Info-IBMPC@B.ISI.EDU (Info-IBMPC Digest) (09/16/86)
Info-IBMPC Digest Monday, September 15, 1986 Volume 5 : Issue 85 This Week's Editor: Eliot Moore <Elmo@B.ISI.Edu> Today's Topics: MV.C Forms Generator Re: Displaywriter III Microway's Number Smasher Card Slow Garbage-Collector in BASICA Framework and Sidekick (2 Messages) Re: Higher Density (Floppy) Drives Graphics to Postscript (for Inclusion in TeX files) Today's Queries: ARC format PCSHELL Bar code scanners SIM3278 Problem with IBM Graphics Printer Xenix and Orchid Turbo IBM Xenix V.1 vs V.2 Event Counter Card Problem with DECnet-DOS V1.1 US Designs Intelligent Disk Controller Scientific Subroutines ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 29 Aug 86 01:18:20 cdt From: Peter Wu <pwu@unix.macc.wisc.edu> Subject: MV.C MV - move/rename files or subdirectories for PC DOS 2.xx and 3.xx; version 1.20 Yet another MV program? This is one of the few MV that moves/renames sub-directories in addition to moves/renames files. It uses a non-recursive algorithm (therefore more efficient) to move sub-directories. When source contains wildcards, command line options let you select files only or sub-directories only or both. Invisible files/sub-directories can also be operated on. Works on DOS 3.xx and 2.xx. Need Microsoft C compiler version 3 or 4 or IBM C compiler version 1, and macro assembler. Peter Wu Faculty Support Center, MACC Madison, WI 53706 Arpanet: pwu@unix.macc.wisc.edu Bitnet: WU at WISVMACC CompuServe: 76377,1332 UUCP: ..{akgua|seismo|harvard|ucbvax|allegra}!uwvax!uwmacc!pwu [MV.C and MV.DOC have been added to the Info-IBMPC library. -rag] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Sep 86 11:39:40 edt From: Jim Galbiati <nike!think!harvard!wjh12!panda!teddy!jwg@cad.Berkeley.EDU> Subject: Forms Generator >Date: Thu, 28 Aug 86 17:50 AST >From: <IUS%DACTH51.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU> (Eberhard W. Lisse) >Subject: Forms Generator for IBM-PC Query >To: info-ibmpc@b.isi.edu > > One of the residents of the department of forensic medicine has asked me to > inquire if there is something like a Forms Generator for the IBM-PC. > > They are going to get an AT and are used to the FMS package on the VAX. It > works like this: One creates the masks, menues with the normal editor and > calls procdures from the library to display them and input/output the > variables. There is a package called "MenuMaker" available from Lincoln Computer Co., Inc. 276 Arlington Street, Acton MA 01720 (617) 264-9085 that sounds like it fits your needs. MenuMaker lets you display variables on the screen for the user to examine or modify. Any number of things can be displayed on the screen, and the user bounces the cursor around and changes whatever variables he wants to. There are lots of attributes you can set for each variable, such as max/min value limits, number of characters, not-modifiable, and more. MenuMaker is written in C so if you are running Xenix on your AT you can probably use it. I've seen it working on a Sun. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Displaywriter III Date: Fri, 12 Sep 86 08:28:22 -0500 From: edelheit@mitre.ARPA (Jeff Edelheit) Carl - At one time IBM offered a software package for the Displaywriter which would allow you to pass files to a PC that ran Displaywrite. I think that the printer (?) port on the Displaywriter was used. It's been a long time since I saw the announcement (2-3 yrs) and I don't remember the details. You could always give your local IBM office a call. Regards, Jeff Edelheit (edelheit@mitre.arpa) The MITRE Corporation, 1820 Dolley Madison Blvd. McLean, VA 22102 (703) 883-7586 ------------------------------ From: Ivan Auger <LAWRENCE.Auger%BIONET@SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU> Subject: Microway's Number Smasher Card We have one in an XT and we are extremely pleased with it. You do get a significant speed improvement (2-3 times), and we have not had any problems running programs in it. They have a new model now called number smasher/ECM that can run at 12 mhz. According to the review in PC magazine, it works great if you don't use the ECM part of it (ECM stands for extended conventional memory, it allows you to have 1 meg of continous memory in DOS, but this is only good for programs that use the BIOS to access the screen). ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Sep 86 16:04:58 edt From: "SCHEUTZOW, MICHAEL J" <gt6294b%gitpyr%gatech.