2.0 is
because this format will be included.
----------------------< submitted for your approval >------------------
Macintosh Binary Transfer Format Proposal
-----------------------------------------
Dennis F. Brothers - 13 March 1985
(Revision 1 - 10 April 1985 - Miscellaneous clarifications)
(Revision 2 - 12 April 1985 - Corrected reversal of icon position v,h)
The following notes are a proposal for a standard format for binary transfer
of arbitrary Macintosh documents via a telecommunication link. It is intended
for use both between Macintoshes running (possibly different) terminal
programs which adhere to the standard, and for use in uploading arbitrary
Macintosh documents to remote systems (where it is presumed that they will be
stored as an exact image of the data transmitted). A proposal is also made for
standard processing to be performed on text files transferred via a protocol,
to maximize the likelihood that text files transmitted to a remote system will
be usable by that system, and that text files received from a remote system
will be usable by the Macintosh.
The binary format described is independent of the communication protocol used
to accomplish the transfer, and assumes only that an 8-bit transparent
transfer can be accomplished. Such protocols as Christensen (usually referred
to as XMODEM or MODEM7), Kermit, and CompuServe A or B meet this requirement.
Because of the proposed standard's MacTerminal/XMODEM heritage, there is a
requirement that the transmitted data be padded (with nulls) to a 128-byte
boundary at certain points, but this in no way implies that a block-oriented
protocol must be used. The basic format proposed is identical to that used by
MacTerminal, by Mike Boich and Martin Haeberli, and can be used with a version
of MacTerminal that has had a patch applied to "normalize" its implementation
of the XMODEM protocol.
In brief, the binary format consists of a 128-byte header containing all the
information necessary to reproduce the document's directory entry on the
receiving Macintosh; followed by the document's Data Fork (if it has one),
padded with nulls to a multiple of 128 bytes (if necessary); followed by the
document's Resource Fork (again, padded if necessary). The lengths of these
forks (either or both of which may be zero) are contained in the header.
The format of the 128-byte header is as follows (offsets and lengths are given
in decimal):
Offset Length Contents
------ ------ --------
000 1 Zero. This is a "version" byte.
001 1 Length of filename.
002 63 Filename (only "length" bytes are significant).
(the following 16 bytes are a standard Finder Info record)
065 4 File type.
069 4 File creator.
073 1 Finder flags:
Bit 7 - Locked.
Bit 6 - Invisible.
Bit 5 - Bundle.
Bit 4 - System.
Bit 3 - Bozo.
Bit 2 - Busy.
Bit 1 - Changed.
Bit 0 - Inited.
074 1 Zero.
075 2 File's vertical position within its window.
077 2 File's horizontal position within its window.
079 2 File's window or folder ID.
(End of Finder Info)
081 1 "Protected" flag (in low order bit).
082 1 Zero.
083 4 Data Fork length (bytes, zero if no Data Fork).
087 4 Resource Fork lenth (bytes, zero if no R.F.).
091 4 File's creation date.
095 4 File's "last modified" date.
099 29 Zero fill (reserved for expansion of standard).
Note that it is the responsibility of the receiving terminal program to
resolve file name conflicts, generally by somehow modifying the name of
received file if there already exists a file with the original name on the
target volume.
Note also that, while the original window or folder ID and position may be
transmitted, the receiving terminal program would not normally set these items
for the received file, but would instead accept the values that the File
Manager assigns when it creates the new file.
It is suggested that Macintosh terminal programs implement two modes of
protocol transfer: text and document. Text mode is used for unformatted files
of type TEXT (with only a data fork), and document mode (using the binary
format proposed here) is used for all other files. Document mode may also be
used on text files, of course, if it is desired to preserve such things as the
file's creator ID or creation date.
The intent of text mode is to provide compatibility with text files on other
systems. Toward that end, it is recommended that a linefeed be inserted after
each return character as the text file is transmitted, and that, in the case
of block-oriented protocols, the last block be explicitely padded with nulls
if the text does not end on a block boundary. In the specific case of XMODEM
protocol, a CTRL-Z (hex 1A) character should be inserted following the text
and before the padding, as this will provide compatibility with the broadest
range of systems implementing the XMODEM protocol. When receiving in text
mode, linefeeds and trailing nulls (and the trailing CTRL-Z, if any) should be
stripped. Note that the above discussion applies only to text files
transferred under some protocol, where an exact image of the transmitted data
will be stored in a file on the remote system.
When receiving a file via a protocol, a terminal program may distinguish
between text and document modes by examining bytes 0, 74, and 82 of the first
128 bytes received. If they are each zero (and at least 128 bytes have been
received), then it is a safe assumption that a document is being received.
Terminal programs implementing possible future versions of the proposed
standard would, of course, accept an appropriate set of version numbers in
byte 0.
Since a text-mode document does not contain a file name, it is suggested that
when text-mode is detected, a file be opened under a dummy name on the
receiving Macintosh, the text written to that file, and the file renamed to a
name selected by the user (via an SFPutFile box) after the reception is
completed. This will avoid problems caused by indeterminate delays for name
selection at the beginning of the file transfer.
