Info-Mac-Request@SUMEX-AIM.STANFORD.EDU (Jon Pugh and Lance Nakata) (08/17/88)
INFO-MAC Digest Wednesday, 17 Aug 1988 Volume 6 : Issue 73
Today's Topics:
Re: upgrade from Microsoft Fortran to MacTRAN?
Random number generators
Aztec C
MPW C global data limit - HELP!
Re: Sending postscript files to a laser printer
RE: Accessing Mac laserprep/postscript files
RE: interface to LN03R
Re: Accessing Mac laserprep/postscript files
RE:Getting LaserPrep files
LaserWriter printing Blacks problem
Appletalk Printers
Mac II with HP LaserJet+
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Date: Sat, 6 Aug 1988 20:21:34 PDT
Sender: "William J. Lipa" <lipa@polya.stanford.edu>
From: William Lipa <lipa@polya.stanford.edu>
Subject: Re: upgrade from Microsoft Fortran to MacTRAN?
Robert:
I agree with most of your comments about MacTran Plus. It is not a very nice
system to work with. However, at least it produces correct code as far as I
know, as opposed to Absoft/Microsoft Fortran.
I think Language Systems Corporation's Fortran is greatly superior to either
of these products. The interface is very clean (since most of it is Apple's
MPW) and it is quite compatible with VAX Fortran. The new version (1.1) has
improved its speed significantly -- it now beats MacTran for execution time,
and equals Absoft.
Bill Lipa
lipa%polya@forsythe.stanford.edu
PS. When I say that Absoft Fortran produces incorrect code, I mean that their
code has serious problems on a Mac II, even though they advertise their
product as compatible with that model Macintosh.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 08 Aug 88 15:22:01 EST
From: John Kochmer <GENESPC%YALEVM.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: Random number generators
We will be needing to generate random numbers for a large number of large
simulations to be run on a Mac II. Can anyone recommend particularly good,
or warn of particularly bad, random number generators? We will be using
MS BASIC for the most part, but we do have versions of PASCAL, FORTRAN,
MODULA-2 and C which we could work through as well.
John Kochmer
Howard Hughes Medical Institute or Dept. Biology
25 Science Park, Room 457 Division of Ecology and Evolution
New Haven CT 06511 Yale University, New Haven CT 06511
(203) 786-5522 (203) 432-3903
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Aug 88 09:19:03 PDT
From: Mark Richer <RICHER@SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: Aztec C
Has anyone used the current version of Aztec C that runs as a tool under
MPW? And I was told that their source level debugger also can run under
MPW. Has anyone used it. Any feedback on these new products is appreciated.
I'm especially interested in the source level debugger. And I know MPW 3.0
will also have one --- anyone know how they "may" compare?
Aztec claims much better results on a Mac II Dhrystone benchmark than MPW C
and LS C. I don't know how relevant this is, but it's interesting since
Aztec has gotten very little media support in the Mac press compared to MPW
and LS C which get most of the press attention.
One thing that's hard to believe abou t their bench mark results:
object size in Aztec (and MPW) was 4K and in LS 107K. Were they counting
the size of the total LS project or a "built" application?
Mark
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Aug 88 11:55 EDT
From: <UN107157%WVNVMS.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU> (MICHAEL A.
From: PACKER)
Subject: MPW C global data limit - HELP!
Does anyone out there know how to get around MPW's 32k size limit for the
global data segment?
I am porting a large application from Sun UNIX to the Macintosh II, using
MPW C (version 2.02). The product is a library which will be linked with
the user's "top-level" application. I would like to get it to compile
on the Macintosh without making drastic changes to the code (currently it
compiles on the Sun, VAX/VMS, and MicroVax). That is, we maintain a single
version of the source which compiles on each machine using #ifdef <system>
where necessary for machine-dependent routines. Right now it looks as if
we cannot compile the library on the Macintosh without major contortions.
The application contains large amounts of static data and string constants,
and this seems to be the problem: the linker expires with
### Link: Error More than 32,768 bytes of global variables: 79346
I tried removing all the string constants from our source files and placing
them in a separate file; this reduced the global data size by about 30k.
