kms@ecsvax.UUCP (Ken Steele) (08/25/89)
I just got WordPerfect (4.1.9 Aug 10 1988). I figured
that all the bugs should be worked out by now. However
I discovered that I loose 50k of memory for just
invoking the sucker (no file load, no print, no nothing)
and it apparently doesn't come back. I called WP and
the answerer (Cody) said that it was a known problem
that would be corrected in the NEXT version.
Note my revision date (Aug 1988)! Given the recent discussion
about the decision of WP to hold off on further development,
my revision date (and it is the newest) makes one wonder
when that decision was made internally.
In any case, this far into revisions and they still have
a problem with un-flushed libraries. Shame on you WP.
Ken
--
Ken Steele Dept. of Psychology kms@ecsvax.[bitnet || UUCP]
Mars Hill College kms@ecsvax.uncecs.edu
Mars Hill, NC 28754 dlarson@blake.acs.washington.edu (Dale Larson) (08/26/89)
In article <7563@ecsvax.UUCP> kms@ecsvax.UUCP (Ken Steele) writes: > >I just got WordPerfect (4.1.9 Aug 10 1988). I figured >that all the bugs should be worked out by now. However >I discovered that I loose 50k of memory for just >invoking the sucker (no file load, no print, no nothing) >and it apparently doesn't come back. I called WP and >the answerer (Cody) said that it was a known problem >that would be corrected in the NEXT version. > >In any case, this far into revisions and they still have >a problem with un-flushed libraries. Shame on you WP. > >Ken Be prepared to find several other problems. There is a bug in the switch function, there are low memory-handling problems, and there are problems with the list files function under FFS. I have been calling WP on behalf of myself and the law office I work for as a systems manager (3 Amigas sharing a big harddrive with CLtd controllers) Since early January. About every two weeks they tell me (alternatively) "The next release will be out when it's out" and "Next week". I'm about ready to find new word processing software, as it is getting REALLY difficult to explain to the lawyers why their "state of the art" system is seeing an average of a couple of guru's per system per day! BTW, when I talked to Cody this morning (about 15 minutes before reading the above message), he indicated that gripes should be sent to the WP address Attn. Amiga Develpment. When I told him that I was ticked off at upper management for not fixing things, rather than the under-staffed programming team, he indicated that I might want to write to the Director of Marketing, Reed Hainsworth. If you have something to say to the people who took your $150 without releasing any fixes for known bugs for more than a year, please write to Mr. Hainsworth. I fully intend to tell him how pissed I am on behalf of our $500 investment. For those who think I'm wasting net bandwidth, my appologies, but perhaps WordPerfect will get some bugs fixed if their executives have to hire extra people to sort their mail :-) -- A lack of prior planning on the part of any programmer always constitutes an emergency. Digital Teddy Bear dlarson@blake.acs.washington.edu
dlarson@blake.acs.washington.edu (Dale Larson) (08/26/89)
/* Go ahead, eat this line */ Sorry, but Mr. Jesup just reminded me of another WP bug: In article <7752@cbmvax.UUCP> jesup@cbmvax.UUCP (Randell Jesup) writes: > > Everyone has known from Day 1 (and many before) that spaces were >allowed in file names and device names. There is a limit on how much we can >do to make already broken programs work. Far more important is to avoid >breaking correct programs. > >-- >Randell Jesup, Keeper of AmigaDos, Commodore Engineering. >{uunet|rutgers}!cbmvax!jesup, jesup@cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com BIX: rjesup >Common phrase heard at Amiga Devcon '89: "It's in there!" WordPerfect barfs if there is a space at the end of a file name, and indicates in it's manual that there should be no spaces anywhere in any file names. -- A lack of prior planning on the part of any programmer always constitutes an emergency. Digital Teddy Bear dlarson@blake.acs.washington.edu
billsey@agora.UUCP (Bill Seymour) (08/26/89)
From article <7563@ecsvax.UUCP>, by kms@ecsvax.UUCP (Ken Steele): > I just got WordPerfect (4.1.9 Aug 10 1988). I figured > that all the bugs should be worked out by now. However > I discovered that I loose 50k of memory for just > invoking the sucker (no file load, no print, no nothing) > and it apparently doesn't come back. I called WP and > the answerer (Cody) said that it was a known problem > that would be corrected in the NEXT version. > > Note my revision date (Aug 1988)! Given the recent discussion > about the decision of WP to hold off on further development, > my revision date (and it is the newest) makes one wonder > when that decision was made internally. I just grabbed an announcement from WP off of Plink last night. Here's the text... The following information was provided by Lynn