SHULMAN@RED.RUTGERS.EDU (Jeffrey Shulman) (10/20/86)
Delphi Mac Digest Monday, 20 October 1986 Volume 2 : Issue 53 Today's Topics: RE: TurboCharger problems (Re: Msg 13848) RE: PostScript Escape Font (Re: Msg 13854) RE: Usenet Mac Digest V2 #84 (Re: Msg 13844) RE: Radius FPD (Re: Msg 13879) RE: Radius FPD (Re: Msg 13888) RE: Radius FPD (Re: Msg 13909) RE: Radius FPD (Re: Msg 13888) RE: HyperDrive 2000 (Re: Msg 13819) RE: HyperDrive 2000 (Re: Msg 13821) RE: HyperDrive 2000 (Re: Msg 13822) RE: HyperDrive 2000 (Re: Msg 13855) RE: HyperDrive 2000 (Re: Msg 13885) RE: Motorola et al (Re: Msg 13828) Problem with off-screen bitmaps. Question on contents of \"BootDrive\" RE: Point in Oval (Re: Msg 867) RE: Point in Oval (Re: Msg 867) RE: Point in Ovel (Re: Msg 873) RE: Microsoft cuts copy protection (Re: Msg 13905) RE: Word processing for Welsh? MicahDrive 30 XT Prob: interpreting Pascal to C - HELP! Apple SCSI RE: Apple SCSI (Re: Msg 13921) Novation Professional 2400 RE: Novation Professional 2400 (Re: Msg 13923) This is long for Forum... RE: medical systems/where are you? (Re: Msg 13551) RE: medical systems/where are you? (Re: Msg 13927) Tempo on Hyper 2000 Hyper 2000 RE: Hyper 2000 (Re: Msg 13955) RE: Hyper 2000 (Re: Msg 13961) RE: Hyper 2000 (Re: Msg 13965) WORD fonts ----------------------------------------------------------------------- From: PEABO (13863) Subject: RE: TurboCharger problems (Re: Msg 13848) Date: 15-OCT 23:18 Bugs & Features Tell me about it ... ID=02 is not an acceptable error message for "you ought not to use Quick Quit" and I would like very much to know what is going on, ESPECIALLY since an innocuous little utility of mine that never harmed a flea is one of the programs that causes a crash! peter ------------------------------ From: ASMCOR (13866) Subject: RE: PostScript Escape Font (Re: Msg 13854) Date: 15-OCT 23:33 Business Mac It was mentioned in MacTutor. You can make your own, with the instructions there. Basically, it's a font with the size set to zero, so it becomes invisble, that's all Jan ------------------------------ From: DDUNHAM (13876) Subject: RE: Usenet Mac Digest V2 #84 (Re: Msg 13844) Date: 16-OCT 03:59 Network Digests > From: blh@vlsi.cs.cmu.edu (Bruce Horn) > Subject: Re: Stupid Question on Disk Space > Dividing by 1000 instead of 1024 was basically a marketing decision, and an > apparently defendable one One wonders, then, why the original Mac wasn't sold with 131K of memory...that way it would have more than the IBM PCjr. > From: bates@ssdevo.dec.com (Ken Bates DTN 522-2039) > Subject: Question on contents of \"BootDrive\" You realize that bootDrive is really a WDRefNum under HFS. Under MFS, it's a vRefNum -- and when you boot from a floppy, the floppy has vRefNum -1. David Dunham "Efficiency is intelligent laziness." Maitreya Design ------------------------------ From: DWB (13888) Subject: RE: Radius FPD (Re: Msg 13879) Date: 16-OCT 06:26 Hardware & Peripherals Saw my first Radius today at ComputerWare. Do they just have one that is poorly adjusted or are they all real badly focussed around the edges? THis one was bad enought that I really couldn't consider working on one for any length of time. David ------------------------------ From: DDUNHAM (13909) Subject: RE: Radius FPD (Re: Msg 13888) Date: 17-OCT 00:25 Hardware & Peripherals rep 13888 My Radius is not perfectly focused either, but 1) neither is my Mac (though less area is out of focus); 2) it's not bad enough not to use. I'm gonna get a hardware oriented friend to try to tweak it. ------------------------------ From: MACINTOUCH (13918) Subject: RE: Radius FPD (Re: Msg 13909) Date: 17-OCT 09:10 Hardware & Peripherals What monitor are they using? Are monitors like hard disks, made only be a few companies and OEM's everywhere? Ric ------------------------------ From: LOGICHACK (13974) Subject: RE: Radius FPD (Re: Msg 13888) Date: 19-OCT 03:55 Hardware & Peripherals The only one I saw did have slightly fuzzy edges. It didn't seem very bad at the time but I was so impressed with the demo that I might not have been very objective. I think Dave can shed so more light on it. I did mention the fuzziness to Burrill Smith (the designer of said hardware) and he was extremely defensive, saying something to the effect that "it is the current state of the tecnology" and anything better would cost an arm and a leg. I believe Sun Workstation type monitors are a few grand... Paul :) ------------------------------ From: LOGICHACK (13880) Subject: RE: HyperDrive 2000 (Re: Msg 13819) Date: 16-OCT 04:10 Hardware & Peripherals Ric: I've been using a 12mhz 3 to 1 board for a few months (i think about the same speed as the Hyper) and I've come to the conclusion that 2x speed is not as dramatic as one might think. I still wish the machine is faster (who doesn't). I really notice the speed when I go back to using a regular Mac. Those ZoomRects really crawl. Paul :) ------------------------------ From: LOGICHACK (13881) Subject: RE: HyperDrive 2000 (Re: Msg 13821) Date: 16-OCT 04:13 Hardware & Peripherals Gee, my 321 board hasn't any sw problems, except for the one I mentioned regarding Pheonix 3D. When I say no software problems, I mean none that are above and beyond any experienced by a Mac+ or a straight 2MB upgrade. There's always the old stuff that's hard coded for 512K (or even 128K, if I may date myself). Paul :) ------------------------------ From: LOGICHACK (13882) Subject: RE: HyperDrive 2000 (Re: Msg 13822) Date: 16-OCT 04:14 Hardware & Peripherals I don't know about Duval's priorities. The GS already has Megamax C being supported by Apple as APW C. I never liked ANY of his stuff. Paul :) ------------------------------ From: LOGICHACK (13885) Subject: RE: HyperDrive 2000 (Re: Msg 13855) Date: 16-OCT 04:27 Hardware & Peripherals I don't want to sound like a jerk but I always thought one of the worst things about General Computer was their tendency to be over ambitious with their software, mucking with things they really don't need too. Does anyone remember trap dispatcher rewrite that caused certain code using the sound driver to trash hard disks? Sigh. Paul :) ------------------------------ From: MACINTOUCH (13893) Subject: RE: HyperDrive 2000 (Re: Msg 13885) Date: 16-OCT 09:49 Hardware & Peripherals Your impressions of the speed mirror my own. The Mac isn't changed in character, but one is struck by the little hesitations in a "normal" system after getting used to the 12MHz one. It really seems quite similar to switching between a hard disk and floppy disks, although we're dealing with the opposite half of the system (I/O vs. CPU). It also seems quite a bit like going from an X/Lisa to a Mac Plus/SCSI drive. From my limited experience with the Prodigy 4, it seems like that is a more fundamental character change in the Mac -- something we can expect with the Open Mac generation of 68020/68881/ 4MB Macs. Especially if they have a nice large non-volatile RAM cache/disk <grin> Ric ------------------------------ From: LOGICHACK (13884) Subject: RE: Motorola et al (Re: Msg 13828) Date: 16-OCT 04:18 Hardware & Peripherals There's a whole suite of doc on the 68000 family chips by Motorola being published by them.Hmm... very strange but my 881 reference manual does not seem to contain an address. Try a good bookstore. I think they can get it, if they don't have it in stock. Paul :) ------------------------------ From: BRECHER (13890) Subject: Problem with off-screen bitmaps. Date: 16-OCT 06:34 MUGS Online To: larryh@tekcbi.UUCP (Larry Hutchinson) Subject: Problem with off-screen bitmaps. > I swear that I have found a case where quickdraw does not ignore the visRgn > when drawing into an off-screen bitmap. > ... It's as if qd is not aware that the bitmap is off-screen. QuickDraw never ignores the visRgn when drawing anywhere. QuickDraw never cares whether it's drawing to the screen or not. IM, p. I-149: "The visRgn has no effect on images that aren't displayed on the screen. ... Unlike the visRgn, the clipRgn affects the image even if it isn't displayed on the screen." BUT, IM, p. I-155: "Drawing occurs ... always within the intersection of the grafPort's portBits.bounds and portRect, and clipped to its visRgn and clipRgn." Similarly on pp I-156, I-187 (ScrollRect) and I-188 (CopyBits). The former statement is misleading. I think the translation should be something like this: "When a grafPort is created, its visRgn is set to its portRect. If it's offscreen, the Window Manager will not diddle the visRgn and hence -- since it encompasses the