Info-IBMPC@C.ISI.EDU.UUCP (03/05/87)
Info-IBMPC Digest Wednesday, 4 March 1987 Volume 6 : Issue 13
This Week's Editor: Billy Brackenridge
Today's Topics:
KWIC-INDEX.TXT Updated
Intertec PC Question CTTY Answer
MASM Bug Report UPDATE
Program to Edit Binary Files bed
Weird Problem with Mace Utilities Disk (2 Msgs)
Disk Optimizer
3278/3279 Terminal Emulation
3.5 Inch Drives
MSC Floating Point Bug is NOT a bug
MSC Floating Point Bug (2 Msgs)
Easier RESET Switch Warning
Large PATHs Small Environment
Amateur Digital Signal Processing
Cheap Signal Processing with TMS320
Sarin Signal Processing Kit Offered Cheap
MEMVIEW.BAS Program
NARROW.E to Limit Scope of Epsilon Commands
TEX.E for Epsilon
FORTRAN.E to Ease Preparation of Fortran Code with Epsilon
LA50
MSC V4 Incompatible with Novell Netware
SIMTEL20 VAX Binary FTP
ARC51.COM Download Problems
ZYAC12.ARC Algebraic Calculator Now Available
PD:<PC-BLUE.VOLnnn> up-to-date
ARC520 Now Available from SIMTEL20
PC-Write files on SIMTEL20 ok
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 4 Mar 1987 17:00:37 PST
Subject: KWIC-INDEX.TXT Updated
From: Billy <BRACKENRIDGE@C.ISI.EDU>
At last kwic-index.txt has been updated. It is current as of March 1, 1987.
The previous version was current as of last Thanksgiving.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 87 01:29:16 PST
From: larry@Jpl-VLSI.ARPA
Subject: Intertec PC Question CTTY Answer
I got an IBM sort-of-compatible for almost free recently and, as usual,
you get what you pay for. It's an Intertec 128, which can only boot from
an external drive and was used mostly as a terminal on a LAN. The company
doesn't seem to be in business any more, so netland is my major hope for
getting any value from it. Can anyone tell me what kind of cable and disk
drive I need to boot this? Will it boot from a PC diskette? Is there any
place I can get documentation on such questions?
An answer to someone else's question follows, on how to set up a cable to
use another PC as the system console. First you need a serial port, of
course. The two kinds I've used for this purpose were both from IBM: their
Asynchronous Communications Adapter and Serial/Parallel Adapter. The
following cable works on both when connected to another ACA or SPA or to a
VT100.
pin 2 --------------\ /----------- 2 Transmit Data
\
3 <-------------/ \-----------> 3 Receive Data
4 --------------\ /----------- 4 Request To Send
\
5 <-------------/ \-----------> 5 Clear To Send
6 <-+-----------\ /--------+-> 6 Data Set Ready
| \ |
8 <-+ / \ +-> 8 Carrier Detected
/ \
20 ------------/ \---------- 20 Data Terminal Ready
7 ----------------------------- 7 Signal Ground
In case the diagram isn't clear, pins 2 & 3 criss-cross, as do 4 & 5 and
6 & 20. Pins 6 & 8 are jumpered together. The usual protocol is that DTR
comes on when power does and goes off only when a terminal goes into setup
mode or issues a break. In effect, each device says "I'm awake!" The other
device recognizes this via its DSR input and prepares to cooperate. When
a device wants to transmit it activates RTS ("Can I give you stuff?") and
waits until its partner answers ("Socket to me!") into its CTS pin.
After the physical hookup is made, enter the appropriate mode command. For
a VT100 it's typically
MODE COMn:9600,N,8,1
for COM1 or COM2 at 9600 baud, No parity, 8 bits per byte and 1 stop bit.
Then type CTTY COMn
to give control to the terminal (or terminal emulator) on the serial line.
To return type CTTY CON
on the terminal.
You can only run programs that use DOS call for input and output. BASIC and
many word processing programs don't.
Larry @ jpl-vlsi.arpa
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 87 10:15:08 EST
From: jcm@ORNL-MSR.ARPA (James A. Mullens)
Subject: MASM Bug Report UPDATE
MASM BUG REPORT (in painful detail)
Jim Mullens / jcm@ornl-msr.arpa / Oak Ridge National Lab
615/574-5565
MASM 4.0 fails to assembles some programs, issuing an erroneous error
message, when the assembly language source and object file are on
different disk drives, the source and object file extensions are
defaulted, and no listing or cross reference file are specified.
PRODUCT MASM version 4.00
DOS PCDOS version 3.20 by DOS VER command.
However, I believe the DOS distribution disk was labelled
DOS 3.21 (updated DOS?).
Also quickly tested with DOS 3.1 and found the same problem.
MACHINES Everex AT Clone AT-PLUS
10 MHz, 0-wait-state RAM, 4 Meg RAM (640 K below 1 Meg)
I first noticed this problem on an IBM AT 6 MHz model
running at 8 MHz. Although I have not tested the problem
extensively on the IBM, I believe the problem occurs on
both machines.
DISKS 40 Meg hard drive logically divided into C: (32 Meg) and
D: (8 Meg) using Everex EVDISK driver. 1.2 Meg floppy as
A:. RAM disk in extended RAM using Microsoft RAMDRIVE
distributed with Windows 1.01 (only for the duration of
these tests). I don't think this is pertinent, but Microsoft
does like to see this information in bug reports!
DESCRIPTION
The default directory is C:\HFIR\STATE and MASM is located in C:\ASM
(on the PATH). The file being assembled is QPATER.ASM, a 17 Kbyte
file generated by another software product.
The commands
masm X:qpater,qpater;
or
masm qpater,X:qpater;
where X is any disk drive (floppy, hard, or RAM drive) other than the
default drive, causes MASM to exit with the error message
X:qpater.ASM (1015): error 52: Improper operand type
The error only occurs if (1) two drives are used, (2) the file name
extensions are defaulted, and (3) no listing file or cross reference
file is specified. MASM behaves in the same manner if it prompts for
the file names instead of receiving them from the command line.
The error was also found using PCDOS 3.1, in one quick test with the
source on A: and the object on C:. Whereas the DOS 3.2 tests were
conducted with several TSRs loaded, the DOS 3.1 system used only
ANSI.SYS and GRAPHICS.
MORE DETAIL
Line 1015 is
mov BX,seg _o_rete
and _o_rete is defined earler in the file as
_o_rete proc far
I do not know what is special about QPATER.ASM that causes it to
provoke this MASM behavior. I have seen other sources do this to
MASM, but I haven't kept those. I will send the source to Microsoft
on request.
MASM assembles correctly if the source and object are on the same
disk and different directories.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 87 16:29:24 EST
From: Brent W Baccala <baccala@USNA.ARPA>
Subject: Program to Edit Binary Files bed
There is a program called "bed" (binary editor) available from mod.sources.
It's C source code designed to run on UNIX, but since uses an external
editor, I don't see a whole lot of problems porting it. I like it (on
UNIX) - it's versatile and easy to use, though sometimes slow.
A small PC might have problems with disk space, though, since bed
writes a human-readable format (which you can alter to a major extent)
to a disk file, runs the editor, then reads the file back in.
Oh, well. Anybody want to port it? I don't have a C compiler on my
PC.
- BRENT W. BACCALA -
Computer Aided Design/Interactive Graphics
U.S. Naval Academy
Annapolis, MD
<decvax!brl-smoke!usna!baccala>
<seismo!usna!baccala>
<baccala@usna.arpa>
------------------------------
To: cody@anl-mcs.ARPA
Subject: Weird problem with Mace Utilities disk
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 87 11:43:03 EST
From: jcmorris@mitre.ARPA
Re your problem reported in INFO-IBMPC V6N12: could you be remembering
the problems reported on some disk drives which used the reflection from
the silvered file protect tab to detect its presence? The problem
there was that disks with non reflective protect tabs were being written
since the drive saw no reflected light.
One thing you might check is quality of the index hole on your disk
and compare its position and size to that of a normal disk which works on
the Leading Edge. There is one (and only one) hole in the magnetic disk
material itself; when that hole is seen (by a lamp/photocell in the drive)
through the hole in the envelope, the drive recognizes the start of a track.
