INFO-MAC-REQUEST@SUMEX-AIM.STANFORD.EDU (Moderators Dwayne Virnau... and Lance Nakata) (12/10/87)
INFO-MAC Digest Friday, 11 Dec 1987 Volume 5 : Issue 143 Today's Topics: localtime routine in Lightspeed C *not* incorrect Creating Pict files from FORTRAN Clipboard strangeness under MultiFinder Mac Turbo Pascal Questions How do I check the printer? Has anyone worked with key1trans? Localizing System 4.1 Mac II minor questions Annoying Finder 6.0 "feature" (I'd call it a bug!) Some more Finder features wanted ScrapSaver Re: Macintosh Conferences on BITNET Re: Navigator Micah Looking for BANK$ software LOGO / SCHEME Foreign Language Spelling Checkers Backups request for info on hardware simulators Re: HyperCard/BundledSystemSoftware ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 1 Dec 87 16:11:14 EST From: "Carl D. Howe" <cdh@bfly-vax.bbn.com> Subject: localtime routine in Lightspeed C *not* incorrect Hi all, As has been pointed out to me by numerous people, the unix compatibility routine localtime has the following definition: tm *localtime (clock) unsigned long *clock; I claimed in a previous message that clock should be of type unsigned long because that is what the lightspeed C documentation said it should be. However, the bug in this case is that the documentation is wrong, not the code. If you look in any 4.2BSD or 4.3BSD manual, localtime has the above definition, and therefore the code supplied by Think Technologies is correct. Sorry for the confusion. I just didn't cross check the documentation. To users of lightspeed C, please change that manual page or risk being confused. Carl ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Nov 87 16:07 EDT From: Peter Macdonald <PDMMAC%MCMASTER.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu> Subject: Creating Pict files from FORTRAN Can anyone help me with this? I can easily create Picture data structures in FORTRAN; all the toolbox routines are available, so the sequence OpenPicture, drawing routines, ClosePicture, DrawPicture works nicely. Now I would like to create a disk file of type Pict that I can open later with MacDraw or SuperPaint. How can I create such a file from the FORTRAN program, and how do I copy the Picture data structure into it? The alternative is to use shift-control-3 to get a screen dump, but this gives a MacPaint image. I need to have high-resolution printouts of the graphics, and MacPaint is not good enough. A reply to PDMMAC@MCMASTER.BITNET would be appreciated. Peter Macdonald Dept of Mathematics and Statistics McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4K1 ------------------------------ Date: Tue 1 Dec 87 14:15:12-PST From: Bill Lipa <P.PRIAPUS@HAMLET.STANFORD.EDU> Subject: Clipboard strangeness under MultiFinder Here is a small Lightspeed Pascal program which demonstrates the problems I am having getting MultiFinder to recognize that I have changed the contents of the clipboard: program testClipboard; var thePicture : PicHandle; bounds : Rect; pictureSize : Size; result : longint; begin SetRect(bounds, 0, 0, 100, 100); ClipRect(bounds); thePicture := OpenPicture(bounds); MoveTo(0, 0); LineTo(100, 100); ClosePicture; HLock(Handle(thePicture)); pictureSize := GetHandleSize(Handle(thePicture)); result := ZeroScrap; if result = NoErr then begin result := PutScrap(pictureSize, 'PICT', Ptr(thePicture^)); if result = NoErr then result := LoadScrap; end; HUnlock(Handle(thePicture)); KillPicture(thePicture); end. This is probably the simplest program possible which puts anything into the clipboard, but it does not work with MultiFinder. It DOES work will all other systems that I tried it on, including System 4.2 running without the MultiFinder. Tracing through the program under MultiFinder with LSP (a risky proposition, admittedly) revealed that the clipboard routines did not report an error. In fact, the clipboard was updated inside LSP, but once I quit back to the Finder, the clipboard reverted to its old state. Is this my error or some devious bug? Bill Lipa ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Dec 87 19:26:33 EST From: Atul Butte <ST602397%BROWNVM.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu> Subject: Mac Turbo Pascal Questions Does any one have any tips and techniques on constructing FKEYs, CDEVs, WDEFs, MDEFs, INITs, etc from Turbo Pascal for the Mac (1.0a)? Another question: Is there any chance that Borland will distribute an upgrade program for 1.0 to 1.1 on BITNET or any other network, like THINK does with Lightspeed Pascal and C? Atul Butte Brown University /-------------\ /---------------\ OK CANCEL ST602397@BROWNVM.BITNET \-------------/ \---------------/ CS021071@BROWNCS.BITNET ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 04 Dec 87 10:47:06 EST From: "William E. Williams" From: <BSQUARE%YALEVM.