fnf@mcdsun.UUCP (10/29/87)
Hi everyone, time for another new batch of disks. If you sent me material for my library since the last batch of disks, and it doesn't show up here, don't panic! I'm still digging out from under the pile and expect to release another batch in a week or so (along with some of the contents of the Badge killer demo contest). Then I get to start sorting through the 10 megabytes of usenet stuff that has come in since the last batch. Talk about a flood of goodies! For those that are new to this newsgroup, or the Amiga in general, you can obtain a catalog disk, listing the contents of the entire library, by simply sending me a blank disk and a couple of loose first class stamps. Send to: Fred Fish Catalog disk request 1346 W. 10th Place Tempe, Arizona 85281 USA Mailing of preordered disks begins tonight and should be complete by this weekend. So watch your mailboxes... Below is a list of the contents of disks 103-110: CONTENTS OF DISK 103 -------------------- AvlTrees Library and test program that implement routines for creating and using balanced binary trees (AVL trees) held entirely in memory. Includes source. Author: Paul Vixie Calc A programmable calculator program with similarities to a hand-held RPN calculator. Can run either interactively or in "script" mode by reading programs from a file. Version 1.0, shareware, binary only. Author: Bob Brooks Cref A C cross referencer program. Includes source. Author: Mike Edmonds; Amiga port by Joel Swank DosKwik A pair of programs which allow you to save files, or a group of files, to one or more floppies for quick loading (loading up a ram disk for example). Does not store files in DOS format, which is why it is faster. Binary only, shareware. Author: Gary Kemper IntuiDOS IntuiDOS is a program to give improved control over, and handling of, the material on all diskettes in the 'CLI-area' by employing a multi-disk, scrollable directory and using Intuition techniques to issue DOS commands. Written in assembler. Binary only. Author: Lennart Sandin MFF-Update A text import utility for MicroFiche Filer (demo version released on disk 89) and updates to some PD disk library databases. Binary only. Author: Gary Samad Pack-It Pack-it will take all the files and directories on a disk and pack them into a single file for electronic transmission via modem. Binary only, shareware. Author: Gary Kemper Sol Amiga version of solitaire game posted to usenet some time ago and modified to use Amiga console control codes in place of curses calls. Includes source. Author: David Goodenough; Amiga port by Joel Swank CONTENTS OF DISK 104 -------------------- This is disk 104 of the freely distributable AMIGA software library. This disk contains a copy of Glenn Everhart's large and powerful spreadsheet program called AnalytiCalc, submitted to me directly by Glenn for inclusion in the library. The remainder of this file is Glenn's "Abstract.txt" file that describes AnalytiCalc. Source and documentation is included on the disk in arc'd form because it otherwise would not all fit on the disk. AnalytiCalc Abstract: AnalytiCalc is a large and powerful spreadsheet program with sufficient extra features to have some pretentions of acting as an "integrated system". It is a virtual memory system supporting up to 18000 columns and 18000 rows, multiple equations per cell, an outlining system, built-in cell annotation, and datafile access from any cell(s) of the sheet, plus an array of functions not present in most commercial spreadsheets. This disk represents the initial Amiga port of AnalytiCalc, and as such the console interface is somewhat crude and in addition requires use of a custom keymap (one such is supplied) for sensible operation. This will be improved upon, but meanwhile the program is released with complete sources, documents, and executables. The graphics program and the DIF file access program are not yet ported; these will be released when they are ready. AnalytiCalc for the Amiga uses files compatible with those for AnalytiCalc on MS-DOS, VMS, or RSX-11M or IAS. An example project planner spreadsheet is included in the distribution to show off some of the things you can do. More example sheets will be forthcoming in the future. AnalytiCalc also supports matrix math, FFTs, infinite windowing, linear regression, date arithmetic, internal and external macros, LOTS of cell addressing modes, goal seeking in up to 8 dimensions, and more. [lots more stuff deleted for this posting -- Fred] CONTENTS OF DISK 105 -------------------- AsmProgs Some misc assembly tools, programs, etc. "AsmFilter" (actually in AmigaBASIC) turns the output of the Metacomco disassembler into a file that