john13@garfield.UUCP (05/11/87)
One of the things to consider when buying any piece of Amiga software is, of course, how well it supports multitasking. A program that doesn't may be no more useful than a version running on any other model of computer. I just learned (by accident) that PrintMaster, which has gotten bad press for not being multitasking, in fact does not take over your machine - just the Workbench screen. It doesn't have any problem letting you go about your business on another screen, and it would be only a single line in C to write a utility to flip the CLI window to the front and so be able to use that. I'm wondering how many other programs that seem to take over the Amiga actually do; some require you to boot from their disk, some autoboot into the program (a bad idea I feel), and some Guru if anything else at all is run first. But with a bit of tinkering, it's almost always possible to get around these requirements. I can still remember when DPaint was slammed for being too unfriendly to multitasking...the only caveat for DP II seems to be "don't be cd'ed into ram when you run, because the copy-protection will Guru when it tries to access the ram disk". Are there any other programs which don't at first glance appear to let you multitask which can be coerced into it? John
bryce@COGSCI.BERKELEY.EDU (Bryce Nesbitt) (05/14/87)
In article <> john13@carfield.UUCP typed: > One of the things to consider when buying any piece of Amiga software is, > of course, how well it supports multitasking. A program that doesn't may > be no more useful than a version running on any other model of computer. > > [printmaster only takes over the workbench screen, not any other screen] > > Are there any other programs which don't at first glance appear to let you > multitask which can be coerced into it? Almost all the programs that SEEM to disable multi-tasking actually do not: 1> Bardstale (Screen front/back gadgets are artfully integated in the borders. if you can deal with modifying the startup-sequence you will have a full multi-tasking compatible game. If only that had used "run bardstale" not "bardstale"...) 2> CinemaWare series (same as above) 3> Textcraft. (Simply open a window on the Workbench before starting it.) 4> Marble maddness (If you don't mind not seeing the output) 5> Other things. (Try Left Amiga-N and Left Amiga-M.) Some programs will CLOSE the workbench screen without a provision for OPENING it. If a window is on the workbench, it can't be closed by a program. *poof* multi-tasking. This should be made less confusing for users. -> Notes from the MULTITASKING POLICE!!! 1> Aside from "Open Workbench back up", programs with a custom screen should provide front/back gadgets or provisions. 2> Some other programs have BUGS that hog the processor even when they are just waiting for kebyoard input. I recall Deluxe Paint II does this with either the main screen or the file-requestor. Use pm (Process-monitor) from the V1.2 Extras disk to snoop on naugty programs then complain to the authors. 3> THE BIG ONE -> If you open a custom screen use GetScreenData() from Intuition to get the size of the Workbench. Now open a screen just like it. I used MOREROWS to get a 704*219 screen. I would like it if EMACS, mirror HACKER PACKAGE and other things would use the size of screen that I *obviously* prefer. ^^^^^^^^^^^ ||||||||||| (page 52, in the V1.2 enhancer DOCS) (don't believe the lies about the best use of this function) -------------------------------- // BPTR? Just say *NO*! <- Credit to he who said it first. \\// bryce@cogsci.Berkeley.EDU --------------------------------
page@ulowell.cs.ulowell.edu (Bob Page) (05/14/87)
john13@garfield.UUCP wrote in article <3637@garfield.UUCP>: >I'm wondering how many other programs that seem to take over the Amiga >actually do I don't think any package really "takes over" the machine. If you have Kickstart, you have DOS too. You might not have Workbench but as long as you throw POPCLI (or something similar) on the system first, you're almost assured access to the CLI, thus the rest of the system. While it's true that some disks have to be inserted at boot (instead of the WB disk) and you can't write on them (to change the startup-sequence) there are ways to defeat this. The only thing I can think of that would effectively defeat you from using the rest of the system is if the package took control of the input.device and ate all keystrokes and mouse moves. You'd be at the mercy of the program in that case. ..Bob -- Bob Page, U of Lowell CS Dept. page@ulowell.{uucp,edu,csnet}
higgin@cbmvax.UUCP (05/16/87)
In article <3637@garfield.UUCP> john13@garfield.UUCP writes:
$One of the things to consider when buying any piece of Amiga software is,
$of course, how well it supports multitasking. A program that doesn't may
$be no more useful than a version running on any other model of computer.
