INFO-MAC-REQUEST@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA.UUCP (12/10/86)
INFO-MAC Digest Tuesday, 9 Dec 1986 Volume 5 : Issue 24
Today's Topics:
Strange Menu behavior
File Problem
critters in the works
DASampler File "Format"
Re: inside Mac condensed
Go program
Re: Fixing Hyperdrive problems
Inside Mac Volumes, Font editor
A typesetting problem: Is Mac the answer?
Micah Hard Disks
Curses on Mac
Usenet Mac Digest V2 #101
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Date: Tue, 9 Dec 86 09:17:13 PST
From: PUGH#JON%E.MFENET@nmfecc.arpa
From: PUGH#JON@E.MFENET
Subject: Strange Menu behavior
My program is behaving strangely in a way I do not understand. The major
symptom is that my scrolling menus behave improperly. When I drag to the
bottom of the menu, the entire menu clears and only the new items scroll into
view, leaving the rest of the menu blank. Any clues? It's not anything I am
doing directly since my program is bopping around my GetNextEvent loop. I am
assuming that this is a memory problem as I am still being a bit simplistic
about my storage allocations and I keep popping off with an Odd Stack size
error every now and again. With any luck I will be able to change the memory
allocation method before next year, but I still have Christmas shopping to do.
I am running on a Mac+ with 3.2 & 5.3 and programming in Lightspeed Pascal.
Guesses and wild speculation are encouraged.
Jon
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 86 15:15:01 PST
From: pixar!upstill@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Steve Upstill)
Subject: File Problem
I know there must be a simple, obvious solution to this problem, but
assiduous study of Inside Macintosh fails to reveal it. Any help will be
rewarded with supernumerous karma points, and undying gratitude.
I am writing a special-purpose database browser. The records of the
database are stored in the data fork of a file, and I have written a
package for tabulating the storage records via a resource. The problem is
this: I want to avoid having to open and close the files for every fetch,
which implies leaving the files open between calls to my file munger.
However, if the program dies, the resulting files become locked up, and
cannot be removed by the Finder. Clearly this is unacceptable behavior
in a program destined for bozos.
My question, then, is: how can I assure that the files are accessible
such that they are 1) open to the program, and 2) accessible to other
programs in the event that the program dies? I am willing to have the files
open read-only.
Many thanks for any and all suggestions.
Steve Upstill
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 86 15:05:22 PST
From: digiorgi@Jpl-VLSI.ARPA
Subject: critters in the works
I have a rather strange problem with my system which has been going on
for about the past three months. I put a notice up on DELPHI about it
some time ago and received two-three messages back with a similar report,
reported to my dealer, and no-one has been able to answer with a reason-
able explanation.
Hardware:
Macintosh 512K, upgraded to 800K drives, 128K ROMs, Apple HD20 hard disk,
and a MacMemory 'the Max2' RAM expansion. I also use an Apple Personal
Modem and a Thunderscanner with ImageWriter 1 printer. A MaxChill piezo-
electric fan is also installed.
Software:
System 3.2, Finder 5.3, IW 2.3, LW 3.1 (for dumping PostScript),
TurboCharger 2.0.
Versaterm/Versaterm PRO, FullPaint, MacDraw, Word, File, Double Helix,
Excel, Thunderscan, etc.
TML v2 Pascal, Macintosh Pascal, (soon) LightSpeed Pascal.
The machine is booted from the HD20 and TurboCharger is set to autostart
at bootup.
Weird problem 1:
Versaterm will frequently take two or three tries to access and open
the modem port and start communication with the modem. It always works
with 2 <CR> presses, sometimes with 1, never by just using the
dial commands. Versaterm PRO doesn't exhibit this problem.
Far Weirder problem 2:
At random intervals, a disk inserted into either floppy drive will not
cause the characteristic directory read and mount. This happens randomly,
from both the Finder and from inside other applications software, even
while specifically accessing a Standard File Dialog. A known good, formatted
disk is inserted, a slight tick is heard from the drive, and about 10-15
seconds later, the standard disk initialization dialog appears on the screen.
None of the three buttons executes; a press on any of them causes
the dialog to go away, another tick to be emitted by the drive,
and the same initialization dialog. The only exit is the ReBoot button.
I have tried to track it with Macsbug, but I must admit that I am not really
proficient enough in object level debugging to get very far this way.
(when I do this with TML, I have a commented ASM dump of the source to
assist me... 'Why I want LSP...').
There has never been a single instance of this kind of behavior in
accessing the HD20.
Occasional Weird Problem 3:
If I have (using the Control Panel) connected AppleTalk and (using the
Chooser) selected the LaserWriter driver to obtain a PostScript dump from
a file, I cannot fully turn off AppleTalk and return to the ImageWriter
driver without rebooting the machine. This is in the sometimes aggavating
class of problems.