If that hole isn't seen by the drive DOS will report the drive as not ready
(I just tested this idea by covering the hole on a disk.) A difference
in either the envelope or the disk itself between the Mace disk and the
usable one might explain your problems. The reason that the problem shows
up on the Leading Edge could be explained by LE's use of a drive which
isn't forgiving of non-standard hole positioning. (Another possibility
would be that the disk is within specs, but the drive is not able to handle
disks which aren't right on the nominal measurements.)
Joe Morris (jcmorris@mitre)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 87 11:03:38 cst
From: cody@anl-mcs.ARPA (Jim Cody)
To:jcmorris@mitre.ARPA
Subject: Weird problem with Mace Utilities disk
You may be correct about my recalling the write-protect problem. As for
the index hole, I did compare the disk with a usable one and detected no
difference. I even lined the hole in the disk up with the hole in the
envelope before inserting the disk in the drive. It was still aligned
when the disk was removed, suggesting that the drive had not engaged
the disk. Whatever the problem is, I thought others should be alerted.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1987 15:03 PST
From: JAJZ801%CALSTATE.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: Disk Optimizer
According to the PC Advisor column of PC Magazine, Vol 6. Number 3,
feb 10, 1987 (had desktop publishing cover), p. 27: Works fine BUT
1-2-3 release 2.01 is not compatible because of a change Lotus made
in their copy-protection scheme. Softlogic promises to fix the
problem shortly. An earlier PC column gave the nod to DOG because of
greater functionality but that was before version 2.0 of optimizer
which has many (borrowed) features. I use Disk Optimizer with no
problems.
Never used DOG so can't compare them for you.
Jeff Sicherman
JAJZ801@CCS.CSUSCC.CALSTATE.EDU
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 87 09:23:56 LOCAL
From: <OPUS%UCF1VM.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: 3278/3279 Terminal Emulation
Yes, IBM PC3270 Emulation Program Version 2.00 allows you to do a
"screen print" to a named file on the PC floppy or hard drive.
This function is performed from the mainframe session using about 3
key-strokes.
Good Luck, Kevin Barnhill
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 87 11:26:42 EST
From: Ted Cooley <tedc%dartmouth.edu@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: 3.5 Inch Drives
Organization: Thayer School of Engineering
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I went round and round about the 3 1/2" drives about 6 months
ago. Maybe I can clarify things.
If you use the external version, DO NOT change the switch settings
on the mother board for the number of disk drives.
Use the device=driver.sys command in your config.sys file. Be sure
to use the correct flag settings... NOTE that the default settings are fine.
The external 3.5" drive will come up as drive D: on an XT if you do
not put vdisk or anything else before the device=driver.sys instruction for
the 3.5" drive.
In order to copy 3.5" disks to other 3.5" disks, you must have
2 ( That's _T_W_O_ ) device=driver.sys commands in config.sys. Thus, you
can copy from drive D: to drive E:.
Good luck and happier computing.
...tedc@dartmouth.edu
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 87 23:10:20 EST
From: Bernard_Tiffany@um.cc.umich.edu
Subject: MSC Floating Point Bug is NOT a bug
>Subject: MSC Floating Point Bug?
>
>I noticed something funny under MSC 3.0 and 4.0
>
> int j, k;
> k = 800;
> j = k * 3.1;
>
>j is 247 instead of 248.
Actually the answer should be 2480.
Not a real bug. The conversion from double to long truncates
numbers. Since the machine is binary, the constant 3.1 is not an
exact number. Hence, k * 3.1 becomes something like 247.99998. The
culprit is the truncation that takes place according to that K&R
manual.
------------------------------
Date: 3 Mar 87 15:08:35 PST (Tuesday)
From: Bicer.ES@Xerox.COM
Subject: MSC Floating Point Bug
Update on the bug report:
The last example I sent to the net had the decimal point in the wrong
place. Please try:
main()
{
int j1, j2, j3, k;
k = 800;
j1 = k * .31;
j2 = ((double)k) * .31;
j3 = (int) (((double)k) * .31);
printf ("%d, %d, %d\n", j1, j2, j3);
}
The result is 247, 247, 247. It should have been 248. This problem is
in 3.0 as well as 4.0.
Jack Bicer
Bicer.ES@Xerox.COM
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 87 10:52:43 EST
From: Gordon W. Ross <gwr%linus@mitre-bedford.ARPA>
Subject: Easier RESET Switch Warning
In Volume 6 : Issue 10 of the Info-IBMPC Digest, Chris writes:
>I too needed a "reset switch", but did not own the hardware (IBM XT)
>to which I wanted to add it. So I did the following, which may not
>be electrically perfect but has worked fine for 1.5 years now. It has
>the advantage of being easily removed without trace.
>
>Theory: momentarily short the +5 output of the power supply to ground,
>and you'll reset your PC.
Warning the above "Theory" is incorrect and could damage your computer.
The correct way to reset a PC is to momentarily assert a logic low
signal on the "Power Good" input to the mother-board. The five volt
output of the supply is capable of supplying about ten amps or more of
current therefore shorting it to ground with a small wire is likely to
at least fry the wire, and possibly start a fire. Please note
however, that this is probably not what Chris meant, since the output
of the supply he refers to in his implementation description is the
"Power Good" signal from the supply, not the five volt output.
>
>Implementation:
[ It is a switch to short the "Power Good" line to ground.]
>
>As I say, this may not be the best for the power supply, but as I write
>in assembler, I have used it *LOTS* of times over the last couple of
>years!
>
>chris
I agree that the above method is not the best for the supply, so I
will suggest a completely safe alternative which has all the same
advantages of the method presented by Chris.
The best way to reset a PC is to momentarily assert a logic low signal
(zero volts) to the "Power Good" signal on the mother-board. This is
what the switch Chris installed does, but there's a better way. The
best way to install a reset switch is to use a momentary action,
single-pole, double-throw (SPDT) switch. This allows you to
momentarily ground the "Power Good" input without grounding the
circuit in the power supply which is driving that line high. If you
just ground the "Power Good" line without disconnecting the driving
circuit in the supply, you are gambling that the power supply will not
mind having the driver for that signal shorted to ground. I chose to
spend an extra dollar for the switch and avoid the gamble on the much
more expensive power supply.
The way to connect the SPDT switch as a reset button is as follows:
The switch should have three terminals labeled:
CO. (Common)
NC. (Normally Closed)
NO. (Normally Open)
The power supply connector may be unplugged from the motherboard and
the wire in position one removed. This is the "Power Good" line from
the power supply. This can be done without harming the connector if
you want to restore it to original condition later. A new wire should
be installed in the power supply connector, position one, and
connected to the common terminal on the switch. The "Power Good" line
from the supply which was removed from its connector should be
connected to the normally closed terminal on the switch. Last, the
normally open terminal of the switch is connected to ground.
I have heard of at least one other not-so-good way to connect a reset
switch which involved grounding some other "Reset" line on the
motherboard. In fact many of these will work, but these methods do
not use the synchronizing ability of the clock generator chip, and are
not guaranteed to properly reset the whole system on the first press
of the switch. The "Power Good" signal goes directly to the
"Asynchronous Reset" input on the clock generator chip and is the only
"right place" to initiate a system reset.
Gordon W. Ross Phone: (617) 271-2199
The MITRE Corporation ARPA: linus!gwr@MITRE-BEDFORD
Bedford, MA 01730 UUCP: decvax!linus!gwr
------------------------------
From: holtz@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU (Fred Holtz)
Date: 27 Feb 87 09:06:05 GMT
Subject: Large PATHs Small Environment
Organization: EE/CS Dept. U.C. San Diego
The 'legitimate' way to create long path strings is to use the lastdrive
option in config.sys and the subst command. Example:
lastdrive=k (say the 'real' last drive is d:)
subst e: c:\bin\util
subst f: c:\bin\lang
subst g: c:\bin\games
subst h: c:\bin\filter
subst i: c:\bin\editors
subst j: c:\bin\etc
subst k: c:\bin\etc\etc
path=d:\;c:\dos;c:\;e:\;f:\;g:\;h:\;i:\;j:\;k:\
I don't recall off hand just what the limit on lastdrive is, but it can
go a very long way in solving large path problems. See the DOS manual
(3.0 or beyond...)
One word of caution - if you use DOG 1.01 to optimize your disk with
substitution active, DOS loses place of any directories which have
moved. I find it necessary to reboot after such activity.
