Info-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL (02/26/89)
Info-IBMPC Digest Sat, 25 Feb 89 Volume 89 : Issue 30
Today's Editor:
Gregory Hicks - Chinhae Korea <COMFLEACT@Taegu-EMH1.army.mil>
Today's Topics:
720k vx 1.44M Drives
Binary Editor Wanted - Here's a good one
CALTYM34.ARC Viability
Epsilon 4.0: EMACS editor for DOS, OS/2 and XENIX
Looking for 386 MATLAB Information
Motorola. 68xx Assembler Problems
Multiprocessing with MS DOS
Re: B-tree Indexed file access in 'C' (BPLUS)
LN03 to PC Connection
PD/Shareware Database Programs
Source code for an editor written in C
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Date: Tue, 21 Feb 89 14:34:22 CST
From: David Benson <C09800DB%WUVMD.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: 720k vx 1.44M Drives
>I've been following the discussion on the incompatiblity problems between
>360K floppies formatted in DSDD & 1.2M drives. Does anyone know whether
>there are also problems with 720K & 1.44M drives?
The 3.5" drives do not write to different width tracks. i.e both the 720k
and the 1.44M drives write to 80 tracks. The difference is the density at
which they write. We have had no problem with either formatting or
writing 720k disks on the High Density disks. Contrarily, we have had
mucho problem with the 5 1/4" disks.
- Dave Benson BITNET:C09800DB@WUVMD
Associate Director (314) 889-5313
Educational Computing Services
Washington University
St. Louis, MO
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1989 16:54 MST
From: Keith Petersen <w8sdz@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL>
Subject: Binary Editor Wanted - Here's a good one
csd@drutx.ATT.COM (DavisCS) writes:
> Many years ago (well, maybe two) I had in my hands an editor that >
dealt with binary files. It displayed a hex version of the contents > in
a window on one side of the screen and a displayable ASCII version > on
the opposite side. You could edit a file by making changes in > either
window. Anyway, I seldom used it and somewhere along the line > I lost
it. Can anyone help me with the name of an editor that fits > that
desription and a pointer to where I might pick it up again.
Yes, it's available from Simtel20 as:
Filename Type Bytes CRC
Directory PD1:<MSDOS.FILUTL>
FM.ARC BINARY 10160 1735H
FM (for File Modify) is a little utility which allows you to easily edit
files at the individual byte level. It is especially useful in situations
where one might use DEBUG to modify a byte in order to patch a program, to
change the wording of messages in your programs which bother you (its
search capabilities are useful for this) or to change color attributes in
a program.
FM.ARC has been submitted to comp.binaries.ibm.pc so if you don't have FTP
access to Simtel20 just wait a week or so and it will appear there.
--Keith Petersen
Maintainer of the CP/M & MSDOS archives at wsmr-simtel20.army.mil [26.0.0.74]
DDN: w8sdz@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil
Uucp: {ames,decwrl,harvard,rutgers,ucbvax,uunet}!wsmr-simtel20.army.mil!w8sdz
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 89 15:33:46 EST
From: kobus@NADC.ARPA (D. Kobus)
Subject: CALTYM34.ARC Viability
The program PD1:<MSDOS.SYSUTL>CALTYM34.ARC supposedly sets your system
clock from the US Naval Observatory. However; when I enter the automatic
time set menu command, my modem seems to respond to the wake up and
initial string commands but hangs before a number is dialed. Has anyone
else encountered a similar error or has gotten this program to
successfully run? I'm curious if the problem I'm running into is due to
some error on my part or is the result of a deliberate action.
David B. Kobus
Naval Air Development Center
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1989 9:42:14 PST
From: Billy Brackenridge <billy@venera.isi.edu>
Subject: Epsilon 4.0: EMACS editor for DOS, OS/2 and XENIX
I have been beta testing Epsilon 4.0 for the last few months. The product
has just been officially released.
Epsilon has been mentioned many times in INFO-IBMPC. Epsilon was written
by Todd Doucet and Steven Doerfler of Lugaru Software Ltd. They call it a
Programmer's editor. About 10 years ago Richard Stallman wrote the
original EMACS at the MIT AI labs. EMACS has been adapted to just about
every known computing platform since that time. If someone knows EMACS,
he or she should be able to find a version of it on just about any
machine.
Epsilon was written from the ground up for the PC. Epsilon has always been
known as the speediest EMACS like editor on the PC. There are versions of
it for DOS, XENIX and OS/2.
Epsilon was the first programmer's editor to coexist with pop-up
applications, provide virtual memory, and allow background compiles.
Epsilon 4.0 adds several new features.