If anyone else has had these or a similar problem (Apple can you hear me?)
and has found out how to fix it or what is happening, I would appreciate
hearing from you, either through the digest or with mail directly. The drive
problem is REALLY annoying, and I have occasionally lost some output which I
haven't previously saved to the hard disk.
If enough replies come in, I will summarize and post. Thanks in advance.
Godfrey DiGiorgi :: December 9, 1986 :: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
digiorgi@jpl-VLSI.ARPA
"How many IBM PC Hardware engineers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
One Hundred. Ten to do it, and 90 to write document number GC5700439-01
MultiTasking Incandescent Source System Facility, of which 10 percent of
the pages state, 'This page intentionally left blank.' and 20 percent of
the definitions are in the form, 'A whoopeedoo consists of sequences of
non-blank characters seperated by blanks'."
"How many Macintosh Hardware engineers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
One. He holds the bulbs while the world revolves around him."
- from DEC Professional, John Dvorak
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 86 18:26:23 est
From: rs4u#@andrew.cmu.edu (Richard Siegel)
Subject: DASampler File "Format"
Correct me if I am off base; it happens a lot. 8-)
The reason DASampler doesn't see the files is because the file type and
creator bytes are wrong; try setting the file type to "DFIL" and the creator
to "DMOV"....
--Rich
Richard M. Siegel
Arpanet: rs4u@andrew.cmu.edu (the only way to get to me!)
UUCP: seismo!andrew.cmu.edu!rs4u (I think)
Disclaimer --> Disclaimers are bogus.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 86 08:01:24 est
From: jonathan@mitre-gateway.arpa (Jonathan Leblang)
Subject: Re: inside Mac condensed
>From liberte@b.cs.uiuc.edu Mon Dec 8 23:11:01 1986
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Date: Mon, 8 Dec 86 22:05:31 CST
From: liberte@b.cs.uiuc.edu (Daniel LaLiberte)
Message-Id: <8612090405.AA01750@b.cs.uiuc.edu>
To: jonathan@mitre-gateway.arpa
Subject: Inside Mac Condensed, Vol 2
Status: R
I'm glad my paper is still circulating, but there is a problem - other
than the fact that it is not to be trusted any more.
Apple legal types wrote to me to say that they did not like my title
since it might lead people to think that Apple had something to do with
it. So please change the title of your copy to read "Macintosh
Operating System" before passing it on.
Thanks
Dan LaLiberte
_____ __ ___
|\ /| | | | \ | ARPA: jonathan@bert.mitre.org
| \/ | | | |__/ |__ BELL: (703) 883-5761
| | | | | \ | MAIL: 7525 Colshire Drive
| | | | | \ |___ McLean, VA 22102
Jonathan A. Leblang
The MITRE Corporation
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 86 23:41:03 PST
From: <LOGANJ@byuvax.bitnet>
Reply-to: LOGANJ%BYUVAX.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu
Subject: Go program
The last version of the Go program that I sent to you had a
crashing problem that is fixed by this new version. This is
the latest version (1.0A8) of the Macintosh Go program, and
replaces all previous versions.
The total size of the hex code is 112K bytes, and the Go program
is about 81K bytes.
Regards,
jim (loganj@byuvax.bitnet)
(Cut here! This file must be converted with BinHex 4.0)
[ archived as
[SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>GAME-GO.HQX
This replaces ALL earlier versions of Jim Logan's program!
DAVEG
]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 86 05:51:58 pst
From: ames!lll-crg!well!jayr@cad.Berkeley.EDU (Jay Roth)
Subject: Re: Fixing Hyperdrive problems
In article <8612090725.AA12527@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> you write:
>Subject: Hyper Drive Recovery
>Date: Mon, 08 Dec 86 11:39:15 EST
>From: tgw@mitre-bedford.ARPA
>
>The mac owned by my department head appears to have a trashed first
>cylinder on its Hyperdrive Hard Disk. Is there any way to recover the
>data on the disk either by a software package, etc. Sending the disk
>out is not the best option but if there is a company that will recover
>lost files on a disk, it might be the only option.
>
>Moral of the story: Back up your hard disks!!!!
>
>Thanks,
>
>Tim Wade
>(tgw@mitre-bedford.arpa)
>
I believe what Tim Wade may be looking for is a program called HyperTools,
a free utility available at HyperDrive dealers.
------------------------------
Date: 9 Dec 1986 17:01:01 EST
Subject: Inside Mac Volumes, Font editor
From: Keith Winderlich <KEITHW@A.ISI.EDU>
Can anyone who has the Inside Macintosh volumes published by Apple give me a
description or table of contents of the four volumes. I am interested in
purchasing them but need to know which ones to get. Are they very useful?
