Info-Mac-Request@SUMEX-AIM.STANFORD.EDU (The Moderators) (07/21/89)
Info-Mac Digest Thu, 20 Jul 89 Volume 7 : Issue 125
Today's Topics:
Advice sought: disk driver software
Article for the list.
BundAid v1.1
Do-it-yourself Memory upgrades - one user's experiences
Excel Problem
Horizontal scrolling in the list manager
IBM .pic format?
MIDI and HyperCard.
MS-DOS-to-Mac file transfer
Multifinder questions
Que 1.0
Screen Shot Installer v1.0
Sending postscript among applications
Start up screens
Suggestion - info-mac/init and info-mac/cdev
Which products do developers use?
Your Info-Mac Moderators are Bill Lipa, Lance Nakata, and Jon Pugh.
The Info-Mac archives are available (by using FTP, account anonymous,
any password) in the info-mac directory on sumex-aim.stanford.edu
[36.44.0.6]. Help files are in /info-mac/help. Indicies are in
/info-mac/help/recent-files.txt and /info-mac/help/all-files.txt.
Please send articles and binaries to info-mac@sumex-aim.stanford.edu.
Send administrative mail to info-mac-request@sumex-aim.stanford.edu.
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Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 16:10:06 -0400
From: Joel B Levin <levin@bbn.com>
Subject: Advice sought: disk driver software
I am looking for pointers and/or advice concerning disk driver and
related software for a new SCSI disk. It is a CDC WREN III 155MB
formatted SCSI external drive which is, however, unequipped with Mac
specific software.
I would appreciate any information you might have, which could range
>From names of commercial packages which would do the trick to
PD/shareware software to (for instance) advice on how to configure
Ephraim Vishniac's SF&I package to work with this drive.
I don't have the drive in my hands yet; however, it seems to have all
the required hardware (terminators, etc.). I don't know if it comes
with the manual. I intend to hook it up to my vanilla SE.
I appreciate any help. Please reply by e-mail. I'll be glad to pass
on what I learn to any who request it.
/JBL
=
UUCP: levin@bbn.com (new) or {backbone}!bbn!levin (old)
INTERNET: levin@bbn.com POTS: (617) 873-3463
"The night was"
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 14:53:02 EDT
From: Michael_Webb@ub.cc.umich.edu
Subject: Article for the list.
Dear NetLanders:
We are currently configuring a Mac setup for our research effort.
We need a sophisticated mathematical package to do calculations
related to our research. I have seen Mathematica, but not used it.
I have also briefly seen MatLab for the Mac. I would appreciate it
if someone with experience in this area could give us a pointer to
the best software available. We mostly do complicated numerical
integrations (one and two variable) and plots of multi-Lorentzian
curves. We want great flexibility, and outstanding graphics capa-
bilities. We would also want to import experimental data and plot
it in publication ready form. Graphing routines that allowed for
multiple spectra and hidden lines would be super. If someone could
compare and contrast the leading programs, that would be great.
It would be ideal if the candidate program had a library of
routines similar to that available on a VAX. (Ever hear of the plasma
dispersion function [alias complex error function]?).
If you could respond directly to me, I will summarize and upload here
to info-mac. Any information is greatly appreciated.
Respond to:
Michael_Webb@ub.cc.umich.edu
or to:
Webb@umiphys.bitnet
Thank you!
Michael Webb
University of Michigan Physics Department.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 16:29:22 -0400
From: boomer@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Rich Akerboom)
Subject: BundAid v1.1
This is a new version of the BundAid application that is already
in the sumex archives. BundAid scans over a disk and fixes the
bundle bits--this removes the problem that results in the
"Application Busy or Missing" error message that occurs sometimes
when a user double clicks on a document. This is version 1.1.
This stuffit archive contains the BundAid application and a
TeachText file of information.