can be re-assembled. "AddKickMem" adds the KickStart memory to your free memory on an Amiga 1000 with Kickstart in ROM. "Clear" fills unused areas of memory with a specific byte pattern. "L" is a replacement for the BCPL "list" program, but with some graphics enhancements. "SharpFont" is an 8 pixel non-proportional font. "Stack" is a replacement for the BCPL stack program. Includes some source. Author: Glen McDiarmid and Kirk Davies BasicProgs Some more AmigaBASIC programs. LeastSquare solves least squares problems and graphs the results. Curves is a demo of one use for LeastSquare (find curves to fit a set of points). Freud is a Freudian analysis program. Includes source, needs AmigaBASIC from Extras. Author: George Trepal Bison A replacement for unix "yacc" command. This is from the GNU (GNU is Not Unix) effort, and was obtained from the Free Software Foundation. This is an update to the version on disk 51, with some more bug fixes provided by Fred Walter. Includes source. Author: Bob Corbett and Richard Stallman. Bug fixes by Johan Widen, Doug Leavitt, & Fred Walter DrunkenMouse Another cute program in the tradition of "display hacks". Includes source. Author: Alex Livshits FlamKey Installs a little key on the WorkBench screen title bar, and then waits in background until somebody clicks on the key. When activated, allows the keyboard and mouse inputs to be locked out until a password is entered. Shareware, binary only. Author: Alex Livshits GravityWars The object of this game is for one player to hit the other player's ship with a missle, before being hit yourself. The ships and planets don't move, but aiming the missle in the presence of gravity fields and black holes makes hitting your target difficult. Version 2.0, shareware, binary only. This is an update to the version on disk number 84. Author: Ed Bartz IPo2C A utility to write a C-language definition of the current intuition pointer to a file, which can then be used in a program via SetPointer to mimic the intuition pointer. Includes source. Author: Alex Livshits Pere-et-Fils Example of creating and using reentrant processes. Includes source. Author: Jean-Michel Forgeas Record-Replay A program that records a sequence of mouse and keyboard events as they occur and stores them in a file. The file can be played back to cause the same sequence of events to occur again. Very useful for creating demonstrations of programs or documenting repeatable bugs. This is version 2.0, an update to the version on disk 95. Shareware, binary only. Author: Alex Livshits and J-M. Forgeas CONTENTS OF DISK 106 -------------------- FuncKey A shareware function key editor, submitted by the author for inclusion in the library. This is version 1.1, an update to the version on disk 89. Binary only (source available from author). Author: Anson Mah MoreArt A small selection of some additional Amiga artwork submitted to me since the last "art" disk. Authors: Dana Dominiak and Larry Zasitko QuickFlix An IFF slideshow and cel animation program that takes full advantage of the Amiga's multitasking operating system, supports all the graphics modes, can run with internal timing or be triggered by an external source, caches images in memory to achieve rapid frame rate, etc. Version 0.13, binary only, shareware. Author: Jeff Kunzelman, Rodney Iwashina, Takeshi Suganuma RistiNolla A Finnish game. The name means something like CrossZero, and is also called Go-Moku. Version 1.0, shareware, binary only. Author: Mika Pihlajamaki CONTENTS OF DISK 107 -------------------- 3DPlot A plotting program which draws a surface removing hidden lines. Converted to FORTRAN-77 from an AmigaBasic version from Disk 71. Version 1.1, includes source. Author: Original Author Unknown, FORTRAN Conversion by James R. White AmigaPlot An x-y plotting package for scientest or engineers. Plots up to 30 curves, each of which may contain up to 1000 data points using options stored in a data file. This program is shareware. Version 1.20, source available from author. Author: James R. White Convert Converts a file containing rows and columns of numbers to a Lattice Unicalc spreadsheet file. This program is shareware, and includes source. Author: James R. White Drill A program to drill children in addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Written in FORTRAN-77. This program is shareware and includes source. Author: James R. White SlowCopy A program to slowly copy a file to the printer to avoid filling the printer buffer. Written in FORTRAN-77. Version 1.11, includes source. This program is shareware. Author: James R. White StopWatch A CLI utility program to print out the elapsed time between keypresses. Useful for timing