SHULMAN@RED.RUTGERS.EDU (Jeffrey Shulman) (10/12/86)
Delphi Mac Digest Sunday, 12 October 1986 Volume 2 : Issue 51
Today's Topics:
RE: Versions in the night... (Re: Msg 13522)
RE: Radius FPD (Re: Msg 13555)
RE: Beep on startup (Re: Msg 13542)
DA Installer + (2 messages)
RE: Davong 10MB Hard Disk
RE: DataFrame spooler problems.. (Re: Msg 13527) (2 messages)
disk initialization bug? (2 messages)
MACazine errors
AST 2000 tape backup problem
HORIZONTAL lines!?! (3 messages)
IBM MultiMate to MSWord...
A better disk performance analyser...
Non-ejectable volumes
Problem with SCSI HD
PageMaker 2.0 (3 messages)
Alisa = VAX + Mac
100mb SCSI
RE: 100mb SCSI (Re: Msg 13645)
Micah Drive still around? (2 messages)
Fast Printer (2 messages)
Heap Fragmentation Problem
RE: Cooling fans
INIT 31 mechanism (3 messages)
s/w dev tools
HyperDrive FX/20
code segments (2 messages)
Usenut Digest Vol. 3 #54
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From: DSACHS (13559)
Subject: RE: Versions in the night... (Re: Msg 13522)
Date: 8-OCT-21:27: Mousing Around
The story I have is that the new Fontographer will start from the
SCREEN version of a font.
------------------------------
From: DDUNHAM (13560)
Subject: RE: Radius FPD (Re: Msg 13555)
Date: 8-OCT-21:27: Hardware & Peripherals
More in the FPD saga...
TMON won't work with the FPD screen running. I called ICOM, and they
said they don't have an FPD and therefore they don't support it, call
back in a month. :-(
The screen itself is very nice. The letters are a bit smaller, and
there is one major ergonomic failure: neck strain. Yup, I'm not used
to tilting my head down to read something. I've already got two
telephone books under the monitor, it looks like I'll be going to at
least 3.
The biggest problem is with software that doesn't like windows bigger
than their documents. Also, the first two Mac word processors don't
work too well with page-sized windows. Luckily, the next crop,
including MacAuthor, WriteNow, and HabaWord, all work fine.
Computer Ware in Palo Alto has the FPD on their price list, but I asked Radius
if other people would have to send in their Mac like I did, and they said that
for the time being, that's how they're handling it. (I asked before I saw the
Computer Ware catalog.)
------------------------------
From: IVANOVIC (13561)
Subject: RE: Beep on startup (Re: Msg 13542)
Date: 8-OCT-21:51: Bugs & Features
I have no alarm clock as a DA. I wonder if the startup code checks
the value of a global (usually set by the alarm clock) to determine if
a beep is appropriate. Changing system files usually fixes the
"problem." I've noticed no other effects.
------------------------------
From: INC (13563)
Subject: DA Installer +
Date: 8-OCT-22:10: Business Mac
Has anyone used this or have any comment on it? It seems to work
pretty well for me most of the time. It did corrupt the system on my
DatingGame 20 today though. (There's a name for you alf!). Any
views? comments, etc?
josh
------------------------------
From: LOFTUSBECKER (13566)
Subject: RE: DA Installer + (Re: Msg 13563)
Date: 8-OCT-22:27: Business Mac
One thing DA Installer+ does is mark all MENU resources as purgeable, I'm
told. If you use it, afterwards use ResEdit to make them unpurgeable. A purged
menu does bad things.
-Lofty
------------------------------
From: DSACHS (13564)
Subject: RE: Davong 10MB Hard Disk
Date: 8-OCT-22:11: Network Digests
RE: The problem of Mr. Harvey. Try erasing a volume from the Finder
(5.3). The volume will become HFS if it is big enough.