[Archived as /info-mac/util/bundaid-11.hqx; 20K]
------------------------------
Date: 19 Jul 89 19:46:00 EST
From: "JEFF TEMPLON" <templon@venus.iucf.indiana.edu>
Subject: Do-it-yourself Memory upgrades - one user's experiences
Mr. Moderator and Colleagues:
Due to the recent "flurry" of postings about memory upgrades,
I thought I would share my experiences. I just upgraded my Mac SE from
1 to 2.5 meg.
Getting the memory was very easy. The best price I found (and also
the place with the nicest and seemingly most knowledgeable people I talked to)
was from Newer Technology. Their prices are comparable to everybody else's
(not much lower) but all their SIMMS are *80 ns* as opposed to 100 or 120 ns.
This would be important if the SIMMS were ever to be transferred to a machine
with a clock speed of > 16 MHz (their math, not mine.) Other people are
charging about $180 for 80 ns SIMMs, Newer Tech wanted $155 or something
like that. They also assemble the boards in-house.
The installation was pretty easy, although I was nervous. The
SIMMS came with complete instructions for installation in the Plus, the
two versions of the SE (resistor vs. jumper memory config. ID), the II,
the IICX, and the SE/030, and were quite easy to follow. I did have a
bit of help from one of the electronics techs downstairs. Only a few tools
were needed: a LONG Torx driver (get this at electronics supply stores), a
putty knife or wide-blade screwdriver (for opening the case), a small pair
of cutters (to clip the resistor), and a small "jeweler's" screwdriver to
help in getting the SIMM out of the socket. Also some type of static
protector strap MUST be worn; I performed the whole operation on an
anti-static mat in one of our electronics shops.
One thing the instructions don't tell you - you can get the logic
board out more easily by lifting it up about 1.5 inches (until all the tabs
are free of the guiding slots) and then rotating.
I would recommend that anyone considering a do-it-yourself upgrade
who has not mucked around with electronic "guts" have someone familiar with
computers, etc. around to help; there are some things you could damage if
you make the wrong move (e.g. yourself if you touch a charged CRT!) But
all in all it was pretty easy. The worst thing that happened to me is
that my system floppy chose the crucial first-boot-after-the-upgrade moment
to go bad on me, and I thought I had blown up my Mac!! Inserting another
system disk showed that everything was OK, but talk about heart failure...
For those who would rather get the good memory prices by ordering
through a third party but who would rather not stare at MacGuts, your local
Mac dealer will upgrade it for you (you supply the chips) for about $40 (at
least that is what my dealer said.)
good luck
Jeff
------------------------------
Date: 20 Jul 89 15:11 EDT
From: rrenfro%dtoa1.NAVY.MIL@dtrc.arpa (Richard Renfro)
Subject: Excel Problem
OK, here's a stumper -
Imagine, if you will, a MacII with 8MB RAM, Apple 13" RGB
monitor, external 140MB Rodime hard disk partitioned into
40, 30, and 70MB segments, booting off the 40MB part. System
is 6.0.2, with no enabled inits other than Aask. Several
desk accessories, but no startup or backdrop screen. After
booting the system with Multifinder, attempting to run Excel
1.5 results in the message 'The file "Excel 1.5" could not
be opened/printed (fragmented memory)'. No difference if
any of the many inits are installed, or if other programs
run first, or if Excel 1.06 is used. Each of the Excel
programs has the application size set to 1MB. The 'about
the Finder' info shows that the Finder has 256K (about 60%
used), system has 970K (85% used), and 6966K free. When the
system is rebooted without Multifinder, both of the Excels
run. Other programs don't exhibit this feature.
Gee, I thought that 8MB would be enough for almost
anything.... What's going on Here? Any
ideas/suggestions/comments??
InterNet: rrenfro@dtrc.arpa
Genie: r.renfro
Phone: 301/227-3329
David Taylor Research Center
Bethesda, MD 20084-5000
-------
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 12:25:36 DNT
From: Jakob Nielsen Tech Univ of Denmark <DATJN%NEUVM1.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Subject: Horizontal scrolling in the list manager
We have problems in getting the list manager to scroll horizontally.
