doug@ut-ngp.UUCP (Doug Miller) (09/08/86)
Does the ST support NDC (Normalized Device Coordinates)? I've seen one source that says it doesn't and one that mentions NDC as a possibility, which presumably means it does. Neither source is just a real fount of reliable wisdom, though; one was the TDI manual (not quite useless, and I do like Modula), the other was ABACUS Books' GEM_Programmer's_Reference_Guide. So, what is the real story? I tried to get an application to run with NDC and I got bombs instead. Am I missing something, is TDI missing something, or is the ST at fault? Really, of course, Atari is at fault for not providing useful documentation at a reasonable price. (Sorry, Neil, but I just can't resist a chance to *slam* that point home to the marketing wizards at Atari *one* *more* *time* 1/2 :-) Working in the dark, Doug Miller
TPC862@ESTEC.BITNET (09/08/86)
OPTIONS: NOACK LOG SHORT NOTEBOOK ALL Date: 8 September 1986, 09:34:05 EST From: Ton van Overbeek +31 1719 83041 TPC862 at ESTEC To: DOUG at NGP.UTEXAS.EDU cc: INFO-ATARI16 at SU-SCORE.ARPA Subject: Re: Normalized Device Coordinates in TDI Modula-2 >Does the ST support NDC (Normalized Device Coordinates)? I've seen one >source that says it doesn't and one that mentions NDC as a possibility, >which presumably means it does. No, the Atari roms do not support NDC. Atari/DRI did not have room enough in the ROM's to include the device independent part of the VDI. That is also the reason why you cannot load fonts with the standard vdi functions and why there is no official version of GEM Draw and GEM Write. (They use the device independent part very much for different output devices). One solution is to intercept the trap#2 (AES, VDI trap) and supply the the missing parts of VDI. This is what GDOS does (used by Easydraw). There have been announcements of an official release of GDOS but I have not seen it yet. An excellent background story is in STart, The ST Quarterly, Summer 1986 by Tim Oren: Tracking the elusive GDOS. Get hold of it and read it. Hope this info is useful Ton van Overbeek European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) Control Systems Section P.O.Box 299 2200 AG Noordwijk, The Netherlands. Phone: +31 1719 83041 Email: TPC862%ESTEC.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU (ARPA) ...!ucbvax!tpc862@estec.bitnet (USENET/UUCP) TPC862@ESTEC (EARN/BITNET)