LeBaron of WordPerfect Corp. Please redistribute this information to BBSes, newsletters, wherever people are likely to see it. Registered owners of WordPerfect 4.1 for the Amiga should contact WPCorp in Orem, Utah for more information. The phone number is in your manual. . ------ QUOTE . A brief description of the features and enhancements provided by the soon to be released maintenance update of Amiga WordPerfect 4.1: . - beep - setup option - the user now has more beep options. This includes an audible as well as screen beep. The user can specify that the beep will occur on 1- hyphenation, 2- search failure, 3- errors, & 4- three seconds before an auto backup occurs (backup warn). . - default macro path - setup option - the user can now specify where he would like his macros saved. . - default document path - setup option - path where file requestors will default to unless the user specifies otherwise. . - screen options - setup option - the user can now have WordPerfect open on the WorkBench screen, or two-bit plane interlace or non-interlace screens. . - edit buffer sizing - setup option - the amount of memory that is used for editing a document can now be more carefully controlled. If a user turns on 'auto' edit buffer sizing WordPerfect will allocate enough memory to hold the entire document in memory (as opposed to keeping some of it on disk) within the bounds the user has set. Having the entire document in memory enhances the speed of editing and most other features. However, the user can put limits on the amount of memory used by WordPerfect, thus allowing him/her sufficient memory to run other applications in conjunction with WordPerfect. . - auto hyphenation - with this option on WordPerfect trys to algorithmically hyphenate thus relieving the user of having to respond to hyphenation requestor. . -hyphenation disable - on occasion, documents get bad data in them, or mistakes occur which would normally cause the hyphenation requestor to come up many times. Sometimes this occurs by accidently setting the margins very small, or editing a file receive via modem which has ^Zs padding the end of the file. Usually all it would take to fix it would be to delete the offending code(s) from the document. This can be frustrating situation since WordPerfect insists on using this data even though it wasn't really intended to be there. Hyphenation disable was invented to handle this situation. When the hyphenation requestor comes up, the user simply presses 'disable' and the hyphenation requestor will no longer appear. This mode allows the user to break the normal rules of WordPerfect. I.e. it allows lines to be wider than the margins, thus making it possible to remove the offending data and then re-enable hyphenation to work in normal mode. If the user forgets to re-enable hyphenation, WordPerfect will remind him/her when he/she tries to save or print the document, thus making sure that the document is properly formatted before putting it anywhere permanent. . - file requestors - the file requestors in WordPerfect have been modified to be consistent with the Amiga user interface. . - scroll arrows - all scroll arrows have been moved to the bottom of their respective scroll bar to allow easier incremental access. This is consistent with future standards set by Commodore. . - taller font support - WordPerfect will now display any non-proportional 8xN font for document editing. . - requestor consolidation - many cases of multiple requestors coming up have been replaced with single requestors performing the function of the many. This includes: column definition, page length setting, hyphenation options, beep options, print options (in Print), etc. . - spell checking - better speed, smoother, progress report (updates a word count display every eight words) . Expected ship date: 1 September 1989. . END OF QUOTE The expectation is that previously unsquashed bugs will be gone also... Note that the last update was closer to October 1988, not the version you've bought. Maybe yours has been on the shelf for a while... > Ken Steele Dept. of Psychology kms@ecsvax.[bitnet || UUCP] > Mars Hill College kms@ecsvax.uncecs.edu > Mars Hill, NC 28754 -- -Bill Seymour ...tektronix!reed!percival!agora!billsey ...tektronix!sequent.UUCP!calvin!billsey Bejed, Inc. NES, Inc. Northwest Amiga Group At Home Sometimes (503) 691-2552 (503) 246-9311 (503) 656-7393 BBS (503) 640-0842
usenet@cps3xx.UUCP (Usenet file owner) (08/26/89)
In article <7563@ecsvax.UUCP> kms@ecsvax.UUCP (Ken Steele) writes: [stuff removed] >In any case, this far into revisions and they still have >a problem with un-flushed libraries. Shame on you WP. I *LIKE* unflushed libraries. Assumeing that the memory loss is only just that, then it is a *Feature*, not a flaw. Note that there is a difference between unflushed and not closed. Is all libraries (and devices) get closed properly, then they will be flushed out when there is acutally a memory shortage. It is a pain in the *ss to use two switch between two different programs that use the same .library or .device, when they insist upon flush libs+devices when they exit (I don't have a hardrive). At the very least, they should provide an option to either do/don't flush libs on exit. ` REAL NAME: Joe Porkka jap@frith.cl.msu.edu