Since we have list items which are fairly long we want the users to be able
to scroll the list horizontally as well as vertically. We are able to
get it to show a horizontal scroll bar OK, but when the user tries to scroll,
the list scrolls all the way to "the end" and the window ends up containing
white space only. It seems as if it is scrolling to the next cell in a
spreadsheet-like manner instead of just scrolling the characters of the
currently displayed list elements.
Vertical scrolling (the normal for Mac lists) works fine.
Is there some special trick in using the list manager with horizontal
scrolling???
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 15:19:11 +0200
From: Sigurd Meldal <sigurd@eik.ii.uib.no>
Subject: IBM .pic format?
I have received a file from the IBM world. It was an .arc file, which
MacArc unpacked into a .pic file. This is supposed to be a picture,
but I cannot figure out what the format is, nor do I have any tools
for viewing it.
Any pointers?
In appreciation,
-- Sigurd
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 15:45 EST
From: JWK%OPUS@forsythe.stanford.edu
Subject: MIDI and HyperCard.
Is anyone aware of any commercial or PD XCMND's that allow sending/receiving
MIDI information from HyperTalk? Would the MIDI toolbox from Apple be of
any use in this application? Thanx.
Joe Klingler
Image Analysis Research Center
Medical College of Ohio
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 21:02 PDT
From: Ron Webster <IC6JRHW@oac.ucla.edu>
Subject: MS-DOS-to-Mac file transfer
I thank Mike Kobb and C. K. Farn for their recommendations of DESKZAP
to delete the "funny ASCII codes" that appear as a result of transferring
IBM-PC files to the Mac via Apple File Exchange and a properly configured
floppy drive. When I wrote my initial remarks (printed in v. 7 #120 of
the Info-Mac Digest, 13 July 1989, in response to an inquiry by Michael
Paisley that appeared in v. 7 #118 of the Info-Mac Digest, 11 July 1989),
I had transferred a number of files from my IBM-XT to my Mac SE using
PLI's Turbo Floppy 1.4 drive and Apple File Exchange. I had performed
these transfers during several brief sessions requiring quick turn-around,
if dirty results, but I had not made any study of the procedure until I
needed to transfer a large number of files in one sitting.
With an afternoon of work facing me, it seemed prudent to probe the
Apple File Exchange software. There is an option in the Mac-to-MS-DOS
menu ("Text translation") that provides for editing the linefeed out of
carrier return-linefeed pairs. Thus, for text file transfers, no subsequent
editing is required, and DESKZAP is not needed.
As for my remark that the procedure is pretty much limited to the
transfer of straight ASCII (i.e., text) files, again I was trying to be brief
and address only Mr. Paisley's immediate concern (which was the integrity
of these hardware-based translation accessories). Actually, any MS-DOS
file can be transferred to the Mac via Apple File Exchange and the hard-
ware I described in my previous message by "simply" adding the required
filter to Apple FIle Exchange. Other connectivity or translation systems
(such as the one referred to by Mr. Farn in Info-Mac Digest v. 7 #122,
17 July 1989) require something on the order of these filters--some of
the systems may provide the filters. The filters can be user-supplied
(for those users with sufficient sophistication), and I understand that
filters can be obtained from third-party sources (I cannot provide any
specific references at the moment).
There are clear advantages of systems such as PLI's drive or the
products from Kennect Technology over other methods of transferring
files between IBM-PCs and Macs. In the case of Mr. Farn's cable + two
diskettes (one for the IBM-PC and one for the Mac), this is not an efficient
way to transport files between PCs and Macs that are distal. My group
at UCLA is splintered: We have Macs and PCs located on various floors
of the Center for the Health Sciences, as well as a number of units located
blocks from campus. In addition, several of our people have personal
computers at home, whereby it is sometimes necessary for a person to
bring MS-DOS files from home and edit them on a Mac at work (or Mac
files to be edited on an IBM-PC). Cabling is out of the question.