Fred Holtz
holtz@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU
------------------------------
Date: 3 Mar 87 05:08:25 GMT
From: ulysses!faline!karn@ucbvax.berkeley.edu
Subject: Amateur Digital Signal Processing
ReSent-From: Billy <BRACKENRIDGE@C.ISI.EDU>
DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING IN AMATEUR RADIO
Tom Clark, W3IWI
Bob McGwier, N4HY
We have begun doing some experimentation with digital signal processing (DSP)
techniques which we feel may revolutionize certain aspects of amateur radio.
We both have running a TI TMS32010 co-processor board in our PC-clones. The
320's on-board RAM is dual-ported to the PC and is used to communicate between
the two CPUs. The 320 board also has attached to it high-speed (40 kHz) A/D &
D/A converters plus a programmable timer driving the A/D's sample & hold.
The PC serves both as a display device and does high-level data processing.
Code we are running is written in TMS320 assembler (on the 320 side) and
Microsoft "C" (for the PC side). Rudimentary software doing FFT spectral
analysis was demonstrated at the Nov. AMSAT meeting in Dallas and at the Feb.
TAPR meeting in Tucson where it was used to show the modulation spectrum of
the PSK modems.
We see a lot of possible applications for DSP techniques. A few include:
- Optimized modems for HF, PSK and satellite telemetry use. When you need
a different modem, you plug in new software instead of building hardware.
- Weak signal enhancement. Preliminary indications are that between
10 & 20 dB of s/n improvement can be realized. Silicon in your computer
can replace aluminum in antennas! More on this application in a minute.
- Digital video processing so that pictures can be crammed onto a low-speed
packet channel. It even looks like a WEFAX weather satellite signal display
could be done all in software, using your PC's display for the pictures.
- ACSSB signal processing is a natural. DSP techniques also lend themselves
to processing digital voice for transmission over packet channels.
- etc. The list could go on all day.
The first code we have worked on is a real-time FFT spectrum analyzer adapted
to communications applications. The test software we have been using makes 256
channels with an arbitrary bandwidth (up to 10-20 kHz). Where a conventional
spectrum analyzer takes a single filter and sweeps it across the band, our FFT
is the equivalent of 256 filters which leads to much higher sensitivity. We
have included the ability to "stack" multiple spectra on top of each other for
still higher sensitivity and to read out the frequency of the biggest peak.
This software has already been used as a measurement tool for 3 projects: at
W3IWI it has been used as a piece of test equipment for testing the radio/PSK
modem interface. IWI has also used it to study fading and QRM problems
experienced by the 14.109 BBS interconnect network.
But the application we want to crow about concerns the weak-signal world.
About 03:00z on Feb.28th, W3IWI and N4HY used the DSP FFT software on a real
432 MHz weak signal path (about 100 miles long) with EXCELLENT success. In
this first DSP QSO, we were able to attenuate the signals well below the
threshold of audibility and still detect them reliably. N4HY has used his
Oscar-10 satellite station (100 watts with a single yagi) and has been able
to get echoes off the moon detectable with DSP. We are now working to define
a communications protocol so that we will be able to use these techniques to
exchange information.
The purpose of this note is to see if any other folks are interested in
similar pursuits. We are considering proposing a joint AMSAT/TAPR project
to coordinate the development of DSP hardware and software for a number of
amateur applications. We would like to hear from you as to whether you think
DSP has a future in amateur radio and your ideas on how such a project should
be organized.
FYI -- the TMS32010 boards we are using are commercially available at a cost
of about $800, but if there were a groundswell of interest the price would
probably come down by 2-3 dB$.
73 de W3IWI & N4HY
------------------------------
Date: 28 Feb 87 15:04:12 GMT
From: ulysses!ka9q!n4hy@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU
Subject: Cheap Signal Processing with TMS320
ReSent-From: Billy <BRACKENRIDGE@C.ISI.EDU>
[This message from Info-Hams requires a bit of translation. Ham radio
operators have used "moon bounce" for years. This is communication where
very high power signals are bounced off the moon. The receiving station
is equipped with very high gain antennas. Even when equipment is home
built, it costs in the neighborhood of tens of thousands of dollars.
With the use of a TMS320 based signal processor in a PC these hams were
able to communicate via low power moon bounce at a fraction of the normal
cost. I have written several articles about signal processing on the PC
in this digest, and I encourage others interested in this subject to
contact me (N6NLE) or the other amateur radio operators mentioned in
this article. -wab]
Tom Clark, W3IWI and I had a bit of fun last night with some digital
signal processing equipment that we have been lucky enough to acquire.
Using a TMS32010 on a drop in board by Delanco Spry and the power of the
Fast Fourier Transform we had a weak signal morse qso. I wrote a
spectrum analyzer program for the PC family and this board.
Using 3 watts on his end and a 6 turn helix at 25 feet and 7 watts on my end
turn a KLM-40cx at 22 feet over the couple of hundred miles between us
on 432.290 Tom keyed his transmitter and determining dots and dashes by
finding his "spectral line" and judging by eye the key down time I saw
that he sent "UR A LID". I sent back "UR A SLOB".
The previous day a positive return from the moon using the same set up
here except now 75 watts (my IC-471H at full blast) was obtained. The
dispersion was causing the signal to be spread over 8 bins and the coherence
time was no more than a tenth of a second. All this combines to making the
return 15dB down from the successful QSO over tropo. My peak picking
algorithm worked with high reliability so we are going to devise an FSK
protocol and then a qso off luna ought to be possible. Tom and I hope
that none of our EME friends with their $10000 worth of antennas and
amplifiers (Brawn) will be too put out.
Bob
N4HY
------------------------------
Date: 4 Mar 1987 06:45:02 PST
Subject: Sarin Signal Processing Kit Offered Cheap
From: Eric Beser <EBESER@ada20.isi.edu>
To: info-hams@simtel20.arpa
I was greatly pleased to see Tom Clark take the initiative
in getting DSP interest started in the amateur community. I would also
like to report my findings as well and have Tom, through this response,
add my name to those who wish to take part in his activities.
We looked at a pipelined DSP board produced by Sarin Incorporated,
a local (Baltimore, Md. ) company for some work we needed to do in decoding
Weather Satellite pictures for battlefield viewing. This work involved using
a portable PC (for display of the map), a receiver and some A/D conversion.
Without going into depth of the application (I really can't), we looked at
several PC-based DSP boards. We found Sarin's to be the fastest and the
easiest to use. What follows does constitute a product review. Let me
qualify my remarks in saying that I am a software engineer by trade,
a ham and computer phreak by avocation. My purpose for this review is
to offer an "second source" for what Tom describes, and perhaps a
better alternative. I have played with Sarin's "micropipe" as a "beta
tester" for over a year.
The "micropipe" contains two on-board TMS32010's in a pipelined
architecture. There is no shared memory, but the board supports PC DMA
reads and writes. Each processor node contains 4K of memory and a boot
ROM. Sarin calls this board a platform because it contains access to
the full I/O space of the DSP processor, access to the internal bus
between processor nodes, and access to the PC memory space. Sarin is
in the process of finalizing several daughter boards that provide
A/D, D/A, additional memory (addressable through I/O ports), and
will have a shared memory daughter board at the end of this year.
This board is extremely flexible and can be tailored with no effort.
Now for the good news! I showed Paul Medlock, the president of Sarin,
Tom's article and suggested to him that he make available Sarin's DSP
hardware to the amateur community. He stated that he would sell the
board assembled and tested at the Q100 price to radio club members
and to individual hams. This is still expensive ($1100), but the best
news is that he recognizes the hacker in us all. He will sell the bare
board, boot ROMs, and node PALS for $450 for those who wish to scrounge
the rest of the parts. It is real close to what it is costing him to
produce.
Incidentally, Sarin operates a Unix system for its customers,
and has a guest account for DSP users. The guest account is limited
access, but contains the TI application library. Paul stated that he
would like to help spread the use of the DSP hardware. His interest is
really graphics and computer music (His musicraft system is in the SIGM
library). He would like to archive any amateur DSP code for distribution.
The system number is 301-356-4532, and the system is open 24
hours. However it is requested that users limit their time to 30
minutes per day and to limit their interests to DSP while on the
system. This is not, repeat not a general purpose BBS. Any abusive
hackers will cause the system plug to be pulled and will blow it for
all of us. Kermit and Umodem is available to upload/download
programs. To log on, use the login id of "guest". No password is
required. You need to register with Sarin to make full use of the
system (You don't have to buy anything to register, but they request
application code be downloaded periodically).
