Info-Mac-Request@SUMEX-AIM.STANFORD.EDU (The Moderators) (02/17/89)
Info-Mac Digest Thu, 16 Feb 89 Volume 7 : Issue 34
Today's Topics:
Alisatalk 3.2
Blind Macintosh users
general purpose simulation software needed ...
GIF pictures
Hypercard stack for USCF race organizers?
KanjiTalk on Macintosh ?
MacBlitz 2.0
Mac SE Speaker
More complaints about MacWeek's Mac user estimates
PosteRestante 2.01
Request for font information: lower case script "ell"
ScreenDump II
ScrollMBar INIT
SNOBOL4 and SPITBOL availability
Sol's Neighbors Stack
Text to MacWrite
Yarrow Stack
Your Info-Mac Moderators are Lance Nakata, Jon Pugh, and Bill Lipa.
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Date: Thu, 16 Feb 89 14:26:45 EST
From: Publice%UMass.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu
Subject: Alisatalk 3.2
Hello, I am a worker at the Micro Resources Lab here at the University
of Massachusetts. Currently we are running four Mac II with system 6.0.2
and two Mac SEs. We are using a Vax 2000 workstation as a fileserver,
meaning, it supplies applications to users. We are interested in other
people who are using Alisatalk version 3.2 in a similar way.
I am also writing because of a problem with using system version 6.0.2
with the fileserver. We have noticed that system version 6.0.2 now
no longer supports multilaunching of applications. Meaning, that if
someone is running Finder and tries to access the program on the fileserver,
only the first user will be able to get on. The other option is to run
Multifinder, which presents a problem with some applications (such as
Hypercard), because of the memory usage. On a 1 meg machine,(such as
our Mac SEs), we have had to use an earlier version of the system (4.2)
in order to solve this problem. If anybody out there has another
solution we would be very grateful.
This posting is getting very long, but I wanted to ask one more question.
I am developing a Hypercard stack for my father, and it has a button
which simply asks the user to input what they desire to find, and then
it uses the find whole command in Hypertalk to find it. The script is:
on mouseUp
ask "What is it you wish to find?"
find whole it
end mouseUp
When I try this out, it finds the first occurance of the word or phrase,
but, when I hit return, either bombs or refuses to find the next occurance,
even one on the same page. Is this a limitation of Hypercard? Again,
any help on this would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Damian Roskill
Publice@Umass
--------------------------------------------------------
place standard disclaimer here
"Life's like a jigsaw, you get the straight bits
but there's something missing in the middle" -XTC
--------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 89 20:59 EDT
From: "CHARLES W. WHITE" <CWWHITE%Vax2.Concordia.CA@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Subject: Blind Macintosh users
I need to know what software and/or hardware systems are available
to facilitate the use of Macintosh microcomputers by blind users.
I would appreciate any leads as quickly as possible, because I
have a friend who needs to decide on a new computer system. He would
also appreciate the name of someone he could contact re. recommending
a workable system. Please send any available information to:
Charles W. White, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
Concordia University
Montreal, Quebec H3G 1M8
Telephone (514) 848-2210
E-mail "CWWHITE@VAX2.CONCORDIA.CA"
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 89 21:43:29 EST
From: Ravi.Anupindi@isl1.ri.cmu.edu
Subject: general purpose simulation software needed ...
I am looking for a general purpose event-driven simulation software
(language) on the Mac II. I had used SIMULA on DEC1090 a few years back
and liked the features. So I'm looking for something with similar
capabilities, e.g. object-oriented (or Class-based; SIMULA does it with CLASS)
with features to activate, suspend, reactivate, hold etc., and built-in
functions for various probability distributions. Is there any such package
available? If not, what is the closest available? I would greatly appreciate
pointers.
Please send e-mail to anupindi@isl1.ri.cmu.edu
Thanks in advance,
Ravi.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 89 21:33:26 -0500 (EST)
From: Michael Joseph Darweesh <md32+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: GIF pictures
If anyone is interested in trading GIF pictures, send me a list of you
Gif pictures and I'll do the same. I have over 200 I believe (I stopped
counting) and more thatn any ftp server so let me know.