It is desirable to allow the user to specify the destination volume in advance
of the actual start of transfer for either type of transfer. Two methods are
suggested for this: provide a "Select Destination Volume" menu selection,
presumably in the menu containing the "Receive File" selection; or query the
user immediately after the "Receive File" menu selection is made. Either or
both of these methods could be implemented in a given terminal program - the
independent "Select Receive Volume" method is particularly desirable if the
ESC-a/ESC-b automatic receive facility (see below) is implemented. The volume
selection procedure should provide the same functions as the volume selection
portion of the SFGetFile and SFPutFile dialog boxes.
First proposed extension to the proposed standard:
--------------------------------------------------
It is proposed that the binary format described above be extended to allow the
transmission of descriptive text with a Macintosh document (specifically, the
descriptive text from the Finder's "Get Info" box for the file being
transferred). This is to be accomplished in a transparent manner by assigning
bytes 99 and 100 of the header described above to be used to hold the length
of the descriptive text (or zero, if there is none). The descriptive text, if
any, will begin on the 128-boundary immediately following the Resource Fork,
if present, else the Data Fork, if present, else immediately following the
header if neither fork is present. It is hoped that methods for reading and
setting a file's "Get Info" text will be made public at some point.
Notes on MacTerminal's XMODEM implementation, and a proposed extension:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Familiarity with the Christensen (XMODEM) protocol is assumed in the following
discussion.
When doing "Mac-to-Mac" transfers, using the binary format described above,
unmodified MacTerminal does not use a true XMODEM protocol, and is therefore
incompatible with most non-Mac systems. The differences lie in two specifics:
the transmitting Macintosh initiates the transfer by sending the the two
characters ESCAPE (hex 1B) and "a" (hex 61); the receiving Macintosh is
expected to reply with the character ACK (hex 06). The transfer then proceeds
using normal XMODEM procedures, except that each of the header and the two
forks (if present) is treated as a separate XMODEM transfer, with the
transmitting Macintosh waiting for a NAK (hex 15), then sending the blocks of
that phase (beginning with a block number of one), then sending EOT (hex 04)
and waiting for an ACK (hex 06) from the receiving Macintosh.
It is proposed that a modified procedure be accepted as a standard, to be
implemented instead of or in addition to the above-described MacTerminal
"Mac-to-Mac" protocol in complying terminal programs. The modified procedure,
which is compatible with standard XMODEM implementations, functions as
follows: The transmitting Macintosh sends the two characters ESCAPE (hex 1B)
and "b" (hex 62). The receiving Macintosh may optionally reply with ACK (hex
06) (this is allowed so as to have minimum impact on existing
MacTerminal-compatible implementations). The transmitting Macintosh then
awaits receipt of a NAK (hex 15) (or optionally a "C" (hex 43), if the
receiving terminal program supports CRC checking), following which a single,
normal XMODEM transfer occurs. The transfer may be in text mode or document
mode, will begin with block number one, and block numbers will increment
uniformly (modulo 256) throughout the transfer.
It is expected that a patch to MacTerminal making it compatible with the above
proposed procedure will be available in the near future.
Responses to proposals:
-----------------------
Please address comments on the above proposals to:
Dennis F. Brothers
197 Old Connecticut Path
Wayland, MA 01778
CompuServe: 70065,172
Delphi: DBROTHERS
MCI Mail: DBROTHERS
Path
Wayland, MA 01778
--
Jim Budler
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
(408) 749-5806
UUCPnet: {ucbvax,decwrl,ihnp4,allegra,intelca}!amdcad!jimb
Compuserve: 72415,1200
--------------------
From: ehl@Navajo.ARPA (Elgin Lee)
Subject: Re: New MacBinary Protocol from Compuserve
Date: 1 May 85 18:17:21 GMT
Organization: Stanford University
Lines: 27
Some initial thoughts about the MacBinary protocol:
Seems to me that the folks at CompuServe have come up with something that
makes a lot of sense for CompuServe but not for Usenet or ARPA.
It makes sense in for CompuServe to have a file format that will enable file
transfers to be essentially transparent -- instead of having to binhex and
upload or download and binhex, with a compatible terminal emulator people
can simply transfer via XMODEM (MacBinary) and automatically transfer a
single file (not three like MacTerminal) that contains all the required
Macintosh information within it and is faster to transfer to boot (8-bit vs.
ASCII hex encoding).
The scheme does not make much sense for Usenet or ARPA -- ever try to get
8-bit binaries through your local mailer? Sure, you can uuencode/uudecode
things, but that implies having a UNIX system around, which in particular is
not valid for the ARPA INFO-MAC setup. BinHex version 5 is definitely not
helpful -- it will convert the previous BinHex formats, but will only
produce the new MacBinary .BIN files.
My feeling: stick with BinHex version 4 and the .HQX format.
--
Elgin Lee
UUCP: ..decvax!decwrl!glacier!navajo!ehl
ARPA: ehl@su-navajo.ARPA, ehl@su-score.ARPA
End of INFO-MAC Digest
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