Info-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL (02/12/89)
Info-IBMPC Digest Sun, 12 Feb 89 Volume 89 : Issue 20
Today's Editor:
Gregory Hicks - Chinhae Korea <COMFLEACT@Taegu-EMH1.army.mil>
Today's Topics:
About EXACT the scientific ad-on to WP's.
A few things cleaned up in the Random number generator
B-tree Indexed file access in 'C'
elongating PATH string (2 msgs)
Prisma EGAMAX Problems
Agenda software for PS/2
F11 and F12
Turbo Pascal Random Number generator
Interfacing ATARI Joysticks to a PC
Installation batch file question
LN03-PS/2
serial port for tandy 1000 sx
Terminating batch files with Ctrl-Z
UED text editor - small, fast, up to 9 files uploaded to Simtel20
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 02 Feb 89 09:53:18 IST
From: Alex Burcat <AER0201%TECHNION.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: About EXACT the scientific ad-on to WP's.
There was a question about using ad-on programs to convert
an existing WP like WORDPERFECT or WORDSTAR to a scientific
formula writer. Indeed the best known is EXACT. I have tried
this product since their demo is very nice and promising. I
needed it to work with EINSTEINWRITER an english -Hebrew
bilingual non-scientific WP.
From my experience and two other students in our department
this product stinks. It is hard to install and not portable
between computers. I have 4 computers and cannot aford $350-
for each. The protection sceeme is nasty too. It has a very
big and bad instruction manual, and it takes long time to
learn to operate it. After a week I forgot all and have to
start learning again. The results are marginal and not always
work well. In short it is so much trouble that we all prefered
a good dedicated WYSIWYG scientific WP. Our choise is
CHIWRITER since you have nothing to memorize to work with it.
ALEX BURCAT. Aerospace Eng. Technion, I.I.T., Haifa.
------------------------------
Date: 3 Feb 89 09:36
From: dantowitz%eagle1.DEC@decwrl.dec.com (color)
Subject: A few things cleaned up in the Random number generator
Please note that the Random function below returns a REAL value
between 0 and 1. You must also initialize SEED to a non-zero value
before calling Random.
David Dantowitz
var
(* Initialize seed to a non-zero value *)
seed : integer; (* this has to persist from call to call *)
function Random : real;
const
a = 16807;
m = 2147483647; (* 2^31 - 1 *)
q = 127773; (* M div A *)
r = 2836; (* M mod A *)
var
lo, hi, test : integer;
begin
hi := seed div q;
(* division truncated to integer *)
lo := seed mod q;
test := a * lo - r * hi;
if test > 0
then
seed := test
else
seed := test + m;
Random := seed / m;
(* floating point division *)
end;
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Feb 1989 00:26 MST
From: Keith Petersen <w8sdz@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL>
Subject: B-tree Indexed file access in 'C'
Karl, we have a B-tree in the archives at Simtel20. You can get it
from your nearest BITNET file server that accesses Simtel20.
Filename Type Bytes CRC
Directory PD1:<MSDOS.C>
BPLUS.ARC BINARY 21504 2B19H
--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: Sat, 04 Feb 89 10:42:58 EST
From: "Dr. A.Bykat" <BYKAT%UTCVM.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: elongating PATH string
I need to overcome the 130 char limit (or so) of the
PATH string in DOS. I'm using MS-DOS 3.21, which allows to
increase the environment using SHELL /E argument. This, however,
does not allow having long search PATH for executable files.
Any suggestions?
Alex Bykat
Acknowledge-To: <BYKAT@UTCVM>
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Feb 89 02:05:46 MST
From: Gregory Hicks <GHICKS@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL>
Subject: elongating PATH string
You COULD do the following:
SUBST <drive-name> <long-path-name>
Where <drive-name> is the LETTER of the NEW DRIVE you've just created
(similar to a ram disk)
and <long-path-name> is most, if not all, of the path you want to refer
to...
See your DOS manual. I'm sorry I don't know the page to look at, but it
should be there... The limit is 128 chars for a path name..
It SHOULD work.. You can substitute most, if not all, of your
'very-long-path' this way.
Gregory Hicks
------------------------------
Date: 4 February 89, 12:43:23 SST
From: RPR3081%NUSVM.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu
Subject: Prisma EGAMAX Problems
I recently encountered some problems with my EGA card. It is a Prisma
EGAMAX 860 card installed in a Commodore PC 10-III computer.
The problem is as follows:
1. whenever i boot up by turning the power on, the whole CPU seems to be
slow. The screen scrolls at an unusually slow speed ( line by line).
The time between the moment when a command is issued and the time the
drive starts to whirl is also long. But these few days I discovered
that if I do a cold boot( ctrl-alt-del), the system returns to normal.
2. The card was sent back for repair but the factory found nothing wrong
with it. The computer was also sent for service and they said it is
perfectly ok. But once the card was put into the computer, the problem
came back.
The set (with the card) was working working fine until about 2 months ago.
