INFO-MAC@SUMEX-AIM.STANFORD.EDU (Moderator David Gelphman...) (01/14/87)
INFO-MAC Digest Tuesday, 13 Jan 1987 Volume 5 : Issue 38
Today's Topics:
Update on TeXtures from Addison and Wesley
TeXtures 0.95c
response to 'what bugs you about the mac?'
Shut Down Hook
Comments, responses, etc...
Re: MacPlus Keyboard and Kermit
Re: "bargain" WP offer for Mac
1986 Tax Templates
APDA apology (my mistake)
Re: Unix, macget/macput, and Red Ryder
speed reading
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 87 18:28:23 PST
From: <DAVEG@slacvm.bitnet>
Reply-to: DAVEG%SLACVM.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu
Subject: Update on TeXtures from Addison and Wesley
Soon after I posted my complaints about version 0.95 of TeXtures from
Addison Wesley I got a call from Barry Smith of Kellerman and Smith
(the people who are writing TeXtures, which is being sold by Addison Wesley)
who was very concerned about the problems I was having. We spent over
an hour on the phone discussing the points I had raised in my previous
note ( Info-Mac Digest V5 #34). The major point of concern was the
problems I was having getting good quality printout using 12 point fonts.
After our conversation I was extremely impressed with the attitude put
forth by Barry Smith. It is clear that they are working very hard to put
together an implementation of TeX which is of the highest quality. I said
in my earlier comments that the package is very promising: now I think it
is very good with still a few refinements to make it excellent.
Here is a point by point discussion of the comments/complaints I made
in my earlier posting about TeXtures, AFTER my discussion with Barry and
our subsequent interactions. These points correspond with the points I
made earlier in my previous posting.
1. Previously I said the quality of the printout from the LaserWriter was
not up to the quality of the printout from our mainframe. My major problem
was with mathematics but other had other problems such as italic text.
This problem has been RESOLVED. The problem was due to a rounding in
the math to calculate the font to be used for 9 point text. This caused the
incorrect font to be used (and scaled) instead of using the much higher
quality font which was available and should have been chosen. This part
of the problem was in the TeXtures program itself and was fixed in version
0.95f which he was kind enough to send me. The reason this problem was
not detected earlier was because the method used in my macros to construct
12 point math fonts was a bit of a strange one and NOT a more standard
method. Others who used 12 point fonts for math probably didn't use this
method and consequently produced the expected high quality output.
Since I bitched plenty before about my results let me now comment on
what I now have been able to produce. THE QUALITY IS EXCELLENT. Now that
TeXtures is using the proper bitmaps for my files, the output is the
usual high quality expected from TeX output. For those that haven't seen
what a page of TeX output looks like, you will be extremely impressed.
At this point, I prefer the output from the LaserWriter over our mainframe.
2. In my previous note I commented on the use of the postscript fonts
and how the quality of output was much improved by using them. With the
current version of TeXtures I have (0.95f) I find this to no longer be
true. The Computer Modern Roman fonts ALL now look great (and did before with
some exceptions). The only need you would have to use the LaserWriter fonts
might be if you want large sizes of fonts such as 17 point or 18 point. In
that case, you might want to use Times to generate the larger font.
Previously I mentioned that it was unfortunate that you couldn't use the
LaserWriter symbol font in replace of the TeX symbol fonts. This was NOT
intended to be a complaint with TeXtures but rather a comment about
the way generic TeX uses its symbol fonts and what characters are available
in the LaserWriter symbol fonts. This is now a moot point now that the
CMR fonts used are printing properly.
3. I had pointed out previously that you can export a DVI file for usage
elsewhere. This is still the case and I'm happy this was added in the 0.95
release.
4. I had commented that keeping the old DVI and preview information around
from previous passes at typesetting was inconvenient. Barry assured me that
they have optimized their routines to avoid doing unnecessary drawing to
the preview window. He did convince me that my idea of disabling update events
to the preview window when it wasn't the foremost window was NOT a good
idea. I guess I think it would be nice to have an option of an automatic
closing of the preview window once you start TeXing something new and have
it not appear until output is successfully produced.