The static variables must remain static to avoid naming conflicts. Are
there any other solutions? I could find nothing in the MPW documentation.
Even an option to store strings in a separate segment would help. Am I
just missing something obvious? If MPW C cannot do it, is there another
compiler that will?
Please E-mail to me direct, or even call collect. Any replies will be
summarized to the net. Thanks in advance,
David
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Dymm Software Engineer
1227 Van Voorhis Road
Morgantown, WV 26505
PHONE: 304 291-9898 (8:30-4:30 EST)
USENET: {allegra,bellcore,cadre,idis,psuvax1}!pitt!wvucsb!dymm
INTERNET: dymm@b.cs.wvu.wvnet.edu
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Sending postscript files to a laser printer
Date: Sat, 06 Aug 88 20:03:28 PDT
From: Lance Nakata <nakata@Portia.stanford.edu>
There is a program called UTILITY-SENDPS-121.HQX in the
<Info-Mac> directory. It allows you to send Postscript
files to a LaserWriter.
Lance
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 7 Aug 88 10:10:18 EDT
From: Jurgen%UMass.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU
Subject: RE: Accessing Mac laserprep/postscript files
> From: gellman%mv2.UNCA.Adhocnet.CA%UNCAEDU.BITnet@Forsythe.Stanford.ED
> From: U (Ruben Gellman)
> I have a new Mac SE and I want to use a PostScript laser printer
> (QMS-800PS) located elsewhere and hooked onto a non-Apple
> workstation (Apollo) to print my Mac stuff. I know that
> I can get a PostScript file dumped to disk on the Mac by hitting
> Command-F after asking for a print; I can transfer this file by
> modem to the Apollo, but it won't print out. Reason is, the
> PS file assumes a prolog or header file (presumably Laserprep) has
> been sent ot the laser printer, defining a whole bunch of things.
> Any idea how I can generate or get hold of the relevant laserprep/
> header/prolog PS file?
The apple "LaserPrep" file contains a (partial) Quickdraw interpreter
for the Laserwriter written in Postscript. Since most Macintosh app-
lications speak Quickdraw, I assume this was done to shift some of the
burden of translation to Postscript to the printer's CPU. Obviously the
LaserPrep file came with your SE on the System Tools disks, but unfor-
tunately the Postscript code you need sits in the resource fork of that
file, so that you can't simply upload it with XModem or something similar.
You may or may not be able to extract the Postscript routines with Res-
Edit and paste them into a text file (I haven't tried this), but there
is a better way... Alisa Systems, developer of the Alisatalk file/print
server for VMS has written a little program that pulls all the resources
out of the apple Laserprep file and generates a nice text file containing
the entire Postscript code in an easy to manipulate format. You may be
able to get this program from Alisa Systems, Inc...
Unfortunately, this isn't quite the end of your problems. In order to
download a Laserprep to the printer you have to reset the printer first.
This can be done by appending a Postscript reset command to the beginning
of the Laserprep file, but if your printer is shared by other people, they
may not be happy when their downloaded fonts and Postscript dictionaries
suddenly disappear... :-(
Good luck...
Jurgen Botz
Jurgen@UMass.Bitnet
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 7 Aug 88 10:31:01 EDT
From: Jurgen%UMass.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU
Subject: RE: interface to LN03R
> From: Richard J. Solomon <rjs@media-lab.media.mit.edu>
> Is there a hardware device for a DEC Scriptprinter which would emulate an
> Appletalk interface so I could connect a Mac directly to the LNO3R (with
> PostScript)? Currently I use a null modem cable and download PostScript
> files through a terminal program at 19.2 kbps, but this is very slow and
> prone to bit errors. Is there any Laserprep software for the Mac configured
> properly for the LN03R's peculiarities?
I haven't heard of a hardware device that would make it possible to hook a
non-Appletalk laser printer up to Appletalk, but there is another (although
probably much more expensive) solution. A company by the name of Alisa
Systems makes a very slick package called "Alisatalk for VMS" which allows
you to configure any VMS machine as a file/print server for Macs.