Sarin also makes an excellent TMS32010 simulator that
operates on the IBM PC. They sell a demo version for $50 which
includes the manual. Paul also agreed to bundle the assembler and
simulator with the hardware for an additional $150 above PC board
price. Their cross assembler supports the distributed architecture of
their DSP board by allowing the assembly of code for multiple
processors to be contained in a single source listing. Additionally
special codes recognizable by the BOOT ROM is placed in the object
code to allow loading and execution by the micropipe. Interface code
is available from Sarin in Turbo Pascal, Microsoft C, and Meridian
Ada.
Sarin's phone number is 301-574-9412
contact Paul Medlock for Technical Questions.
You may also send mail to Paul on Sarin's system.
73's
Eric Beser (K3UHF)
ARPA EBESER@Ada20
phone: 301-765-8008 (day work)
301-356-4037 (home evening)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 87 16:22:35 pst
From: austins%opal.Berkeley.EDU@BERKELEY.EDU
Subject: MEMVIEW.BAS Program
Here is a simple BASIC program to view the contents of RAM. Please feel free
to make it available on your bulletin board.
[MEMVIEW.BAS has been added to the INFO-IBMPC lending library. -wab]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 87 16:56:04 PST
From: SMITH#GARY%B.MFENET@nmfecc.arpa
Subject: NARROW.E to Limit Scope of Epsilon Commands
The EEL code in NARROW.E makes available to Epsilon users a very
useful feature found in other versions of Emacs. You can limit the
scope of your commands (e.g., replace-string) to the region (between
point and mark), which might be one paragraph out of a long text or
one function definition out of a long source code. You can even
write out the buffer while in Narrow mode; use this feature with care
since you could lose most of your file.
Two commands are described by the following documentation:
narrow-bounds-to-region Narrow portion of buffer to edit to region.
Make region the only portion of the buffer that your commands
affect. Return to editing of the entire buffer with widen-bounds.
widen-bounds Widen bounds to entire buffer.
Use this command when you have finished editing a portion of the
buffer selected previously with narrow-bounds-to-region.
----- Gary R. Smith (smith#gary@b.mfenet@nmfecc.arpa)
[NARROW.E has been added to the Eel library <INFO-IBMPC.EEL> -wab]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 87 16:57:44 PST
From: SMITH#GARY%B.MFENET@nmfecc.arpa
Subject: TEX.E for Epsilon
Two commands in TEX.E make Epsilon a more convenient tool for
preparation of TeX source. Description of the commands follows.
[TEX.E has been added to the EEL Library in <INFO-IBMPC.EEL> -wab]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 87 16:59:16 PST
From: SMITH#GARY%B.MFENET@nmfecc.arpa
Subject: FORTRAN.E to Ease Preparation of Fortran Code with Epsilon
The EEL code in FORTRAN.E does automatic indentation of Fortran code
during its preparation with Epsilon. The programmer can concentrate
on the content of each statement, typing it sloppily with few spaces,
and let Epsilon make it pretty when <Enter> is typed. If-endif and
do-continue blocks are detected and indented automatically to show
the structure of the code. An existing section of code can be
"beautified" with the Epsilon command fortran-indent-region.
This Fortran mode for Epsilon automates the distracting chore of
indenting Fortran code, which is a different goal than James S.
Storey achieved in his October 1986 submission of STOREY.EEL to the
info-ibmpc library. His Fortran mode recognizes special key
sequences and inserts parts of a Fortran statement (a template) into
the buffer.
The commands in my Fortran mode have the following descriptions.
[FORTRAN.E has been added to the eel library <INFO-IBMPC.E> -wab]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 87 11:36 PST
From: Alan D. Alters <Alters@VERMITHRAX.SCH.Symbolics.COM>
Subject: LA50
Just an addendum to the LA50 discussion: If you set the baud and the
mode to 4800 the LA50 will barf on long files as it is not buffered.
You will need to adjust both your printer (switch bank 2, I think,
#'s 1 2 3 - I don't remember the exact settings but I think its
closed, closed, open) and the pc (via the mode settings) to run at
600 baud. This is because the printer runs (optimistically) at 100
cps. Running the serial line at a higher speed will eventually cause
the printer to lose characters (sooner at the higher settings).
Has anyone had any luck printing graphics on this printer. I am
running Framework II (among others) and would appreciate any hints at
developing a driver for the LA50 to enable it to handle graphics and
italics. I have been successful at underlining and bolding. I am
also interested in recommendations for a good Common Lisp
implementation. Suggestions?
Also, I would like to be added to this list. Thanks.
Alters@symbolics.com
Alters@scrc-stony-brook.arpa
Alters@stony-brook.scrc.symbolics.com
[Info-IBMPC recommends use of a print spooler that handles flow control
for serial printers. -wab]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 87 11:05:30 CST
From: munnari!augean.oz!tnemeth@seismo.CSS.GOV (Tom Nemeth)
Subject: MSC V4 Incompatible with Novell Netware
Organization: Engineering Faculty, University of Adelaide, Australia
It appears that MSC 4.0 certainly does NOT work with Novell Netware 2.0a,
and seems to hang the PC completely on termination of a compilation, instead
of returning to DOS. I have not checked to see if the file it produces is
any good.
Tom Nemeth
------------------------------
Date: Thu 26 Feb 87 09:02:34-PST
From: Comly <TEAM1@STAR.STANFORD.EDU>
Subject: SIMTEL20 VAX Binary FTP
I have also experienced the 'Program too big to fit in memory' message
after transferring binary files via ftp from SIMTEL-20 to a VAX, then
via Kermit to a PC. The problem was traced to the ftp transfer, not
the Kermit transfer.
During a binary transfer, SIMTEL-20, being a 36-bit machine, sends 36-bit
bytes over the net. The VAX, being a 32-bit machine, only records 32 of
the 36 bits sent in each byte. For some reason the VAX's ftp program doesn't
warn you that 4 bits from each byte have been thrown away. File transfers
appear to occur correctly to the VAX, and Kermit does correctly deliver
the wounded file to the PC, but the PC can't run the program.
The solution is to tell the SIMTEL-20 ftp program to send 32-bit bytes.
After telling the VAX's ftp program "type binary" a command of the form
"quote type L 32" or "type L 32" must be given. In our case, "quote" tells
our ftp to pass on the following command to the remote ftp, and "type L 32"
says to send bytes in 32-bit lengths. On our VAX, "type L 32" alone only
tells the local ftp to use 32-bit bytes, not the remote ftp. Each time a
new type of transfer occurs, default parameters are used by both machines.
Therefore, the command must be re-issued each time a binary transfer is
selected during a connect session, even if a binary transfer occurred
earlier (but before an ASCII transfer). Also, the length command must
be issued AFTER the type binary command, since SIMTEL-20 defaults to 36-bit
bytes when it receives this instruction.
Since ftp programs tend to differ slightly depending the machine, operating
system, and ftp version, check your program's help messages to determine
the correct syntax. Good luck!
- Andy Comly
team1@star.stanford.edu
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 1 Mar 1987 03:17 MST
From: WANCHO@SIMTEL20.ARPA
Subject: ARC51.COM Download Problems
Perhaps if I told you that SIMTEL20 is a 36-bit machine, you would
understand why you can't use binary mode FTP to a 32-bit machine. The
problem is that the binary mode designation for FTP file transfers is
not what you think it is. Binary mode does NOT mean 8-bit binary; it
means word-size. Binary mode in FTP is meant ONLY to be used between
machines with the SAME word size. When you transfer a 36-bit word to
a 32-bit word machine, you will not get the expected results. The
results you do get are not important as to the exact detail - whatever
they are, they are wrong.
The correct transfer mode from our 36-bit machine is "type l 8" or
"tenex". Both mean the same thing: it tells our FTP server you want
8-bit bytes from a file containing 8-bit bytes, and it tells your end
to store these 8-bit bytes in the proper order in each word in the
receiving file on your machine.
--Frank
------------------------------
Date: Tuesday, 17 February 1987 18:25-MST
From: INFOCEN - Greg Elder <elder@WPAFB-INFO2.ARPA>
To: Keith Petersen <w8sdz@SIMTEL20.ARPA>
Subject: ZYAC12.ARC Algebraic Calculator Now Available
I've uploaded ZYAC12.ARC to SIMTEL20.
Filename Type Bytes CRC
Directory PD:<MSDOS.CALCULATOR>
ZYAC12.ARC.1 BINARY 65408 EF4AH
ZYAC is Zenith Yet Another Calculator program for Z100's and IBM-PC's.