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA> Subject: Slow Garbage-Collector in BASICA "Garbage Collection" is used by an interpreter to recover memory that is no longer being used. It is generally considered to be "slow" because it is necessary to move the good data around to "pack" it together so there are no gaps in memory. *However*, "slow" is a relative term and even a second or two would be an exasperatingly long time for only 64K. There is one other thing you should know: Each time fre(0) [or whatever command is used to get the amount of unused memory] is called, the interpreter *must* do GC in order to be able to reliably report the amount of free space. When you noticed that memory "reset to 50K", it was because your program no longer was using it, not because GC was performed. Whatever is happening during that 10 to 15 minutes, it ain't GC. Mike Scheutzow Trek trivia: How long is a typical Vulcan lifespan? Georgia Tech gt6294b@gitpyr.uucp ------------------------------ Date: Sat 13 Sep 86 21:40:32-PDT From: Tom Mandel <MANDEL@SRI-KL.ARPA> Subject: Framework and Sidekick You asked a question about using Framework and Sidekick together. I do not use Sidekick but do use Framework II extensively, and seem to recall from reading Ashton-Tate technical literature that, if you load Sidekick first, there should be no collisions of the sort you describe. If you are using the earlier version of Framework (1.x), you should probably upgrade to the most recent version, Framework II 1.1, which is both vastly improved and no longer copy-protected. I too agree that Framework II is an excellent program. Frankly, you might consider creating the Sidekick features you like solely within Framework. Its macro features and the FRED programming language make this relatively simple work. Then you could have these features instantly accessible as memory-resident Framework utilities, or quickly loadable from your disk. I have done this, designing the utilities I need to reflect my style of work, rather than as provided "canned" by programs such as Sidekick. One other thing: Ashton-Tate sells a Framework utility called "Timeframe" ($49.95 in the U.S., I believe), which offers some of Sidekick's features, most notably a very nice calendar. You might want to consider that if you don't feel inclined to build your own utilities. And feel free to send email directly to me if you have any questions about creating macro-driven utilities in Framework. I'll try to answer directly to you as time permits. Tom Mandel ARPA: mandel@sri-kl.arpa UUCP: {ptsfa,hplabs,lll-crg,hoptoad,apple}!well!mandel Business Intelligence Program SRI International Menlo Park, CA 94025 U.S.A. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Sep 1986 11:04:15 EDT From: Raymond J Chen <6101695%PUCC.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU> Subject: Framework and Sidekick The reason for the assorted gibberish on the screen is that Framework uses the graphics screen and SideKick uses the text screen. I'm not sure about this, but if you use Ctrl-Alt to enter SideKick, then try to exit Sidekick with Ctrl-Alt. (Some programs are "nasty" in that if you call up Sidekick while they are running, you have to exit SK with the same keys you entered it with.) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Sep 86 14:56:17 PDT From: landauer@Sun.COM (Doug Landauer) Subject: Re: Higher Density (Floppy) Drives Summary: PC-DOS 3.2 already supports 80-track floppies I've had a 96-tpi floppy drive in my PC for years, connected to the normal floppy controller. Since I don't make very heavy use of the PC, I never got around to acquiring or writing a proper driver for it. Thus, I've just been using it as a second, incompatible 360K drive, until a few weeks ago. Since I'm about to get a hard disk, I figured it'd be nice to have the higher- capacity floppy drive do its job right, so I could use it for backup. I did some investigation, looking at the possibilities of buying Jformat ($60, from Tall Tree Systems) and a driver from Small Office Systems in Arizona ($45). I found a free (if you have PC-DOS 3.2) solution, and Norbert Burman's note in Info-IBMPC Digest V5 #84, mentioning a $30 driver from Western Systems and Components induced me to write this. In addition to reading the ads in various magazines, I also read the PC-DOS 3.2 documentation a little more carefully. I discovered that with the introduction of the 720K microfloppies on the Portable PC, someone (Microsoft, I presume) has added support for them to PC-DOS. The bottom line: if you have PC-DOS 3.2, you already have a driver that will treat your 96-TPI drive like a 720K drive! I just added the lines device=driver.sys /d:1 device=driver.sys /d:1 to my CONFIG.SYS file, and suddenly the drive worked like a charm! Better yet, I can still use "B:" to refer to my old 360K 96TPI disks, to copy stuff from them. Putting the "device=..." line twice in the config.sys file causes PC_DOS to pretend that the drive holds two such logical drives, so you can copy from C: to D: to copy a 720K floppy. Doug Landauer Sun's Net: landauer@morocco Phone: 415 691-7655 ARPANET (aka DDN): landauer@sun.com UUCP: {amdahl, decwrl, hplabs, seismo, ...