Mike Darweesh
CMU Macintosh Users Group Treasurer
md32@andrew.cmu.edu
------------------------------
Date: 16 Feb 89 11:05:00 EST
From: "ARTIC::HALPIN" <halpin%artic.decnet@alexandria-emh2.army.mil>
Subject: Hypercard stack for USCF race organizers?
I am an active race organizer and USCF official (that is the United
States Cycling Federation for those who don't recognize USCF);
I have made a few feeble attempts to construct a stack to help me
keep track of data on racers registered, results by stage and
overall, etc. I finally developed a Helix data base to do the same
thing, but think that is overkill. Besides, by using hyperCard I
could do more to customize the interface, allowing someone else to
do the data entry without being a knowledgeable user, thereby
allowing me to watch the races.
I have heard rumors that someone at Stanford or at Apple
has developed such a stack. If anyone could give me any leads I would
greatly appreciate it.
Reply to halpin@alexandria-emh2.army.mil
Thanks! Stan Halpin
Remember: There is a fine line between a challenge and a pain-in-the-as
s.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 89 16:33:53 GMT
From: mcvax!cs.aber.ac.uk!cho@uunet.uu.net
Subject: KanjiTalk on Macintosh ?
Does anyone have any details of the Apple Programmer's Development
Association, Renton, nr. Seattle ? I have been informed that they
supply a Japanese operating system for the Macintosh and would very
much like to buy a copy,
Best Regards,
Chris Orgill, tel +44 970 623111 x3227
Computer Science Department, cho%cs.aber.ac.uk@uunet.uu.net (ARPA)
University College of Wales, cho@uk.ac.aber.cs (JANET)
Aberystwyth, Dyfed, United Kingdom. SY23 3BZ.
------------------------------
Date: 15 February 1989 00:28:21 CST
From: <PUDAITE@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: MacBlitz 2.0
MacBlitz is a fast-paced, multi-player HyperCard card game that
resembles the solitaire game Canfield. MacBlitz pits the human player
against three computer opponents in a simultaneous race to empty their
stacks of ten "blitz" cards.
MacBlitz 2.0 features the following enhancements from MacBlitz 1.0 (I
have also interspersed tips, comments and questions about HyperCard):
1. MacBlitz 2.0 no longer requires a ram disk for optimum
performance. HyperCard 1.0 and 1.1 continually update a stack to disk
storage whenever possible, slowing down script execution and
disturbing. The only way to reduce this disturbance was to make disk
access as fast as possible, for example, by using a ram disk. MacBlitz
2.0 makes use of the "Write-Protect" property introduced in HyperCard
1.2 to eliminate disk accesses (except for a few initial reads), thus
ensuring smoother mouse-tracking, even faster play than with a ram
disk, and saving wear and tear on disk drives. With this enhancement,
MacBlitz 2.0 runs very nicely even on a Mac Plus with just the
internal floppy drive.
HyperCard specifics. What I do at the beginning of a playing session
is:
set cantModify of this stack to true -- turn write-protection on
set userModify to true -- allow the user to make changes to cards
-- (necessary in order to play the game)
When the user wants to finish playing, I use the following message
handler:
on storeThisCard
if cantModify of this stack then
set cursor to busy
lock screen
doMenu "Copy Card"
set cantModify of this stack to false
doMenu "Delete Card"
doMenu "Paste Card"
unlock screen
end if
end storeThisCard
This message handler has to be placed in the stack's script because
the card must be deleted (and it is the only card of that particular
background). A slightly different script would be required to store
changes made to a card while it was write-protected if that card was
the only one in the stack. You would have to paste the modified card
first, then go to the old card and delete it.
HyperCard bug or feature? When you turn write-protection off, the
values of the global variables revert back to their values before
write-protection was turned on. It took me a while to figure out what
was happening.
Mac II problems (with HyperCard 1.2.1 and System 6.0.2). Even with
write-protection on, the Mac II mouse still occasionally skips (the
Mac Plus mouse works fine; I haven't had a chance to test MacBlitz on
an SE). As best as I can tell, this is a typical situation when this
occurs: a button's icon is being changed, and the mouse passes over a
button (not necessarily the same one) with a mouseEnter or mouseLeave
message handler. Is this caused by the ADB? Is there any way to work
around this problem? Also, the sounds sometimes get frazzled, even if
I only play sounds when 'the sound = "done"'. I've heard a rumor that
this has been corrected in HyperCard 1.2.2. Is this true?