$I just learned (by accident) that PrintMaster, which has gotten bad press
$for not being multitasking, in fact does not take over your machine - just
$the Workbench screen.
Which reminds me of a fact that seems to be LARGELY UNKNOWN BY AMIGA USERS!
Holding down the left Amiga key and pressing N or M puts the WorkBench
screen to the Front of the Back of all active screens. Some programs
open screens but for a variety of reasons prevent the user from dragging
it down and seeing other screens (e.g WorkBench). Dave Wecker's VT100 is
annoying (minor gripe Dave, about an otherwise FANTASTIC program) in the
way it puts up a titled window with useless depth arrangement gadgets on
a screen at the top obscuring the screen's title bar. You can either
drag down the window a bit to reveal some of the screen's title bar and
thus drag it down (but I don't like to do this as it puts the bottom line
of the window (i.e., text) in the terminal emulator too low on my monitor),
or you can use <left Amiga> N and M to get back and forth between VT100
and the WorkBench.
Hope this wasn't a bunch of netnoise (i.e., you all knew this).
Paul.john13@garfield.UUCP (05/17/87)
In article <1274@ulowell.cs.ulowell.edu>, page@ulowell.cs.ulowell.edu (Bob Page) writes: > john13@garfield.UUCP wrote in article <3637@garfield.UUCP>: > >I'm wondering how many other programs that seem to take over the Amiga > >actually do > > I don't think any package really "takes over" the machine. If you have > Kickstart, you have DOS too. You might not have Workbench but as long > as you throw POPCLI (or something similar) on the system first, you're > almost assured access to the CLI, thus the rest of the system. > I didn't provide a lot of explanation on this, but I was thinking of things like - the Epyx stuff: Rogue will Guru if you have not booted from its (minimal) Workbench. World(?) Games can't be ctrl-d'ed at the start, since I think it uses all-black Workbench colours so you don't see what it does. I know you can just copy another system-configuration, but the point is they are *deliberately* making it difficult to multitask with. - games such as Leaderboard and Marble Madness that do odd things to the graphics so that, for instance, you can't properly grab their screens. - Printmaster, which I later realized had a serious flaw even if you could bring up other screens/CLI's: it has no gadget anywhere in its window, so if you click in it to make it active, it will think you have selected an action, and it may not be possible to anything other than print the same picture over and over again. Now *my* first thought was "link in a tiny boolean gadget that it doesn't know about" :-)...you could install Sunmouse or Moonmouse first, but then it's getting a bit hard to say the program "multi-tasks", except in the sense you have to have several tasks going just to emulate a "well-behaved" program. John PS I will see if I can do a review of Publisher 1000, but I can give you a quick impression now. Backspacing over proportional fonts is buggy. There is no (obvious) way to make it overstrike lines which is the >>BIGGEST<< advantage IBM desktop-publishers have (I have been using several of these lately). The "full-page view" is extremely limited and allows no editing, but scrolling around the screen is very fast and easy. The fonts are limited, 1 18-point, then nothing but 32 point and 10-15 point, although it does let you switch font directories online. You have to do your own addbuffers, and it does a *lot* of disk access (annoying everytime you want to use or reuse a different font). It locked up a few times under normal usage, no Guru, just the mouse off the edge of the screen in limbo. Print quality (I've only tried text so far) is OK, but there are *no options*. Even the wimpiest such program for IBMs has a "Draft/Final (overstrike)" selection before you print. I am STILL waiting for a 640X400X1 WYSIWYG fast word-processor which lets me use my favourite colour combo (000 and 555), and gives output as good as Fontmaster for my *Commodore 64*. My printer can microspace in 216ths of an inch, and has quadruple density if only anyone would care to use it. Is this not the rule rather than the exception? Is not a hi-res screen dump with overstrike a very simple matter to accomplish (Preferences aside)? Must we keep catering to the lowest common denominator, which seems to be the MPS-801? The answers will have to wait, as _Alien_ is on and Ripley is disrobing. Got my *priorities* straight! I will wait till tomorrow to roll-my-own rastport dump, which will only work on millions of Epson compatible printers, hence is heresy. (But I will be able to get great and fast and professional looking black-and-white print from DPaint II).