Could anyone out there please tell me what could be wrong. Or how I can
find out what is exactly wrong with the combination.
thank you.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 02 Feb 89 12:45:55 EST
From: Scott Earley <EARLEY%BITNIC.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu>
Subject: Agenda software for PS/2
Open-ended query about Agenda software for the IBM PS/2. Please include
comments ranging through: what it does, where to get it, who is author,
performance, other reliable (or free) alternatives, etc.
Thanks
------------------------------
Date: 2 February 89, 14:52:05 EST
From: MTSJMC%GSUVM1.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu
Subject: F11 and F12
I've been looking through the PS/2 model 80 Technical Reverence Manual
all day trying to find out how to set a 101-key keyboard up so that it
will respond with a scancode when I press F11 and F12. I suppose that
it is more a matter of putting the INT 16h BIOS routine into the right
mode, but you know what I'm talking about.
I'm already aware of the BIOS call that will return an extended key
code. That's not what I'm after. I need a way to put the keyboard into
a mode that will cause it to return the F11 and F12 key codes even when
INT 16h with AH=0 is used. (I'm beginning to wonder if it is really
possible.)
I've been told that the information is to be found in a "recent" issue
of the PC Tech Journal, but I haven't found it in the issues that I have
lying around.
The reason I'm beating my head against this particular brick wall is that
I would like to get TELIX 3.11 (a common communications program, for those
of you who don't recognize the name) to send the appropriate codes for F11
and F12 when I press them. (I'm setting up a pseudo-VT100 mode for our
own rather peculiar protocol converter.) Everything works fine except for
the F11 and F12 keys, which TELIX seems to ignore completely. What I'm
looking for is a routine that I could run in its own executable file that
I could run either before I get into TELIX or possibly execute as an
external process from the TELIX script file that sets everything else up
for VT100 mode.
I don't need a whole program. I don't even need the actual code. I could
write the stuff myself if I could just find out what BIOS call to issue
or what ports to manipulate or whatever it takes. So don't feel like
I'm looking for any neat, debugged code. Even a glimmer of where to look
for this information would be welcome.
I can only hope that I'm being clear. After reading the Tech Ref all
morning, it's verry difficult to tell.
Jeff Clough
Programmer
Georgia State University Computer Center
MTSJMC at GSUVM1 (404)651-4537
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Feb 1989 15:18 EST
From: David Alan Grier <DAGRIER%GWUVM.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Turbo Pascal Random Number generator
The references given for Random number generators are fine, but a bit
old. Much work has been done since Knuth last revised The Art of Computer
Programming Vol 2. A nice random number generator can be found in "Efficient
and Portable Random Number Generators", by Pierre L'Ecuyer (Communications of
the ACM vol 31 no 6 (June 1988) pages 742 - 751. It represents the state
of the art. The article also includes a portable Pascal implementation.
A good modern text is "A Guide to Simulation" by Brately, Fox and Schrage
(Springer-Verlag, 1984).
David Grier
George Washington University
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 89 15:57:43 PST
From: Clarence Dold <cdold@starfish.convergent.com>
Subject: Interfacing ATARI Joysticks to a PC
Info-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL:
>
> I need some information. I don't have a game or serial port on my
> Turbo XT clone and I was looking to pick up an I/O card. My question is
> this: I have an Atari 2600 video game with 2 joysticks. Can I use one of
> them with the game port provided I match gender(F-F) ? People have told
> me it can be done, but it would require some patching.
>
Can you do it simply? No.
The IBM joystick contains pots that vary resistance according to position.
The Atari contains switches that open or close acording to direction.
There was some banter on the net about three months ago from a guy who
was going to write a TSR interpreter, but I heard no more.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 02 Feb 89 01:56:12 SET
From: RECK%DBNUAMA1.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Installation batch file question
In Info-IBMPC digest v89#8, Erich Neuwirth <A4422DAB@AWIUNI11.BITNET>
asks for a way to build a 'clean' multi-diskette installation batch file.
Two slightly round-about ways came to my mind in a similar situation:
(i) Do all the real work within a batch file, as you suggest, but use an exe
(or com) file to copy this batch file to the hard disk, then shell to DOS
to execute the batch file, and finally delete the batch file. A simple
TurboPascal 4.0/5.0 program that does this follows:
Program install;
(* copies INSTALLB.BAT from A: to C:\; changes to C:\, runs INSTALLB.BAT, *)
(* then kills it, leaving no trace behind. Written for TurboPascal 5.0. *)
(* If using TurboPascal 4.0, replace "GetEnv(..)" by "\COMMAND.COM". *)
Uses Dos;
Begin
Exec(GetEnv('COMSPEC'),'/C COPY A:INSTALLB.BAT C:\');
ChDir('C:\');
Exec(GetEnv('COMSPEC'),'/C INSTALLB');
Exec(GetEnv('COMSPEC'),'/C DEL INSTALLB.BAT');
End.
(There are obvious improvements to this programme, like error-checking or
using Pascal constructs for file copying and deleting. Who cares.)