ZYAC is an Algebraic Operating System (AOS) calculator, as opposed to
a Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) calculator. In addition to the basic
math functions of addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication,
ZYAC provides square, square root, power function, exponential
function, log, sin, cos, tan, arccos, arcsin, arctan, factorial, etc.
Furthermore, ZYAC has two programmable function keys and two memory
registers.
Greg Elder
elder@wpafb-info2
------------------------------
Date: Fri 27 Feb 87 03:22:54-MST
From: Frank J. Wancho <WANCHO@SIMTEL20.ARPA>
Subject: PD:<PC-BLUE.VOLnnn> up-to-date
Volumes 198 through 276, plus a new 000 have been added to our
PC/BLUE collection in PD:<PC-BLUE.VOLnnn> on SIMTEL20.ARPA.
This collection is supplied as-is from the regional distribution
and available elsewhere on many Remote Bulletin Board systems,
local computer clubs and national services such as CompuServe
and GEnie. The usual disclaimers apply. PD:<PC-BLUE>PC-BLUE.CRCLST
is a very large file containing the CRC list of all the volumes
as stored here and may not necessarily match the CRC values shown
in the -CATALOG.nnn files, especially for the binary files.
--Frank
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 28 Feb 1987 10:29 MST
From: Keith Petersen <W8SDZ@SIMTEL20.ARPA>
Subject: ARC520 Now Available from SIMTEL20
The latest version of ARC (version 5.20) the popular SHAREWARE file
archive utility by System Enhancement Associates, Inc. is now available
from SIMTEL20 as:
Filename Type Bytes CRC
Directory PD:<MSDOS.ARC-LBR>
ARC520.COM.1 BINARY 55424 2D3CH
Comments from the author:
CHANGES IN VERSION 5.2
We've made some changes to Lempel-Zev coding to further improve its
compression ability on "poor fit" files (mainly .EXE and .COM files).
The result is that crunching now works better than squeezing on almost
all files, and comes close on most of the rest (within 5%, by our
benchmarks). Accordingly, we have dropped Huffman encoding in this
version. Our benchmarks show a speed improvement of around 14% when
adding a file to an archive.
A low-level file copy routine was implemented to speed up bulk data
moves. Deleting or adding a file to a large existing archive is now
much faster.
The Run command has been modified to allow passing command line
arguments to the program being run.
The temporary file introduced in version 4.3 has been eliminated.
Crunched output generated in the analysis phase is now placed directly
in the output archive, and is rewritten if crunching turns out not to
be the best choice. This can, in rare circumstances, cause an archive
to be slightly larger than it should be, but it also makes ARC
considerably faster at adding files to an archive.
BULLETIN BOARDS
ARC is distributed mainly through shareware channels. Among other
things, this means that ARC is available from many bulletin board
systems. In fact, the system operators (sysops) of many bulletin
boards have taken to storing almost all of their downloadable files in
archives to save themselves disk space and to save their users time.
This also makes things more convenient for the bulletin board users,
since one archive may contain several programs, any related data files,
and the documentation. Many shareware authors have taken to
distributing their software in archives to help ensure that the users
receive everything.
Obviously, we can't do that with ARC. As a result, many of our users
have ARC, but don't have the manual. Most of our customer support
calls come from people who have never seen the manual, and in many
cases didn't even know that one exists!
To solve this problem we developed what is in essence a self-unpacking
archive. We distribute this as "ARCxxx.COM", where "xxx" is the
current version number. For example, ARC version 5.20 would be
distributed as "ARC520.COM". This program, when run, unpacks itself
into a copy of ARC plus its documentation.
Now that we've gone to all that work, we'd really appreciate it if you
would use this program when you distribute ARC.
WHAT IS ARC?
ARC is used to create and maintain file archives. An archive is a
group of files collected together into one file in such a way that the
individual files may be recovered intact. ARC is different from other
archive and library utilities in that it automatically compresses the
files being archived, so that the resulting archive takes up a minimum
amount of space.
When ARC is used to add a file to an archive it analyzes the file to
determine which of three storage methods will result in the greatest
savings. Since one of the three methods involves no compression at
all, the resulting archive entry will never be larger than the
original file.
ARC provides a full range of functions for archive creation and
maintenance. ARC also provides password encryption to protect your
data from unauthorized use.
While the exact degree of compression achieved will vary depending on
the contents of any given file, typical compression rates are as
follows:
Program (.EXE and .COM) files 20% to 30%
ASCII text and documents 50% to 60%
Spreadsheets 50% to 90%
ARC calculates a cyclical redundancy check (CRC) on every file it puts
in an archive, and recalculates it whenever a file is extracted. This
helps to ensure data integrity when archives are transmitted over
telephone lines.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1987 21:06 MST
From: Keith Petersen <W8SDZ@SIMTEL20.ARPA>
Subject: PC-Write files on SIMTEL20 ok
The previously announced PC-Write 2.72 files on SIMTEL20 turned out to
be version 2.71 (there is no 2.72) and are safe to use. They are now
available as:
Filename Type Bytes CRC
Directory PD:<MSDOS.TEXT-EDITOR>
PCWR271A.ARC.1 BINARY 268416 91E1H
PCWR271B.ARC.1 BINARY 238592 ACB9H
These are the legitimate release versions, not the trojan horse that
has been floating around on some BBS's.
--Keith Petersen
------------------------------
End of Info-IBMPC Digest
************************
Info-IBMPC Digest Wednesday, 4 March 1987 Volume 6 : Issue 14
This Week's Editor: Billy Brackenridge
Today's Queries:
Printing on LaserJET
Framework Questions
Analog Signal Conditioning Wanted
Tektronix on COM Port
Software to Manage Bibliographies
MULTILINK
Bluebook of C Function Libraries Request for Authors
Scanner
Norcal Tec Disk Controller
Burning a Prom
Crosstalk and the Sanyo PC Compatible
Wordstar Release 4
Non-DOS Disk Error Message
Rental PC's in Israel
Problems Using CONFIG.SYS on NCR Model 4
386 Upgrade
9 Track Tape Drives
WXMODEM
Bernoulli Box
HP Vectra vs IBM AT
Hercules & EGA Font Info Wanted 29 Lines by 80 Columns
Wyse 700 Monitor and Tektronix Emulation
Hi Capacity Hard Disk 60+ MB
Secure Processing
Screen Bandwidth (2 Msgs)
Disk Drive Door State
----------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 87 08:41:29 AST
From: PAUL%ACADIA.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
(Paul Steele - Acadia University)
Subject: Printing on LaserJET
We are looking for a word processor for the PC that supports true
proportional spacing on the LaserJet (such as the TIMES ROMAN MATH cartridge)
and allows convenient access to the math symbols. Obviously not all of
the math symbols can be displayed on screen without changing the video
character ROM, but even a partial mapping would be satisfactory. Changing
the character ROM would not be unreasonable. The application is for an
Economics department who has need for lots of alpha's and beta's (etc), as
well as good Times-Roman printout for publication purposes.
Please send any responses directly to me and if I get enough info I'll
summarize them for the net.
UUCP: {seismo:watmath:utai:garfield}!dalcs!aucs!Paul
BITNET: {Paul:phs}@Acadia
Internet: {Paul:phs}%Acadia.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
------------------------------
Date: 26 Feb 87 07:41 EST
From: David A. Potter / McDonnell Douglas <DAP.MDC@OFFICE-1.ARPA>
Subject: Framework Questions
Is there a net list to which 'how-to' Framework questions can
appropriately be addressed? Don't want to clutter up this list with
questions of such narrow interest....
[Framework users unite! -wab]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 87 10:03:55 EST
From: jcm@ORNL-MSR.ARPA (James A. Mullens)
Subject: Analog Signal Conditioning Wanted
I want to do some signal analysis on an AT, and I've been looking for
computer-controllable anti-aliasing filters and amplifiers for 8 to
16 analog channels.
The amplifiers should be AC or DC coupled, AC coupling should be
settable from about 0.01 Hz to 1 Hz, gain from 1 to 1000 in
increments no larger than factors of 2 (1, 2, 4, 8 ... 1024), and
should have good isolation properties. MINIMUM REQUIREMENT: Good
isolation properties, DC coupling or AC coupling set at 0.1 Hz, and
gains of 1, 2, 4 ... 128.
The filters should be 4-pole at least, and should be settable from
0.1 Hz to 10 KHz in increments no larger than factors of 2.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENT: 4-pole, settings of 1, 2, 4 ... 64 Hz.