benchmark Written in FORTRAN-77, includes source. This program is shareware. Author: James R. White Text Files Two text files describing how to build a batch file using public domain programs to do an incremental hard disk backup in less than five minutes, and how to avoid interlace flicker. Author: James R. White CONTENTS OF DISK 108 -------------------- AList A directory listing program based on Dave Haynie's LD4 program, with extensions and enhancements. Includes source. Author: Ed Kivi (original by Dave Haynie) MonIDCMP MonIDCMP lets you monitor the IntuiMessages that pass through an IDCMP window. It prints the message class, mouse coordinates, qualifier values, and other useful information when appropriate. Great for debugging applications and for snooping around in the inner workings of other programs. Includes source. Author: Davide Cervone Steam A program to calculate the thermodynamic, heat transport and critical flow properties of water, both for single and two-phase mixtures. Version 1.10, FORTRAN-77 source available from author. This program is shareware. Author: James R. White Tek An enhanced version of Dave Wecker's vt100 (v2.6) which includes emulation for a Tektronix 4010/4014 graphics terminal. This is a much improved version of the Tek4010 program from disk number 52. Includes source. Author: Enhancements by Nick Giordano and Terry Whelan CONTENTS OF DISK 109 -------------------- Machine A neat new animation from Allen Hastings. Author: Allen Hastings SimCPM A CP/M simulator for the Amiga. Simulates an 8080 along with H19 terminal emulation. Includes source. Author: Jim Cathey; Amiga port by Charlie Gibbs UUpc Version 1.0 of a suite of programs that will allow you hook up your Amiga as a usenet node. Includes source. Author: Richard Lamb, Stuart Lynne, Jeff Lydiatt CONTENTS OF DISK 110 -------------------- A68k A 68000 assembler originally written in Modula-2 in 1985 and converted to C by Charlie Gibb in 1987. Has been converted to accept metacomco-compatible assembler source code and to generate Amiga objects. Includes source. Author: Brian Anderson; C translation and Amiga work done by Charlie Gibb Pdc An optimizing C compiler for the 68000 processor. This is an update to the version first released on disk 53, though apparently not based on the code from that disk. Major porting work was done by Jeff Lydiatt to get it to the point where it would compile and execute simple programs on the Amiga. This version now generates metacomco- compatible assembler source code, which can be assembled by the assembler also provided on this disk and then linked by the freely redistributable linker "blink" (also provided). Includes all compiler source and some library and startup source code. Requires amiga.lib from developers kit to generate complete running example executables. Author: Matthew Brandt; major porting work by Jeff Lydiatt ------------------- -Fred -- # Fred Fish hao!noao!mcdsun!fnf (602) 438-3614 # Motorola Computer Division, 2900 S. Diablo Way, Tempe, Az 85282 USA
fnf@mcdsun.UUCP (Fred Fish) (10/31/87)
In article <426@mcdsun.UUCP> fnf@mcdsun.UUCP (Fred Fish) writes: >Mailing of preordered disks begins tonight and should be complete by >this weekend. So watch your mailboxes... Gaak! I have just been informed that there are problems distributing binaries produced by Absoft's Fortran compiler unless certain conditions have been met. These conditions will preclude distribution of disks 107 and 108 for the moment. Luckily, no disks have gotten out at this point, so I can just reshuffle the numbers (pull disks 107, 108 and move 109, 110 down). This will delay distribution until Saturday or Sunday, and only 6 disks will be distributed in this batch. Any non-Fortran material from the original 107-108 will be moved to a future disk. For those that are interested, after this problem was brought to my attention by an alert comp.sys.amiga reader (thank you Bob!). I called Absoft to determine the necessary conditions for distribution of programs compiled with Absoft's Fortran, and linked with their runtime support routines. My current understanding is that there are three conditions that must be met: 1) The original developer must obtain and sign a license agreement which absolves Absoft of all liability for use of the program. There are other terms in the agreement but the liability one seemed to be the most important issue. There is no charge for the license, and only the original developer needs to obtain it before distribution. Third party redistributers (I.E. me :-) are not required to get one. 2) At execution time a copyright message must be displayed in the startup screen indicating that portions of