INFO-MAC@SUMEX-AIM.STANFORD.EDU.UUCP (02/06/87)
INFO-MAC Digest Friday, 6 Feb 1987 Volume 5 : Issue 49
Today's Topics:
Re: broken keyboard
MACPUT/MACGET for VMS
Using a VAX as a fileserver
Re: Font/DA Mover help
Key equivalents for SFGetFile/SFPutFile
Reply to "str255 help"
Kermit on the Macintosh +
Re: Another Mac Interface Comment
GAME-STAR-TREK-TRIVIA.HQX
VENN-TUTORIAL.HQX
Re: Color laser cartridges
Electrical Specifications of most Apple hardware [from AppleLink]
Apple Equipment Specs to consider for Overseas Use [from AppleLink]
Macintosh Plus: Pin diagrams of Mini Circular 8 connectors [from AppleLink]
Database software
Spring Announcements: Books in Your Future
EXCEL Macros
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: broken keyboard
Date: Wed, 04 Feb 87 16:47:08 -0800
From: "David M. O'Rourke" <dorourke@bonnie.UCI.EDU>
This is in reply to the keyboard-switch problem.
I may be too late for this to be current but I hate to see the wrong answer
to a problem.
Apple, allows, encourages, and tells anyone that the keyswitches can be
replaced, I am a technician at the Univeristy of California Irvine's
computer store and I replace keyswitches all the time for the expensive
price of $12.00 american.
If anyone ever has a problem with a keyswitch take it to the apple dealer,
and if they tell you that you need a new keyboard, they're wrong.
David M. O'Rourke
------------------------------
Date: 4 Feb 1987 19:34-PST
Sender: JWOLFE@ADA20.ISI.EDU
Subject: MACPUT/MACGET for VMS
From: JWOLFE@ADA20.ISI.EDU
Does anyone have an EXEcutable version of MACPUT and MACGET for
the VAX/VMS system. I downloaded the <info-mac> COM files,
but I don't have a C compiler. Thanks JWOLFE@ADA20.ARPA
------------------------------
Date: Thu 5 Feb 87 09:03:03-PST
From: Len Karpf <KARPF@SRI-STRIPE.ARPA>
Subject: Using a VAX as a fileserver
I am interested in using a MicroVAX II (running VMS) as a file server for
a network of Macs, most of which do not have hard disks. Can anyone with
experience in setting up or using such a configuration please give me some
tips on the available products for doing so? Thanks.
Len Karpf
SRI International
(415) 859-2592
karpf@sri-stripe.arpa
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 87 10:01:43 PST
From: dplatt@teknowledge-vaxc.arpa (Dave Platt)
Subject: Re: Font/DA Mover help
Try holding down the "option" key when you click the "Open" button;
you should receive an SFGetFile dialog box with a menu of all files
on the disk or in the folder, rather than only the System and font
files. I believe that the same hack works for installing fonts
into applications.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 87 15:40:02 EST
From: Mark Nodine <mnodine@labs-b.bbn.com>
Subject: Key equivalents for SFGetFile/SFPutFile
There are key equivalents for going up and down levels in the hierarchy in an
SFGetFile or SFPutFile dialog IF you have a Mac+ keyboard. Up-arrow and
down-arrow will move the current selection by one in the appropriate direction;
command-up-arrow will go up one level in the hierarchy and command-down-arrow
will go down a level if there is a folder selected (it does nothing otherwise).
Of course, hitting Enter or Return will go down a level if you have a folder
selected, but they will also return a file and exit the dialog box if what is
selected is not a folder.
--Mark
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 87 17:06:42 PST
From: <SLRS9@usu.bitnet>
Reply-to: SLRS9%USU.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu
Subject: Reply to "str255 help"
The following procedure should solve the problem.
IT MUST BE COMPILED WITH RANGE CHECKING OFF!!!