5. I had complained before that loading font files was a big pain. Barry told
me that the best way to work is to put the fonts that TeX really needs
into the TeX Fonts file. This way TeX has access to these fonts for all
typesetting and printing. The Apple Font/DA mover can be used to move these
fonts. The problem that you may run into is that the Font/DA mover seems
to have limitations on the number of fonts it can place in a given file.
It warns you when the file is full. The workaround is to place ALL the extra
fonts that you can't fit in the TeX Fonts file into a second file so that
you only have to ADD 1 font file. This is NOT a limitation of TeX and hopefully
the next batch of system software from Apple will solve this limitation.
6. I had complained about printer bugs in the earlier 0.95 release. The
version which Barry sent me solves ALL of the problems which I had noticed
in my earlier output. As I said, the printed quality on the LaserWriter
is EXCELLENT. For those who haven't seen good looking mathematics come
out of the Mac/LaserWriter, you are in for a treat.
7. Previously I complained that the imagewriter printing was pathetic.
This may be harsh but I definately think the output is poor and would not
be acceptable for much. The spacing of the letters is not up to snuff on
our Imagewriter II and the CMR fonts don't look very good at the imagewriter
resolution.
8. Creating a TeX format file is the way to go and works the way it should.
Using the format file speeds up the loading of your macros.
9. Including pictures in TeX output looks pretty straightforward to do.
I think they have done a very good job with this. Barry tells me that
it may be possible to get the size of a picture automatically within
TeX in the future. If that comes true, then a simple macro should be
able to make picture placement even easier than it is now.
I've tried to cover everything in my previous note to bring it up
to date. This package is now VERY usable for producing quality output
with TeX and with the previewing capabilities built in, it takes lots
of the pain out of non WYSIWYG which is what TeX is. The overall program
could use a 68020 processor to speed the execution of TeX and Barry
seemed to think that they can improve the speed in the future but made
no promises.
At the San Francisco MacWorld Expo I got a chance to get my first look
at FTL's MacTeX. I was very unimpressed. The user interface left lots to
be desired. The version showed had a 32K limit on files to be editted in
MacTeX (compared to unlimited size in Addison Wesley's TeXtures). In order
to preview the DVI file you just produced you have to select a preview menu
item and then select a DVI file from a Standard File dialog. This is also
true for printing. To me it seemed silly since you almost always want to
preview and print the files you have been working on. I found this to
be an awkward user interface.
I know I've gone on too long about all of this but I wanted to indicate
that my major gripe with this program has been eliminated and that I think
it is overall an excellent package for producing TeX on the Macintosh.
David Gelphman BITNET address: DAVEG@SLACVM
Bin #88 SLAC ARPANET address: DAVEG@SLACVM.BITNET
Stanford, Calif. 94305 UUCP address: ...psuvax1!daveg%slacvm.bitnet
415-854-3300 x2538
The opinions expressed above are my own and are not those of my employers.
------------------------------
Date: Tue 13 Jan 87 11:53:16-PST
From: Irvin Lustig <OR.LUSTIG@Sierra.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: TeXtures 0.95c
Our update finally arrived and I am happy to report that global
magnification seems to work fine. This is especially useful for those
of us who have always used \magnification=1200 on mainframe TeX.
Now for the trick I figured out: There are about 9 font files that come
with TeXtures now. If you want to use them all, it is not necessary
to use "Add Fonts" from the menu. Simply select all 9 of the font
files in the Finder and use the "Open" command in the File menu.
Since the font files are associated with TeXtures, all of the fonts
will be loaded and you will get excellent printout on the LaserWriter
for each of those fonts.
-Irv Lustig
Arpanet: OR.LUSTIG@SU-SIERRA.ARPA
Other Way: OR.LUSTIG@SIERRA.STANFORD.EDU
------------------------------
Subject: response to 'what bugs you about the mac?'
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 87 23:08:13 -0800
From: duggie@portia.STANFORD.EDU
>> As part of an ongoing research project in user interface design
>> at the Centre de Recherche Informatique de Montreal we would very
>> much appreciate your response to the following question:
>> If you could change any aspect(s) of the Macintosh user interface,
>> what would you like to see changed?
>>In other words, what bugs you about the Mac user interface?