I find the new "undo" commands most impressive. Undo is not a feature of
the original EMACS, but this feature was popular in Epsilon's chief
competition "Brief". I have never used Brief. Perhaps a Brief user can
compare how Epsilon's undo compares with the original. Undo is
particularly useful if you have just saved a file and realize you
shouldn't have clobbered your original. It gives a new dimension to text
editing. Have you ever said to yourself "The paragraph I wrote a half hour
ago was better than this one?". You can retrieve the original paragraph
and find out.
Epsilon has always featured background compilation under DOS.
Unfortunately C compilers, and even the Macro Assembler have grown in
their appetite for memory. Under OS/2 this is not a problem, however,
under DOS Epsilon now swaps its self out to disk or EMS memory in order to
make room for the compiler. As with the older versions of Epsilon it reads
the output of the compiler. If there is an error, Epsilon loads the file
causing the error and places the cursor at the offending source line.
Tags are a feature of the original EMACS that has been improved on in this
version of Epsilon. The Epsilon tags package allows you to find the
definition of a function. This is particularly useful when reading
somebody elses code. If you want to find out what a function does type C-X
. and Epsilon will find the definition of that function and bring it up in
an editor window.
Epsilon is a mature product. I have been using it for about four years. I
don't envy Steven & Todd. Programmers are terrible consumers. They always
want something a little different. Epsilon is written in EEL. EEL is a C
like language. Epsilon comes with complete EEL source code and an EEL
compiler. If you don't like Epsilon as it comes out of the box, you can
rewrite it to do what ever you want it to do.
Epsilon 4.0 is now more modeless. Modeless editors were all the mode a few
years ago. For example, if Epsilon is asking you for a file name you can
use Epsilon commands to edit the file name. This is particularly useful
when defining keyboard macros. Epsilon is a powerful shell programming
language. You can edit directories as though they were text and perform
operations on contents of files. Epsilon is clearer to use and every bit
as powerful as a Unix shell language.
Epsilon is pretty much self documenting. It has a tutorial and extensive
help functions, but Version 4.0 comes with a muchly improved manual.
Lugaru Software Ltd.
5843 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh,PA 15217
(412)421-5911
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 89 20:00:07 +0100
From: Alain Jacques <EPYMAX%BUCLLN11.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu>
Subject: Looking for 386 MATLAB Information
HI,
Does anyone have information about 386-MATLAB programs? I am looking
for the address of the distributors and a representative in Europe. I
would greatly appreciate that any information be passed directly to me.
Many thanks.
A.J.
EPYMAX AT BUCLLN11 (BITNET/EARN)
Acknowledge-To: <EPYMAX%BUCLLN11.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu>
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 89 14:42 EST
From: <BRUCEH%UTKVX3.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu>
Subject: Motorola. 68xx Assembler
I recently downloaded the file PS68A12.ARC that contains an assembler for
the Motrola 68xx family. I decoded and unarced the file and all went
well.
However, when I invoke the assembler to assemble the example file,
it appears that the assembler is stuck in an endless loop. The header
repeats continoulsy. Has anyone else downloaded this file and tried it?
Is this the latest version available?
Thanks,
Bruce Harrison
Univ. of Tenn. at Martin
Computer Center
Martin, TN 38238
BRUCEH@UTKVX (bitnet)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 89 16:17 CST
From: Gene Wiggins <MANAGER%UNLASVAX.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu>
Subject: Multiprocessing with MS DOS
I have finally figured out what the question is, and now I would like to
see if anyone out there has a good solution.
We need to have three users simultaneously working on Lotus 1-2-3
worksheets. In particular, they need to be able to READ simultaneously.
Write access is not needed simultaneously with reads.
The worksheets are going to be rather large. Consequently we don't want
to use the XTs we have to work with the spreadsheets. We want the power
of a larger engine.
Our original idea was to set up a LAN with a PS2 Model 80 as the server
and hook up the three users to the LAN also. The problem (I think) with
this solution is that it gives us a '386 file server, but we are still
stuck with XT CPU performance.
We also thought of VMS Services for MS-DOS. We have a MicroVAX-II that we
could use as a file server and have very fast access to the files, but
once again, we are stuck with the slow XT CPU.
Now for the big question: Is there a way to set up a multiuser
environment on a '386 so that it can handle 3 - 4 users and still have
more speed than 3 - 4 users on XTs accessing files only ?
I realize that we could get each of the three users a '286 machine and
then put them on a LAN, but that is a bit more expensive proposal. We
would have to have a LAN as well as three new '286s.
Please reply to me directly rather than this discussion group. I am not a
regular reader of this list.
Thank you.