------------------------------
From: LAMG (13576)
Subject: RE: DataFrame spooler problems.. (Re: Msg 13527)
Date: 9-OCT-03:08: Hardware & Peripherals
Doug: I've used the Spooler with MacDraw, MacWrite and Dollars and Sense with
no problems - haven't tried it with MacPaint. -Franklin
------------------------------
From: MADMACS (13597)
Subject: RE: DataFrame spooler problems.. (Re: Msg 13576)
Date: 9-OCT-18:46: Hardware & Peripherals
Yes, it does work with MacDraw, MacWrite but not with Paint or
FullPaint. I have tried MaxPrint on my DataFrame and it works well
with everything (so far). I don't like the way it works as much as I
like SuperSpooler, however. In MaxPrint the document begins to print
from the spool almost immeadiately. This means that the spooling
operation (i.e. the time during which the Pause, Continue, Cancel
dialog is on the screen) takes much longer, since the spooling is
competing with the printing. In SuperSpooler the printing stops while
the document is spooled so that you are returned to the program much
faster. I like this much better. After all, if I am spooling the
files I want to have them spooled quickly and then get on with it,
rather than fight with the printer for CPU time. Let it print when I
am on the phone or doing something else. -Doug
------------------------------
From: RAMARREN (13579)
Subject: disk initialization bug?
Date: 9-OCT-04:10: Bugs & Features
Lately i've been getting a strange bug with my floppy drives. the
environment is a 512K Mac with MacMemory 1.5 MB add on, HD20, 128K
ROMs and two 800K drives. the HD is about 10-11 Meg full.
on sporadic occasion, the drives refuse to acknowledge a disk
insertion, or cannot read a diskette that was running perfectly
happily ten seconds before. the standard disk initialization dialogue
goes up, I click eject, nothing happens. The only recourse is to
reboot the machine, holding the mouse button down for a forced eject.
this happens randomly on both floppies. Same disks will read and
write perfectly the rest of the time. similar problems happen also
randomly when I call Erase Disk functions.
has anyone else seen this problem? i ran a set of hardware test
programs I have on the machine and they report nothing unusual in the
drives, RAM,etc.
would certainly like to hear about such.
thanks. gdg
ps:: in a moment of backup frenzy, I decided to do a test on mainstay's
FLA hard disk backup program: I backed up the entire HD20,
reinitialized it, and then restored the whole thing. FlashBack
worked flawlessly, did a reasonable job of backing things up
neatly (11 meg onto 14 800K floppies in 18-20 min, same restore)
and I recovered nearly a meg of space in the process. thought
you'd like to know; I have no connection with mainstay other than
now being sure that I will recommend their product to my users
group and purchase the copy of it loaned to me to test by my
dealer.
-gdg
------------------------------
From: MACINTOUCH (13592)
Subject: RE: disk initialization bug? (Re: Msg 13579)
Date: 9-OCT-11:39: Bugs & Features
This is interesting, because a fellow at the Boston Computer Society
meeting last night reported the same problem. (Lou Gross). I think
he also has expanded memory, although I don't know who the
manufacturer is. This is a weird problem, but seems to be a real one.
Lou also found his only option was to reboot the machine, after which
the same disk would be read fine. Finder 5.3/System 3.2 bug???
Ric
------------------------------
From: MACINTOUCH (13585)
Subject: MACazine errors
Date: 9-OCT-10:43: Hardware & Peripherals
MACazine, September 1986, published some of our benchmark tests in an article
by Michael Holloway (p. 92). Their sloppy layout created a lot of errors
and typos in the results. In addition, there is virtually no interpretation
of the information (which may be a good thing in this case ...).
To get the correct information, download our data in computer-readable
form from the ICONtact Hardware database, or contact us directly at:
"MacInTouch"
Ford-LePage, Inc.