I've been using the mac for about three years, both as a user and a
programmer on and for the mac, so I'm pretty familiar with it. When you
ask what bugs us about the interface, although several things come to mind,
I am still at a loss about how to begin because I can't separate the "user
interface" from larger hardware and software issues. One has to consider the
interface in the context of the machine's capabilities and the use to which it
is being put. One also has to consider the user's expectations, and these
change with each new generation of computers and users.
Your question seems to imply a well-defined distinction between the
"interface" and the applications that use it, and that your interest is in
questions such as "pop-up menus versus pull-down". The things which bug
me about the Macintosh don't fall into this category, and so may not fit a
definition of "interface" which considers it basically as a shell wrapped
around some standard application program. The things which bug me about
the Mac bug me about computers in general. So I apologize if this does not
help you.
1) I want to customize my environment--change the desktop's
appearance, rearrange menus of applications and definitions of special keys,
redesign icons and images, remap the keyboard, set default drives and
folders, choose the alert and startup sounds. In addition, I should be able to
save and restore several such customized environments-- for example, when
several people share the same machine.
2) I want to easily "switch gears" back and forth between several tasks.
If I am writing a letter and want to doodle on the desktop, I just move the
cursor to a palette and click on the "paint" icon, a tool window appears and I
can draw on anything. All windows that can't be drawn on hide
themselves-- clicking on the "done" icon restores the window arrangement to
the way it was. On a more mundane level, I want to shuffle documents (use
the finder) while keeping the context of the application fairly intact so I can
return to it. Servant is a pretty good example of this.
3) I want to cut and paste anything between anything. In general the
Mac requires that I know a fair amount about what programs are capable of.
For example, you can't copy formatted text from MacWrite into MacPaint
and keep the formatting. I'd like to copy tables, graphs, images, structured
graphics, text, and even sound and animation between documents "driven" by
different applications. Ideally, they should be "hot linked" ala Jazz. That is,
this ability should be a given that users should not worry about, just as users
currently expect that an edit menu will be available that lets them copy and
paste text between any applications that understand text at all. It is this
regularity of capability that makes this a user interface issue.
4) I want the computer to learn from me and remember what I do. For
example, keep a list of the last five documents I worked on and let me select
from that list, without my having to maintain it explicitly by putting recent
documents in a particular folder and keeping that folder open on the desk
when I do a shutdown. If I commonly use several applications or desk
accessories, it should let me set up my environment so I can start them and
open the usual documents and special windows without going through the
motions (the sort of thing one does with switcher and key/mouse macro
programs).
5) One should be able to annotate files and search for them using those
annotations. I find heirarchical file systems and file naming too rigid. I
might want to deal with all text documents in some subtree later than a
given date, but this is difficult if they are organized by purpose, i.e.
personal/work/user group/etc. Similarly, although names are good short
tags they still don't provide enough information. Finder info boxes are
almost large enough, but they are hard to access and not listable or
searchable, and don't have user-definable fields. Files to the file system are
like records in a database, and the user should have more database-like
capabilities with which to access and organize them.
That's some of what I have to say. The Mac handles the visual aspect of
things quite cleanly and simply, which I like, so I have little to say about
this (Apple's cluttering things up as they make the system more complicated,
of course). A lot of this pushes the boundary of what you might consider
"user interface" but as I user I spend a lot of time switching tasks, copying
data, and hassling with files, and it is the feel and flow and flexibility
and freedom from detail that makes the difference to me. And speed, of
course, but that is hardware related...
-- Doug Felt
IRIS, Stanford University
duggie@portia.stanford.edu
"insert witty saying here"
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 87 22:54:04 PST
From: digiorgi@Jpl-VLSI.ARPA
Subject: Shut Down Hook
I want to thank all the UseNetters, Bitnetters, ARPAnetters, and DELPHI
folks with whom I had dinner Friday night after the Expo for a thoroughly
entertaining and enjoyable time. It was a pleasure to meet the voices that
I read in the digests and the electronic world.