{$r-}
procedure makestring(sourceptr:ptr;sourcelen:integer;var s:str255);
{
sourceptr: points to the string data
sourcelen: length of the source data
s: returns the completed "str255"
}
var sp:stringptr;
begin
sp:=stringptr(newptr(sizeof(str255))); {create some working space}
sp~[0]:=chr(sourcelen); {force a string of our length}
blockmove(sourceptr,pointer(ord4(sp)+1),sourcelen);
{move our string data into the working area}
s:=sp~; {assign our output string}
disposptr(ptr(sp));
end;
Harold H. Stuart
SLRS9@USU.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 2 Feb 87 13:24:11 est
From: magill@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Operations Manager)
Subject: Kermit on the Macintosh +
>1) The font selected by Kermit to display the dialog of the conversation
>is the Cairo pictographic font. ASCII characters leave and enter the
>comm port correctly, but are displayed as bombs, telephones, etc on the
>Mac screen. This is my major problem because it prevents Kermit from being
>a useful terminal emulator.
The Cairo font is not "standard". There are several possibilities here.
"with a hard disks and a lot of installed fonts"
1- you have redefined your fonts so that the font kermit calls is getting
Cairo, instead of its normal font. (I don't know off hand which font
number is the Kermit default, similarly, I don't know what font
number or which Cairo you have.
I would recommend you try Kermit with a "vergin" set of fonts, and
see what happens.
2- you have a "damaged" copy of kermit, which has a "bit flipped" for the
font number. Not likely, but given cosmic ray bit flips anything is
possible. Copy down a new copy from the archives and see what happens.
>2) While using MacKermit as a server. The remote Kermit issued a "bye"
>command that caused the MacKermit to reboot the Mac and loose all of the
>files sent to it during the "server session." This problem can be
>avoided.
I normally use the host machine as a server (unless of course you are going
mac-to-mac, you don't indicate). I have never had any problems running with
the host kermits as server and MacKermit as a slave, I just "get" everything.
See 2 above for possible solution.
I have been using KERMIT .08(34) for quite some time now (over a year) with
no problems. I have a MAC+ with Apple HD20. My MAC was an original
"consortium" 128K machine upgraded to PLUS status last winter. I use
Kermit for both remote logins to VMS, and ULTRIX hosts, as well as
"telnetting" around the net via a TCP/IP terminal server. I normally ftp
files from the info-mac archives to my home ULTRIX machine and use Kermit
from there to my Mac at home or to one of the ones in the office.
Everything is done with even parity (7 data bits + parity). I use a US
Robotics Courrier 24 modem at 2400 baud at the moment. I expect to switch
over to Bell of Pa's Central Office LAT some time this month and run at
19.2 from home.... (Of course everybody knows that NOTHING in the
pc/terminal world runs at 19.2, at best the uart runs at 19.2 and does lots
of "x-off/x-on-ing", the display's can't keep up, unless you have a real
"glass tty" which has no features. However, it will be fun to push
technology. Even most of the INTERnet only runs at 9600 or 56K baud, unless
your'e part of one of the new NSFnet legs for the super computers - FTP
over 1.5 meg baud T1 lines is actually painless.) I have actually pumped
several meg through kermit in a single late night session with only two
retransmits!
In general, I have found MacKermit to be excellent. My bigest beef is with
the keyboard configurator, and with the mechanism for saving parameters.
It seems that the only way to save comm parameters, despite what appears to
be happening, is to create a new "parameter file", trash the old one and
rename. Cumbersom but it works. Similarly, the fact that the new keyboard
doesn't display on the configurator is a bit of a pain. I use a DEC rainbow
or VT220, so I don't know the old VT100/52 keyboard layout. As a result, I
find that the "released" vt100 configuration is almost worthless when I
want to use EDIT/EDT under VMS, the cursor keys are not defined and the
keypad has someone's warped idea of a useful keyboard layout. This is
especially true since the mac+ keyboard and the vt220/Rainbow keyboards
have identical keypad layouts. Trying to change the keypad via the
configurator seems to be a "sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't"
proposition. I finally have a version that is 80% correct, but it hasn't
been easy. I keep loosing keys I thought I had changed. Again, it appears
to be related to the wierd saving problem.
Aside from the need to define both tilde and escape, I have no problems
running GNU-emacs or UniPress emacs via Kermit on my ULTRIX or VMS hosts.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 87 08:56:09 PST
From: chuq@Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach)
Subject: Re: Another Mac Interface Comment
Oh, well. Time to step in and play devil's advocate again....