PO Box 786
Framingham, MA 01701
617-661-8609
Ric Ford
Editor
------------------------------
From: MADMACS (13598)
Subject: AST 2000 tape backup problem
Date: 9-OCT-18:56: Hardware & Peripherals
Recently, when I was helping some friends back up their AST2000 to
tape, we got an alert that said "Error Writing to Tape" (To which you
have to click the button "OK" -- "Sure, hey, that's great!" Has anyone
else had this problem? The tape seems to be ok and when when we
copied on of the files back to the hard disk it appeared to be
undamaged. Is the drive fully backed up though? -Doug
------------------------------
From: INC (13612)
Subject: HORIZONTAL lines!?!
Date: 9-OCT-22:27: Hardware & Peripherals
A friend is having problems with their Mac 512. She has horizontal lines from
top to bottom about 1/8" apart, 1 dot thick (black lines). She said it would
make great stationary but doesn't want her mac to look like that....
Any ideas? Off to service?
thanks.
josh =
------------------------------
From: DWB (13624)
Subject: RE: HORIZONTAL lines!?! (Re: Msg 13612)
Date: 10-OCT 03:07 Hardware & Peripherals
Sounds like a dead memory chip to me. It is, if not a memory chip, at
least a memory circuitry problem. Have her take it in to a dealer.
It's even suprising that it works at all...
David
------------------------------
From: INC (13648)
Subject: RE: HORIZONTAL lines!?! (Re: Msg 13624)
Date: 10-OCT 21:18 Hardware & Peripherals
Embarrassing. It turned out to be their, hold your breath, desktop pattern.
People need to learn how to explain things better!
josh
------------------------------
From: INC (13613)
Subject: IBM MultiMate to MSWord...
Date: 9-OCT-22:30: Business Mac
Ok, here's a great one. I want to know if there is an easier way to convert a
MultiMate file from the Ibm to the mac, without having to:
> convert to ascii
> send over the phone
> strip control-characters
> " line feeds
> strip random garbage
> load it in to the Word (or Write)
> reformat.
Well?
thanks in advance.
josh
------------------------------
From: BRECHER (13625)
Subject: A better disk performance analyser...
Date: 10-OCT 06:10 MUGS Online
To: Scott Comer <wert@rice.edu>
Subject: A better disk performance analyser...
Seems to me this test will more reflect the presence/size of the cache and the
degree of file free-space fragmentation than the performance of the disk
subsystem itself.
One who has already purchased a particular disk drive knows its usable
performance through use. The problem is to compare competing candidate
subsystems on a basis which eliminates confounding variables such as cacheing
and the distribution of file free space.
------------------------------
From: BRECHER (13627)
Subject: Non-ejectable volumes
Date: 10-OCT 06:11 MUGS Online
To: bates@ssdevo.dec.com (Ken Bates DTN 522-2039)
Subject: Non-ejectable volumes
> Is there a quick and easy way to determine if a specific volume is a hard
> disk, e.g., non-ejectable [from the information returned by PBGetVInfo]?
If you really want to know whether the drive is marked non-ejectable,
you have to access the drive queue element. However, some disks which
are for most intents and purposes "hard" are also ejectable, e.g.,
Bernoulli Box volumes. It might suit your purpose to observe whether
or not the drive number is 1 or 2 -- internal or external floppy. The
drive number is returned by PBHGetVInfo, but not by PBGetVInfo. If
HFS is not present, you'd need to walk the VCB queue instead of using
PBGetVInfo in order to get the drive numbers. If you need to access
the drive queue element, the drive number would be the key to match
against when walking the drive queue.
Another clue is the size of the volume, ioVNmAlBlks*ioVAlBlkSiz + ioAlBlSt*512.
If it's less than or equal to 800K, then it's either a floppy or a small
partition of a hard disk.
------------------------------
From: BRECHER (13628)
Subject: Problem with SCSI HD
Date: 10-OCT 06:12 MUGS Online
To: saeta@husc4.harvard.edu (peter saeta)
Subject: Problem with SCSI HD
> I have a 30Mbyte Magic 30 SCSI hard disk made by Rabbit Technologies and
> experience the following problem. With the HD running, regardless of whether
> it was the startup disk, regardless of whether the application launched is
> on the HD, programs which operate in realtime run much slower and jerkily.