the executable are copyrighted by Absoft, and similar notices must appear in any documentation. There seem to be two reasons for this: (1) they want the free PR, (2) they want it to be clear that they maintain rights to portions of the executable code. It is not clear what should happen if you have no documentation, or if you have no startup screen. I would be inclined to believe that a statically compiled in copyright message would be sufficient in this case. 3) Only a pure linked executable may be distributed. No other portions of the Absoft environment (such as dynamically loaded libraries if any) may be distributed without special arrangements. (No surprises here) I hope I got all the facts straight. In my opinion, Absoft is within their rights to set these conditions, and they probably have good reasons (to them) for the conditions. Given the current marketplace with compilers for other languages that do not have all these limitations (C, Modula, Assembly, etc), I can see how this might discourage use of their product in favor of another language. This is a shame since it is, from all reports, a VERY nice product. -Fred -- # Fred Fish hao!noao!mcdsun!fnf (602) 438-3614 # Motorola Computer Division, 2900 S. Diablo Way, Tempe, Az 85282 USA
kent@xanth.UUCP (11/01/87)
[In response to Fred's notice of a bunch of obnoxious distribution limitations on software developed with ABSOFT's FORTRAN compiler.] I doubt they'll miss me, but goodbye Absoft! A compiler is a TOOL, and that is all it is. If I were digging ditches, and a shovel manufacturer asked me to get a license absolving them from all responsibility for injuries caused by my ditch, or required me to post a "This ditch dug with an Ajax shovel" notice by every ditch I dug, it would make about as much sense as Absoft's requirements. And they also seem to be telling me I can't sell my ditch if any of the shovel scrapes off on the sides of the ditch. Bleeah! And I had heard so MANY nice things about their FORTRAN, and the earlier posting mentioning lots of not-particularly-FORTRAN oriented software developed with their compiler seemed to say lots MORE nice things about it as a development tool. But I will rot in Hell before I will put some compiler vendor's ad on the title screen of software products I sell. Guess I'll have to spend the money I've been squirreling away for Absoft FORTRAN on something else. Wonder how the new M2Amiga modula 2 compiler looks? Kent, the (totally weird) man from xanth. Running for president on a pound of caffeine, an ounce of sense, and a program of increased exploration and exploitation of space. Support your (probably non-existent - get busy!) local branch of the Birthright Party: "The birthright of mankind is the stars!" Hey, it's better than dwelling on your stock portfolio; at least here you've got a chance for a laugh or two. ;-) Yum! Eat them plastic chickens, brethren! Call me when I'm elected; 'til then, I'm going to take a nap.
fnf@mcdsun.UUCP (Fred Fish) (11/02/87)
In article <428@mcdsun.UUCP> fnf@mcdsun.UUCP (Fred Fish) writes: >point, so I can just reshuffle the numbers (pull disks 107, 108 and >move 109, 110 down). This will delay distribution until Saturday or >Sunday, and only 6 disks will be distributed in this batch. Any >non-Fortran material from the original 107-108 will be moved to a future >disk. After looking the situation over a little more, it turned out to be less work to just replace disks 107 and 108, so 8 disks have been released as of this weekend. They should all be in the mail by tomorrow. Below is a listing of the revised disks 107 and 108: CONTENTS OF DISK 107 -------------------- Csh Version 2.07 of Matt Dillon's csh like shell, modified for Manx C. Includes source. Author: Matt Dillon, Manx'ified by Steve Drew Diff A file comparison utility, similar to other common "diff" programs. Includes source. Author: D. Krantz; Amiga port by Jeff Bailey ProSuite This is the Amiga Programmers Suite Book 1.01. The suite provides example code of facilities that every programmer needs (such as FileIO Requester), provides examples of new facilities (such as XText and DoRequest), and provides a tutorial on how to program the Amiga. Includes source. Author: R.J. Mical SVTools Some additional useful tools from Stephen Vermeulen. Includes a new version of Vnews, sit, setstack, retool, memlist, fragit, and yoyo. Includes source. Author: Stephen Vermeulen CONTENTS OF DISK 108 -------------------- AList A directory listing program based on Dave Haynie's LD4 program, with extensions and enhancements. Includes source. Author: Ed Kivi (original by Dave Haynie) DirMaster A very nicely done shareware disk cataloger, submitted by the