Gene Wiggins BITNET: MANAGER@UNLASVAX
College of Arts & Sciences INTERNET: MANAGER%ASADM.UNL.EDU
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Lincoln, Nebraska --- USA
------------------------------
Date: 21 Feb 89 23:35 EST
From: DAVIDSEN%STEINMETZ.tcpip@ge-crd.arpa
Subject: Re: B-tree Indexed file access in 'C' (BPLUS)
| Date: 14 Feb 89 06:35:56 PST (Tuesday)
| From: "hugh_davies.WGC1RX"@Xerox.COM
|
| I have a copy of BPLUS. It has at least one serious bug, which renders it
| useless, at least on the IBM PC (or at least on the 8086 machines I've
| tried it on).
|
| It manages the database in memory, until it runs out of space, or you
| close the file, when it writes the database back to disk. In order to do
| this, it uses a lot of the 'C' memory allocation and moving routines. The
| problem is the use of memcpy for overlapping areas in the procedure
| moveup. As the man page says, "Character movement is performed differently
| in different implementations. Thus overlapping moves may yield surprises".
If you have the version I uploaded (enhanced 1.1) there is a memmove
routine included in source to use if yours fails. That version has been
modified to run on UNIX (at least the four versions I use regularly). I
will be uploading a newer version with a few more changes.
BPLUS is shareware from Hunter and Associates, any changes I have made
are in the public domain.
-- bill davidsen (wedu@ge-crd.arpa)
{uunet | philabs}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen
"Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me
------------------------------
Date: Tue 21 Feb 89 15:28:09-PST
From: BUSSARD@EDWARDS-2060.ARPA
Subject: LN03 to PC Connection
To interface a LN03 PLUS Printer to a PC/XT/AT do the following.
1. Set the dip switches on the printer as follows:
Switch # Setting Meaning
1-1 OFF SERIAL INPUT
2 ON
3 OFF 9600 BAUD
4 ON
5 OFF 8 DATA BITS
6 OFF PARITY DISABLED
2-1 OFF
2 OFF LN03 DEVICE ID
3 OFF
4 OFF AUTO WRAP DISABLED
5 ON RESTRAINT (Use hardware control not XON-XOFF)
6 ON RESTRAINT INVERTED
2. Use MODE command to set the serial port to talk to the printer, do not
forget the 'p' at the end to tell DOS its a printer.
3. Make a serial cable to interface from the computer to the printer. My
cable is a DB-25 to DB-25, since my AT clone has a DB-9 to DB-25 adapter
on it.
PC LN03
2 ----------- 3
3 ----------- 2
4 ----------- 5
5 ----------- 4
6 ----------- 11
7 ----------- 7
4. I have used this with WS2000+ Release 3 and with WordPerfect 5.0.
WordStar comes with the driver. For WordPerfect it is on an optional
printer disk. My only problem is getting to steal the printer off our VAX
to use it.
Buzz
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1989 16:14 MST
From: Keith Petersen <w8sdz@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL>
Subject: PD/Shareware Database Programs
[Barbara Hicks <bjhicks@trillium.waterloo.edu> posted a request for
recommendations and pointers to PD and Shareware Database programs]
Barbara, I use Jim Button's PC-File+ (ver. 2.0) to catalog the Simtel20
archives on my PC. It's very easy to use. No language has to be learned
as it is all menu-driven. It uses its own file format but is able to
import and export to many different formats.
Recently Button released PC-File-dB. It uses a file format which is the
same as dBASEIII.
Both of these packages are available from Simtel20:
Filename Type Bytes CRC
Directory PD1:<MSDOS.DATABASE>
PCFDB1A.ARC BINARY 327900 4981H \
PCFDB2A.ARC BINARY 352213 34BCH > PC-File-dB
PCFDB3.ARC BINARY 155825 9985H /
PCFILED.ARC BINARY 214796 BA9FH \
PCFILEP.ARC BINARY 254348 576CH > PC-File+ v2.0
PCFILEU.ARC BINARY 234412 4A26H /
--Keith Petersen
Maintainer of the CP/M & MSDOS archives at wsmr-simtel20.army.mil [26.0.0.74]
DDN: w8sdz@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil
Uucp: {ames,decwrl,harvard,rutgers,ucbvax,uunet}!wsmr-simtel20.army.mil!w8sdz
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 89 11:56:31 CST
From: Don Meredith <DMEREDI3@UA1VM.ua.edu>
Subject: Source code for an editor written in C
I am looking for some source code for an editor written C. The
reason is that I would like to develop my own editor fit to my
specifications but I don't know where or how to start. I want the editor
to act like BORLAND's editor. I am open to any suggestions but I prefer
freeware/shareware because of a limited budget. Please reply to my BITNET
address.
Thanx,
Don Meredith
BITNET:DMEREDI3@UA1VM.UA.EDU
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End of Info-IBMPC Digest
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