entire portRect -- the visRgn will not have any independent effect on clipping of drawings." By using a pre-existing window's port, you violated the assumption underlying the statement. ------------------------------ From: BRECHER (13891) Subject: Question on contents of \"BootDrive\" Date: 16-OCT 06:36 MUGS Online To: bates@ssdevo.dec.com (Ken Bates DTN 522-2039) Subject: Question on contents of \"BootDrive\" > Does anyone know if the global location "BootDrive" (location 0x210) is > really valid? If I access it on either a HD20 or a HyperDrive, the contents > are 0x8023, which strikes me as a rather weird drive number. If I take this > number as valid and skim through the vcb queue looking for a match, I never > find it (looking for a match between BootDrive and vcbDrvNum). Booting from > a floppy, BootDrive turns out to be 0xFFFF, which is even stranger. When the startup volume is an HFS volume, BootDrive contains a WDRefNum which refers to the System folder. You can determine the vRefNum by calling GetWDInfo. When the startup volume is an MFS volume, BootDrive contains a vRefNum (e.g., $FFFF). The variable at $210 would be more appropriately named "BootRefNum" -- it never contains a drive number except for a short period during the actual boot process. ------------------------------ From: SBOAG (872) Subject: RE: Point in Oval (Re: Msg 867) Date: 16-OCT 15:56 Programming Techniques PtInRgn() is way too slow (at least that 's what I found). I have to set up a region and then draw in it and then do the test and then dispose of the region. this is too slow for one elipse, much less a nested series. As it is, I first test to see if the p oint is inside of the rect and then if it is I test to see if it's inside of the elipse. This seems to be pretty fast, and if I can get rid of the floating point, as peter suggested, it will be very fast. thanks, Scott Boag ------------------------------ From: SBOAG (873) Subject: RE: Point in Oval (Re: Msg 867) Date: 16-OCT 16:03 Programming Techniques Gee, that's an idea! My procedure as it stands is kind of pretty, that is I like the way it looks, so I might keep it for a while. Meanwhile now I'm trying to figure how to find if a point is in an arbitrary line. I have a formula that goes if y = (m*x)+b then true, but it also needs floating point and looses it on a vertical line (???). When I get all this figured out I'll download it as boag's special point/topology library (or something like that). What about a point in an arbitrary poly???? Thanks, Scott Boag ------------------------------ From: PEABO (874) Subject: RE: Point in Ovel (Re: Msg 873) Date: 16-OCT 22:22 Programming Techniques You need to think like Bill Atkinson. Bill didn't use floating point for much of anything in Quickdraw. There is another formula for a line which will be much more helpful. Let's suppose you have two points on the line (which determine the line of course) and call their coordinates (x1,y1) and (x2,y2). The formula for the line is: (x - x1) * (y2 - y1) - (y - y1) * (x2 - x1) = 0 No floating point. Not even any awkward division. Do be careful of the arithmetic if you use extremely large coordinates. PtOnPoly is left as an exercise for the student, because it's harder. ;-> peter ------------------------------ From: CHUQ (13911) Subject: RE: Microsoft cuts copy protection (Re: Msg 13905) Date: 17-OCT 01:00 MUGS Online Also MacPublisher II, whihc, acording to the latest MacWorld, has a new release out, been renamed Letrapage (in honor of their new owner) and has a bunch of new feathres. What I'd REALLY like to know is why MacWorld, with a three month or so leadtime, knows about this while a registered user has never heard word one. I expect that this is still vaporware for one thing ("by this time, we plan to ahve..." but I'll find out for sure tomorrow. mutter. I LOVE solid customer support. Can't find it, but I love it. chuq ------------------------------ From: DDUNHAM (13910) Subject: RE: Word processing for Welsh? Date: 17-OCT 00:26 Network Digests > From: Mark Nodine <mnodine@labs-b.bbn.com> > Subject: Word processing for Welsh? MacAuthor (aka LaserQuill) allows you to overstrike arbitrary characters. Editing a font shouldn't be that big a deal, tho. I recommend FONTastic, but you could use