Moderators.David.Gelphman@ucbvax.UUCP (09/28/87)
INFO-MAC Digest Sunday, 27 Sep 1987 Volume 5 : Issue 115
Today's Topics:
New rules for applications
accessing handles
endless loop in MacII ROM?
Trouble with AlisaTalk
How do I get an icon for my application and document type(s)
WDEFs and CDEFs in MPW
Serial Printer (non-Mac) and 4th Dimension
Mac II hard disk benchmarks
Mac II Hard-Drives
macintalk for Mac II
Correct Mac II video cables
Two unrelated questions
OVERVUE GLITCH
RE: FKEYs under System 4.1 and Excel
Re: "disk insert..." bug
yet another FullPaint gripe or two...
Data/Control flow management programs for the Mac
Mac II games
Flight Traing Scheduler Program required
Mac II speed comparisons
CASA/CAP Software for Apple Macintosh
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 87 18:14:43 pdt
From: palomar!joel%beowulf@sdcsvax.ucsd.edu
Subject: New rules for applications
There are two new tech notes that may be of interest both
to Macintosh programmers, and to users. Both affect future
rules for applications.
Tech Note #147 has two pieces of advice for the future.
The creator string (the resource with ID and the same type
as the application creator) will be shown in the Get Info
box for a future Finder. Make it human-readable and include
the program name, version and date.
Icon mask cuteness (e.g., LightspeedC, RedRyder) is verboten.
Apparently the mask will be used as a real mask with a color Finder,
not just XOR'ing a 2-bit B/W display, so these tricks won't work.
Finally, TN #149 notes that the Printing Manager wants the name
of your document (such as for Apple's LaserShare print spooler.)
It uses the name of the frontmost window at the time of the
PrValidate call; DO NOT SET THE NAME DIRECTLY in the print record.
If this is not already the name of the window, you can stuff
the desired name in your Cancel alert (where the title won't be
shown if you use a dBoxProc definition).
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 87 14:52:29 EDT
From: nucmed1!bayme@cmcl2.NYU.EDU
Subject: accessing handles
Here is a programming question from a novice. How does one access the
content of a handle. For instance, let's say I want the 10 through 20th
characters of some text stored in a handle. Or, let's say I want to make
an array with more than 32K of storage, in which case I could use pointer
math in C. Can one achieve the same effect using Pascal on a Mac - in
either the TML or Turbo incarnations?
Please address replies to:
Michael Bayme @ NYU Medical Center Dept. of Nuclear Medicine
{allegra, seismo}!cmcl2!nucmed1!bayme
or
nachbar@nyuacf (bitnet) That's my boss.
Thank you very much.
------------------------------
Date: 29 Jul 1987 1034-PDT (Wednesday)
From: andy maas <maas@portia.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: endless loop in MacII ROM?
I don't know what this part of ROM in MacII does. But it doesn't look
good to me.
address code
805112 movea.l 4(a7),a0
805116 move.l 8(a7),d0
80511a move.w (a0),d1
80511c and.w do,d1
80511e beq.s -4 ;80511a
805120 rts
My program get caught in an endless loop at 80511a-80511e
(it was executing SysBeep()).
Andy
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 87 13:18:02 PDT
From: LYONS%FSU.MFENET@NMFECC.ARPA
Subject: Trouble with AlisaTalk
I would be very interested in hearing from other folks using the AlisaTalk
file-server/print-spooler software for VAX VMS. (This is software that runs
on a VAX and is connected to AppleTalk via a network bridge such as the
Kinetics FastPath.) We are running AlisaTalk on a MicroVAX running VMS
4.5; our MacPluses are running System 3.2/Finder 5.3. The FastPath is
running "combined" gateway code, meaning it handles IP and ARP routing as
well as AppleTalk traffic.
Ever since we installed it, the spooler software has been unreliable--after
a day or two it crashes or just goes out to lunch. Tech support at Alisa
Systems has looked at our log files and dumps but have not been able to
offer any help; they say no one else is having any trouble at all with
their software. If you have any experience, good or bad, with AlisaTalk
please respond to me and I will summarize for the net. If you are looking
into this type of software, I would advise you to check out the other
possibilities--even if it works reliably, current versions of AlisaTalk
offer only rudimentary capabilities.
Jim Lyons Supercomputer Computations Research Institute
LYONS%FSU.MFENET@LLL-MFE.ARPA Florida State University
(904)644-2276 Tallahassee, Florida 32306-4052
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 87 10:17:00 PDT
From: Fat_Freddy's_Cat%SFU.Mailnet%UBC.MAILNET@MIT-Multics.ARPA
Subject: How do I get an icon for my application and document type(s)
I've written a game that saves its own game files (in Lightspeed C)
Can someone detail precisely what I need to do to give both the application
file and its document files their own icons? What about if I have multiple
document types for the same application and I want each to have its own icon?
Thanx in advance.
------------------------------
Date: Wed 29 Jul 87 14:50:24-PDT
From: Nathan Wilson <WILSON@WARBUCKS.AI.SRI.COM>
Subject: WDEFs and CDEFs in MPW
I`ve been trying to write a WDEF and a CDEF in MPW Pascal and can`t get
the linker to agree with me. Has anyone succeeded in this endevour? If
so would it be possible for you to send or post an example?