Even for systems located proximally, having to employ unit-specific
software (i.e., one software diskette for the Mac and one for the IBM-PC)
and running a cable between the two micros is not nearly as elegant as
simply plugging an MS-DOS diskette into a floppy drive attached to a Mac.
Moreover, a cable-based system provides a link between only two micros.
Any IBM-PC with a 3-1/2" drive can read or write diskettes to any Mac
that has one of the hardware translators attached (e.g., Kennect
Technology's Rapport or PLI's Turbo Floppy 1.4 drive; as for those who
do not have a 3-1/2" drive in their IBM- PCs or XTs, the cost of installing
such a drive is minimal but there are considerable benefits, even apart
>From providing for MS-DOS-to-Mac file transfers via floppy disks).
From what I've been able to gather, the floppy-drive-based approaches
adopted by PLI and Kennect Technology suffer from no particular
limitations that might make them less attractive than other file
translation systems; but they do offer the real advantage of simplicity
and convenience. (I refer to Kennect Technologies Rapport unit as a
floppy-drive-based system because, although it will by itself, without
Kennect's Drive 2.4 companion unit, provide MS-DOS-to-Mac translation,
it does so by enabling Apple's floppy drive to read the MS-DOS disks.)
Finally, for those who are interested, I transferred 131 files,
comprising 286,720 bytes of MS-DOS disk storage, onto my Mac in
9 minutes! By placing all MS-DOS files to be transferred into a
single directory on the MS-DOS disk, Apple File Exchange will translate
the entire directory of files, unattended, from a single request
(simply request that the directory be translated to the Mac). I
consider 9 minutes to be fast given the task, but perhaps it seemed
so brief in part because I did not have to nurse the process--I was
free to leave the machine and attend to other matters.
I hope this information proves helpful to those who, like myself,
work in the "inter-racial" (actually, "inter-special" is probably more
accurate) IBM-PC/Mac microcomputer environment.
Ron Webster
-------------
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 11:04:04 EDT
From: Tom Coradeschi <tcora@pica.army.mil>
Subject: Multifinder questions
I'm new to using multifinder, so please bear with me while I ask a few
questions which may have already been answered...
What is the general basis for memory use under MF? I'm using an SE/30
w/2Megs, system 6.0.3, finder 6.1.
Monofinder:
system uses 386k, finder 160k.
Multifinder w/ Word 3.01 & Red Ryder 10.3 loaded:
system uses 590k, finder 140k.
Multifinder, no appls loaded:
system uses 556k, finder 160k.
What causes the added size to the system file under MF? Is it the need to
load in the DA Handler? I thought that was only loaded when you actually
_use_ DA's.
Another question revolves around the menu icons. At times, clicking on the
menu icon does not cause a switch to another loaded application. Repeated
clicking all around the area of the icon does nothing. I end up going under
the Apple (DA) menu and selecting another app there. Is this a known
peculiarity of Multifinder, or is it due to the applications themselves?
Could it be due to SuperClock! v3.4, which displays the time right next to
it? I've played around with removing SuperClock!, etc, but the problem is
intermittent, so I cannot trace its source reliably...
Please email me, and I'll summarize....
tom c
Electromagnetic Armament Technology Branch, US Army Armament Research,
Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ 07806-5000
ARPA: tcora@pica.army.mil -or- tcora@ardec.arpa [201] 724-4344
UUCP: ...!{uunet,rutgers}!pica.army.mil!tcora BITNET: Tcora@DACTH01.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 22:29 EDT
From: Rob Kassel <rob@goldilocks.lcs.mit.edu>
Subject: Que 1.0
This is Que, a suite of programs for transferring messages
between CE Software's QuickMail 2.0 and UNIX machines. It's
not public domain, but it is free. Enjoy!
Rob Kassel
M.I.T. Spoken Language Systems Group
545 Technology Square, Room NE43-204
Cambridge, MA 02139
Internet: rob@goldilocks.lcs.mit.edu
AppleLink: mit.sls
[Archived as /info-mac/comm/que.hqx; 34K]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 05:44:02 EDT
From: siegel@harvard.harvard.edu (Rich Siegel)
Subject: Screen Shot Installer v1.0
The attached StuffIt archive contains an installer for an FKEY to take
full-size snapshots of any size or depth screen. The snapshots are
saved in PICT format.