ResEdit. David Dunham "A mind is like a parachute. It only functions when open." Maitreya Design ------------------------------ From: BRECHER (13913) Subject: MicahDrive 30 XT Date: 17-OCT 04:04 Hardware & Peripherals A few days ago I reported that there was significant doubt that the 30 XT would be included in the new product line. Today I'm told that it's "almost certain" that it WILL be included. ------------------------------ From: BRECHER (13914) Subject: Prob: interpreting Pascal to C - HELP! Date: 17-OCT 05:12 MUGS Online To: MACA.AFCC@AFCC-4.ARPA Subject: Prob: interpreting Pascal to C - HELP! > FillRect(&myPort.portBits.Bounds, &Pat); The "b" in "bounds" must be lower-case. Unlike Pascal, C is case-sensitive. ------------------------------ From: TWEK (13921) Subject: Apple SCSI Date: 17-OCT 09:34 Hardware & Peripherals Does anybody know what the part number (MO????...) is for the new Apple SCSI hard disk? Also, when will they be shipping? Also, if we're making a mistake buying this drive, please let us know. Thanks! Ted. ------------------------------ From: HALL (13922) Subject: RE: Apple SCSI (Re: Msg 13921) Date: 17-OCT 19:30 Hardware & Peripherals According to two local dealers, they're already shipping. I've seen several in the stores. I don't know what the part number is, though. One complaint: they're a little noisy. They sound like a small jet. Brian ------------------------------ From: HALL (13923) Subject: Novation Professional 2400 Date: 17-OCT 19:37 Telecommunicating I recently bought a Novation Professional 2400 modem. It wasn't actually new, but was unused. This modem has a removeable ROM/dipswitch module, which makes for easy upgrades. I called Novation to find out what the latest version was, and found out that there was a newer version. (9, mine was 5) I asked them how to get an update, and they told me to send it in (with an RMA number), and they'd update it. The update was supposed to take a week to ten days. Well, I got a modem back today. It's not the modem I sent in, but an entirely new modem, including the transformer, phone cable, and manual. (I only sent the modem in.) And, it's version 10. They even sent it UPS Blue. And how much did it cost? Nothing. Nada. Now, that's pretty good service. They didn't even ask for a receipt for proof of purchase. The modem is great (the best one on the market), and they've added some new features. Brian In case this gets posted to the net: Man on the street: "What's a net for?" Man in white coat: "Catching a bunch of loonies." ------------------------------ From: HALL (13934) Subject: RE: Novation Professional 2400 (Re: Msg 13923) Date: 17-OCT 23:36 Telecommunicating Well, it appears that Novation has added some new features: they've gone fully Hayes 2400 compatible. The Professional 2400 no longer has DIP switches. They use non-volatile RAM now. (No wonder I couldn't get the "cover" off of the place where the switches should be!) They've also added some new commands, new registers, and new testing features. Brian ------------------------------ From: MOUSEKETEER (13925) Subject: This is long for Forum... Date: 17-OCT 21:00 Creative Pursuits WOW! MUSIC MOUSE! Normally I try to be pretty objective about software I talk about here. It is hard in this case....if you are interested in computer music or synthesizers, you'll want this one...a "next step" into computer music. "MUSIC MOUSE, An Intelligent Instrument" doesn't say half of it. First, just a bit of background. Computer music and synths both rely primarily on various methods of modulating a sound wave, be it square, ramp, sawtooth, whatever. The basic sound of most synthesizers and computer circuits sound very dull and lifeless without a varying degree of modulation. Sometimes the modulation paths and such are programmed into a synth voice. But the tools available to most musicians to physically control modulation are quite limited, i.e. a wheel next to the keyboard. A few years ago, Bob Moog (long O) designed a multi-layered touchplace that allowed a musician to control three forms of modulation at once, a stroke horizontally would control pitch, vertical movement could introduce a voltage into a second oscillator for a filter sweep, while pressure on the pad could control loudness. The