author for inclusion in the library. This is version 1.0b, an update to the version released on disk 89. Binary only. Author: Greg Peters Dots-Perfect Printer driver for an Epson MX80 printer with the Dots-Perfect upgrade kit installed. Includes source. Author: Robbie Akins MonIDCMP MonIDCMP lets you monitor the IntuiMessages that pass through an IDCMP window. It prints the message class, mouse coordinates, qualifier values, and other useful information when appropriate. Great for debugging applications and for snooping around in the inner workings of other programs. Includes source. Author: Davide Cervone PrintPop A utility to enable the user to send some common control settings to the PRT: printer device. When installed, a left-amiga F1 sequence will pop up a small window with various options. Includes source. Author: Robbie Akins Sectorama A program designed to help Amiga users recover lost or damaged data from floppy or hard drives, or to repair a damaged volume. The author wrote this out of frustration with existing tools when he had multiple hard disk drive failures over the course of several months. This is version 1.1, an update to the version on disk 102. Binary only. Author: David Joiner Tek An enhanced version of Dave Wecker's vt100 (v2.6) which includes emulation for a Tektronix 4010/4014 graphics terminal. This is a much improved version of the Tek4010 program from disk number 52. Includes source. Author: Enhancements by Nick Giordano and Terry Whelan Zoo A file archiver, much like "arc" in concept, but different in implementation and user interface details. Includes some nice features that "arc" lacks (such as file/path names up to 255 characters in length). This is version 1.42B, an update to the version released on disk 87. Binary only. Author: Rahul Dhesi, Amiga port by Brian Waters -Fred -- # Fred Fish hao!noao!mcdsun!fnf (602) 438-3614 # Motorola Computer Division, 2900 S. Diablo Way, Tempe, Az 85282 USA
willis@auvax.UUCP (Tony Willis) (11/02/87)
In article <3131@xanth.UUCP>, kent@xanth.UUCP (Kent Paul Dolan) writes: > > [In response to Fred's notice of a bunch of obnoxious distribution > limitations on software developed with ABSOFT's FORTRAN compiler.] > > I doubt they'll miss me, but goodbye Absoft! A compiler is a TOOL, > and that is all it is. If I were digging ditches, and a shovel > manufacturer asked me to get a license absolving them from all > responsibility for injuries caused by my ditch, or required me to post > a "This ditch dug with an Ajax shovel" notice by every ditch I dug, it > would make about as much sense as Absoft's requirements. > I agree completely. If I buy a compiler I expect to be able to do whatever I like with the machine code it produces - sell it, distribute it, eat it, whatever. I too was thinking of getting this item, but now? -forget it! Tony Willis Athabasca University ...{ubc-vision,ihnp4}!alberta!auvax!willis uucp Box 10,000 usercdir@ualtamts BITNET Athabasca, Alberta TOG 2R0 Canada (403) 675-6221
schaub@sugar.UUCP (Markus Schaub) (11/05/87)
In article <3131@xanth.UUCP>, kent@xanth.UUCP (Kent Paul Dolan) writes: > been squirreling away for Absoft FORTRAN on something else. Wonder > how the new M2Amiga modula 2 compiler looks? > > Kent, the (totally weird) man from xanth. 1.) M2Amiga was done by something named AMSoft, don't let you fool by the name! NO CONNETCION TO A COMPANY SELLING FORTRAN COMPILERS. 2.) The demo disk for M2Amiga is on its way to Fred Fish. No license problems for code generated with this compiler. A compiler is a tool as you say. No copy protection (except that you NEED the manual) and no license fee. Call me for a demo disk or wait for Fred next bunch of disks, then have you can have a close look to M2Amiga. -- // Markus Schaub uunet!nuchat!sugar!schaub (713) 523 8422 \X/ c/o Interface Technologies Corp, 3336 Richmond #323, Houston Tx 77098
macphed@sask.UUCP (11/11/87)
> Keywords: "Fish disks" > > [In response to Fred's notice of a bunch of obnoxious distribution > limitations on software developed with ABSOFT's FORTRAN compiler.] I'm sorry, but I seem to have missed this. I did read Fred's posting of the new disks available, and have scanned forwards and backwards from that article but can't find this reference. Could you be more specific? > I doubt they'll miss me, but goodbye Absoft! Perhaps not, but if I lost my FORTRAN compiler, I'd miss it. [analogy between ditch digging and programming omitted] > > Bleeah! And I had heard so MANY nice things about their FORTRAN, and > the earlier posting mentioning lots of not-particularly-FORTRAN > oriented software developed with their compiler seemed to say lots > MORE nice things about it as a