I am aware of some possibilities. Rockland has made a box which can
rack 16 filter channels and can be controlled by standard TTL
signals. A company in Knoxville (CSI) makes a 2-channel board which
has controllable filters, amps, and an ADC. Microway has a filter
board, but its range is 500 Hz to 30 KHz. We also have designed and
built such beasts here at the lab, but the cost to reproduce the
equipment will be $2K / channel -- over my budget.
Perhaps there is a "public domain" design using one of the fancy
chips now available? The usual response to my queries is a mention
of some chip which could be mounted on a prototype board and made to
do most of these functions.
Any leads will be appreciated!
jim mullens / jcm@ornl-msr.arpa / oak ridge national laboratory
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 87 11:42:26 PST
From: Steve_Goulet%UBC.MAILNET@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA
Subject: Tektronix on COM Port
Has anyone out there ever hooked up a tektronix terminal to a com
port of a pc before? If so I need some help! I have connected a tek
4014 to com1 and tried the command.
COPY CON COM1
The port was initialized with the DOS MODE command to various
different settings as was the 4014-1. After some characters were
sent the message Write abort error writing com1. was produced. Any
suggestions.
Steve
------------------------------
Subject: Software to Manage Bibliographies
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 87 15:35:50 -0500
From: <reintom@ROCKEFELLER.ARPA>
We are looking for a program that handles bibliographies for
articles we are submitting to professional journals. My boss said he
heard about a program called "Ref" for the IBM PC which is supposed
to do the job.
Who publishes Ref? Does anyone know about Ref or a similar program?
Are there any recommendations?
Thank you very large.
Tom Reingold
Tom Reingold; The Rockefeller University; 1230 York Av; NY 10021
PHONE: (212) 570-7709 [office]; (212) 304-2504 [home]
ARPANET: reintom@rockefeller.arpa BITNET: REINTOM@ROCKVAX
UUCP: {seismo|ihnp4|yale|harvard|philabs|phri}!cmcl2!rna!rocky2!reintom
------------------------------
Date: Thu 26 Feb 1987 16:14:57 EST
From: <DIGITS@LL.ARPA>
Subject: MULTILINK
We have am IBMPC-AT here at the lab and desperately need to network
it with a number of dumb terminals. Someone suggested using a program
called:
MULTILINK ADVANCED
from a company called:
THE SOFTWARE LINK, INK
ATLANTA, GA.
Does anyone out there have any experience with this product they would
like to share with us?
Thanks in advance
ou DiPalma
MIT/Lincoln Labs
Lexington, Ma.
[A few more specifics on what you want multi link to accomplish would
help. -wab]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 87 18:13:17 pst
From: well!mitch@lll-lcc.ARPA (Mitchell Waite)
Subject: Bluebook of C Function Libraries Request for Authors
BLUEBOOK OF C FUNCTION LIBRARIES PROPOSAL - FEB 17, 1987
The Waite Group, a San Francisco based computer book developer, is
looking for contributing authors for a new book on C, titled Bluebook
of C Function Libraries. If you are interested in knowing more about
the project, the following is a description of the book, a brief
outline and instructions for contacting us. Thank you.
Mitchell Waite
The Waite Group
3220 Sacramento Street
San Francisco CA 94115
Phone: (415) 929-7088
{hplabs, lll-crg, lll-lcc, ucbvax, ptsfa}!well!mitch
Title: Bluebook of C Function Libraries
Suggested List: $24.95
Author: Edited by The Waite Group
Audience: Programmers, students.
Level: Intermediate to Advanced.
Previous Knowledge: Comfortable using C
Length: 450 book pages.
Illustrations: Program listings and diagrams as needed.
Related Books: C Primer Plus, Waite/Prata, (UNIX specific)
Advanced C Primer ++, Prata, (IBM specific)
Microsoft C Programming for the IBM, Lafore
Description
Because the classic computer interface is maturing (witness Windows
and the Macintosh), C programmers are now expected to implement such
features as windows, menus, help structures, mouse tracking, graphics,
sound effects, scrolling, xmodem communications, database access, and
so on, in their programs. These sophisticated functions can sometimes
require hundreds of lines of C code. Programmers are therefore
interested in obtaining C compatible function libraries that implement
these features in C to save them the time required to write and debug
the code themselves. A well crafted set of C routines can indeed
support a small industry of C add-in products as the pages of any
computer magazine reveals. At the same time programmers, teachers, and
students are looking for the source code for these C libraries so that
they can learn the ways these new application features, such as
windows, communications, and so on, are implemented.
Bluebook of C Function Libraries is a modern source code library of
Microsoft C (and other compilers including Lattice and Aztec) library
functions and routines which perform powerful jobs such as windows,
complete CGA, EGA and PGA graphics, text data packages. The routines
in the Bluebook are structured as teaching devices as well as utility
routines, each contains a complete description of how the code works,
the strategy behind its design, the modules involved and examples of
how to use the code with the various compilers on the market today.
Complete C and object source is provided and a disk of the source and
compiled libraries are available from The Waite Group. The libraries
can be included with your C code to allow supercharging your programs
with these powerful new features:
o Windows Functions o Postsript Functions o Help Functions
o Graphics Functions o Device Driver Functions o Shell Functions
oJSound Functions oJCommunications Functions o Data Entry Functions
Bluebook of C Function Libraries is an intermediate to advanced level
book, which assumes previous knowledge of C. It provides a large and
well organized collection of C functions and libraries that allow the
programmer, hacker, or student to write programs with powerful
features for the IBM family (PC, XT and AT). The book is based on the
Microsoft 3.0 & 4.0 C Compiler, which is becoming the standard in the
industry and is supported by IBM.
Market
Surprisingly, the market for a book of useful C function libraries is
excellent at this time for several reasons. First, C is still a
growing course of study in the schools and in industry, and it shows
no signs of slowing. It is by far the most popular language for
program development on the IBM, because of its speed, flexibility, and
ease of documentation. Second, of three books on C functions on the
market today, none specifically address the modern features described
above. Third, the current offering of C books, including our own,
pertain to the UNIX market, while more and more students and
programmers are moving toward the IBM PC. (For a review of the
competing books, see Comparing C Function Books).
Summary
Bluebook of C Function Libraries provides the reader a comprehensive
collection of all the major functions desired in a modern PC
application today, along with a detailed analysis of how the functions
operate and how to use them in C applications. This book fills an
important niche with no current competition. The subject of this
book, the C language, has a fantastic track record in the book stores
and distributors recognize it as lucrative; this will lead to large
advanced orders for this title, and a long lifetime of high sales.
About The Waite Group
The Waite Group is a computer book developer located in the San
Francisco Bay Area. The Waite Group has produced over 70 computer
titles over the last 10 years, and is known for its high quality
titles on MS-DOS, C and UNIX. Waite Group's notable MS-DOS titles
includes: MS-DOS Bible, Discovering MS-DOS, MS-DOS Developer's Guide,
and Understanding MS-DOS. Tricks of the MS-DOS Masters, our newest
title, will be available in December.
THE BLUEBOOK OF C ROUTINE LIBRARIES OUTLINE
As you read this outline it is important to keep in mind several
facts about the planned nature of the C function and libraries in this
book. Although these libraries are intended to be practical and useful
to the C programmer, they are not designed to compete directly with
commercial C library packages. Rather the libraries in this book are
intended to be a teaching subset of the commercial packages, providing
less of the functions of a commercial packages, and perhaps not as
fast code in all cases, but balancing this with a more lucid
description of how the code is used. Further differentiating the
programs of this book from the commercial packages is that in this
book the C code's operation is easy to maintain, it is backed up by a
teaching approach so it is very well documented and it is easy to
modify because its full source is available. Commercial library
packages don't provide source, and when it is available that does not
necessarily mean you will understand it, given C's cryptic
possibilities. The commercial packages do serve as a model of what is
available in performance and complexity, and in that light this book
devotes a section at the end of each library chapter to examining at
least one of the commercial C library packages. This helps the
programmer and student to understand what to expect from these more
costly packages and how to purchase them properly.
What Compiler? Given the incompatibility of the C compiler marketplace
we decided to pick one compiler for our book. That was a difficult
decision to make, but it was the only way we can guarantee that the
code is correct and the programs run properly (yes we will test the
code) given our limited resources for this project. We have decide to
use Microsoft C 4.0 as the standard C compiler. If you have Aztec,
Datalight, etc., the solution might be to write them in your compiler
and then port them later to the Microsoft compiler, which we can
provide for you to use.