> The need for multitasking can clearly be seen from the
> proliferation of DAs floating around. It is impossible to install all
> the useful DAs in a single system file,
I have to seriously wonder whether this is a 'real' problem or a general
situation, or whether the people on this list are biased towards
multitasking because they really want the Mac to act like the Unix machines
they are using to post to this message list...
In my specific case, multitaksing would be nice, admittedly, but I find
I don't miss it. I tend to use few Desk Accessories, simply because few
of them are useful for me (Acta being a notable exception).
So ask yourself. Does the Mac really need multitasking, or do you just
want the Mac to have Unix? I KNOW what the answer on the net would be,
but I'm not at all sure that would translate out to the general Mac user
population. The sample for this group is biased.
chuq
------------------------------
Date: Thu 5 Feb 87 21:11:32-AST
From: Peter Gergely <GERGELY@DREA-XX.ARPA>
Subject: GAME-STAR-TREK-TRIVIA.HQX
[Uploaded from MACKY BBS, Dartmouth NS]
This application is a trivia quiz for Star Trek fiends. It offers
multiple-choice solution to the questions using the mac interface, as
well, as keeps your score.
- Peter
[
archived as [SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>GAME-STAR-TREK-TRIVIA.HQX
DoD
]
------------------------------
Date: Thu 5 Feb 87 21:16:27-AST
From: Peter Gergely <GERGELY@DREA-XX.ARPA>
Subject: VENN-TUTORIAL.HQX
[Uploaded from MACKY BBS, Dartmouth NS]
Here is an application that teaches you about Venn Diagrams and Logic.
- Peter
[
archived as [SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>VENN-TUTORIAL.HQX
DoD
]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 87 09:15:47 MST
From: t-jacobs%utah-ced@utah-cs.arpa (Tony Jacobs)
Subject: Re: Color laser cartridges
A company called Toner Service Co. recharges cartridges for a very good price
($39.95) and does color also. The color cost A LOT more. The colors the do
are: red, green and royal blue. They claim their black is blacker too. I
do have a flyer and it is blacker.
They also unconditinally guarantee your satisfaction -- or your money back!
You can send them a cartridge and they will let you try it out for 10 days,
if you like it then you can pay them, if you don't you can send it back
Toner Service Co.
(314)721-3830
------------------------------
Date: Tue 3 Feb 87 23:46:32-CST
From: Werner Uhrig <CMP.WERNER@R20.UTEXAS.EDU>
Subject: Electrical Specifications of most Apple hardware [from
Subject: AppleLink]
Electrical Specifications of most Apple hardware
The following Apple products are manufactured for use in the USA. They are
designed to operate at a line voltage ranging from 107 V to 137 V, 50/60 Hz.:
Wattage
Apple II 60
Apple IIe 60
Apple IIc 60
Apple III 120
Apple III Plus 120
Macintosh 60
Lisa 160 maximum
Dot Matrix Printer 180 maximum
Daisy Wheel Printer 150
ImageWriter 180 maximum
ProFile 35 maximum
Hard Disk 20* 35
Color Monitor 100 70
Color Monitor IIe 48 maximum
Color Monitor IIc 48 maximum
Monitor II 45 maximum
Monitor IIc 35 maximum
Monitor III 45 maximum
60 Hz ONLY:
Color Plotter 33 maximum
ImageWriter II 180 maximum
Scribe 60 maximum
LaserWriter 760 maximum
The Monitor II, Monitor IIc, and Monitor III also operate at the same range of
line voltages and specifically work with NTSC composite video input.
If you take your Apple overseas, you can use an isolation stepdown transformer
to convert from 220V to 110V. The transformer's wattage should be 50% over the
total wattage of the system (computer, monitor, hard disk, printer, etc.). For
example, if the the system pulls 250 watts of power, use a transformer rated
for a minimum of 375 watts.