The Expo was a little overwhelming, but I must admit that the exhibit floor
was not as exciting as I thought it might be. Perhaps it was the blue suits
that threw me off a bit. I found the conferences, particularly the talks
given by the Mac team on Thursday afternoon, the Keynote Address on Friday,
and the conferences on MPW, MacApp, and Smalltalk, to be particularly
exciting. The visions of Alan Kay I would probably walk to San Francisco
to hear!
Now for a plea for information:
I am proceeding to design a utility that needs to take control of the
environment upon eliciting the 'Shut Down' command in the Finder. I know
that Switcher manages to hook and modify this when you run Finder.
Does anyone have a notion of how Andy managed to perform this feat?
I can't find any references to methods for such an action in IM or any
of my other supporting documentation.
Anyone who has an idea of how to do this, or (!) a code example (I am
primarily a Pascal programmer, but I think I can read almost anything),
I would very much like to hear from you.
Godfrey DiGiorgi :818 354-0496 (Pasadena CA) ::January 12, 1987
digiorgi@jpl-vlsi.arpa
----
UnAbashed Product Endorsment: GrayPaint is without doubt the buggiest
software I have grown to love. It can leave you hanging in the most
infuriating ways. It was worth the 50 bucks.
The Usual Disclaimer: I have nothing to gain from any statement made in the
above text. Otherwise, I would probably make a few more.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 87 00:55:45 PST
From: digiorgi@Jpl-VLSI.ARPA
Subject: Comments, responses, etc...
ref: InfoMac v5 #37
>re: $29 word processor offer:
I believe you are thinking of Word Handler (aka [jokingly...] 'Word Mangler'),
which had this offer going when it was first introduced, along with a
moneyback return if you didn't fall in love with it... They didn't bother
to tell you about the $25 handling charge for returning your MacWrite disk,
though. Makes you wonder what they were handling. (PS: Didn't handle
graphics, didn't handle formatting, didn't handle the clipboard, didn't
handle most of what you took for granted with your FREE MacWrite in 1984.
Oh well, PT Barnum was an intelligent fellow.)
>re: IconHacker,DirACTAry problems
I downloaded these in the week before MacExpo and had no problems with them.
IconHacker is pretty neat (and I was hoping for a later prerelease of DirACTAry
which I have been using for some time). Alas, I spoke with David Dunham
via DELPHI and he related that he has just about given up it in the need
for more lucrative endeavors. I am trying to persuade him to post the sources
for me.
>re: Memberships and Subscriptions (APDA, MacUser)
The folks at APDA have been the victims of an enrollment crisis: they started
in August with ZERO members and now, if the activity of their booth at Expo
was any indication, they must have over 7500 at least. They are working on
the problem, but had no way of anticipating the incredible response to calls
for membership. Knaster's book is on my favorite list.
The tips book from MacUser is not vapor-print: I got my complementary copy,
unannounced and quite surprised I was too, in November. I am sure their
handling of it as a special to a subscription is just the usual nonsense with
magazines. Cycle took nearly a year and a half to send me my complementary
duffel bag!
>re: 'most overrated' balloting
<Sorry, Dave, but I just have to plug this one in here...>
The vaporware hall of fame award can only go to Macintosh BASIC, which fooled
at least two publishers into marketing complete documentation manuals and
user guides, and which died under extraordinarily suspect circumstances on the
eve of Microsoft BASIC v2.0's release. Even today, with MS BASIC v3 and the
related compiler on the market, much of what was planned and built into the
virtually complete Macintosh BASIC product and its programming environment is
still a dream to the BASIC programming community.
>re: MacWorld Comments
I agree that the dearth of 'exciting new hardware' at MacWorld Expo was a
down; I suggest, however, that the comments of Alan Kay and Andy Hertzfeld
have some merit: I don't think it is the fact that the box has slots, or
the clock is 8 or 16 or 500 MHz, or that the machine has 10^3 GigaBytes of
RAM, ROM or disk space to swamp the future generations of Man with a sea of
information the likes of which has never flowed before. The Macintosh is
the most important computer of the decade: it makes accessible what was
before arcane, and it makes possible a creation literacy previously
unavailable to most. It points the way to the future.
Godfrey DiGiorgi ::January 13, 1987
digiorgi@jpl-vlsi.arpa
Truth is only a fur coat for Illusion.