Mix of C and Assembly Code. We want to minimize the number of assembly
routines used so that the code is portable to other processors than
the 8088/86 family, but we want to use assembly occasionally to speed
up certain routines and to give clear examples of when such code is
correct to use.The rule is avoid assembly as much as possible. When
you must use it, use MASM 4.0 and prepare to REALLY document the way
the routine works since this is a book, not a commercial product.
oJWindows Functions Package
This is a set of functions that allows you to call up to eight
overlaid windows with each window holding up to 16K of text. Functions
allow windows to move, zoom in and out, close, resize, locate and be
made visible or invisible. Any window can be saved to disk with all
attributes. The text entry has protected and mandatory fields. There
are routines to figure out what display is installed and adjust the
output to fit accordingly. A simple calling program for a multi-window
text editor is provided to demo multiple windows. Review of commercial
windows package.
o Graphics Functions Package
The graphics package is compatible with the Windows library and
contains a full set of two and three dimension graphics routines in
full EGA color, including, dot plotting, line drawing, rectangles,
circles, ovals, clipping, rotation, zoom, bit map scaling, direct
screen access, patterning, and much more. Contains several differ ways
to draw lines with different speeds and documents the trade-offs of
each. Review of commercial graphics package.
oJSound Functions Package
Sound functions include all forms of business sounds: alerts, bells,
three level warnings, warbles, frequency sweeps, red, pink and white
noise, and a library of game sounds including: laser beams,
explosions, animal roars, buzzers, and much more. Music package
contains functions for all notes on the piano keyboard, and a two
voice tone generator.
o Postscript Functions Package
This is a set of functions that performs Postscript special effects
and shows how to call and control Postscript from C. Talks to Apple
and HP laser printer. Does gray fills, fountains, binds text to a
path, polygons, gratings, bezier curves, PICT, ESF, starburst, and
other 2nd generation special effects. Teaches postscript.
o Data Entry Functions Package
Straightforward package of data entry routines, is compatible with
the windows library and includes full validation of each keystroke,
range checking, security, scrollable data entry forms, multi and
single field mode, strings, dates, and fixed decimal numbers with
cursor positioning, full attribute control, display boxes and tables.
Review of commercial data entry package.
oJCommunications Functions Package
Provides a complete function package for doing interrupt driven,
buffered serial telecommunications at 300 to 9600 baud, including I/O
buffers up to 64K, xon-xoff, 1/4 and 1K byte xmodem transfer.Review of
commercial communications package. Compatible with Windows and other
packages.
o Help Functions Package
A simple collection of functions for displaying pop-up help screens
on the monochrome display. Compatible with or without windows.
Function key as well as mouse activated windows can be called that
display your own text based help windows. Help windows can be made
with any ASCII editor. Ideas for color version provided along with
review of a commercial help package.
o Terminate and Stay Resident Functions Package
Complete skeleton of TSR program with functions for calling setting
up a TSR, strategy and interrupt calls.
o Device Driver Functions Package
Complete setJof functions for device drivers and applications
examples for real time clock, RAM disk, speaker, MIDI device.
o UNIX Shell Functions Package
A set of UNIX shell and utility functions that make turn the MS-DOS
environment into a UNIX-like environment. Not the full set of over 200
UNIX commands, but a subset of the most popular commands and
utilities, like cat, cp, ls, rm, mkdir, etc. Review of commercial
shell package.
If you are interested in writing any of these topics please let me
know. A proposal package consisting of the formal proposal, an author
terms letter and a style guide will be sent.
Thank you very much for your time.
Sincerely,
Mitchell Waite
President
The Waite Group
3220 Sacramento Street
San Francisco CA 94115
Phone: (415) 929-7088
{hplabs, lll-crg, lll-lcc, ucbvax, ptsfa}!well!mitch
------------------------------
Date: Fri 27 Feb 87 08:54:35-PST
From: TIEU@USC-ECLB.ARPA
Subject: Scanner
Is there any place in the Los Angeles area provides a PC scanner service.
Please send name and phone number. Thanks in advance
Han TIEU@USC-ECLB.ARPA
------------------------------
From: ihnp4!wheaton!johnh@seismo.CSS.GOV (John Doc Hayward)
Date: 26 Feb 87 23:06:08 GMT
Subject: Norcal Tec Disk Controller
Organization: Wheaton College, Wheaton IL
A friend of mine picked up a Norcal Tec. board hoping that it might be a
disk controller which would work in his ibm clone. He got it at a swap
meet and has zero documentation. I assured him some kind soul on the network
would have a similar board or know of someone who did. Any information of
NorCal Tec. (i.e address, existence...) or of the boards it manufactured
(copyright 1982) would be of great help.
The particular boards are piggy- backed to each other and one has a 9 pin
din male connector on it. It also has two red (?) dip switches and a 4 pin
power connector. The other board has two ribbon cables (one about 20 and the
other about 34 connectors). The board which connects to the bus has a big
8215 (?) chip on it. The other board has 4 WD 8218 and 1 WD 8211 chips.
Any help will greatly be appreciated. Thanks in advance. E-mail if
possible.
UUCP: ihnp4!wheaton!johnh telephone: (312) 260-3871 (office)
Mail: John Hayward Math/Computer Science Dept.
Wheaton College Wheaton Il 60187
Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8b
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 28 Feb 87 16:56:02 EST
From: John <JOHN%NCSUVM.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: Burning a Prom
Hello,
I have a question that I haven't been able to figure out. I have
an AMPEX 20 meg hard disk that I want to add to my PC. How can I
go about burning a new prom ( or having one burned ) with the correct
information in the configuration table? I have the ROM read into a
text file in hex format and the table entry updated... Anyone have
any ideas on how to go the last step?
Thanks, John
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 1 Mar 87 11:12:19 GMT
From: Gregory Hicks COMFLEACTS - Chinhae <hicks@walker-emh.arpa>
Subject: Crosstalk and the Sanyo PC Compatible
Can anyone help? A friend of mine - who also receives this newsletter -
has a Sanyo 555 PC compatible computer. He very much wants to make
CROSSTALK work on his computer because it seems to be much better
that the modem program supplied with his computer.
Problem is: we don't know how to patch Crosstalk v3.61 to recognize
his external modem. Can someone tell us where to patch crosstalk
so that it recognizes the serial port on the Sanyo? (To top it
off, I have no idea what the address for the Sanyo serial port is!
BUT I CAN MAKE A PATCH IF SOMEONE WILL TELL ME WHERE TO DO IT!!)
Thanks in advance.
Gregory Hicks
<hicks@walker-emh.arpa>
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 87 13:51 CDT
From: SOMEWHERE A PONY <LANTZ%ti-e.g.csnet@RELAY.CS.NET>
To: info-ibmpc@C.ISI.EDU
Subject: Wordstar Release 4
I have ordered a copy of Wordstar Professional release 4.0. Does anyone
have any feedback on the upgrade. I have an IBM color printer and need
additional programmable keys to be able to switch colors and it sounds
like the upgrade will solve that problem.
Thanks
Bernie Lantz
------------------------------
Date: Sun 1 Mar 87 09:05:37-PST
From: Cliff Yamamoto <CYAMAMOT%GUMBY@USC-ECLC.ARPA>
Subject: Non-DOS Disk Error Message
Mostly likely, this problem of mine has a simple explanation,
but I still can't figure out what's going on. Hopefully someone out
there can help me on this one.
Whenever I run a Chkdsk, I get the mesg : Probable non-DOS disk,
Continue (Y/N)?
I answer with a yes and everything checks out fine as usual.
What's going on here? Why does it do this? A check with Fdisk tells
me my Dos partition over the entire disk is still there. The system
boots up fine, and the two hidden system files are still there.
Just to make a blind attempt, I tried Sys.Com to see if I
could over write the system files (which might be bad) but I never
even got that far since it came back with the mesg : No room for
system on destination disk
It never did this before, until recently. I have the feeling my
cache may have done something to my disk but it's strange how it still boots
and runs along happily. It's just worries me to see that mesg. appear when
running Chkdsk. If anyone has any clues and/or suggestions, please Email
me directly. Thanks in advance.
Cliff Yamamoto
Arpa : Cyamamot%Gumby%Usc-Ecl.Arpa
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 1 Mar 87 16:08 EST
From: <DAC%CUNYVMS1.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: Rental PC's in Israel
Greetings in net land!