2. Improved algorithm for the programmed players (who compete against
the user). The new algorithm is less likely to clog up the tableau.
It may also choose to keep playing even after the last blitz card is
played. Because of this, game scores tend to be higher, so the score
required to win a match has been raised to 2500 points.
3. Extended handicapping. Were you able to beat MacBlitz 1.0's
programmed players even with a handicap of 0? MacBlitz 2.0 allows
negative handicaps, giving the programmed players extra cycles and
points to keep pace with MacBlitz experts! Now you can find (and
compare) your true playing ability. MacBlitz 2.0 also displays
information about your handicap on the playing card. More details in
the stack.
4. Many message handlers have been optimized for both size and speed
(where trade-offs occur, scripts are optimized for speed; e.g.,
whenever you can optionally use "the", scripts execute faster if you
DO put it in). Performance of all of the game-time scripts has been
dramatically boosted -- some critical script sequences now execute
twice as fast as before. Perhaps your MacBlitz 2.0 handicap will stay
positive!
5. The "clerical" message handlers have been cleaned up. In
particular, the one in the "names" field that keeps track of who is
playing and matches in progress is a lot more robust. Also, the game
button has a new option that allows you to reset if, for instance,
your machine crashes during a game and trashes the game variables.
[Archived as /info-mac/hypercard/macblitz-20.hqx; 94K]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 89 20:02 CST
From: <CCLARK%UTMEM2.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Subject: Mac SE Speaker
Has anyone ever replaced or heard of replacing the Macintosh SE's speaker
with one that produces somewhat better sound reproduction? I don't even
know what the impedance of the little devil is, but if anyone has ever tried
this I'd like to hear about it.
Cole Clark
University of Tennessee, Memphis
CCLARK@UTMEM1 (BitNET)
FCCLARKJR (GEnie)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 89 16:15:07 EST
From: jeff@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Jeffrey M White)
Subject: More complaints about MacWeek's Mac user estimates
Someone already responded about how Colgate's listed numbers (1000 Macs
and 100%) were way off (I think the person said it was closer to 500 and 10%).
I'd like to point out another that, that of Drexel University. The article
(actually usenet posting) gave values of 1100 users and less than 50%. Slightly
off.
How about 10,000 Macs and 100% usage? Since 1983's freshman class, EVERY
freshmen has been required to purchase a Macintosh. In fact, Drexel was the
FIRST college to require Mac's of all it's students. Therefore, considering
how far off they were in just these two cases, I wouldn't put much belief
in any of their other listings.
Jeff White
Univ of Penn - CETS
jeff@eniac.seas.upenn.edu
------------------------------
Date: 7 Feb 89 16:00:26 GMT
From: jackiw@cs.swarthmore.edu (Nick Jackiw)
Subject: PosteRestante 2.01
[PosteRestante 2.01]
Poste Restante is a cdev/INIT which implements a primitive mailing system
on any network of Macs running a file server. It requires no dedicated
mac of its own, is small, and covers the basics of mail handling. I wrote
it after we tied into the campus network (300 nodes in 12 zones), when
InBox started taking five or six minutes to locate its mail server.
Poste Restante is posted in partial response to a discussion in comp.sys.
mac.programmer about implementing mail systems. Anyone who wants source
code should send me e-mail.
The one bug (in ABOUT... on a Mac II) doesn't affect operation and won't
crash anything; it'll be fixed soon. Poste Restante is ostensibly
shareware, but you know what that means (:-[).