* Appendix A of the HD 20 Manual states that the HD 20 will work on a line
voltage of 85 to 270, RMS, 47 to 64 Hz. This means that the HD 20 works
without stepdown transformers, automatically switching for the power source
voltage range, the 220 volt range being the most common overseas. All you need
is an adapter plug for the specific locale. Apple Technical Communications
------------------------------
Date: Tue 3 Feb 87 23:48:33-CST
From: Werner Uhrig <CMP.WERNER@R20.UTEXAS.EDU>
Subject: Apple Equipment Specs to consider for Overseas Use [from
Subject: AppleLink]
Using your Apple Overseas These Apple products are designed to operate at a
line voltage range of 107V to 137V, at 50 or 60 Hertz. In countries that
supply a different standard, usually 220V at 50 Hz, use a grounded stepdown
isolation transformer to convert 220V to 110V for these products:
Computers:
Apple II, IIe, IIc, III, III+:
-- Video output is compatible with NTSC standard only.
Macintosh, Macintosh XL, Lisa:
-- The screen may flicker at 50 Hz.
Printers:
Daisy Wheel, Dot Matrix, Imagewriter, Silentype
-- Use these with a grounded stepdown isolation transformer.
-- A 50 Hz source can noticably affect spacing between characters.
LaserWriter, Imagewriter II, Scribe, Apple Color Plotter
NOTE: Damage may occur with a 50 HZ source; these devices are
rated for 60 Hz only.
Disk Drives: ProFile
Monitors:
II, IIc, III
-- These work with NTSC composite video only.
-- There may be screen flicker at 50 Hz.
To use a U. S. Apple in a foreign country, you should know that country's
AC line voltage and frequency.
-- Voltage
If the country uses a line voltage of 220V AC, you'll need to 220V to 110V
step-down transformer. Although converters are available in the U. S.,
some of these have killed at least two Apples to our knowledge. Don't risk
this. Pay the $60 for an isolation transformer; the isolation transformer
is the only one known to give a clean 110V 50 Hz signal. A 500-Watt unit
should be plenty for an entire Apple system (CPU, monitor, and printer).
The unit must have a third prong for a grounded outlet. Electrical shock
to you or damage to the hardware may occur if the units are not grounded.
Apple power supplies function correctly with voltages between 107V and
132V. If the line voltage fuluctuates outside of these specifiactions,
you'll need to use a power conditioner to insure uninterrupted operation of
your Apple. Operating your Apple without the conditioner will probably not
result in damage to the Apple hardware, although the voltage fluctuation
may cause your system to "crash"; in that event, you'll lose any data in
memory and may even lose data stored on the diskette.
-- Frequency
If the country uses a line frequency other than 60 Hertz (cycles per
second), then all devices attached to your Apple (monitors, printers,
plotters, hard disks, and so on) must be "frequency independent" -- that
is, they must be able to operate on a line frequency of both 50 and 60 Hz.
All Apple-manufactured products are frequency independent EXCEPT the Color
Plotter, Scribe, the U. S. ImageWriter II, and LaserWriter.
If you wish to connect your Apple to a device that is not manufactured by
Apple, you can find out from the manufacturer of that device if it is
frequency independent. If it is, you can use the device with your Apple
(after you compensate for the voltage differences, if any); if the device
is not frequency independent, then you must purchase one that is.
Service and Warranty Repair are also affected when you take a U.S. Apple
overseas. The main piece of advice is: Buy the Apple where you intend to
use it. For example, European Macintoshes have power supplies designed to
handle Europe's 220 volt, 50 Hertz electricity. Although mice, external
drives, digital boards and similar modules are the same as distributed in
the U. S., the software and keyboards are different for each country.
-- Service
Apple dealers overseas are capable of servicing the equipment designed for
their country only.