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu> Subject: How do I check the printer? I have a program that runs some lab equipment, and I'd like to let it run for several days. Sometimes, I set it up so that it prints periodically. Can anyone tell me how I can check the printer before I try to print, so that if it is out of paper, jammed, etc., it won't hang up the program? If this program were to hang up, the lab equipment would essentially be running out of control until someone happened by, and that could be very bad! B2 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 01 Dec 87 15:12:37 -0800 From: davef@jessica.Stanford.EDU Subject: Has anyone worked with key1trans? We're working on a foreign language vocabulary drill using Hypercard. For the duration of the drill, we'd like have the keyboard behave like a German keyboard. Supposedly there is an assembly language trap called key1trans (29E) which can do what we desire. Unfortunately, we can't find any documentation on its use. Has anyone used it? Does anyone know how it's used? Any and all information, including pointers to MacTutor articles or Tech Notes would be appreciated. Thanks. Dave Finkelstein davef@jessica.stanford.edu davef%jessica@stanford.bitnet ------------------------------ Date: 02 Dec 87 10:48 -0330 From: <dgraham@mun.bitnet> Subject: Localizing System 4.1 I have a Mac+ with a French-Canadian keyboard and have recently been trying to localize the System/Finder which came with my copy of Suitcase to French- Canadian. The Localizer tells me it's installing the resources, and spits out the disk, which then invariably bombs when I try to boot (ID=02). The un- localized disk works fine. What's going on? Is my copy of Localizer corrupted? Is there a new version of Localizer which I need. Can System 4.1 not be localized? Is there a different way to do it? Until I find out, I'm stuck with 3.2/5.3. All suggestions gratefully received. David Graham dgraham@mun.bitnet Department of French and Spanish dgraham@munucs.mun.cdn Memorial University of Newfoundland dgraham@kean.mun.cdn St. John's, NF dgraham@munucs.uucp CANADA A1B 3X9 $...dalcs!garfield!munucs!dgraham (709) 737-7636 ------------------------------ Date: 3 Dec 87 19:40:00 EST From: <hamm@biovax.rutgers.edu> Subject: Mac II minor questions Hi all, Just got my Mac II, and I love it apart from a few minor hiccups (mostly my fault). I do have a couple of small questions for those who've been here before me: 1) After I got it set up (with Apple's color monitor and video card), and set the monitor part of the control panel to color, the apple on the menu bar turned on its colors. The next time I booted up, I noticed that the little Mac drawing on the "Welcome to Macintosh" startup screen was also in color - like the T-shirt. After futzing around with moving hard disk data (including trashing my DataFrame once, clearing PRAM, etc.), I seem to have lost that: the apple is still in color, but the startup drawing is not. What have I done? Will it hurt anything else? 2) Of more consequence, many of the less important things I ran on my Mac Plus won't run (or worse) on the Mac II. Does anyone know of a recent list of which software runs, which needs updating, and which is gone forever? Thanks, Greg Gregory H. Hamm || Phone: (201)932-4864 Director, Molecular Biology Computing Lab || Waksman Institute/CABM || BITNET: hamm@biovax P.O. Box 759, Rutgers University || ARPA: hamm@biovax.rutgers.edu Piscataway, NJ 08854 * USA || ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Nov 87 15:15 EST From: Paul Christensen <PCHRISTENSEN%rca.com@RELAY.CS.NET> Subject: Annoying Finder 6.0 "feature" (I'd call it a bug!) Ever since Finder 5.1, Apple stopped tracing folder hierarchies to report their storage. Remember Finder 4.1 (MFS) and Finder 5.0 (HFS)? When you opened a window, it told you the number of items, #K in folder or trash, and #K on disk. Finder 5.1 and later removed the #K in window item because of the performance issues associated with searching complex directories on large HFS volumes. However, by selecting either a folder or the trash can and choosing GET