Nick Jackiw
Visual Geometry Project
UUCP: ...!rutgers!bpa!swatsun!jackiw
Internet: jackiw@cs.swarthmore.edu
Bitnet: jackiw%campus.swarthmore.edu@swarthmr.bitnet
[Archived as /info-mac/cdev/poste-restante-201.hqx; 37K]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 89 15:07:54 PST
From: jpl06!john@jato.jpl.nasa.gov
Subject: Request for font information: lower case script "ell"
I have need to produce lower case script "l" (that is "ell", the 12-th
letter of the alphabet) within "Word" documents. I understand that
the "Princeton" font will do this (option-shift-B, I'm told), but I
cannot find Princeton font anywhere. Can someone tell me where I can
get a copy of Princeton font? Is there a better way?
Thanks in advance.
John Armstrong
jpl06!john@jato.jpl.nasa.gov
------------------------------
Date: 13 Feb 89 00:00:48 GMT
From: gwills@maths.tcd.ie (Graham Wills)
Subject: ScreenDump II
[ScreenDump II - part 1 of 5]
Here is the promised ScreenDumpII utility. It is totally self-
explanatory.
Graham Wills, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
[Archived as /info-mac/util/screendump-ii.hqx; 151K]
------------------------------
Date: 7 Feb 89 09:00:32 GMT
From: timo@Apple.COM (Timo Bruck)
Subject: ScrollMBar INIT
[ScrollMBar INIT]
The ScrollMbar init will scroll the menu bar if it is too wide to fit on the
Macintosh screen. It was written by Greg Brewer (a friend of mine who does not
have access to the net).
--
Timo Bruck - Software Navigator | My fish, were it still
AppleLink: Timo | alive, would share my
Internet: timo@apple.com | opinions, but I doubt
UUCP: {amdcad,decwrl,hoptoad,nsc,sun}!apple!timo | anyone else (even
Day Phone: 408/974-3319 | Apple) would!
[Archived as /info-mac/init/scrollmbar.hqx; 7K]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 89 16:12:03 GMT
From: PMIDS%FRPOLY11.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu
Subject: SNOBOL4 and SPITBOL availability
A SNOBOL4 interpreter is available for the Mac II, and a SPITBOL system should
be available in a few weeks. A few weeks ago I gave some out-of-date
information in reply to:
> From: "Jeff Balvanz" <GR.JLB%ISUMVS.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu>
> Subject: Looking for Mac SNOBOL
> To all: we are looking for a Macintosh implementation of either
> SPITBOL or SNOBOL for the Macintosh. A check of our software
> catalogs indicated no interpreters for either commerically
> available. Does anyone know of anyone offering either language ...
I have received some more info, and summarize here.
The SNOBOL4 interpreter ported by Kim Leeper in London is available from
Human-Computer Interface Ltd.
25 City Road
CAMBRIDGE CB1 1DP
England
(0)223-314934 [drop the 0 for international calls]
It's called HCI SNOBOL, has a stand-alone development system, and uses
a C-based library for its I/O. It costs 199 pounds (about $350 US--tho
if someone would distribute it in the U.S., the price might could drop to
something reasonable, a third or fourth (judging from what happens
when Mac software moves from French interior market to the U.S.))
One user of this SNOBOL reported:
> Some impressions:
> it's OK, but doesn't get you very far down into the Mac, which makes
> the interface not as good as it should be. Reading/writing to/from
> multiple files is particularly troublesome.
He also found it disappointingly slow.
A SPITBOL implementation is in the last stages of preparation--only a
couple of appendices in the documentation, maybe two more weeks,
according to the author. It's called MaxSPITBOL. Contact Mark Emmer,
Catspaw, Inc., P.O. Box 1123, Salida, Colorado 81201 U.S.A.
Telephone: 719-539-3884
E-Mail: {uunet | allegra | noao}!arizona!cats!mark
or: emmer@arizona.edu
He says it will run 7-10 times faster than HCI SNOBOL. It has some access
to the Mac interface (file dialogs and alerts). It has a multi-windowed
stand-alone development system, on-line help with language reference,
directly accesses the 68881 co-processor and 68020-specific integer
instructions if available for faster math, etc. It will $195 plus shipping.
(This announcement also indicates that a stand-along version of the Icon
language is in preparation for the Mac--maybe midyear?)