(ii) A second solution does not involve shelling and the ilk; rather, it
uses the keyboard buffer to do the deletion, using a very useful utility,
KEY-FAKE, to be found in the Info-IBMPC archives:
File #1:
Rem This is INSTALL.BAT. It resides on disk #1 and will call INSTALLB.BAT,
Rem which will do the real work.
copy a:installb.bat c:\
copy a:key-fake.com c:\
c:
cd \
installb
File #2:
Rem This is INSTALLB.BAT. It will be called from INSTALL.BAT and does the
Rem real installation work. First, insert statements to do so:
...
...
Rem Now comes the charperson's part:
echo You may now remove the installation disk.
key-fake "del c:\installb.bat" 13 "del c:\key-fake.com" 13
That does the trick, unless an ill-behaved user hits keys during the
installation procedure; I haven't tried out what this will lead to.
Gisbert W.Selke <RECK@DBNUAMA1.BITNET>
Ermekeilstrasse 28
D-5300 Bonn 1
West Germany
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 89 23:48 EST
From: <UN021311%WVNVMS.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: LN03-PS/2
I would like information to connect a PS/2-30 '286 to a
Digital LN03 serial printer. The PS/2 will be using the
9 pin serial port and the LN03 has a 25 pin port. I can't
seem to locate the pin numbers for a 9 pin serial port.
Does anyone have information on the pinout for the 9 pin
connector?
Also, when I installed the IBM serial/parallel port card, the
PS/2 manual gave some confusing information about setting
the jumper for the serial port to the alternate (?) position.
I did this so that I could use the built-in serial port for
the modem and the other serial port for the printer. So a
9 pin - 25 pin cable should do the job. I would appreciate
information from anyone who has worked with this kind of
problem especially with these types of computer and printer.
Is there a printer driver for the LN03?
Thanks,
Neil Hazari
un021311@wvnvms.wvnet.edu
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 3 Feb 89 22:08 EST
From: Mark Mandel <Mandel@BCO-MULTICS.HBI.HONEYWELL.COM>
Subject: serial port for tandy 1000 sx
A friend of mine wants to get a dual serial port to put into his Tandy
1000 SX. Does anyone know if the short-card dual serial ports for IBM
PCs are compatible with this model... or , better, WHICH of them are
compatible?
Preferably, reply to my address rather than this list, which I don't
read regularly.
-- Mark Mandel
* My employer is not responsible for anything I say, think, do, or eat. *
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 04 Feb 89 16:58:49 EST
From: REC386%MAINE.BITNET@MITVMA.MIT.EDU (Noel Roy)
Subject: Terminating batch files with Ctrl-Z
get
>Date: Mon, 30 Jan 89 22:54 UT+1
>From: "GERBEN POSTMA" <DDGMPOS%HDETUD51.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
>Subject: Re: Batch file question
>
>Just make sure that the LAST command in the batch file, i.c. the delete
>command, is followed by a Ctrl-Z character ON THE SAME LINE. This Ctrl-Z
>will mark the end of the batch file, even if other commands follow.
>
>Without this Ctrl-Z control will be given back to the batch file every
>time execution of a command issued by this batch file has completed.
>Therefore it's good practice to terminate every batch file with a Ctrl-Z
Using my Generic MS-DOS version 3.2, terminating the final line of a batch
file with Ctrl-Z causes that line to be echoed, even if ECHO is OFF.
To prevent echoing, the final Ctrl-Z must be inserted in an otherwise
empty line.
_________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Dr. Noel Roy |
| Stevens Hall 210B Phone (207) 581-1860 |
| Department of Economics FAX (207) 581-1604 |
| University of Maine |
| Orono ME 04469 |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| bitnet: rec386@maine |
| internet: rec386%maine.bitnet@mitvma.mit.edu |
| uunet: uunet!mitvma.mit.edu!rec386%maine.bitnet@uunet.uu.net |
| o o |
| icbmnet: lat 44 53'53"N long 68 40'7"W alt 44m |
|_______________________________________________________________________|
------------------------------
Date: Friday, 3 February 1989 12:12-MST
From: Bruce Wilson <bwwilson@lion.waterloo.edu>
Subject: UED text editor - small, fast, up to 9 files uploaded to Simtel20
I have uploaded UED.ARC to Simtel20 directory PD1:<MSDOS.EDITOR>. It
was created using PKarc with the -oct option for compatibility.
Short Desc:
"text ed-small,fast,easy,up to 9 files"
Briefly:
Useful Editor (Ued) is a small (about 32K), fast, ASCII editor that is
suitable for a wide variety of text manipulation tasks. Some of Ued's
features include:
- easy to use consistent interface
- ability to edit up to 9 files in memory at once
- files as large as 1000 characters wide and 10,000 lines long
- file size is only limited by available memory
- split screen editing
- typeover and insert mode editing
- search and replace (both case sensitive and insensitive)
- cut and paste (three modes: line, range, and block)
- escape to DOS
- word wrap and paragraph reformat
- smart indentation
- user configurable preferences
bruce
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End of Info-IBMPC Digest
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