info-mac@uw-beaver (04/18/85)
From: Moderator John Mark Agosta <INFO-MAC-REQUEST@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA> INFO-MAC Digest Thursday, 18 Apr 1985 Volume 2 : Issue 33 Today's Topics: New files from Compuserve New Macintosh Kermit on the Way Function Keys for Mac UPGRADE ALERT Re: Serial Tales Finder wish-list Finder update, serial port buffer Mac Std Graphics Protocol MacWrite 4.2 problem MacTerminal disk writing query Macintosh XL [sic] Parallel Port documentation ? Inside AppleTalk ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat 13 Apr 85 21:08:48-PST From: Gus Fernandez <FERNANDEZ@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA> Subject: New files from Compuserve The following files are now in <info-mac> New version of Extras D.A. (DA-EXTRAS.HQX, .DOC, DA-EXTRAS-FKEY.HQX) Line/Word/Character count DA (DA-WC.HQX) Phoenix block (Serial port DA communication) documentation (PHBLOCK.DOC, HQX) Screensaver DA (DA-SCREENSAVER.HQX, .DQC) Also, in the file SWITCHER.SHAR is the pre-release of the switcher (version 2.0) Use 'sh switcher.shar' from a unix system or edit the pieces apart on another operating system. This is still a beta test version, but Andy asks all users to submit bug reports. [ I am collecting comments for Andy. Any info-mac mail about the switcher will be forwarded to him -jma ] In the shell archive (shar) file are five files swtest.text - Beta report description in text format. ***READ IT*** swtest.hqx - beta report (MacWrite file) swdoc.hqx - User documentation (Illustrated MacWrite file) swhints.hqx - Developer documentation - How to make you application "Switcher friendly" (MacWrite file) switcher.hqx - The switcher itself. Have fun and go track down those bugs! (Not that the program has lots of them, but that it has to deal with so many existing applications!) Gus Fernandez ------------------------------ Date: Tue 16 Apr 85 12:17:35-EST From: Frank da Cruz <SY.FDC@CU20B.ARPA> Subject: New Macintosh Kermit on the Way Just to forestall any parallel development, this is to announce that Columbia University is about to release a new Macintosh Kermit. The program is written in C using the SUMACC Unix-based cross development tools, and is based on the new C-Kermit protocol modules. It includes VT102 terminal emulation with line and character insertion and deletion. The terminal emulator and file transfer functions are done; the rest of the user interface (dialog, display, and control windows) is being done now. We expect to announce an initial release within several weeks. Columbia's Macintosh Kermit will be distributed on Columbia's Kermit distribution tapes and via computer network, like other Kermit programs. We recognize that Macintosh Kermit will be difficult to bootstrap, especially at sites that do not have the SUMACC tools, so we would like to place a few diskettes at sites where they will be most widely reproduced and circulated, such as the member schools of the Apple University Consortium. Any other suggestions? Unfortunately, Columbia simply does not have the resources to get into the diskette production business, so we are looking for sites that are willing to act as distribution centers. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Apr 85 10:44:58 EST From: winkler@harvard.ARPA (Dan Winkler) Subject: Function Keys for Mac A friend has written a routine that installs itself on the system heap and catches all events before the event manager gets them. (This is how we came across the bug in Manx's GetTrapAddress().) His routine can be set up to recognize any event, remove it from the queue, and replace it with any other sequence of events. The idea is to implement very general function keys. His original gaol was to convert troff documents to word format using word by hitting a function key that would cause his routine to install all the events necessary to search for and delete the next .i and put all the text up to the next .r into italics. So now that the technical problems of how to get and alter events are solved, he has to decide on other details. Should this routine be installed by a desk accessory? Should it read function key definitions from a file? How should it work with the switcher? If you have suggestions, please let me know. Dan. ------------------------------ From: <bang!crash!bwebster@Nosc> Date: Tue, 16 Apr 85 07:59:11 PST Subject: UPGRADE ALERT TO: Everyone who is considering a RAM/Hyperdrive upgrade I've just heard some disturbing information from a usually reliable source. As many of you