AWCTTYPA@UIAMVS.BITNET ("David A. Lyons") (04/12/88)
>Date: Sat, 9 Apr 88 19:58:00 EDT >From: SASQUATCH%ALBION.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU >Subject: mixed bag >Comments: To: info-apple@BRL.ARPA >What are the practical limitations of CDAs? I'm thinking along the line of a >program that's a CDA. It'd be rather nice to be able to call up my modem >program from with another program and run it, then return to the other >program. You might want to look into a thing called SoftSwitch from Roger Wagner Publishing. It's a CDA that lets you switch between 3 separate 128K environments (between 3 ProDOS 8 or DOS 3.3 programs, but not ProDOS 16). >Would it be possible to write a modem software that worked as a CDA Yes. There are some very simple modem programs available as CDAs--I haven't seen one that does terminal emulation or up/downloading yet. >or write a CDA that could call in and run a specific piece of software and >then return you to the software from whence you came? Yes, but there are some very non-trivial problems. It might not be possible to follow all the rules, so there would be compatibility problems. (Basically, a CDA can get called when all the bank 0 memory is already being used, and it has to break some strange things to use it.) >About mice. I don't really care for them. Is it possible to wire a regular >joystick up to the appropriate connector and use that instead of a mouse? >I work with rather restricted desk space and would rather move a joystick than >have to constantly clear space for that silly mouse. I think someone already suggested you look into trackballs--I agree. It would be possible to write a driver for your SYSTEM.SETUP directory that would keep reading the joystick n times per second and calling FakeMouse to tell the event manager that the mouse is there. There would be a few problems with this, like the difference in resolution--the joystick port returns (0..255,0..255), but you need 0..639 horizontal positions to be able to put the "mouse" anywhere you want. >On a related note, would there be any problem makeing an ADB splitter >so that I could hook my mouse (or, hopefully joystick :-) to the back of the >apple, then plug my keyboard into that? Yes, there's a problem--WHERE DO YOU GET FEMALE ADB CONNECTORS? Other than that, it will work just fine. The 2 connectors on ADB devices are wired straight-through anyway, so everything is in parallel logically even if it *looks* like it's serial from the way cables go from one device to the next. >Kevin Lepard >Bitnet: SASQUATCH@ALBION --David A. Lyons a.k.a. DAL Systems PO Box 287 | North Liberty, IA 52317 BITNET: AWCTTYPA@UIAMVS CompuServe: 72177,3233 GEnie mail: D.LYONS2
douglas@reed.UUCP (P Douglas Reeder) (04/13/88)
In article <8804120050.aa03119@SMOKE.BRL.ARPA> AWCTTYPA@UIAMVS.BITNET ("David A. Lyons") writes: >It would be possible to write a driver for your SYSTEM.SETUP directory that >would keep reading the joystick n times per second and calling FakeMouse to >tell the event manager that the mouse is there. There would be a few problems >with this, like the difference in resolution--the joystick port returns >(0..255,0..255), but you need 0..639 horizontal positions to be able to >put the "mouse" anywhere you want. > One possible way to get increased resolution is to use a joystick with larger pots that the standard ones. You'd have to rewrite the joystick-reading routine to allow for the longer wait times and two-byte values, a simple task. Another possibility- if it is possible to access the hardware-page at high speed, you could use regular pots and get higher resolution by reading the paddle input more often. caveat: I'm unfamiliar with the gs. -- Doug Reeder USENET: ...!tektronix!reed!douglas 10 Cyclopedia Square from BITNET: douglas@reed.UUCP Terminus City from ARPA: tektronix!reed!douglas@berkley Terminus,The Foundation Box 502 Reed College,Portland,OR 97202