Background ... SNOBOL4 is a pattern-matching and text-processing
language developed years ago at Bell Labs (indeed, an early form of SNOBOL
is included in the standard Unix release, although it doesn't seem to be used
much). SNOBOL4 is to text manipulation about what APL is to calculations--
it is amazing how something that takes pages in normal languages can be
written in a few SNOBOL4 lines. You can essentially write the Backus-Nahr
description of a syntax, and voila! you have a syntax checker in SNOBOL4.
(Icon is a rather different kind of language, developed at U. of Arizona
by some of the original SNOBOL authors.)
SNOBOL has a small but loyal following. E.g., researchers analyzing literature,
and (according to rumor) the NSA (who, again according to rumor, run it on
Crays ... to break codes? to figure out what we say over long distance
phone conversations?)
The SIL implementation of SNOBOL4 is in a portable macro language; not too
hard to port, renowned for being slow. SPITBOL is another portable imple-
mentation of SNOBOL4, as well as an extension to the language. It uses some
kind of compilation to an intermediate form, and the macro implementation
is based on a multi-register machine model which gives good performance on CPUs
like the VAX and the 68000.
See my previous posting for info on SNOBOL newsletters from U of Arizona
(they have one on Icon also) and from Catspaw.
Darrell Skinner Paris, France
I(nformatique)Mail: PMIDS@FRPOLY11.BITNET
E(scargo)Mail: Labo PMI / Ecole Polytechnique / 91128 Palaiseau France
Disclaimer: I have interest (though none financial) in these products.
I don't even know these guys (except I've talked to both authors by phone,
they seem nice enough fellows ...)
------------------------------
Date: 5 Feb 89 14:00:47 GMT
From: gordon@june.cs.washington.edu (Allyn)
Subject: Sol's Neighbors Stack
[Sol's Neighbors Stack - part 1 of 3]
I am posting this stack, Sol's Neighbors for a friend. Here are his
notes about it:
Sol's Neighbors - This stack provides a star catalogue of all the
stars within 16 light years of the solar system. Standard astronomical
methods are used to estimate the diameter of each star and its angular
size in the sky, as viewed from a hypothetical planet receiving the
same energy-density of sunlight as does the Earth. These sizes are
represented graphically on each card. In addition, the stack will
compute the distance from one star to another and will provide a three
dimensional map showing the positions of selected stars. I wrote this
stack because it was information I wanted organized in this way for
possible use in future SF novels, since these are the stars that
humanity will colonize first.
John G. Cramer
[Archived as /info-mac/hypercard/sols-neighbors.hqx; 85K]
------------------------------
Date: 10 Feb 89 17:00:38 GMT
From: grh@rhi.hi.is (Gisli Runar Hjaltason)
Subject: Text to MacWrite
[Text to MacWrite]
txtomw is a skeleton program for converting text files into MacWrite
documents complete with formatting changes. It is written in MPW C
2.0.2, but it should be easy to modify so it compiles under other C
compilers (e.g. under UNIX as someone wanted to do) if you have the
necessary Macintosh header files.
The following BinHexed StuffIt file contains the source file txtomw.c
and its header file txtomw.h. More info is included in the files.
Gisli Runar Hjaltason
University of Iceland
grh@rhi.hi.is
grh@krafla.UUCP
[Archived as /info-mac/source/text-to-macwrite.hqx; 11K]
------------------------------
Date: 6 Feb 89 18:00:25 GMT
From: gordon@june.cs.washington.edu (Allyn)
Subject: Yarrow Stack
[Yarrow Stack]
I am posting this stack, Yarrow, for a friend. Here are his notes
about it:
This HyperCard stack is semi-freeware, and is to be distributed as
widely as possible on any and all computer networks and bulletin boards
which provide for downloading of Macintosh software.
Yarrow (I Ching) - This stack is aimed at the New Agers out there in
Macintosh land. It uses HyperTalk commands to simulate manipulation of
the yarrow stalks used in the most traditional form of the I Ching
oracle procedure. After the yarrow stalks are manipulated and the
lines are cast, it consults a condensed version of the I Ching and
provides a primary oracular reading. Secondary readings if the moving
lines must use a printed version of the I Ching.
John G. Cramer
[Archived as /info-mac/hypercard/yarrow.hqx; 40K]
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End of Info-Mac Digest
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