At the Computing Center at the University of Mass, Amherst, we are currently
running the Alisatalk package on several DEC Vaxstation 2000s, using a
Kinetics Fastpath gateway to allow the Macs on Appletalk to talk to the micro
Vaxen on Ethernet. We are using the Alisa Print System to set up queues
for our Apple Laserwriters, but it appears to be just as easy to go to any
Postscript printer using this system.
If you have more questions, E-Mail me...
Jurgen Botz
Jurgen@UMass.Bitnet
Disclaimer: I have no connection to Alisa Systems, Inc. other than as a
satisfied customer, blah, blah, blah...
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Aug 88 11:46:51 EDT
From: tom coradeschi <tcora@ARDEC.ARPA>
Subject: Re: Accessing Mac laserprep/postscript files
I posted a rather lengthy description of my experiences with postscript files
from the mac being printed on VAXen, etc, but the kernel is this. To generate
just the postscript, hold down 'F', or cmd-F (if your application doesn't like
the simple 'F'). However, to initialize the laserwriter, you need to prepend
the postscript file with the laser prep file from your mac. To do that, hold
down 'K', or cmd-K. That should do it. Remember that the 'K' option will
create a substantially larger file than the 'F', so it really only pays to use
it for the first file you wish to print. I haven't really played around with
timing such events, but I would assume that if every file were prepended with
the laser prep file, then you'd have to sit thru laserwriter initialization
every time you print. That sounds awfully time consuming to me. And aren't
computers supposed to save us time? :-) Email me if you've got any other
comments or questions.
tom c
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Aug 88 14:48:17 EDT
From: "William C. DenBesten" <denbeste@andy.bgsu.edu>
Subject: Re: Disconnected appletalk connectors.
Info-Mac-Request@SUMEX-AIM.STANFORD.EDU (Jon Pugh and Lance Nakata):
>
>
> If this sounds like a naive question, I apologize in advance....
>
> Does anyone know of any software or whatever that can identify
> breaks/disconnections in an Appletalk network?
>
> We've had a number of annoying occurrences where an Appletalk
> connector loosened up (maybe someone accidentally pulled one loose),
> resulting in several Macs on our Appletalk net getting effectively
> disconnected from the net (unable to print to the Laserwriter, etc.).
This problem is easily solved by knowing the physical layout of your
network. When I had localtalk, I kept a map that showed the location
of all macs and all connectors, and their order on the line. When
there was a disconnection, I basically did a binary search, picking a
mac in the middle, seeing if the laserwriter showed up in chooser. If
I didn't see the laserwriter, I moved closer to it. If I saw the
laserwriter, I would have moved farther away. Pretty soon I had
narrowed it down to the wire between two of the machines and there was
the break. In my case, it happened that the cleaning people had moved
the LaserWriter too far.
I actually had a real wierd problem with the phonenet that I just put
in to replace the aforementioned localtalk net. I decided to put in a
bus topology net, with a wire running down the hall, and a 12 foot
branch into each office. When I got my test suite of 9 macs running,
I discovered that some machines could see our laserwriter, but not
appleshare, some could see only appleshare and others could see both.
This had me stumped, since this isn't a simple break in a line. After
a bit of grumbling, I discovered that I had left one of the
terminating resistors shorted out, causing a large packet loss. I had
been getting reflections off of the short, and some machines were just
the wrong length from the short and the other machine. To find this,
I disconnected all the macs, and sat down with a ohmmeter (not a trick
you can play with localtalk).
> Is there any software or whatever that can periodically poll Appletalk
> and identify disconnections on the net, or perhaps find those
> Appletalk ports that are inaccessible (say, from the Laserwriter
> port)? Or are there other ways to deal with such problems?
My users do a real good job of doing that (Bill, I can't print this...)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Aug 88 23:21:41 EDT
From: paisley@mte.ncsu.edu (Mike)
Subject: RE:Getting LaserPrep files
To Reuben Gellman and other netters:
I am assuming that I'm not the 16th response.
