jms@tardis.Tymnet.COM (Joe Smith) (11/13/89)
In article <0ZKoagy00UkaFnd_R7@andrew.cmu.edu> bader+@andrew.cmu.edu (Miles Bader) writes: >new@udel.edu (Darren New) writes: :: In article <3260@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU> barrett@jhunix.UUCP (Dan Barrett) writes: :: >Selecting "user-supplied" would read the IFF 8SVX file "S:BeepSound" :: >and use it as the beep. :: No, no, no! Keep S: for scripts. Put it in DEVS:BeepSound. -- Darren : : Why is a sound-sample any more appropiate in "devs:" (devices) than in : "s:"??????? If you have ever done anything like "search S: mount" or "grep mount s:*", you can see the advantage of not putting binary files in a directory that you expect to have only text files. I used to have the executable binary for DirMaster in the same directory its data files until I got hit by this problem. Keeping only human-readable ASCII files in directories full of configuration files is a lot "cleaner". The world won't come to an end if you put binary files in S:, but it is not esthetically pleasing. ("A place for everything, and everything in its place.) -- Joe Smith (408)922-6220 | SMTP: JMS@F74.TYMNET.COM or jms@gemini.tymnet.com McDonnell Douglas FSCO | UUCP: ...!{ames,pyramid}!oliveb!tymix!tardis!jms PO Box 49019, MS-D21 | PDP-10 support: My car's license plate is "POPJ P," San Jose, CA 95161-9019 | narrator.device: "I didn't say that, my Amiga did!"
bader+@andrew.cmu.edu (Miles Bader) (11/13/89)
jms@tardis.Tymnet.COM (Joe Smith) writes: > In article <0ZKoagy00UkaFnd_R7@andrew.cmu.edu> bader+@andrew.cmu.edu (Miles Bader) \ > writes: > >new@udel.edu (Darren New) writes: > :: In article <3260@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU> barrett@jhunix.UUCP (Dan Barrett) writes: > :: >Selecting "user-supplied" would read the IFF 8SVX file "S:BeepSound" > :: >and use it as the beep. > :: No, no, no! Keep S: for scripts. Put it in DEVS:BeepSound. -- Darren > : > : Why is a sound-sample any more appropiate in "devs:" (devices) than in > : "s:"??????? > > If you have ever done anything like "search S: mount" or "grep mount s:*", > you can see the advantage of not putting binary files in a directory > that you expect to have only text files. I used to have the executable > binary for DirMaster in the same directory its data files until I got > hit by this problem. Keeping only human-readable ASCII files in directories > full of configuration files is a lot "cleaner". > > The world won't come to an end if you put binary files in S:, but it is > not esthetically pleasing. ("A place for everything, and everything > in its place.) I'm not arguing for putting a beep in S:, I'm arguing AGAINST putting it in devs:, which has a clear purpose. Make up a new standard place, like "lib:" or something, for keeping misc data. -Miles
wfh58@leah.Albany.Edu (William F. Hammond) (11/14/89)
In article <cZLiEH600UkaMj6ewj@andrew.cmu.edu>, bader+@andrew.cmu.edu (Miles Bader) writes: > . . . > > :: >Selecting "user-supplied" would read the IFF 8SVX file "S:BeepSound" > > :: >and use it as the beep. > > :: No, no, no! Keep S: for scripts. Put it in DEVS:BeepSound. -- Darren > > : > > : Why is a sound-sample any more appropiate in "devs:" (devices) than in > > : "s:"??????? > > > > If you have ever done anything like "search S: mount" or "grep mount s:*", > > you can see the advantage of not putting binary files in a directory > . . . > I'm not arguing for putting a beep in S:, I'm arguing AGAINST putting it in > devs:, which has a clear purpose. Make up a new standard place, like "lib:" > or something, for keeping misc data. *** I think "lib:" is already spoken for. But I don't like that approach. "devs:printers", "devs:keymaps" are things we already have, and "devs:sounds" would be OK for those with BIG HARD DRIVES. But please have mercy on those among us who do not have hard drives. How about an environmental variable "beepsound_0" that contains the name of the sound file? (Shall we start a fight about which kind of environmental variable? If so, I would argue for the kind that has minimum memory overhead when it is assumed that "ENV:" lives in "ram:".) If the variable is unset or set to the empty string, the user would get a display beep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ William F. Hammond Dept. of Mathematics & Statistics 518-442-4625 SUNYA wfh58@leah.albany.edu Albany, NY 12222 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
bader+@andrew.cmu.edu (Miles Bader) (11/14/89)
wfh58@leah.Albany.Edu (William F. Hammond) writes: > *** > I think "lib:" is already spoken for. But I don't like that approach. You're thinking of "libs:" > "devs:printers", "devs:keymaps" are things we already have, and "devs:sounds" > would be OK for those with BIG HARD DRIVES. But please have mercy on those > among us who do not have hard drives. Notice that the printer drivers and keymaps are both files used for interfacing with particular devices... Random sounds are not... -Miles
jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu (Jim Wright) (11/14/89)
bader+@andrew.cmu.edu (Miles Bader) writes: | wfh58@leah.Albany.Edu (William F. Hammond) writes: | > I think "lib:" is already spoken for. But I don't like that approach. | You're thinking of "libs:" Unless you have a compiler which wants a lib: directory. Yes it's spoken for. | > "devs:printers", "devs:keymaps" are things we already have and "devs:sounds" This sounds like the best idea so far. | Notice that the printer drivers and keymaps are both files used for | interfacing with particular devices... Random sounds are not... Why call a hardcopy system and an input system "devices", and exclude an audio system? -- Jim Wright jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu
bader+@andrew.cmu.edu (Miles Bader) (11/15/89)
jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu (Jim Wright) writes: > bader+@andrew.cmu.edu (Miles Bader) writes: > | wfh58@leah.Albany.Edu (William F. Hammond) writes: > | > "devs:printers", "devs:keymaps" are things we already have and "devs:sounds" > > This sounds like the best idea so far. > > | Notice that the printer drivers and keymaps are both files used for > | interfacing with particular devices... Random sounds are not... > > Why call a hardcopy system and an input system "devices", and exclude an > audio system? A sound is to the audio device as a document is to the printer. They are both input. Or an image file to the screen. You don't put your dpaint files in devs: do you? You might argue for putting bell sounds in "devs:conbeeps" (which would be directly referenced by the CONSOLE device) or something, but please don't call it "devs:sounds", because then people will start assuming it is a general storage area for any sound, no matter what the use. -Miles
new@udel.edu (Darren New) (11/15/89)
In article <cZLiEH600UkaMj6ewj@andrew.cmu.edu> bader+@andrew.cmu.edu (Miles Bader) writes: >I'm not arguing for putting a beep in S:, I'm arguing AGAINST putting it in >devs:, which has a clear purpose. Make up a new standard place, like "lib:" >or something, for keeping misc data. Well, it seems like the DEVS:System-Configuration, holding the preferences, would be the obvious place to store the name of the sound sample file. Since it is referenced by a file in DEVS: shouldn't it be in the DEVS: directory? This is not misc data (which I would think would be in ENV:, but that's anoither problem) but configuration info. -- Darren