What Font editors exist for the Macintosh plus, public domain or commercial?
Keith Winderlich
KEITHW@A.ISI.EDU
[ note from moderator: If you want to do any programming on the Mac it is
essential to get Inside Macintosh. Almost any decent bookstore with
computer books will have a copy so you can look for yourself there. DAVEG ]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 09 Dec 86 17:09:08 EST
From: Mark Nickel <MNGSJ%BROWNVM.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU>
Subject: A typesetting problem: Is Mac the answer?
Hello. Twice each month we publish a calendar of events for the campus
community here--lectures, films, plays, meetings, whatever. The calendar
is typeset (8-point type on 9.5-point leading on an 11.5-pica line) and
looks handsome when it's done. We do it with text-processing software on
the mainframe. The finished product looks wonderful, but the process is
slow, awkward, and prone to minor typographical errors.
What we'd like to do is combine a database manager and a word processor,
using the former to select and sort records and the latter to edit, format
and hyphenate text for typesetting. I'm not sure that's possible, and I'm
note sure whom to ask. Hence this posting--my first.
Here's how we'd like to do it:
1. Enter information on the Macintosh using some sort of database manager
like Microsoft File. Our clerk could enter items months ahead of our
publication date.
2. Select appropriate records for the calendar of a given issue.
3. Sort those records by date and by time within date, then format them
all (italics, bold face, suppression of leading and trailing blanks).
4. Move those formatted records into something like Microsoft Word.
5. Use Word to get our 8-on-9.5 type and our 11.5-pica measure. (Word 3.0
will also do our hyphenation, I'm told.)
6. Print facsimile type on a LaserWriter so our proofreaders can work with
WYSIWYG materials.
7. Make corrections, then send the file to a Linotronic 300 for typesetting.
This method won't work, of course. The formatting is lost in transition from
File to Word, and no sane person would want to scroll through one of our
calendar files using a mouse to select several hundred words for bold-facing
or italicizing.
Can anyone suggest software which might allow us to get the job done? I used
Microsoft File and Word as examples mostly because I'm familiar with them,
and because File allows formatting of fields, suppression of leading and
trailing blanks, and addition of characters between fields (e.g., open and
closed quotation marks). Would integrated software help?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'll gladly post a summary of
helpful responses.
------------------------------
Date: 9 Dec 86 18:49:52 EST
From: Kerien.Fitzpatrick@h.cs.cmu.edu
Subject: Micah Hard Disks
For those of you considering purchasing a Micah Hard disk from a
dealer or from mail order I would advise against it. I have been attempting
to have a failing 20Mb internal replaced. Four weeks ago when I called the
company was at its listed address and after a little talk was told that I
would get my replacement drive in 2-3 weeks. 2.5 weeks later I call back
and found out that the company had a new phone number. It seems that in the
interim a corporation called Solitaire bought Micah. At this point all they
have operating is the accounts department ( who owes THEM money ).
Everytime I call they tell me that they other departments will be operating
at the end of the week. My result: I still have a 20Mb internal drive that
screeches constantly during operation. My opinion: Buy from someone else
(we have had excellent results from Warp Nine).
For those who need it:
Solitaire Corp
1201 San Luis Obispo Ave.
Hayward, CA 94544
------------------------------
Date: 9 Dec 86 00:18:49 EST
From: Michael.Witbrock@f.gp.cs.cmu.edu
Subject: Curses on Mac
(I am posting this for Mike Franzini.
Please don't respond to me. Write to mf1w@andrew.)
I am interested in running Curses under Microsoft C
(or some other compiler) on the Mac.
Can this be done?
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
--Mike Franzini
(mf1w@andrew)
------------------------------
Date: 9 Dec 86 11:27:02 EST
From: Jeffrey Shulman <SHULMAN@RED.RUTGERS.EDU>
Subject: Usenet Mac Digest V2 #101
Usenet Mac Digest Tuesday, 9 December 1986 Volume 2 : Issue 101
Today's Topics:
Administrivia - BITNET sub-list
need Mac OCR and 3d graphics
Re: WillWriter
Mutli/Mind Write
Editing > 32K text blocks
Cummulative Scrolling
Mac Hardware Crashes
bug in mpw shell
Re: SUMacC questions
Floating point Fortran
genealogy
Package Manager (_PackN) Help needed
Version 2.0 of LSC
Why won't my Mac eject the disk?!
Aztec 'C' Bug Discovered
Re: Is is safe to veto disk re-insertion prompts?
Re: MacApp Sources...
Re: Should we support (official solutions)
Re: Editing > 32K text blocks
Re: Mac Hardware Crashes
Re: Floating point Fortran
Re: Why won't my Mac eject the disk?!
[ archived as
[SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>USENETV2-101.ARC
DAVEG
]
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End of INFO-MAC Digest
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