}!sun!landauer ------------------------------ Date: Mon 15 Sep 86 20:28:54-PDT From: Richard Pattis <PATTIS@WASHINGTON.ARPA> Subject: Graphics to Postscript (for Inclusion in TeX files) A few weeks ago I posted a message asking for information on drawing programs that would produce Postscipt, for merging into TeX files. No one responded with anything definite (although a few people asked for any information that I received). From an independent source, I have been told that a solution to my problem can be obtained as follows: (1) Get Microsoft's Windows (after version 1.03). It supports Postscript output; (2) Get a Micrografx (spelling?) program called Draw (maybe now called Windows Draw), which runs under Windows. Putting the two together supposedly solves my problem. Does anyone have experience with this drawing program? It supposedly costs about $200 (and I don't want to get burned at this price). In addition, I did finally purchase the new version of the MDS Genius VHR. It is superb for editing; when I go back to a standard 25 line screen it's like someone scrunched my eyes closed. I'm still trying to get it to run lots of other software at 66 lines (DOS works fine but I'm still playing with Kermit). Best of all, PC-TEX is supposed to release a previewer soon that supports this type of monitor. If it wasn't clear from the paragraph above, Windows release 1.03 supports the Genius VHR too (or, so I'm told). Rich ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Sep 86 11:43:33 EDT From: mek%UMass.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU Subject: ARC format Reply-To: mek%UMass.BITNET@wiscvm.ARPA Is there a file anywhere, perhaps on SIMTEL20, that defines the ARC file format, similiar to LUDEF5.DOC? Please respond to me directly as I don't subscribe to Info-IBMPC. Thanks! / Matt Kimmel, : mek%UMass.BITNET@wiscvm.ARPA : \ The poor neutron, he thought he was a proton but he wasn't positive. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Sep 86 14:26:15 cdt From: moore@ncsc.ARPA (Moore) Subject: PCSHELL Is there someone who is willing to either UUENCODE and MAIL or allow me to FTP to your host to get a *compiled* version of PCSHELL? It's all well and good to be able to get the source (pcshell.lbr) from SIMTEL20, but I don't have a C compiler. Thanks for responding. Jim Moore NCSC Panama City FL ------------------------------ From: "Roger Fajman" <RAF%NIHCU.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU> Date: Thu, 11 Sep 86 20:12:40 EDT Subject: Bar code scanners Does anyone know of a scanner for Universal Product Code or some similar code that can be attached to a PC? I am primarily interested in scanners that work like supermarket scanners in that the object with the code is passed near the scanner. Scanners that require the use of a hand-held wand are considered to be much less desirable for the application that I have in mind. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Sep 86 10:14:11 MEZ From: Thorsten Glattki <IWI432%DERRZE1.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU> Subject: SIM3278 Date: 12 September 1986, 10:09:29 MEZ From: Thorsten Glattki +49 228/73-2747 UZR500 at DBNRHRZ1 Regionales Hochschulrechenzentrum der Universitaet Wegelerstrasse 6 D-5300 Bonn 1 Federal Republic of Germany (West-Germany) In the May/June 1986-issue of VM/COM there was written something about a pro- gram called SIM3278. We are very interested in getting to know where one can get this program. We didn't found it yet in some archive we ahve looked in. Any help is very welcome. Please send all information to my new account <IWI432%DERRZE1.BITNET@WISCVM...> at the Dept. of Computer Science (Institute for Communication systems) in Er- langen,West-Germany,my new workplace. Thankxs a lot for all your efforts in ad- vance. Thorsten Glattki ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Sep 86 15:56:35 +0200 From: Guy Sirton <MLSIRTON%WEIZMANN.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU> Subject: Problem with IBM Graphics Printer The IBM Graphics Printer is giving me some strange problems while producing graphics on it. The problem occurs in the 960 Bit Image mode (ESC L, maybe on other modes too, this is the one I tried). If you send SUBs to the priner (hex 1A, dec 26) while in graphics it goes mad (Starts printing junk). This seems to be happening with other charaters as well but I didn't manage yet to find which. Any help with this problem would be appreciated. Thanx, Guy ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Sep 86 21:27:56 CDT From: tness1!hcsjgh%ots.UUCP@rice.edu (Greg Hackney) Subject: Xenix and Orchid Turbo Does anyone know how to make an Orchid Turbo-186 board work with Xenix-86 on an IBM-XT ? Thanks in advance, Greg ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Sep 86 17:04:02 edt From: Kevin Sullivan <kjs%tufts.