....
General Disclaimer Number 43 -
Concerning derogatory comments or overzealous praise:
What I say makes no difference to anybody else, why should it matter to you?
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 87 10:09 EST
From: CML5A9%IRISHMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: Re: MacPlus Keyboard and Kermit
First off, Yes MacKermit version .8(34) is the most recent,
although the date might not make you think so. MacKermit
hasn't seen a new release in quite some time. The reason
for this is twofold. First, the people who worked on MacKermit
are no longer at columbia, second, MacKermit source is written
for the SUMEX cross-compiler system. For those of you who
have an extra VAX sitting around, that's great, but most
Mac programmers dont. So:
For the last two months I have been working on converting
MacKermit over to MPW C, which basically consists of fixing
the header files, silly calls that dont work, and trying
to fix strange and wonderful things that the original authors
were trying to do. If I have to get up on a soapbox about
ints shorts and longs again, i'll scream. The MacKermit code
isn't very neat, but I'll be the first to admit that my own
code from that time frame was more sloppy. Actually, anyone's
early attempts on the toolbox were likely to look a little
on the messy side. All told, MacKermit is pretty well written.
Once MacKermit is working as the SUMEX version did, then
new and exciting improvements will be added. These include
better keyboard/keypad support, gang file sends, better
server mode, and automatic tek4xxx (insert your favorite
number here) support. We hope.
All comments on MacKermit problems have been noted and
will be fixed. Additional ideas, or possible programming
support is, of course, always welcome.
-Tom Dowdy
CML5A9@IRISHMVS.BITNET
"I am increasingly of the opinion that a vast majority of
wrong thinking people are right."
------------------------------
Date: 12 Jan 87 2151 PST
From: Tovar <TVR%CCRMA@SU-AI.ARPA>
Subject: Re: "bargain" WP offer for Mac
I searched my local archives of INFO-MAC messages and the only one of
substance follows (although i do recall there might have been additional
feedback on Delphi or Usenet). If this information is indeed correct,
then i think the only person to whom I would recommend this offer would
be someone in the legal department of the U.S. Postal Service...
-- Tovar
________________________________________________________________________
INFO-MAC Digest Thursday, 28 Aug 1986 Volume 4 : Issue 106
...
Date: 28 Aug 86 14:06:00 EDT
From: <bouldin@ceee-sed.ARPA>
Subject: reaction to wordhandler
Reply-to: <bouldin@ceee-sed.ARPA>
This is from a friend who tried out Wordhandler, a new word processor
for the Mac:
Touted as a replacement for MacWrite, the vendors guarantee you'll
like their program or your money back (within fifteen days). They also
offer a special discount price if you send in your MacWrite disk, "You can
have it back if you don't agree WordHandler is better". So, I sent in my
$30. Getting the disk, I tried WordHandler, found it was IMMENSE (179k),
balky, and entremely cumbersome to use. They use dialogue boxes for tiny
details that should be handled through menus, it doesn't paste-in graphics
like MacWrite, otherwise has one or two minor improvements, copies ALL the
bad features, and makes a lot of the normal-use operations more awkward.
So, I sent it back and asked for my MacWrite disk back. Reply from ALS:
"We don't refund the special discount deal", and if I want my original
MacWrite disk back, "Send $25 for shipping and handling". If it costs
them that much for shipping and handling one floppy, then I bought the
WordHandler software and manual for $4.95 and they charged $29.95 only
because they had to "ship and handle" it.
------------------------------
...
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 87 08:05:05 pst
From: Herb Barad <barad%brand@usc-oberon.ARPA>
Subject: 1986 Tax Templates
From: comp.sys.mac posting...
I just got off the phone with Steve Willett and apparently he has
made 1986 Tax templates available. He is distributing these through
Excellent Exchange (415-827-9013) as a commercial product. These
cost $25 and seem well worth it. They are much more comprehensive than
the ones that I posted. These are:
- IRS approved (printout from printer can be sent directly to IRS)
- checked by CPA
- calculates taxes from all tables (not just X-Y-Z).