INFO from the File menu, the user could force the Finder to search the tree and report the total storage in bytes. And on MFS volumes, you could still choose VIEW by SIZE, NAME, DATE, or TYPE to see the folder sizes. Well folks, with Finder 6.0, Apple's thrown in a curve...you can still GET INFO on a folder to see its contents, but you can no longer select the trash can and see how many bytes within folders you are going to delete! Here's the situation: if you throw away one or more files and then choose GET INFO on the trash can, it will tell you how many bytes are to be deleted. However, if you throw one or more folders into the trash, the Finder will refuse to search the folder contents to add their storage to the number of bytes to be deleted. If only folders are sitting in the trash can, Finder reports "0 bytes to be deleted", even if the folders are not empty! Manually, you can select each folder in the trash can and GET INFO on it, or you can open every folder and then GET INFO on the trash can. Either way is a PAIN! What happened? I am more than aware of the performance issues of searching large directory trees, but making the user force the search through a GET INFO was supposed to take care of that. Why did Apple remove this feature for the Trash Can??? Can anyone at Apple answer? Are you still watching the nets, Larry? Thanks in advance... Paul Christensen (A somewhat annoyed software librarian who constantly "eyes the trash") CSNET: PCHRISTENSEN%HENRY.DECNET@CRD.GE.COM (preferrable) PCHRISTENSEN@RCA.COM (until end of December) ------------------------------ Date: 2 DEC 87 22:57-N From: CZYCHI%CSGHSG52.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu Subject: Some more Finder features wanted Having used the new system software for quite a while now, I would really like to see some features implemented into the Finder (MultiFinder). What do you think? 1) The use of the SFGetFile box is very inconsistent. The best solution would be: To show the folder of the desktop which window was open before the DA or application has been opened or chosen. The only way to change this kind of "default setting" should be to save or to open a document. And then, only the setting of the actual application or DA should be changed. 2) If you choose open from the file menu and nothing is selected, present a SFGetFile box. Otherwise you are messing up the desktop if you just wanted to open a file on a deep level of your harddisk. (As I usually do) 2) Implement the following: If you open a window with the option key, the last open window should be closed. 3) Please allow the Finder to open more than 12 windows! 4) The definition of startup DAs should be possible for DAs which have been installed with the option key pressed. There are some DAs which are absolutely useless in the DA Handler layer (for example the Windows DA from David Oster). 5) Everytime I open large folders, for example my system folder, I have to wait 25 sec (!) until I see the contents. In these days, when more and more people are using harddisks with a lot of megs, something should be done about this. Someone on the net mentioned it before: The Finder was superb in the older days, when there were no harddisks, 128 k memory, etc. But nowadays we do need something more. Gary Gary T. Czychi University of St.Gallen EARN%"CZYCHI@CSGHSG52" EARN%"CZYCHI@CSGHSG53" ==: (CZYCHI@CSGHSG52.bitnet) Tel.: --41 / 71 / 27 52 68 --49 / 211 / 46 01 23 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 25 Nov 87 10:10:19 PST From: PUGH@NMFECC.ARPA Subject: ScrapSaver Well, the USENET people inform me that version 1.5 of ScrapSaver has no troubles under MultiFinder, but the version in SUMEX's archives is 1.2, which DOES have problems. How about someone cross posting a newer version? Jon [Okay, Info-Mac readers. Anyone want to send it over? - Lance] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Dec 87 12:28 N From: <FRUIN%HLERUL5.