result was a great leap in musical expression, but since Bob and a small staff built these units by hand, also a large dent in anyone's pocket ($600 or so). Now we have this cute little mouse and a way to read it's direction. While I suppose it would be possible to recreate Moog's touchplate on the Mac, Music Mouse is much more than that. Pushing your mouse, you actually "push music" around in real time, along vertical and horizontal axis of a piano keyboard. The program creates melody and harmony in relation to the movement of the mouse, but under rather total control of the user. Keyboard options include type of harmony (tonal, chromatic, etc.), transposition, voicing, counterpoint, dynamics, articulations, electronic orchestration, computer generated melodic-rhythmic patterning, chord-melody or voice pair formats, manual or automatic note generation, tempo, loudness, timbral and most MIDI controls. If that last paragraph lost you, the good news...you don't need (piano) key- board ability to "play" Music Mouse, or even the ability to read musical notation. A novice "playing" Music Mouse into one of the new "grand piano" samplers could give George Winston and Windham Hill a run for their money on keyboard improvisaton. _With_ some musical knowledge and experience, it's even more fun. While Music Mouse can output to the Mac's internal speaker, the most advanced functions can only be enjoyed when you connect it via a MIDI adapter to any MIDI synthesizer. Since a musical keyboard is not needed (though it will remain live while Music Mouse is running, should you want to "mouse" with one hand and play melody with the other), the less expensive "rack mount" synths make a great box for MM. If you really want to explore farther along, the ext. speaker jack of the Mac can be used to control voltage on older _analog_ synths, allowing vast grounds for atonal studies, etc. So what company is putting out this great program, and at what megabuck price? It's all done by a young female programmer in NYC, Laurie Spiegel....at $59.95, not-copyperverted. If you'd like to order the program, send payment to Laurie Spiegel, 175 Duane Street, New York City, NY 10013. If you'd like a very nicely done demo tape of what the program can do, send $5. If you'd like more information, next month's issue of Keyboard magazine will feature an article on Laurie and her work in computer music. Alf ------------------------------ From: NANOCHIP (13927) Subject: RE: medical systems/where are you? (Re: Msg 13551) Date: 17-OCT 21:16 Hardware & Peripherals Barry> (Sorry for the delay in replying...been busy) Judging from the support that Blythe Software was providing the Omnis 3 Developers at Boston MacExpo I don't get the impression that any of the products in the Omnis 3 Business directory are from amatures, but from professional software developers. (But since I havent' had any personal dealings with Blythe et al I'm just giving you my initial impression). As for templates (such as for Multiplan, FileVision) these programs are full blown customized applications developed wtih Omnis3+ . On support, of the 24 seperate medical packages listed in the Omnis Business directory there are 11 which specifically mention some form of support, both phone and on-site training available (7 of these 11 are general Medical Office Management type systems). Demo disks are available for many of the packages too (although I assume you would need Omnis3 to run the demo). As a fer instance: "Peak Performance" (from Silicon Medical Systems, 483 Murphy Road, Medford OR. 97504, (504) 779-9286) is a fully relational accounting and clinical data base system for the physician's office ... "We back our product and provide full support. Free on-line help from Silicon Medical Systems whenever needed. We value you as a customer." There are many more but just too many to mention here. Call Blythe Sofware at (415) 571-0222. The Omnis Business Directory (published quarterly) is $7 for a single issue. Wish I had some first hand experience with Blythe, but I haven't even had a chance to use Omnis3 yet myself! Anyway, I hope this helps you to gain a few more Mac converts. :-) Perhaps some of the more experienced Omnis users out there such as MACINTOUCH or STEVEMALLER would be the ones