> ...
> We called Rabbit Technologies who claimed that the problem was with the
> Apple ROM (!!!)... that every SCSI hard disk has the same problem when
> there are many files on the disk.
Their claim is nonsense.
Here's a wild guess as to what's causing the problem. Most SCSI disks get
themselves mounted by setting the dNeedTime bit in the driver when the driver
is first opened, so that the driver will get called when the first application
calls SystemTask the first time. If the driver neglects to reset the dNeedTime
bit, it will get a call on every SystemTask forever after. I don't have
a lot of confidence in this theory, but it might be worth mentioning to Rabbit.
If you're at home with a debugger, you could test the theory by breakpointing
on the driver's Control entry point at a time when most any application is
just idling. If Control is entered, there's something wrong, and if $1A(A0)
contains $41, the theory is confirmed.
The DCE handle is at the address contained in $11C, plus 4*SCSI ID. The first
long in the DCE is the driver address. The word at offset $0C into the driver
plus the address of the driver is the Control entry point.
------------------------------
From: MACMAG (13639)
Subject: PageMaker 2.0
Date: 10-OCT 13:52 Business Mac
Since nobody is mentioning anything about it I thought I'd give you a
few of the new features that will appear in the new version of
PageMaker comming ou at the end of this month, begining of November.
- Kerning - Leading with special FFT files - Automatic hyphenation - Built-in
dictionary - Recovery from temporary files
( if your file crashes ) - Inclusion of Postscript
( You can even put a PageMaker page inside a PageMaker document ) - Better
screen display representation - Improved support for bigger resolution devices
- Improved publication size of document
( you'll be able to create PageMaker documents of 120 pages )
That's it for now, more when we finished playing with the beta.
Rich.
------------------------------
From: MACMAG (13661)
Subject: RE: PageMaker 2.0 (Re: Msg 13654)
Date: 11-OCT 02:03 Business Mac
Ok here's the goulash in more details:
PageMaker 2.0 will be able to read MacWrite, Text-only, Microsoft
Word, MacPaint MacDraw, Microsoft Works, MacDraft, FullPaint, Cricket
Graph, PICT, Cricket Draw, and Postscript files via the Place command.
Hyphenation
-=-=-=-=-=-
PMaker 2.0 will support 3 methods of doing hyphenation: Automatic (which will
be available from a 90,000-word dictionary supplied by Houghton-Mifflin Comp.).
You will be able to add 1,000 words of your own choosing. There will also be
prompted hyphenation for your own personal entries, and last there will be
the standard manual discretionary hyphens by keyboard (a la Microsoft Word).
Kerning
-=-=-=-
There will be two forms of kerning. Automatic pair kerning will work with
pre-defined pairs of characters established by the font manufacturer. Manual
kerning is the other, via the keyboard, to loosen and tighten the space
between any two letters.
Spacing
-=-=-=-
There is now a major rewrite over spacing capabilities. This includes word
spacing (inter-word spacing). For justifies text, the user has the option to
control the maximum and minimum amount of spacing.
Letter spacing is the inter-character spacing. This automatically ajusts
the space between letters within a line of text to eliminate excess white
space.
Last, there's paragraph spacing. You'll be able to specify additional space
before and after paragraphs in half-point increments.
Leader Tabs
-=-=-=-=-=-
PMaker 2.0 now supports leader-filled tabs. This feature will fill the space
preceeding tabs with thin-space periods, dashes, underlines, or user defined
leaders up to two different characters.
Fixed Spaces
-=-=-=-=-=-=
Supported are em-space, en-space, and thin-space characters.
TEXT
-=-=
With a single menu or keyboard command, a portion of text can change from
upper case to lowercase to all caps to small caps or even strike-thru letters.