For those needing LaserPrep files in their PostScript for non-LaserWriters
(or LW's not normally init'ed with LaserPrep):
To get normal PostScript press command-F immediately after OKing the print
dialog box. I sometimes click OK, then press command-F, then release mouse to
insure that all is interpretted ok. Continue holding command-F until
"Creating PostScript file" dialog box comes up.
To get PS with LaserPrep header prepended, do as above except use command-K
instead of command-F. Your file will be approx. 25K larger, and contain all
the LPrep code for printing elsewhere.
Mike Paisley
paisley@mte.ncsu.edu
paisley%mte@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu
pasiley@ncsumte.bitnet
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Aug 88 9:38:12 MST
From: Major John Buono
From: <buono%asbf-imp.huachuca-em.arpa@HUACHUCA-EM.ARPA>
Subject: LaserWriter printing Blacks problem
I have run into a odd problem with my laserwriter Plus that I hope someone
out there can provide a solution. About one month ago, the laserwriter all
of a sudden started printing very light (about 50% grey on areas that
should have been black). I immediately changed cartridges, but that didn't
correct the problem (it was a refilled cartridge that had been very good).
I cleaned all of the wires including the one in the cartrigde. Since then
I have been through 5 cartridges (both new, and refilled) and the problem
persists.
Now comes the even weirder part. A friend of mine that owns a graphics
arts house has the same problem at about the same time. She has been
through 12 cartridges and only two have produced blacks but only for a
short time (about 1,000 sheets). We both know to run about a 100 to 200
sheets to get it going. But after a 1000+ sheets and you still don't have
anything approaching black, you become suspect. Does anyone have an idea
on what the problem might be. We are both getting desperate, especially
her since her livlehood is based on the laserwriter.
Thanks in advance
John Buono
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Aug 88 20:36:28 EST
From: Alan Stein <STEIN%UCONNVM.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: Appletalk Printers
Having gotten disgusted with the problems inherent in printing
mailing labels on an Imagewriter II, I am looking for an alternative.
This suggests the following three questions:
1. Is there any other printer, preferably fairly inexpensive and with
a decent tractor feed, that will work on an Appletalk network?
2. What inexpensive printers with decent tractor feeds will work with
a Mac if they are hooked up directly?
3. Is it possible to hook up my (parallel interface) Epson MX-80 to
a Mac+ for the sole purpose of doing labels? (Oh, how I wish that the
Imagewriter had a tractor feed half as reliable as that obsolete Epson.)
Alan H. Stein Department of Mathematics
The University of Connecticut at Waterbury
Internet: stein%uconnvm.bitnet@mitvma.mit.edu
BITNET: STEIN@UCONNVM
UUCP: {rutgers psuvax1 ucbvax & in Europe mcvax} !UCONNVM.BITNET!STEIN
Compu$erve: 71545,1500 Genie: ah.stein
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Aug 88 10:59 CDT
From: <MWW%TNTECH.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU> (Michael W. Wheeler)
Subject: Mac II with HP LaserJet+
Here is a message from a friend that I work with. He has a new Mac II
but is in no means a new commer to computing. If anyone can help us
out with this setup we would greatly appreciate it.
Message follows:
==============
From: GEMINI::DEA8805 "Dave Anderson, Engineer" 12-AUG-1988 09:43
To: MWW
Subj: MacII with HP LaserJet+
I have a Mac II with 1meg memory and a 40 k disk drive. Video expansion
card, enhanced AT keyboard. I also have a Hewlett Packard LaserJet Plus
laser printer. (Non PostScript device) I want to be able to print graphics,
text, etc using this hardware. What drivers are available and where do I get
them? I am running System 6.0 finder 6.1. I would like to use software like
MacPaint, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, MacDraw.....
Thanks,
dave
==============
================================================================
Michael W. Wheeler ( Bitnet address: mww@tntech.bitnet )
Systems Programmer
Tennessee Technological University
Box 5071
Cookeville, TN 38505
(615) 372-3977
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End of INFO-MAC Digest
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