to ask about Omnis3+ and Blythe Software. <Chip ------------------------------ From: MACINTOUCH (13941) Subject: RE: medical systems/where are you? (Re: Msg 13927) Date: 18-OCT 05:06 Hardware & Peripherals We're not experienced Omnis 3 users here, but we've got a lot of friends who are. One could certainly get an amateurish impression from the incredibly ugly Omnis Business directory... Ric ------------------------------ From: HSTARR (13939) Subject: Tempo on Hyper 2000 Date: 18-OCT 03:27 Hardware & Peripherals Ric -- Use installer 1.1b, but before you do, use Resedit to renumber the Hyper INIT, "idinit" to the first available number above 3 (mine was 4). Because the Hyper 2000 INIT moves things around as it adds the GCC 1.5mb of memory, all that moving around has to be done before things that play with "BufPtr" get a chance. This includes things like StartupDesk, Tempo etc. Pity Macsbug doesn't work the same. BTW -- don't re-run HyperInstall or you will get a rude shock!! -- Harry ------------------------------ From: HSTARR (13955) Subject: Hyper 2000 Date: 18-OCT 16:49 Hardware & Peripherals Ric, have you noticed that when you create an HFS drawer with V3R1 s/w that the drawer is now a minimum of 768k!!!! It appears that the volume bitmap is being set up for a 20mb drive within each drawer (at 0.5k per bit, that is a hella of a lot of bits). Sheesh! When will they get it right. BTW - have you noticed that with HyperTools it sometimes takes 2 passes to get the Drawer optimally optimised. At least this Tool seems to work, and is great - we can at last Optimise HFS drawers. Wish they would hurry up and add the Hyper Diagnostics. On another note, have you seen all the trash that Hyperinstall adds to your system file. Question: Why don't GCC put ALL their drivers in that ROM of theirs? I can understand that configuration info should be Dynamic, but loading Hyper 10, Hyper 20 and Hyper 2000 resources into your system is not real nice. Harry ------------------------------ From: MACINTOUCH (13961) Subject: RE: Hyper 2000 (Re: Msg 13955) Date: 18-OCT 22:05 Hardware & Peripherals I talked with Jonathan Hurd Friday, and he said the latest HyperTools is something like 1.10. I've got an older 1.0 or 1.1. (Do you know Jay Roth, the programmer, located in San Fran?) It still doesn't have all the goodies, but they are apparently continuing work on it. Yeah, I wish more stuff was in ROM and more transparent, but I haven't dug much into it. Ric ------------------------------ From: MACINTOUCH (13965) Subject: RE: Hyper 2000 (Re: Msg 13961) Date: 18-OCT 22:15 Hardware & Peripherals By the way, they DO read the Delphi digests (just to check up on me... grin) Ric ------------------------------ From: HSTARR (13967) Subject: RE: Hyper 2000 (Re: Msg 13965) Date: 18-OCT 22:27 Hardware & Peripherals I am glad to hear they at least read something. Maybe they'll show some interest in getting their FX20 s/w to work on Prodigy's! I am amazed at some vendor's attitudes -- But the Prodigy is a minority (they say). Yes, at the moment. But when Apple releases their inevitable faster machines (we all know they are based on 68020 or greater chips), the problems that pioneers like me bring up, will become acute. And it's not as if I am some dumb fa..t; I'll even fix their s/w for them! But no, we are just the Geese out there called customers. Why, why should they have any of those things at all. Customers are just pains in the a...!! Come on boys -- wake up and smell the coffee. Do it right the first time! Listen to people who just might want to help. <<Flame off>> Harry ------------------------------ From: TSTEIN (876) Subject: WORD fonts Date: 19-OCT 00:22 Programming Techniques I am writing a small utility to change one font to another in Microsoft Word ( For example, change all Geneva to Helvetica). Everything works fine, except that 12 point New York is stored not as a font number and size in the Word file on disk, but just as an indication that the characters are in the default font. Does anyone know 1) is the font and pointsize Word uses as default stored in the document when saved? or 2) is there a way to modify Word to use a different default font? ------------------------------ End of Delphi Mac Digest ************************ -------