-- Warranty
The warranty is valid only in the country of purchase. A defective unit
must be returned to the country of purchase if service is desired under
warranty. Buy and use the Apple product well before your departure if you
intend to take it with you. Use it extensively before you leave so that
any problems that the warranty covers may be detected and corrected under
warranty. Apple Technical Communications
------------------------------
Date: Tue 3 Feb 87 23:50:09-CST
From: Werner Uhrig <CMP.WERNER@R20.UTEXAS.EDU>
Subject: Macintosh Plus: Pin diagrams of Mini Circular 8 connectors
Subject: [from AppleLink]
Macintosh Plus: Pin diagrams of Mini Circular 8 connectors
On the the serial ports of the Macintosh Plus, the pins of the Mini-circular 8
connector are numbered are as follows:
8 7 6
5 4 3
2 1
Therefore, looking at the male end of the Mini-DIN 8 cables, the pins are
numbered:
6 7 8
3 4 5
1 2 Apple Technical Communications
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 29 Jan 87 10:35:38 PST
From: chuq@Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach)
Subject: Database software
Funny you should ask.....
> I particularly would like comments on Reflex (previously Interlace),
> OverVUE, FileMaker Plus (or FileMaker), and Microsoft File.
Well, I have used Microsoft File for about a year and a half. Within the
last two weeks, I upgraded (and that is a good word for it) to FileMaker
Plus, thanks to their "orphan support" package.
Microsoft file is a relatively cheap, relatively unsupported package for
very simple database applications. On the plus side, it:
o can be used by brain dead chimpanzees
o can do simple applications quickly
o has a couple of books published about it, and
o has the Microsoft name attached.
on the negative side:
o it hasn't been updated since 1984.
o it is copy protected.
o it is HFS tolerant, but not really HFS compatible.
o has a number of minor glitches in it.
o does not support the laserwriter well (I found out, the hard
way, that the mailing label option DOES NOT WORK on
the laserwriter)
o report functions are exceptionally primitive
o find/select functions are also primitive to non-existant. For
instance, there is no way to take a database, and tell
File to take all records with a specific set of
parameters and omit them from reports. You have to
select and hide each record.
So, in general, while File is okay for very simplistic operations, it is
really showing its age. All I can really say about it to its benefit is
that it let me hack my way through the things that I needed to get done
until FileMaker plus was released.
Now, FileMaker plus. I've been working with it seriously for about a week
and a half now. It is not copy protected. It comes with a huge manual,
and a second booklet that explains the templates.
The manual is designed to survive a nuclear explosion, or perhaps even a
three year old. Inside, it is possibly the best written and complete
manual I've seen for a Mac product yet. Good index, which is always a good
sign -- you can find things without a lot of leafing.
It comes with three disks (+1 more for the conversion aids). A system
disk, the program disk, and a disk of templates and samples. They're
complete and rather complex, and show the capabilities of the program well.
The program is fully integrated with the LW and IW. It comes with templates
for doing mailing labels on both, and supports n-up labels if you want
to use them (nice!). It allows you to auto-enter dates, auto-enter data,
and reference data out of a different file. It does calculations, summaries,
and includes functions for means and standard deviations. It allows
multiple values in a single field in a record. It allows multiple layouts.
I've converted a number of databases from File to FileMaker Plus. The
conversion was relatively painless. Starting from scratch and a File
database, I had OtherRealms subscription list up and running in FileMaker
AND had the LW mailing label layout defined and working, AND had a number
of improvements to the database that I couldn't have done in File finished
in about an hour. Since then, I've defined about three new databases and
converted all my other databases and everything has worked flawlessly.
The program isn't perfect, but it is pretty close. A few 'glitches' that
I've found -- note: these aren't bugs, but are things that work as
documented that I disagree with or simply aren't implemented:
o In find, using "<" implies less than or equal to instead of less than.
Until I tracked this down, I found it confusing.
o It will look up data from another file when you create the record or
change the reference field. If you change the second file,
however, it doesn't go back and update the first file with
the changes -- this would be a nice feature.
o If you have lookup field and the other file does not have the appropriate
value to look up, the fields are not blanked out -- anything
currently in there stays. There is no way for the program to
tell you the lookup failed, so you might not catch it.
o full relational databasing would be nice, but what can you ask for at
this price.
o I'd also like a way to update a date field any time I modify a given
record. I have to do that manually right now.