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA> Subject: IBM Xenix V.1 vs V.2 I am running version 1 of IBMs XENIX on an AT. What would I get for my money if I bought version 2? Should I bag XENIX altogether and go with some other U*IX like operating system? (Actually I am more interested in answers to the first question.) Thanks a lot. Please respond to me directly as I don't often read what comes over this list. kevin sullivan tufts university kjs%tufts@csnet-relay (CSNet) kjs@tufts (BITNET) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Sep 86 13:55:20 edt From: freudent@nyu.arpa (Eric Freudenthal) Subject: Event Counter Card Reply-To: freudent@cmcl2.UUCP (Eric Freudenthal) We need a general-purpose event counter board for the IBM-PC which we could use to monitor cpu accesses on the NYU ultracomputer (a MIMD parallel computer with shared memory). It should be able to count at 5MHz, with at least 16 bit resolution (pre-scaling would be a nice extra). Ideally, the card would have at least 8 independent counters which we could read easily from software. Any leads would be appreciated, as that wee would like to avoid designing such a board ourselves. Please reply to me directly. [And CC Info-IBMPC -Elmo] Thanks, Eric Freudenthal NYU Ultracompter Lab 715 Broadway, 10th floor New York, NY 10012 Phone:(212) 460-7327 Email:freudent@nyu-cmcl2.arpa ihnp4!cmcl2!freudent ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Sep 86 16:18 CDT From: FRENCH%ti-eg.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA Subject: Problem with DECnet-DOS V1.1 We just received a copy of DECnet-DOS V1.1 for the IBM PC family. We are using it on a TI Business Pro running in AT-mode with the 3Com TE4 Ethernet board. The product seems to work as advertised. The documentation states that the Ethernet board be set up using IO address 300 and interrupt 3. The problem is that this configuration for the Ethernet board conflicts when we run the machine in TI-mode. Does anybody know of a way to change the DECnet-DOS product to use some other interrupt beside 3? Thanks for any help, Stewart French Texas Instruments ------------------------------ Date: Sat 13 Sep 86 19:49:44-PDT From: IEEE CS Students <IEEE-CS@Sierra.Stanford.EDU> Subject: US Designs Intelligent Disk Controller Reply-To: well!rogue@LLL-CRG.ARPA In a recent digest, Billy Brackenridge mentioned that fast intelligent disk controllers with large caches can be had from a company called US Designs. Pointers to this company, and reviews of their products, would be appreciated. Please respond by mail as well as to the digest, since I only get to read INFO-IBMPC sporadically.... Thanks, Brett Glass <well!rogue@LLL-CRG.ARPA> [Billy is unavailable for comment, anyone else have the address? -Elmo] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Sep 86 09:29:09 edt From: nike!lll-crg!seismo!harvard!wjh12!encore!sypek@cad.Berkeley.EDU Subject: Scientific Subroutines I am currently looking for sources for the following routines, I'll take them in just about any (reasonable) language: C, PASCAL, FORTRAN, assembler. Target machine is an IBM PC. I know that these are available commercially, but the application is a low-level background (and personal) project, and I don'/t want to spend big $$$ for something that may/may not ever be finished. 1) FFT's simple one dimensional real&complex functions are adequate. 2) filtering, peak detection 3) graphics simple x-y plots, with axes, labelling capability (grids, tick marks, etc would be nice, but not necessary) 4 sorting ability to sort on selected fields in a record is a must (the standard IBM sort utility basically sucks pond scum) If someone can send me sources, or point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it greatly. Eons ago, (circa '75) when I was working on a PDP-11/40 (great machine, by the way, one of the last with a REAL front panel), we had a copy (including source code) of something called SSP (scientific subroutine package). It seemed to have originally come from Big Blue. Does anyone know if there is a public domain version of it out there in Net-land?? Thanks, R.J. Sypek DISCLAIMER:: dis' claimer, dat' claimer, who'll claim 'er ------------------------------ End of Info-IBMPC Digest ************************ -------