kim@amdahl.amdahl.com (Kim DeVaughn) (06/20/87)
[ Some days you eat the line ... some days the line eat's you ... ]
Well, I got Facc up and running last night (which is why I wasn't at
BADGE :-) )! Great program Perry, but there is still one important
question that the documentation didn't cover at all ...
What the heck is the proper pronunciation of "Facc"?
Is it like "fact" without the "t", or "fast" without the "t", or is
it "ef-ack", or "ef-ass", or even "ef-ae-see-sea"? Could it be
"fask" or "faxs"? Tell us please ... enquiring minds want to know!
BTW, any plans to expand Facc's capabilities to hard disks?
On a more serious note (sigh), Bob Page makes some very good suggestions
for the "daemonization" of thinks like Facc (however it's pronounced),
popcli, etc. All I can say is "right on, Bob"!
This is exactly what I want, and why I was critical of FastFonts always
opening a window at startup, and similarly, Facc (v1.0) always having
a window around! Please *do* post your daemons, and lets get this stuff
rolling!
BTW, there was a set of programs called Spool (actually spool12) by Tim
Holloway that I posted here awhile back. Might be worth looking at
for some additional ideas ... they ended up on Fish #69, I think.
/kim
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CIS: 76535,25perry@well.UUCP (Perry S. Kivolowitz) (06/21/87)
Facc is pronounced like Fact without a ``t''. The daemonization of FaccII is a given. FaccII will come with the complete documentation describing the programmers interface. Also, the complete documentation to the low memory server will also be contained (hasn't anyone unarc'ed that? what do you think?). FaccII embodies a lot a new and powerful features. It will be available in a couple of months. Again, updates to Facc are free. Concerning standardized interfaces to daemons, we already have them. They are called ``messages.'' Just fully document them. Perry S. Kivolowitz ASDG Incorporated
spencer@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Randy Spencer) (06/24/87)
In article <8873@amdahl.amdahl.com> kim@amdahl.amdahl.com (Kim DeVaughn) writes: > >On a more serious note (sigh), Bob Page makes some very good suggestions >for the "daemonization" of thinks like Facc (however it's pronounced), >popcli, etc. All I can say is "right on, Bob"! > >/kim I think that it should be noted at this point that there is a very complete library exactly ment for things like those mentioned above. It is called commodities.library. Jim Mackraz (Author of "Intution: the Motion Picture part II") has done up a system library that creates an input handler deamon (as it were). You tell it what you are looking for in the input stream (Control-Shift-Middle Mouse Button-F10) and it will signal you when that comes across. It allows you to write PopCLI in about 10 lines of code, and could be used for control of all sorts of deamon like things. Infact for many programs it should be possible to tell them to go away (close all windows and screens) and sit in memory waiting for a certain key press before opening up again. Jim's idea is for Multasking Desk Accessories. These programs would even eventually be started at boot time with the command BindCommodities, which would look in the Commodities directory and execute all the commands there. Figure, you got 8 meg of memory, but the 7.14 Mhz processor can't control 25 Word Perfects (and you would get lost in the screens), but if programs hid off in memory sleeping until a certain keypress they would be much better than Mac Desk Accessories. Imagine VT100 out there, ready to start at anytime with a simple keypress. Sure beats MockTerminal on the Mac. All this doesn't answer How To Keep The Actual Running Code Small, when you would have window structures in it and all to talk to the use through, unless you used Perry's idea of two seperate processes, but it is along the same lines, but if all you even needed to say was "Blank the screen now" or "Quit executing", than the key presses is the way to go. BTW: With Jim's system, the keys that a certain program uses are all user definable, so there are no clashes between programs trying to use the same key (except maybe w/ Deluxe Paint, I hear that has LOTS of keyboard commands!) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Randy Spencer P.O. Box 4542 Berkeley CA 94704 (415)284-4740 I N F I N I T Y BBS: (415)283-5469 Now working for |||||||||||::::... . . BUD-LINX But in no way |||||||||||||||::::.. .. . Officially representing ||||||||||||:::::... .. ....ucbvax!mica!spencer s o f t w a r e spencer@mica.berkeley.edu -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
kent@xanth.UUCP (Kent Paul Dolan) (06/27/87)
In article <4074@jade.BERKELEY.EDU> spencer@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Randy Spencer) writes: > [...]In fact for many programs it should be >possible to tell them to go away (close all windows and screens) and >sit in memory waiting for a certain key press before opening up again. >Jim's idea is for Multasking Desk Accessories. These programs would >even eventually be started at boot time with the command >BindCommodities, which would look in the Commodities directory and >execute all the commands there. > [...]but if all you even needed to say was >"Blank the screen now" or "Quit executing", than the key presses is >the way to go. > >BTW: With Jim's system, the keys that a certain program uses are all >user definable, so there are no clashes between programs trying to use >the same key (except maybe w/ Deluxe Paint, I hear that has LOTS of >keyboard commands!) Hmmm. For the particular case of a bunch of workbench programms lurking in the background with no visible screen representation, I'd rather have one RSLclock sized window for the commodities broker, with one dynamic menu of all the programs available for call, by name, than to have to remember all the (possibly mutable) hot-key combos to call them up. Guess the brain cells are just getting a bit soggy with age, but ... Other's comments? Kent. -- Kent Paul Dolan, LCDR, NOAA, Retired; ODU MSCS grad student // Yet UUCP : kent@xanth.UUCP or ...{sun,harvard}!xanth!kent // Another CSNET : kent@odu.csnet ARPA : kent@xanth.cs.odu.edu \\ // Happy USPost: P.O. Box 1559, Norfolk, Virginia 23501-1559 \// Amigan! Voice : (804) 587-7760 -=][> Last one to Ceres is a rotten egg! -=][> I code SDI in C. I add an integer to an enumeration; the compiler doesn't notice. All die. Oh, the embarrassment!