As you can tell, these are rather obscure or trivial things to need, so
not having them isn't surprising. If this is the worst I've found, I think
you'll agree the program is pretty powerful (and solid). I'm very happy
with FileMaker Plus, as least so far -- and I think I'll stay that way.
chuq
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 87 15:01:20 PST
From: chuq@Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach)
Subject: Spring Announcements: Books in Your Future
Every few months, Publisher's Weekly prints a special issue where the
various houses announce their upcoming publishing lists. I've gone through
those lists (400 pages of announcemts) and extracted the books that looked
like they might be of interest to Mac folks. Since many of them are desktop
publishing books as well, I'm also sending this to the desktop publishing
mailing list.
Compiled lists from the 1/30/87 PW Spring Announcement Issue.
This is a list of upcoming books from Publisher's Weekly. Note that
schedules change, books disappear, and I've probably missed some
stuff. If this list isn't good enough for you, subscribe to PW on your
own... These lists are not complete, but just the line highlights
described and advertised in Publisher's Weekly. Note that if there are
multiple authros, I've only mentioned the first in an attempt to keep
my fingers from falling off.
This doesn't include the dozens of PC based books or things that might be
of interest to DTPer's that aren't specifically DTP books -- for instance,
North Light Books has a series of books on typefaces and graphic design
coming out that look interesting, but I didn't type them in.
Hope this stuff is helpful!
chuq
Ballantine
Desktop Publishing by Jonathon Price. July, $19.95
Bantam
Publishing from the Desktop by John Seybold and Fritz Dressler.
February, $19.95
Using Aldus Pagemaker by Roger C. Parker. May, $19.95
Elsevier Science Publishing
The Electronic Era of Publishing by Oldrich Standera. June, $45.
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Desktop Publishing: Type and Graphics by Deke McCleland. April, $6.95
The Third Apple: Personal Computers and the Cultural Revolution
by Jean Louis Gassee, March, $14.95
Microsoft Press
Working with Word by gordon McComb. July, $18.95
Music Through MIDI by Michael Boom. July, $19.95
The New Writer by Joan P. Mitchell. July, $14.95
The Advanced C Programmer's Book by Augie Hansen. August, $24.95
Osborne/McGraw Hill
Artificial Intelligence Using C by Herbert Schildt. March, $21.95
Microsoft Word 3.0 Made Easy (Mac version) by Paul Hoffman. March, $16.95
Prentice Hall/Brady Computer Books
Brady Manual of Spreadsheet Style by John Nevison. $12.95
Delphi: The complete Guide by Michael A. Banks. $19.95
Pagemaker for the Macintosh by Jan Lewis. $19.95
ReadySetGo for the Macintosh by David Kater. $19.95
Publishers Group West
The Macintosh Bible by Dale Coleman. February, $21.00
Que
C Standard Library. April
Scott, foresman and company
After you Get the Word: The complete guide to Microsoft Word
by B. Alperson. April, $19.95
Pagemaker by K. Strehlo. April, $21.95
Howard W. Sams & company
C primer plus, second edition by the Waite Group. March, $23.95
MacAccess: Information in Motion by Dean Gengle. January, $21.95
Tab Books
The Illustrated Handbook of Desktop Publishing and
Typesetting by Michael L. Kleper. $29.95
John Wiley and Sons
Desktop Publishing with Pagemaker by Tony Bove. June, $19.95
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 87 12:26:10 EST
From: bills@CCA.CCA.COM (Bill Stackhouse)
Subject: EXCEL Macros
Given an EXCEL spreedsheet as follows:
A B C D
1 5 =f(a1) 10 =f(c1)
where =f() is a user function; why does EXCEL recaluclate both
B1 and D1 when only A1 is changed? Are changes to cells in the
macro sheet considered when determining what work sheet cells
need to be recomputed? The manual implies that with manual calcuation
set on, the cmd = will only do those cells which have changes but
it appears to do the entire work sheet (same when returning to
auto). Is there any way to imporve the performance when using macros
(I have a work sheet with about 300 references to a user function
that has 3 set.names, 3 vlookups, 4 multiplies and 2 divides and
it takes about 4 minutes to calculate the entire worksheet)?
A lot of questions, sorry. I would be interested in communicating
with anyone that is doing "major" EXCEL macro development about
techniques and problems.
------------------------------
End of INFO-MAC Digest
**********************