Larger publications
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
With a new numbering systems, 2.0 creates files of up to 128 pages. Combined,
you can have numbered pages of up to 9,9999 pages.
Interactive facing pages
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The five interactive viewing sizes can be displayed as single pages or facing
pages. With a facing page view you can work on a double-page spread without
having to shift back to left/right pages.
Lines
-=-=-
There are new line styles such as half-point and reversed. Half-point fills
the gap between the hairline and one-point line. With the reverse command
any line style will reverse white out of black.
Column Width Sizing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
You can now resize the lenght or width of a column by dragging the mouse.
Text editing
-=-=-=-=-=-=
Editing can now be done through keyboard shortcuts. There are also cursor
control keys for text modification.
Selection
-=-=-=-=-
You now have the ability to select either an entire story or all the objects
on a page with one command. Selecting an entire story allows you to make
global changes such as text attributes or point sizes for the whole story.
Fast Move
-=-=-=-=-
Text blocks can be moved quickly on screen by pressing the mouse. This way
you will drag a box outline of the desired object. If this isn't suitable,
by pressing the mouse down a little longer, you will see the complete image.
Scanned image support
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Postscript graphic files can now be placed in PageMaker where they can be
scaled and cropped. If a screen image of the graphic is included with the
PScript file, it is displayed when the file is placed in PMaker. Otherwise
no representation will appear. A box outline representing the exact size
will otherwise appear. You can even place a PageMaker page in your PageMaker
documents!
High resolution scanners that support the standard Tag Image File Format (TIFF)
such as the Microtek, DEST, Datacopy and others will be fully supported.
Display enhancements
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
An image that had been cropped to fit a given space can be scrolled to expose
a different part of the original image.
Screen positioning of line endings is an exact representation of their
printed version.
Accuracy of rulers, line styles and positioning has been improved for every
page view.
Spooling
-=-=-=-=
PageMaker 2.0 will support spooling using Apple's new print spooling protocol.
Printing enhancements
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
PMaker will calculate ideal enlargements and reduction factors based on the
printer's resolution, for bit-map graphics. This will iliminate irregula-
rities in bit-maps with regular patterns.
There will also be automatic tiling for documents that run larger than 8 1/2
by 11. Automatic crop marks on final documents will be printed where it
should be trimmed. You'll be able to print pages in reverse order and collate
pages.
The ImageWriter will be part of the deal in the way of better support and
taking advantage of it's unique features. Text and Graphics output on the
ImageWriter can now more acurately match LaserWriter output.
Overall
-=-=-=-
You'll see over performance improvents in text editing, save, goto page, open,
and close commands, and the support of large screen displays.
Crash
-=-=-
PageMaker now has a built-in mechanism for crash recovery. damaged files can
now be restored to the state of the last turned page.
Voila, hope this wets your appetite. That's all for now, I'll keep you all
informed on comming attractions such as SuperPaint and Solo.
Ciao for now.
Richard Brandow
MacMag
Software front.
------------------------------
From: MACINTOUCH (13683)
Subject: RE: PageMaker 2.0 (Re: Msg 13661)
Date: 11-OCT 10:49 Business Mac
Rich,
What about Place-ing digitized images from Microtek, Thunderscan and similar
files??
Ric
------------------------------
From: MACINTOUCH (13640)
Subject: Alisa = VAX + Mac
Date: 10-OCT 17:31 Business Mac
Bob Denny is the fellow who writes about C in MacTutor. He's also the
president of Alisa Systems. The newly announced version of Helix
which runs on a VAX was apparently written with the help of (or by)
Alisa Systems. In addition, Alisa has announced VAX file server and
laser spooling software. It looks like a giant step forward for
Macintosh fans in DEC environments. Alisa is at 211 E. Walnut St.,
Suite 230, Pasadena, CA 91100; 818-792-9474. We'll be following up on
what they're doing and we hope others will too, sending more news
through the nets.