I am posting this request for a friend of mine who is less connected
than I am. Please reply to either me (see below) or to my friend at:
marc@qcvaxb.bitnet
Here's his request,
> I'm writing in the hope that your psyc newsletter
> subscribers might help. I have a friend that is going
> to be in Israel for 6 weeks & wants to rent an IBM
> PC or compatible. I put a note in the BITNET Bulletin
> Board -- but so far now response. Do you have any
> subscribers in Israel. If so, could you give me
> their ids; or you could ask them if, where, how much
> etc. My friend will be in Haifa.
Thanks mucho in advance,
Danny Choriki
dac@cunyvms1.bitnet
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 1 Mar 87 18:31 EST
From: <OPER10%TRINCC.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: Problems Using CONFIG.SYS on NCR Model 4
I recently tried to increase the number of buffers and to add a ramdisk
on an NCR Model 4(PC equiv) running NCR-DOS 2.11. The problem: regardless of
what is in CONFIG.SYS, the A: drive (360K floppy that came with the machine)
responds but can no longer read diskettes. Instead, it just turns until I
reboot the machine. If CONFIG.SYS is deleted and the system rebooted,
everything works fine. Can anyone tell me what's going wrong?
Pete Bradley
OPER10@TRINCC
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 02 Mar 87 19:21:38 CST
From: DAVE%UWF.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: 386 Upgrade
About a week or so ago, someone posted an item about upgrading a PC/AT or
PC/XT to an 80386 processor, for about $650, if I remember correctly. But
in looking thru the Computer Shopper, I can't find anything under $1500,
and I'm wondering if I read it right. Could someone please either re post
the submission or send me a copy of it.
Thanks,
Dave Jaquay
BITNET : DAVE@UWF
ELSEWHERE : DAVE%UWF.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
[PC week reports Intel has announced a 16 bit version of the 386. It will
plug into your existing 286 socket. Your AT won't run any faster, but the
386's winning instruction set should allow better multi tasking. [The chip
will be ready when Microsoft is ready with a 386 OS. -editors comment
within editors comment] -wab]
------------------------------
Date: 2 Mar 1987 23:51:37 PST
From: KOTLER@ADA20.ISI.EDU
Subject: 9 Track Tape Drives
I need to purchase a 9 track tape drive for my IBM PC/AT
and would be interested to know if anyone has made such a purchase ?
Thanks in advance for any information.
Reed
[Flagstaff Engineering in Flagstaff AZ makes 9 inch tape drive adapters
and software. -wab]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 3 Mar 87 13:34:26 EST
From: David Kirschbaum <kirsch@braggvax.arpa>
Subject: WXMODEM
NetLandians,
I ran across WXMODEM.COM on one of the local BBS's .. a windowing
xmodem protocol utility designed to be "run" from within a more
sophisticated comm program like PROCOMM or QMODEM.
Works just fine back to back between to PC clones, even up to 9600
baud. However I did NOT see the "blazing speed" the author bragged
about in his short documentation .. MINITEL out performed it by far
at 9600 baud, and even my Turbo Pascal xmodem hack did as well!
The author also mentioned the source code should have been on the
same BBS (but of course it wasn't).
1 - Any comments on this implementation of "windowing xmodem" I might
find useful?
2 - Any pointers to the source code?
Regards,
David Kirschbaum
Toad Hall
kirsch@braggvax.ARPA
[Just what we need another incompatible modem protocol!! -wab]
------------------------------
Date: 03 March 87 15:34 EST
From: NDK%CORNELLC.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: Bernoulli Box
Is anyone out there using an Iomega Bernoulli Box (old or new, bootable or
non-bootable) with an ATT PC 6300 or a Sperry XT Clone (type 3070-02) ? If
you have any good/bad comments please sent them along and I will post a
summary of responses.
Thanx in advance,
Tom Abdella
Wellesley College
NDK @ CORNELLC.BITNET
------------------------------
From: mason@tc.FLUKE.COM (Nick Mason)
Date: 3 Mar 87 21:17:13 GMT
Subject: HP Vectra vs IBM AT
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA
I am interested in hearing comments (good and bad) about
the Vectra vs an AT.
For example, The Vectra has some problems with Windows version 1.01,
specifically, the HP mouse doesn't work, and 360K disks can't be
formatted (ver 1.03) from within windows.
Thanks in Advance,
Nick Mason
Mason@fluke.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 87 00:15:37 pst
From: ames!styx!lll-lcc!well!nortond@cad.Berkeley.EDU (Daniel A. Norton)
Subject: Hercules & EGA Font Info Wanted 29 Lines by 80 Columns
Can someone send me information on how to access the Hercules
Monochrome Graphics Adapter?
Also, does anyone know of any font generation/design programs for the
following video adapters:
1) Hercules Monochrome Graphics Adapter
2) IBM EGA Adapter (w/at least 128k)
In particular, I need to set up fonts for a 29-line by 80-column screen.
Daniel A. Norton ...!lll-lcc!{lll-crg,ptsfa}!well!nortond
------------------------------
Date: 4 Mar 87 09:07:00 EST
From: "V703::S_DANIELS" <s_daniels%v703.decnet@nusc>
Subject: Wyse 700 Monitor and Tektronix Emulation
ANYONE have any info on a terminal program that works with the WYSE
WY-700 mono graphics monitor?
This monitor offers 1280x800 resolution (display board is included),
making it ideal for TEKTRONIX 4014 emulation. In fact, using some of
the utilities included with the monitor, I was able to capture and display
ISCCO graphics from our local UNIVAC mainframe, and put them up on
the PC. Resolution is outstanding=- even the smallest text is clear.
Unfortunately, none of the TEK terminal emulators support this machine e.
ANYONE with any info- please call or msg me. Thanks
Scott Daniels
NUSC/NL _ New London, CT
(203) 440-5327
------------------------------
Date: 4 Mar 87 09:09:00 EST
From: "V703::S_DANIELS" <s_daniels%v703.decnet@nusc>
Subject: Hi Capacity Hard Disk 60+ MB
Our Bulletin board is looking for a large (60+ MB) hard disk for its
XT-supported bulletin board.
I've seen ads for PRIAM drives for XT, 40-60 MB size. Anyone know if
the new RLL controllers will support such a drive? Turning a 60 MB
into 90 MB would be nice.
Any info would be appreciated.
Scott Daniels
NUSC/NLL - Newe London, CT
(203) 440-5327
------------------------------
Date: Wed 04 Mar 1987 13:03:42 EST
From: <FRITZ@LL.ARPA>
Subject: Secure Processing
Security has recently agreed to allow "READ_ONLY" hard disks on a SECURE
PC. I would very much like to know of any program which would force the
hard disk driver into a read-only mode on the selected drives. Such a
program would save us from discarding a great many hard disks.
Thanks in advance.
------------------------------
Date: 4 Mar 87 08:26:46 EST (Wednesday)
Subject: Screen Bandwidth
From: Marty <Leisner.Henr@Xerox.COM>
Does anyone have any good quantitative or qualitative data on how long
it takes to update the screen on PC ATs:
1) through ms-dos
2) through video bios calls
3) directly to the screen controller
It seems on an 80286 machine, printing text to the screen is slower than
9600 baud effective through ms-dos -- pretty incredible. Anyone care to
venture why?
marty leisner
xerox corp.
leisner.henr@xerox.com
martyl@rocksvax.uucp
------------------------------
Date: 4 Mar 1987 16:06:03 PST
Subject: Screen Bandwidth
From: Billy <BRACKENRIDGE@C.ISI.EDU>
To: Marty <Leisner.Henr@XEROX.COM>
There was an article on this subject in the PC Tech Journal a few
months back. All display cards are 8 bit devices. The AT wastes
several cycles when writing to 8 bit devices. Also many display
cards insert wait states as the display memory must be accessed
by both the display and PC. The display gets priority. The PC
must wait till the memory is free. As ATs clock speed rises this
becomes more and more apparent. I think 9600 baud is a little low
but ATs just don't get any faster writing to screens at some
point.
------------------------------
Date: Wed 25 Feb 87 19:26:05-PST
From: Stephen King <G.KING@Score.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: Disk Drive Door State
Using XT-assembly, how does one query system to determine if disk is
in drive and door closed? All my attempts respond back to CON with
'Abort, Ignore, Retry?'... Thanks, Steve
------------------------------
End of Info-IBMPC Digest
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