may know, Apple is coming out with a ROM upgrade (128K) this year (probably in September) to fix bugs, accomodate the double-sided disk drives, etc. Well, according to my source, Apple is instructing its dealers *not* to perform the upgrade on any Macintosh that has been modified in any way. In other words, if you have done anything to your Mac (RAM upgrade, Hyperdrive, etc.) other than buy the official (and incredibly overpriced) Apple 512K upgrade, your dealer may not upgrade your ROM for you. I have not yet been able to get a confirm/deny/no comment out of Apple; I'll keep you posted on what I find. Additional information and commentary is, as always, welcome. ..bruce.. [These are, of course, my own opinions, and do not necessarily reflect anyone else's . . . though I suspect they just might.] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Serial Tales Date: 13 Apr 85 23:17:45 PST (Sat) From: Van Jacobson <van@lbl-csam> If you fit a least squares line to the Serial driver document's table of baudrate vs. 10-bit-magic-number (which I'll call "count"), you get: TrueBaudrate = 114695 / (count + 2) The Mac crystal is 3.670702MHz and the integer divisor that gives a number closest to 114695 is 32. Since the baud rate generator has a divide-by-2, the SCC WR4 is set for x16 clock mode. 3.6707MHz / 2 / 16 = 114709. This gives you: MacBaudrate = 114709 / (count + 2) if you just stuff "count" directly into SCC WR13 & 14 (which is what the serial driver is doing, I think). The error in MacBaudrate is a constant 0.4% from 110 to 19.2KBaud. If you're going to transmit synchronous instead of asynchronous, the SCC automatically gives you x1 clock mode. If you want 9600 baud, you could select the speed with a count of 189 (which gives an error of 0.1%, if I did the arithmetic right) then poke WR4 yourself to select sync. mode. I've tried something like this & it more-or-less worked (I was turning my Mac into a poor-man's serial line analyzer). But, if you're trying to make a product, why not license the source of the RAM serial driver from Apple & hack it into the shape you need? - Van Jacobson, LBL ------------------------------ Date: Mon 8 Apr 85 17:08:29-MST From: Tony Jacobs <T-JACOBS@UTAH-20.ARPA> Subject: Finder wish-list It would really be nice to have two simple features added to the new finder if it isn't too late. All the new features are great, at least the ones I've seen or heard about. It would be real nice if you could just put a disk icon in the trash in order to eject it and remove its contents from the desktop. This can be done now but since speed is the trademark of the new finder, I think this is a good simple shortcut. The other feature is one that would allow the file names to take up more than one line below the Icon. It's a real pain to have to move icons around in order to see the full name. The file name could just auto wrap on any character like a space, dash, or period. That would clean up the appearance of the desktop a lot. Steve Capps, Bruce Horn, hope you're listening. The new minifinder is looking better all the time. Many people still like the Skipfinder better as so far it has more utility. Being able to open on a document is quite valuable. T-Jacobs@UTAH-20 ------------------------------ Reply-To: DAVEG%SLACVM.BITNET@Forsythe To: INFO-MAC@SUMEX-AIM Subject: finder update, serial port buffer An idea and a question, The idea: seeing Microsoft word and the technique of double clicking on the title bar of a document and having it fill the screen (and go back to the original size and location after this) makes me realize that this technique should probably be a more global feature. Perhaps when the ROM is updated such a thing will be supported. Regardless, one of the most important places to implement such a thing would be the finder. Much of one's time is spent resizing windows on disks to find what you are looking for. I think it is very important to consider this for the current update to the finder in the works (if possible) or for future updates. Any feedback about this idea AND is there any chance that such a thing will/can be incorporated. The question: While working with the switcher using a terminal emulator and another application I found that information received to the serial port while the second application was running, appeared on the screen when I switched back to the terminal application. Does anyone know how big the buffer is and whether it exists only on the modem port or both ports? David Gelphman DAVEG@SLACVM.BITNET ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Apr 85 09:55 MST From: "Kevin W. Laurent" <KLaurent@DENVER.ARPA> Subject: Mac Std Graphics Protocol Attached is a proposed Standard for handling Quickdraw graphics via a telecommunications interface as put forth by Scott (Red Ryder) Watson. As usual, there appears to be more than one standard because Mainstay's Telescape offering was developed before this Standard came out. Does anybody know what kind of a protocol Mainstay is using? <KLaurent@DENVER> Kevin Laurent [ There is a copy kept in <info-mac>graphics-protocol.txt -jma ] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Apr 85 8:54:03 EST From: Alex McKenzie <mckenzie@BBNH.ARPA> Subject: MacWrite 4.2 problem I've been trying to use MacWrite 4.2 to edit a document which started life on a local mainframe. I used MacTerminal to record a "printout" of the document, retaining line breaks. I then opened this document with MacWrite 4.2. If I chose "CR means line break" during the conversion process, MacWrite captured the entire text but all the previous formatting was gone, which was unacceptable. Alternatively, if I chose "CR means paragraph" during the conversion process, MacWrite caputed the formatting but truncated off more than half the text (with NO warnings/diagnostics). Can anyone guess what's going wrong, how I can work around the problem, or whether the next version of MacWrite (4.5?) is likely to fix the problem? Alex McKenzie mckenzie@bbn.arpa ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Apr 85 9:01:43 EST From: Andrew Malis <malis@BBNCCS.ARPA> Subject: MacTerminal disk writing query Does anyone know a patch to MacTerminal 1.1 that disables the save-state disk write after 8 seconds of inactivity? This can get really annoying at times, especially if you want to be able to load MacTerminal into the Switcher, and then change disks to use another application, but still occassionally switch back to Macterminal to read any new mail. If this were disabled, and you also turned off recording off the top, then MacTerminal wouldn't need to do any disk accesses at all. Also, a hint for those of you using the switcher with MacTerminal 1.1: give MacTerminal a preferred memory size of 140K if you want to be able to use diskinfo and some of the other larger desk accessories. Another hint: I've found that MacTerminal automatically turns off Xon/Xoff flow control when doing xmodem transfers, and then (if you have it selected) automatically turns it back on again. So, to run at 9600, you can just keep it on all the time. Andy ------------------------------ Date: 10 Apr 1985 06:42-EST From: mss%dartvax%dartmouth.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa Subject: Macintosh XL [sic] Parallel Port documentation ? We are trying to connect a device to the parallel port of a Lisa 2/10 (or Lisa 2/5 without Profile) running Macworks, however, the Lisa manuals and IM provide scarce documentation. Before we take apart a Lisa to get the information we need, is there someone who has already attached a new device to the parallel port and written a driver for it? We'd like to trade notes. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Apr 85 21:23:30 EST From: cadtroy!schoff@cadmus Subject: Inside AppleTalk Having spent some time implementing the AppleTalk protocols (LAP,DDP,ATP,NBP) for a UNIX SystemV machine (the CadMac from CADMUS) based on a 1984 specification which had no description of the "AppleTalk Manager" (First Draft 1/31/85). I find myself in a dilemna, I'm incompatible!!! My design strategy has been to give the user a "socket" handle. In other words something that looks like a Berkeley socket, without the necessity of using IP. Now, looking at the "AppleTalk Manager" I think it is real nice for a single-user operating system, but leaves me kind of cold in the UNIX realm. I'm wondering what John Q. Public thinks (those who have some UNIX knowledge and have at least seen the "AppleTalk Manager"). Would anyone care to venture a postion on the necessity of providing an exact copy of the "AppleTalk Manager". Note that it would be more than possible to build this interface on the mechanism that I have provided (ie "sockets"). I assume that if enought "neat" netware software comes out, it will be demanded of me to provide for this. marty schoff@cadmus.ARPA {wanginst,seismo}!ucadmus!schoff schoff%cadmus.csnet PS: for those who care my implementation is a kernel implementation with LAP being done in a front-end. ------------------------------ End of INFO-MAC Digest **********************