Ric Ford
"MacInTouch" newsletter
------------------------------
From: HSTARR (13645)
Subject: 100mb SCSI
Date: 10-OCT 19:16 Hardware & Peripherals
Hey guys -- does any one have any experience, or comments, about the 100mb SCSI
drives being offered by Gabriel SYstems. They are using Priam v185 drives with
Adaptec controller. The 60mb lists for $1795, the 88mb for $2195 and the 100mb
for $2595. .These drives claim 30msec seek, are RLL encoded and claim to run
with a 1:1 interleave.
Comments anyone!! [ I have no commercial interest in Gabriel systems ]
------------------------------
From: BRECHER (13675)
Subject: RE: 100mb SCSI (Re: Msg 13645)
Date: 11-OCT 07:39 Hardware & Peripherals
Ask them how big the controller buffer is. If it's the Adaptec 4070
or similar, it's 1K -- hardly enough to support 1:1 interleave with
RLL. If it's got a full-track buffer, then maybe.
------------------------------
From: WESTEN (13649)
Subject: Micah Drive still around?
Date: 10-OCT 21:18 Hardware & Peripherals
This may sound completely silly, but the HyperDrive Rep for my area
told me that the Micah drive people filed for chapter 11 today. Is
this true??? I had not heard of any weakness at the company, but I
may be out of touch. Or, is the rep perhaps conning me a bit?? -Chuck
------------------------------
From: BRECHER (13676)
Subject: RE: Micah Drive still around? (Re: Msg 13649)
Date: 11-OCT 07:39 Hardware & Peripherals
Control of MICAH was recently acquired by a well-funded company. The new
majority owners decided that a chapter 11 filing was best for the longevity of
MICAH. The reasons for this are tied both to general financial difficulties
that MICAH had gotten into pre-acquisition, and to a specific and serious
problem that had arisen with one key vendor which threatened MICAH's existence.
The foregoing is what I am told (I am a contractor to MICAH). The new majority
owners appear to be confident in MICAH's product and market position, and in
their own ability to provide the sound financial management that had been
previously lacking. Turn-arounds seem to be their specialty.
I was disappointed to find out about the chapter 11 filing, because (a) it does
complicate the business dealings with the company of vendors such as myself for
awhile; but more important (b) most people incorrectly interpret chapter 11 to
mean "belly up," and I thought that would hurt MICAH's marketing efforts among
end users. However, the new majority owners still thought that chapter 11 was
on balance the best course.
------------------------------
From: OHMSOFT (13656)
Subject: Fast Printer
Date: 11-OCT 00:27 Hardware & Peripherals
Does anyone know of a successful interface of a Mac to a high speed
(band or dot matrix) printer? I'm thinking of something in the
150-300 lines per minute range with acceptable forms handling
pinfeeders & capability for multi-part forms. With our SCSI drives
getting bigger & bigger, we'll need a way to print out all this data,
eventually.
------------------------------
From: MACINTOUCH (13684)
Subject: RE: Fast Printer (Re: Msg 13656)
Date: 11-OCT 10:51 Hardware & Peripherals
Can you get serial interfaces on those printers? Seems like the only problem
would be an appropriate printer driver software file that understands the
control characters used.
Ric
------------------------------
From: BRECHER (13673)
Subject: Heap Fragmentation Problem
Date: 11-OCT 07:38 MUGS Online
To: JDM%SMVL%rca.com@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA
Subject: Heap Fragmentation Problem
> Does anyone know what can be done to stop CODE 1 from begin placed in
> the middle of the heap?
Make sure it has the resLocked attribute in the resource file. The segment
loader will load CODE resources that are not resLocked at the top of the heap,
which, in the case of CODE 1, occurs before you've called MaxApplZone -- so the
top at that time will become "1/3 of the way" later.