Complete information is in the "ScreenShot Info" file, also in the archive.
The package is shareware.
-Rich
[Archived as /info-mac/fkey/screenshot.hqx; 12K]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 09:57 EDT
From: Maurice Volaski <V050FN5R@ubvmsc.cc.buffalo.edu>
Subject: Sending postscript among applications
After all the responses I got to my question how does a program like Cricket
Draw send both a screen representation to a program like PageMaker such
that Pagemaker prints it with Cricket Draw's postscript information, I am
suprised that noone knows how, or at least they haven't responded.
In any event, I was able to find out that the EPSF file format, one that does
the above, was created by the makers of Fontographer, and that they publish
the secrets of this format, which I am having mailed to me. In case, if there
is anyone else who wants to get in on the method, here is how to reach them:
Altsys Corporation
720 Avenue F, Ste. 109
Plano, TX 75074
1-214-424-4888
Maurice
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 09:49:15 EDT
From: Kim Dyer <3C257F7%CMUVM.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Subject: Start up screens
I would like to change the start up screen from the standard
"welcome to macintosh". Is there a simple way to do this??
Can it be changed BACK in a simple manner? (I have an SE with a hard
drive).
**********************************************************************
* Kim A. Dyer | *
* Computer Services | OF ALL THE THINGS I'VE EVER *
* Central Michigan University | LOST, I MISS MY MIND *
* Mt. Pleasant, MI | THE MOST *
* (3c257f7 @ CMUVM) Bitnet | *
**********************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 07:01:44 -0600
From: dce@solbourne.com (David Elliott)
Subject: Suggestion - info-mac/init and info-mac/cdev
Given the increase in the number of items that are both inits and
cdevs, organization of these is getting increasingly confusing.
I'd like to suggest that these directories be combined into one
directory, and then divided into subdirectories by functional
similarity.
My first inclination (from about 2 minutes thought) would be to call
the directory "sys", and have the following categories:
custom - Items to customize your system (application
font, pointing device, etc.)
util - Items that make things easier (hierDA, boomerang,
etc.)
info - Items for monitoring and getting info about
your system (who's who, macenvy)
clock - Clocks. There are probably enough of these
to warrant a new directory
fun - Fun things (fortune, fish!, etc.)
David Elliott dce@Solbourne.COM
...!{boulder,nbires,sun}!stan!dce
[David raises a good point, which is how do we want to arrange the directory
structure so as to make the archives easy to use. Personally, I feel
that too much subdividing can make things difficult for FTP users, because
they continually have to hop around searching for the files they want.
(There are always some files which do not fit into a preordained structure).
However, directories like util and app are a bit unwieldy at the moment.
Init and cdev, in my opinion, are not urgently in need of subdivision.
Comments? Please send them to info-mac-request@sumex-aim.stanford.edu. -Bill]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 14:17 N
From: NIKE%IMICLVX.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu
Subject: Which products do developers use?
I'd like to hear from the many developers who read this list
how many of them use products that are supposed to make the
developer's life easier. In particular I am thinking about things like
MacApp and similar products I have read being produced from independents;
and also code generators, like Prototyper from Smetherbarnes; or
packages like XVT from API that should allow you to port your code
easily on a variety of graphical user interfaces. Or any other
product for this purpose I may even not heard of.
I'd like to know what you think: relying on MacApp, or any other
product, makes developing faster but makes you dependent on the
correctness of yet another layer of software; and you have to hope that
the company producing it continues to support it.
I myself am a student in computer science, and informations about the above
matters will be very useful for my graduation thesis; also, I may
become a Mac developer myself in a while.
Many many thanks
Matteo Vaccari, NIKE@IMICLVX.BITNET
------------------------------
End of Info-Mac Digest
******************************