development tool. But I will rot in > Hell before I will put some compiler vendor's ad on the title screen > of software products I sell. I believe I can agree with the nice things you've heard (there are some things I don't like about the compiler, but not many). However, after reading the license agreement, I can find no mention of such a restiction in it, or in the manual. (Although I must admit I only scanned the manual. If such a requirement is placed on the software, it should appear in the licensing section.) As I say, this is the first that I have seen or heard mention of this problem with Absoft. Could you please repost the portion of the message which refers to this? As a FORTRAN programmer on the Amiga, I am quite interested. > Kent, the (totally weird) man from xanth. > {I'm from Mundania myself.} Ian. +------------------------------------+--------------------------------+ | Ian MacPhedran | USEnet ihnp4!sask!macphed | | Engineering Applications | BITNET MacPhedran@Sask | | Department of Computing Services | Phone (306) 966-4832 | | 2B13 Engineering Bldg. | Telex 064-2659 | | University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 0W0 | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+
fnf@mcdsun.UUCP (11/13/87)
In article <939@sask.UUCP> macphed@sask.UUCP (Ian MacPhedran) writes: >I'm sorry, but I seem to have missed this. I did read Fred's posting >of the new disks available, and have scanned forwards and backwards >from that article but can't find this reference. Could you be more >specific? Ok, below is an excerpt from my posting: =For those that are interested, after this problem was brought to my =attention by an alert comp.sys.amiga reader (thank you Bob!). I called =Absoft to determine the necessary conditions for distribution of =programs compiled with Absoft's Fortran, and linked with their runtime =support routines. My current understanding is that there are three =conditions that must be met: = =1) The original developer must obtain and sign a license = agreement which absolves Absoft of all liability for = use of the program. There are other terms in the agreement = but the liability one seemed to be the most important issue. = There is no charge for the license, and only the original = developer needs to obtain it before distribution. Third = party redistributers (I.E. me :-) are not required to get = one. = =2) At execution time a copyright message must be displayed = in the startup screen indicating that portions of the = executable are copyrighted by Absoft, and similar notices = must appear in any documentation. There seem to be two = reasons for this: (1) they want the free PR, (2) they want = it to be clear that they maintain rights to portions of the = executable code. It is not clear what should happen if you = have no documentation, or if you have no startup screen. = I would be inclined to believe that a statically compiled = in copyright message would be sufficient in this case. = =3) Only a pure linked executable may be distributed. No other = portions of the Absoft environment (such as dynamically loaded = libraries if any) may be distributed without special arrangements. = (No surprises here) >I believe I can agree with the nice things you've heard (there are some >things I don't like about the compiler, but not many). However, after >reading the license agreement, I can find no mention of such a restiction >in it, or in the manual. (Although I must admit I only scanned the manual. >If such a requirement is placed on the software, it should appear in the >licensing section.) This is true, and it appears to be true even with the latest version of the compiler being shipped. I have now had the opportunity to personally inspect the shrink wrap license agreement that comes with the Absoft fortran compiler for the Amiga Nowhere is explicit mention made of any restrictions on the runtime support code. By the same token, nowhere is explicit permission given to distribute it either. A reasonable person would probably interpret the agreement, as written, to cover only the code received in the compiler package, I.E. executables, unlinked libraries, include files if any, documentation, etc. I have recommended to Absoft that they modify their standard license agreement to make their restrictions explicit, to avoid future misunderstandings. Note that the shrink wrap agreement explicitly states that it is the sole agreement between the buyer and Absoft, so any other supplementary agreement buried in the documentation somewhere is probably not enforceable anyway. -Fred -- # Fred Fish hao!noao!mcdsun!fnf (602) 438-3614 # Motorola Computer Division, 2900 S. Diablo Way, Tempe, Az 85282 USA