------------------------------
From: MACINTOUCH (13677)
Subject: RE: Cooling fans
Date: 11-OCT 10:22 Network Digests
One thing that I haven't seen noted in the fan discussion was brought
up a while back on CompuServe. It seems that almost all the air
pulled into a stock Mac for cooling comes from the _front_ vent, and
not from either of the side vents. This implies that one should take
care not to block that vent, by pushing the keyboard up against it for
instance.
Ric Ford
------------------------------
From: HSTARR (843)
Subject: INIT 31 mechanism
Date: 10-OCT 22:08 Programming Techniques
Be aware that when your code is running as an INIT under the INIT 31 mechanism,
that you are a Handle via an open resource file. If you use SetAppBase, which
destroys the Application heap, and consequently, the Resource Map, you are left
dangling in mid air. If you indulge in App heap or memory related size changes,
you would be better off to do a _RecoverHandle , _DetachHandle to preserve the
Mac memory managers view of your code.
I hope this helps someone!
------------------------------
From: PEABO (844)
Subject: RE: INIT 31 mechanism (Re: Msg 843)
Date: 11-OCT 00:51 Programming Techniques
I'd imagine also that a bug related to that could remain hidden for a good deal
longer than it would in a normal application, since the environment during the
running of INIT's is much less chaotic than it is in an active application.
peter
------------------------------
From: HSTARR (847)
Subject: RE: INIT 31 mechanism (Re: Msg 844)
Date: 11-OCT 15:53 Programming Techniques
I first encountered this problem when I blindly put INITs in a
separate file, setting the file type to INIT so that the INIT31
mechanism would execute them. I liked the idea - no more cut and paste
with Resedit, and I could deactivate an INIT by just moving the file
out of the System folder ("Blessed folder"). The problem INIT was
StartupDesk -- it is quite dramatic,as it expands the SYstem heap, and
then allocates a screen buffer in the recently expanded heap. However,
as the INIT's Resource map entry was in the App heap, it was zonked by
the _SetAppBase call, and so the NewPtr promptly allocated mem over
the top of the executing code. The solution is to do a _RecoverHandle,
_DetachHandle at the front of the INIT.
------------------------------
From: JOSEF (13690)
Subject: s/w dev tools
Date: 11-OCT 16:00 Programming
I would like to solicit some suggestions/comments from any hard core
software developers (or anyone else with an opinion, for that matter).
I'm manager of software at a small (~80) company involved in digital
voice and telecommunications. We currently do all our s/w development
(try not to laugh) on a PDP 11/70 running UNIX V7. There are about
35-40 users(!) connected to the system, which is also used for word
processing, spreadsheets, electronic mail, etc. I will soon have the
opportunity to replace this antiquated pile of junk with a new system.
I havenUt had much time to research it, but right now there appear to
be 3 leading contenders: Sun, Apollo, and DEC. I am currently heavily
leaning toward installing a network based on Sun's workstations. If
anyone has any experience with any of these, I would be very
interested in hearing about it.
Joe
PS: The development tools on our 11/70 are so bad that IUm using my
MAC to develop the s/w for a current project. The LightSpeedC/TMON
combination are far superior to anything available on the PDP!
------------------------------
From: WESTEN (13710)
Subject: HyperDrive FX/20
Date: 11-OCT 22:22 Hardware & Peripherals
Steve, do you know anything about the FX/20? How does it compare
against the Micah external and the DataFrame (XP or otherwise?). I'm
"evaluating " to see if I should carry it in my store (currently
carrying Dataframe). The simple observations that I've made are that
the laser spooler seems nice (though prone to hang it seems), but the
price is higher with only a 3 month warrentee (extension to 1 year for
$200), it has a plastic case, is too big to fit in the MacPacks
(Linebacker) carrying cases I favor, and is rather loud.
Specifically, HyperDrive seems to have a poor reputation for service
and reliability...is that likely a function of the internal drive
alone or is it likely to carry over to their external drives? (You're
not omniscient, of course, but I respect your opinion...fool that I
be!). Any comments you might have are appreciated.