spencer@eris.UUCP (06/29/87)
In article <1443@xanth.UUCP> kent@xanth.UUCP (Kent Paul Dolan) writes: > >For the particular case of a bunch of workbench programms lurking in the >background with no visible screen representation, I'd rather have one >RSLclock sized window for the commodities broker, with one dynamic menu of >all the programs available for call, by name, than to have to remember all >the (possibly mutable) hot-key combos to call them up. Guess the brain >cells are just getting a bit soggy with age, but ... > >Kent. Actually, that is something that JimM is working on to go with the library, but I don't want to do all the talking for it (I just told him I was an avangelist, just trying to live up to my reputation). I wonder if JimM is still reading this Net. I think that Volume has put off alot of former AmigaMen. Anyway, such a thing as you describe would be very easy even if JimM didn't provide it with the library. Just like all the other commodities objects however I would want the window to close if I asked it nicely, so that programs that want to CloseWorkbench() could. Then I could press Left-Amiga-Esc and up would come the commodities manager telling me what programs I had out there and what their key combinations were. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Randy Spencer P.O. Box 4542 Berkeley CA 94704 (415)284-4740 I N F I N I T Y BBS: (415)283-5469 Now working for |||||||||||::::... . . BUD-LINX But in no way |||||||||||||||::::.. .. . Officially representing ||||||||||||:::::... .. ....ucbvax!mica!spencer s o f t w a r e spencer@mica.berkeley.edu -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
peter@sugar.UUCP (Peter DaSilva) (07/02/87)
What is this, MS-DOS? In article <4163@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>, spencer@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Randy Spencer) writes: > In article <1443@xanth.UUCP> kent@xanth.UUCP (Kent Paul Dolan) writes: > >all the programs available for call, by name, than to have to remember all > >the (possibly mutable) hot-key combos to call them up. Guess the brain > >cells are just getting a bit soggy with age, but ... > > > >Kent. > > programs that want to CloseWorkbench() could. Then I could press > Left-Amiga-Esc and up would come the commodities manager telling me > what programs I had out there and what their key combinations were. Hotkeys? What is this junk? We have this great system with a visual user interface and you want hotkeys? If you want a resident program available for calling up at any moment, just copy it into VD0: or RAM: and click it up. If you want to save the memory, just leave it on the disk. The Amiga has the most painless disk-swapping behaviour I've ever seen. MS-DOS-type resident software is totally inappropriate for this machine. If you want hotkeys, fine. Write a macro processor to do the execution... but keep your keys out of my memory. It ain't broke, so don't fix it. -- -- Peter da Silva `-_-' ...!seismo!soma!uhnix1!sugar!peter (I said, NO PHOTOS!)
kim@amdahl.amdahl.com (Kim DeVaughn) (07/04/87)
In article <1443@xanth.UUCP>, kent@xanth.UUCP (Kent Paul Dolan) writes: > > For the particular case of a bunch of workbench programms lurking in the > background with no visible screen representation, I'd rather have one > RSLclock sized window for the commodities broker, with one dynamic menu of > all the programs available for call, by name, than to have to remember all > the (possibly mutable) hot-key combos to call them up. Guess the brain > cells are just getting a bit soggy with age, but ... > > Other's comments? I think it depends alot depends on one's personal preferences, how one does their work, frequency of use, etc. As an example, I use GRABBiT, and constantly use the SCREEN circulation facility (Ctrl-Alt-n) to flip to the screen I want, and the save SCREEN facility (Ctrl-Alt-s). I wouldn't want to have to use a menu to activate those functions, as that would obviate their utility. However, I can never remember what the key sequences are for the other functions GRABBiT provides, and a menu would be helpful for them. I guess the ideal would be to provide both mechanisms, but then the size of the daemon goes way up, and things could become very cumbersom, crowded, and slow. Maybe a master hot-key to enable/disable the menu interface, or perhaps just have it put up a window/menu/requester that showed all the current hot-key bindings, but was otherwise non-functional? /kim -- UUCP: kim@amdahl.amdahl.com or: {sun,decwrl,hplabs,pyramid,ihnp4,seismo,oliveb,cbosgd}!amdahl!kim DDD: 408-746-8462 USPS: Amdahl Corp. M/S 249, 1250 E. Arques Av, Sunnyvale, CA 94086 CIS: 76535,25
hrlaser@pnet02.CTS.COM (Harv Laser) (07/07/87)
GRABBiT's hot-keys are EASY to remember!
s = save
c = cancel
q = quit
p = print
What could be easier than that??
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