dlarson@blake.acs.washington.edu (Dale Larson) (08/27/89)
(Bill Seymour) writes: >(Ken Steele): >> I just got WordPerfect (4.1.9 Aug 10 1988).... >...Note that the last update was closer to October 1988, >not the version you've bought. Maybe yours has been on the shelf for >a while... Gee Bill, I wish you'd let the people at WP support know about this :-) because they've been telling me about twice a month for the last nine months that 4.1.9 (Aug 10 1988) is the latest release and that the bugs will be fixed (alternately) "next week" or "in the indefinate future." Yesterday they told me "The bugs will be fixed when they're fixed." -- A lack of prior planning on the part of any programmer always constitutes an emergency. Digital Teddy Bear dlarson@blake.acs.washington.edu
kms@ecsvax.UUCP (Ken Steele) (08/27/89)
In article <4309@cps3xx.UUCP>, usenet@cps3xx.UUCP (Usenet file owner) writes: > In article <7563@ecsvax.UUCP> kms@ecsvax.UUCP (Ken Steele) writes: > [stuff removed] > >In any case, this far into revisions and they still have > >a problem with un-flushed libraries. Shame on you WP. > > I *LIKE* unflushed libraries. Assumeing that the memory loss is only > just that, then it is a *Feature*, not a flaw. > Note that there is a difference between unflushed and not closed. > Is all libraries (and devices) get closed properly, then they will be > flushed out when there is acutally a memory shortage. > I was deliberately a little vague on flushing vs. closing because I got a very vague story from WP. I asked what would happen when memory was scarce and the answer I got was maybe some of it could be returned... It was not discussed in the tone of voice that one would associate with a feature--even an obscure one. In any event, my memory loss is much greater (~140k) if I ~strain~ the program by writing a 100-word memo and then print it. And that really is too much. > REAL NAME: Joe Porkka jap@frith.cl.msu.edu Ken -- Ken Steele Dept. of Psychology kms@ecsvax.[bitnet || UUCP] Mars Hill College kms@ecsvax.uncecs.edu Mars Hill, NC 28754
kms@ecsvax.UUCP (Ken Steele) (08/27/89)
In article <3388@blake.acs.washington.edu>, dlarson@blake.acs.washington.edu (Dale Larson) writes: > (Bill Seymour) writes: > >(Ken Steele): > >> I just got WordPerfect (4.1.9 Aug 10 1988).... > >...Note that the last update was closer to October 1988, > >not the version you've bought. Maybe yours has been on the shelf for > >a while... > > Gee Bill, I wish you'd let the people at WP support know about this :-) > because they've been telling me about twice a month for the last nine > months that 4.1.9 (Aug 10 1988) is the latest release > Digital Teddy Bear dlarson@blake.acs.washington.edu The official date came from the help menu (its official location). But I noticed also that some files had more recent dates, the most recent was in Oct. 88. Evidently these changes were not strong enough to warrant being an official change. My copy of WP is (as ad copy would say) factory fresh from Orem UT. [But let's start a war over revision dates. Anything would be preferable to the continuing piracy thread. Uh Oh, I hear beeping, I see flashing, "you have hate mail!"] Ken -- Ken Steele Dept. of Psychology kms@ecsvax.[bitnet || UUCP] Mars Hill College kms@ecsvax.uncecs.edu Mars Hill, NC 28754
billsey@agora.UUCP (Bill Seymour) (08/29/89)
From article <3388@blake.acs.washington.edu:, by dlarson@blake.acs.washington.edu (Dale Larson):
: (Bill Seymour) writes:
::(Ken Steele):
::: I just got WordPerfect (4.1.9 Aug 10 1988)....
::...Note that the last update was closer to October 1988,
::not the version you've bought. Maybe yours has been on the shelf for
::a while...
:
: Gee Bill, I wish you'd let the people at WP support know about this :-)
: because they've been telling me about twice a month for the last nine
: months that 4.1.9 (Aug 10 1988) is the latest release and that the bugs
: will be fixed (alternately) "next week" or "in the indefinate future."
Looks like we're both right here... The Official date (via the help
file) is Aug 10 1988... But I have files on my disk which have creation dates
in October. And I got an update from them in Aug and another in Oct... Now
all we need is *this* years update!
: A lack of prior planning on the part of any programmer
: always constitutes an emergency.
:
: Digital Teddy Bear dlarson@blake.acs.washington.edu
--
-Bill Seymour ...tektronix!reed!percival!agora!billsey
...tektronix!sequent.UUCP!calvin!billsey
Bejed, Inc. NES, Inc. Northwest Amiga Group At Home Sometimes
(503) 691-2552 (503) 246-9311 (503) 656-7393 BBS (503) 640-0842