------------------------------
From: JOSEF (848)
Subject: code segments
Date: 11-OCT 16:12 Programming Techniques
I have a question about code segments and loading, which results from
the fact that until just recently, none of my programs had ever
approached the 32K limit. The way I understand it, a given segment
(other than CODE 1) is not loaded until a routine in that segment is
needed. Does that mean that if I want all the segments loaded at
launch time, I have to issue a series of LOADSEG calls in my
initialization code, or is there some flag I can set which will do
this for me automatically?
Joe
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From: BRECHER (849)
Subject: RE: code segments (Re: Msg 848)
Date: 11-OCT 18:21 Programming Techniques
Any resources (including CODE resources) that have the resPreload attribute in
the resource file will be loaded before your application starts executing. How
you would go about setting resPreload depends on your development system. In
the worst case, you could use ResEdit.
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From: MOUSEKETEER (13712)
Subject: Usenut Digest Vol. 3 #54
Date: 11-OCT 23:31 Network Digests
Usenut Digest, Vol 3, #54
Today's Topics:
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Dinner At Sixish Bug?
Word Tools Templates Sought
Ars Magna Program
The New One Slotted Mac, A Review
Do The New Colored Disks Cause Cancer?
Help For Shareware Authors
Why Does It Do This When I Do That, Usually?
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From: Harvey Unista (harv.uni@harv.uni, #~!)
Subject: Tuna Again?
We need the help of anyone on this one! Several weeks ago the campus
cafeteria began using a Mac on loan from Apple to assist in menu preparation.
While the program, Dinner At Sixish, is supposed to suggest menus that promise
a healthy combination from the basic food groups, we have been eating only
Tuna Noodle Casserole since the unit's installation! Since this includes
lunch, dinner and even breakfast you can imagine the near riots we face three
times each day.
Does anyone know if Dinner At Sixish actually contains recipes for anything
besides Tuna Noodle Casserole, or if we have a bad copy of the program?
Thanks,
Harv U, the Chef
"Keep a fresh box of Armand Hammer in your frig for a clean, sweet smell."
- From the side of a box
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From: A guy who doesn't even know Doug Clapp (dclapp@stan.uni @@ stan)
Subject: Templates Sought for Word Tools
Hi,
I'm looking for some ideas in templates for Word Tools. I know the program
isn't really out yet or anything, but if you have some ideas on what could be
in a Word Tools template, or in the program at all for that matter, I would
like to hear them. Again, let me point out that I don't even know Doug Clapp,
that he and I really aren't good friends, and just because the two of us went
halvsies on all that advertising, you shouldn't draw the wrong conclusion. We
really do have a program to bring out...honest! And Doug says...oooops. Well,
anyway, we need ideas, so please send them along. I'll summarize for the net,
of course.
Not D.C.
"Really, we do have a program to bring out....just be patient, ok?" -- N.D.C.
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From: incognito dish (intoshod@gini)
Subject: Ars Magna
Incandescent book worm? Ambivalent fever quips shuck story, prone tall
foo bird scribbage. Jury gram roll examine, hybrid prime splash. Depot fish
elf impasse, mean nasal paper reservation. Constituent diploma exonerate hear
lounge obstetrician psychic?
Stank H!
"Pool fromage blister, truck several geese gelatin."-- Spear Shakee
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From: John Sculley (n.s.j.@apple.cupertino)
Subject: New Slotted Mac Specs
You're kidding, right? You didn't really expect to read anything here did you?
Boy, some people are SO gullible! I mean, _I_ know all about the new single
slotted Mac coming out next March, but you don't know diddly about it. That's
why I'm CEO and you're not! HA! HA! HA!
N.S.J.
"We didn't really plan on having many Apple IIGS's for the Christmas selling
season, so quit talking about it, OK?" - J.G.
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JEFFS>> Alf, cut that out! That's not a real digest and you know it!
MAC> sen jeffs Ooops...
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End of Delphi Mac Digest
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