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu> (Thomas Fruin) Subject: Re: Macintosh Conferences on BITNET > It was recently agreed upon during a frenzied impromptu meeting on the > RELAY that we would like to gather for a weekly Macintosh conference > on BITNET. It was "moved" and "seconded" that this occur on > Saturdays, 10PM EDT, Channel 512. We'll try to post a topic labelled > "Macintosh" on that channel to let others know when they check in to the > RELAY. There has been a weekly Macintosh conference going on for at least a year on RELAY now. It happens every Tuesday, same channel, at 11 PM GMT. I don't mind if a new conference is started on Saturdays, or if both conferences are merged into one, but *please* take into account that Europeans would like to attend too. 10 PM EDT is 4 AM GMT, so that effectively rules out any European participance. I would very much like to see another time. A couple of hours earlier would help a lot. Let's discuss this further (Tuesdays on RELAY ;) or send me mail ... Thomas Fruin fruin@hlerul5.BITNET thomas@uvabick.UUCP 2:500/15 on FidoNet Leiden University, Netherlands ------------------------------ Date: 30 Nov 87 08:07 PST From: Newman.pasa@Xerox.COM Subject: Re: Navigator I tried the Navigator for a little while. It is obviously the correct way to use Compuserve: it is easy to use and it speeds up your interactions with CIS a lot. The unfortunate thing is that it makes using CIS *too* easy. When I tried it, my CIS bills leapt to about 2 times what they were previously because of increased on-line time. As a result, I went back to Red Ryder and tried to cut down. The Navigator is in the process of becoming a product rather than shareware, and I imagine that you could order it by mail from the author, whose address I imagine you could get from CIS. I don't have my copy anymore - it was too dangerous. >>Dave Disclaimer: Ain't nobody here but us chickens! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Dec 87 10:36:28 EST From: uunet!eplrx7!eplrx7!lad@mimsy.umd.edu (Lawrence Dziegielewski) Subject: Micah I have a Micah internal hard disk and have had NO problems with it. The Micah allows me to keep both floppies in my SE and does not get in the way of other expansion cards and cables like the Microtek does. Micah's AT40 for the SE actually formats out to 45.2 MB, and at $899. is a bargain (2 year warranty too!). Try Micah at 1 800 782 0097. Standard disclaimers apply. /lad ------------------------------ Date: 1 Dec 87 08:19:00 MST From: <darieb@sandia-2.arpa> Subject: Looking for BANK$ software I am searching for a shareware accounting package called BANK$. It was reviewed in Computer Languages magazine. It was written in Turbo Pascal by D.G. Gilbert. I'd like to get the source code, in order to port it to the Macintosh, if permissible/possible. Is BANK$ already available in net-land? Or can anybody steer me to e-mail address of Gilbert or dogStar Software in Indiana? Thanks in advance for any help. Declan A. Rieb (505) 844-6338 Sandia National Laboratories Division 2614 Albuquerque NM 87185 DARIEB@SANDIA-2.ARPA ------------------------------ Date: 2 December 1987, 18:44:41 CET From: HAHN_K at DMRHRZ11 Subject: LOGO / SCHEME Could anybody point me to the source for a decent LOGO and/or SCHEME for MACs? Every hint is deeply appreciated. Klaus Klaus Hahn Marburg, West-Germany Bitnet: HAHN_K@DMRHRZ11 Bix: K_HAHN ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 87 18:39 EST From: <ZSQY%CRNLVAX5.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu> Subject: Foreign Language Spelling Checkers At the Humanities Computing center here we get many Romance Studies, German Lit, Russian lit, Linguistics, etc. grad students who take advantage of the many convenient Mac fonts. However, we have yet to see *any* foreign language spelling checkers, aside from the British Dictionary in MS Word 3.0 :-). Any leads, experience, caveats, irrelevant but amusing anecdotes, etc should be sent to one of us directly, and we'll summarize to the net. Thanks in advance, Phil Gross ZSQY@CRNLVAX5.Bitnet Linda Iroff ELFJ@CRNLVAX5.Bitnet Cornell Humanities Computing "The life of a Repo Man is always intese" ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 4 Dec 87 12:19 EDT From: ELIOT%cs.umass.edu@RELAY.CS.NET Subject: Backups The idea of backing up a 20 Meg+ disk onto 400-800K floppies is basically anachronistic. Unfortunately backup tape drives for the Mac seem to be much too expensive. (And won't work on my 512K anyhow.) Has anyone tried to sell an interface between small computers and VCRs? Presumably a VCR can handle at least 100K per second using a very conservative data encoding. That would back up a 20Meg disk in 3 1/2 minutes. Since a tape holds 2-6 hours of recording the potential data storage on a VCR tape is incredible. A VCR is in a different class than the cheap audio cassette tape recorders that many people used to use as their *primary* mass storage device. Furthermore, most of them have a PAUSE feature that can be operated by microwave remote control. This could be used for data flow control. Several companies manufacture generic remote controls, so this has to be possible. Clearly a VCR was not designed for this use, but the incentive to make it work is great. There are probably more VCRs than Macintoshes, Apple IIs and IBM pcs put together. Has annyone done this? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 5 Dec 87 13:16 CST From: <KUSALIK%SASK.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu> Subject: request for info on hardware simulators We are looking for machine-language simulator software runnable on MACs ... something that will let one (assemble and) execute assembly language code without actually having the machine. Interrupt emulation and some mechanism to single step, examine memory, etc. is desirable. A nice MAC-style interface would be nice too. 'simul8' which is available in conjunction with Introduction to Computer Systems (by N. A. B. Gray, Prentice-Hall, 1987) is representative of the flavor of software we are after (unfortunately, we do not find the PDP-8 machine architecture particularly useful for our application). Please send your responses directly to me (I can summarize and post a followup article, if people are interested). Tony Kusalik kusalik%sask.bitnet@relay.cs.net kusalik@sask.bitnet ..!{alberta,ihnp4}!sask!kusalik ------------------------------ Date: 30 Nov 87 09:21 PST From: Newman.pasa@Xerox.COM Subject: Re: HyperCard/BundledSystemSoftware In response to Mark Richer: I agree that there may be better ways for Apple to handle this kind of situation (though I don't know what they are), but I am saying that it is not the disaster that others have painted it. In more direct response to your points, perhaps the learning curve was so steep for programming the Macintosh that it had an effect on the speed with which we saw new applications? Also, while it is possible that MacWrite and MacPaint have (and Hypercard will) stifle development, I think it is possible that we would have waited longer for *good* software if these programs were not intruduced by Apple, since there would have been no standard to overcome. The fact that Apple did not upgrade MacPaint is a point for my argument: if they had upgraded it, that would have really put a crimp in the third-party developer's plans. Now, why the paint-tool market is so different from the text-tool market is a good question. It looks like Apple upgraded MacWrite because there were no products in the works, and they did not upgrade MacPaint because there were; however, one could argue differently, and only Apple has the real answer. Lastly, I read somewhere that HyperCard's release as System Software is just a convenient way to satisfy Atkinson's contract (which required that HyperCard be free) without burdening Claris with a non-revenue producing product. Guide won't get the publicity that "Hype-Card" got, but it will get some as a result of its competition with HyperCard (it has already gotten quite a bit of free publicity as a result of this). Depending on how good the next version is, it may or may not be a successful competitor. It seems to be getting lots more attention in Europe than it is here, including the IBM PC version. As for your scenario, I think that most products that are "version 2.0" of something are evolutionary rather than revolutionary, and with or without HyperCard, a revolutionary product is what it would take for Guide to become as popular as HyperCard is (note that "revolutionary" is as much the public's perception as the technical reality, so lots of advertising saying 'This is a revolutionary product' are a big part of this). Guide may have been better off without HyperCard (and similarly for the other software products that claim Hypermedia features: Design, Calliope, etc.), but the hypermedia product marketplace will develop more rapidly because of HyperCard, and OWL will have a head-start on the other competitors in that market. I think that Apple's strategy is the best for the market and for the consumers. >>Dave P.S. Is there someone out there with more business experience or education than I have who is willing to join the discussion? (My apology Mark, if you are such a person!) The thoughts above are my own, and I claim sole responsibility for them ... unless you want to share the blame. ------------------------------ End of INFO-MAC Digest **********************