Since the ones that I made were from his 1985 templates, I feel it is wrong
to leave these out on the net to compete with his product. His product is
going for a reasonable price and I'm sure is much more "polished" than the
others. Because of this, I will be requesting the mod.mac moderator to
remove these templates from the archives at sumex. I only wished I'd have
known that he had already finished a 1986 set (it would have saved me a lot
of time - apparently, I missed his posting that came over the net in Nov.).
You can contact Steve Willett about his product by calling Execellent
Exchange (at the above #) or Steve at 916-753-6132.
[EXCEL-TAXTEMPLATES-1986.HQX is removed DAVEG]
--
Herb Barad - TRW Data Systems Lab
ARPA: barad@brand.usc.edu or vito%trwspf.uucp@brand.usc.edu
USENET: ...!{brand|trwrb}!trwspf!vito
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 87 14:14:07 est
From: Antonio Leal <abl@ohm.ECE.CMU.EDU>
Subject: APDA apology (my mistake)
Just a short note to apologize to the APDA, and the info-mac moderator and
readers. I misread the bottom line of my APDA bill, and they weren't charging
"another" $20 for 1987, they were discounting the $20 they already held.
Tony (very red in the face)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 87 13:31:12 PST
From: dplatt@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA (David Platt)
Subject: Re: Unix, macget/macput, and Red Ryder
As far as I'm aware, MacTerminal is the only Mac terminal-emulator
program that has ever supported the "Mac-to-Mac" transfer protocol
(which macget/macput were implemented to support). Reason: the
macget/macput protocol is not really compatible with XMODEM; rather,
it's a fairly ugly hack on top of XMODEM that isn't compatible with
anyone else's XMODEM implementation.
Here's how it works... a Mac-to-Mac transfer consists of two or three
separate XMODEM file transfers, one after the other. The first
transfer is a one-record "file" which contains header information; on
a Unix machine it's stored in the .info file. Then, come the data
and/or resource forks of the file, as one XMODEM transfer each; these
are stored in .data and .rsrc on Unix.
The popular "MacBinary" protocol, which is supported by Red Ryder and
just about every other XMODEM-capable Mac emulator, is a simplified
version of MacTerminal's Mac-to-Mac protocol. Essentially, the info,
data, and resource forks are all sent in one XMODEM transfer, one after
the other [each one is padded out to an integral number of XMODEM
records if necessary]. This method permits non-Macintosh systems
(mainframes, bulletin-board packages such as Fido, etc.) to receive,
store, and send complete Mac applications without having to implement
the non-standard Mac-to-Mac protocol.
So... you can upload macget/macput file sets from a Unix machine via
Red Ryder if you convert them from the three-file Mac-to-Mac structure
into a single MacBinary file. This can be done by catenating together
the .info, .data, and .rsrc forks on Unix, and then sending the file to
your Mac via a standard XMODEM transfer. [Note... I may have reversed
the order of the .data and .rsrc forks].
The hard part is likely to be locating a standard XMODEM server for
your Unix machine... I don't believe that one comes with Unix. If
you're a C hacker, you might find it fairly easy to ftp the sources for
macput from the Info-Mac archives at SUMEX, and munge the code so that
it sends a single XMODEM transmission rather than two or three separate
ones.
Another approach would be to use Kermit, which is available [free I
think] for Unix and is supported by Red Ryder (and by the Columbia
University KERMIT for the Mac, available from the Info-Mac archives).
You could upload the combined .info/.data/.rsrc file via an
8-bit-binary Kermit transfer, and then use BinHex version 5.0 (NOT
4.0!) to convert the file from MacBinary form to Mac-application form.
This approach would not require you to hack any code.
I believe that a description of the MacBinary protocol is available in
the Info-Mac archives; I see a "UNIX-MACBINARY.SHAR" which might be
documentation (or might possibly be someone's MacBinary-compatible
XMODEM program). In any case it't probably worth checking out.
------------------------------
Date: 12 Jan 87 22:08:10 EST
From: Esfandiar.Bandari@cive.ri.cmu.edu
Subject: speed reading
A friend is interested in software that teaches speed reading or rapid
reading on the mac. Any suggestions will be deeply apreciated. Thanks.
--- Bandari@cmu-cive
------------------------------
End of INFO-MAC Digest
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