Thanks in advance,
Nathan
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 87 08:43:23 pdt
From: Wm. L. Brown <wbrown@lbl-ux4>
Subject: Serial Printer (non-Mac) and 4th Dimension
We've had a chance to poke at "4th Dimension", and it looks like it's
just what we need for a new implementation of an application we did
using dBase II. The built-in programming language seems to have
everything one could want, and the ability to use the Mac user
interface in applications will solve a whole lot of problems.
The one problem, however, is that this application generates a lot of
paper. One report that is run weekly currently generates over 200
pages of output, and it will probably grow. It would be great to be
able to use a relatively fast (and inexpensive) dot matrix printer
(such as the Epson EX-1000) for output. The default draft-quality
printing is quite good enough; however we need to be able to send
the escape codes for changing character pitch, underline, bold, etc
to the printer.
Does anyone know a reasonably simple way to do this sort of thing.
We're looking into a product called "Printworks for Mac:" that has
been announced by SoftStyle but it it seems to be "Vapor-ware" at the
moment and probably isn't what we need for this application.
Many thanks for any pointers.
Bill
wbrown@lbl.edu.arpa
"If I am captured or killed, my secretary AND my boss will disavow
any knowledge of my actions."
------------------------------
From: DAVEG%SLACVM.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu
Date: 28 Jul 87 21:43 PST
Subject: Mac II hard disk benchmarks
There has been some speculation regarding the speed of the Apple
internal hard drive for the Mac II vs that of other drives. One point
I felt needed to be addressed is the DiskTimer speed of disks when they
are hooked up to the Mac II as opposed to a Mac+. Most times posted are
for the Mac+. Since disk i/o on the Mac is processor bound and since I
have no idea how the DiskTimer times are calculated I thought it might
be interesting to do a couple of benchmarks on the MacII.
The program I used is that supplied by SuperMac and is labelled
DiskTimerII.a. Evidently it is a slightly modified version of Steve
Brecher's Disktimer program. Here are the numbers:
Reads Writes Access
Mac II 40 MB Apple internal drive 41 48 16
Mac II with DataFrame XP40 external 50 50 15
DataFrame XP40 numbers as supplied by 52 51 18
SuperMac in their coverletter
I'm not sure what any of this means but I figured those who like
to quantify these things would at least like to have these numbers.
One thing I found is that both the XP40 and the Apple internal drive
are FAST. I'm using a XP20 (an upgraded DataFrame 20) at work with both
a Mac II and a Mac Plus and these 40 Mbyte drives are MUCH MUCH faster.
When using a MacII with the 20XP, you really feel the disk hold back
the MacII. With the 40XP and the internal 40 Mbyte drive the system
really flies.
David Gelphman daveg%slacvm.bitnet@forsythe.stanford.edu
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 87 23:48:07 CDT
From: Paul Fons <FONS%UIUCVMD.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Subject: Mac II Hard-Drives
Being a recent purchaser of a Mac II and slightly light on funds, I am looking
for a good, cheap hard drive. I am hearing often now on the net of problems
of incompatiblilty with the older SCSI drives. I noticed an add in MacWorld
that would seem to answer my needs from a company called the cutting edge
(p. 214 in the July 1987 Mac World). Upon calling the company, they said
their 30 Megabyte drive is having software revisions done now to make in
compatible with the Mac II by some outfit in Boston. They said it will be done
soon (I hope). They also reported an access time of 29 ms. The price $600.
Is this too good to be true? Has anyone dealed with this company before or
had knowledge of problems others may have had with it? If this is on the up
and up , this would seem to be the best deal for hard drive storage on the
market (that I have found). The warranty is for a year by the way. Is there
anyone else out there who has found a good cheap hard drive for the Mac II?
Please drop me a line. Address is FONS at UIUCVMD (bitnet).
------------------------------
Date: Mon 27 Jul 87 00:10:35-PDT
From: Philip M. Pitner <PITNER@Sierra.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: macintalk for Mac II
Can someone either post the mew MacIntalk for the Mac II or tell me where
they've seen it. I havn't been able to locate a copy anywhere.
[ note from moderator: Macintalk for the Mac II is supposedly available
from the Apple Programmers and Developer's Association. I don't believe it
is available via any network. DAVEG
]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 87 18:14:39 pdt
From: palomar!joel%beowulf@sdcsvax.ucsd.edu
Subject: Correct Mac II video cables
Apple just released a huge batch of Tech Notes, the best I've
seen yet (and I've always been a big fan of Tech Notes).
One (TN 144) is the official Mac II third-party monitor hookup.
For the Sony Multiscan (CPD-1302):
Mac Sony
D-15 D-9
1 1 Ground
2 3 Red
5 4 Green + sync
9 5 Blue
For the NEC MultiSync (JC-1401P3A):
Mac NEC
D-15 D-9
1 6,7,8,9 Ground
2 1 Red
5 2 Green + sync
9 3 Blue
Joel West ihnp4!crash!palomar!joel
Palomar Software, Inc. joel%palomar.UUCP@beowulf.ucsd.edu
P.O. Box 2635, Vista, CA 92083 joel@palomar.cts.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 87 16:44:03 EST
From: "William E. Williams"
From: <BSQUARE%YALEVM.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Subject: Two unrelated questions
Question 1: Anybody know of a fortran-to-Pascal conversion program? Needn't
run on the Mac - Vax or even IBM mainframe would be just fine.
Question 2: Awhile back I remember seeing some hints on slimming down system
4.1 for running on a Mac Plus (or smaller). As I recall, various resources
that were only necessary for the II and SE could be trashed. Presumably, this
results in a smaller system than the one the installer gives you (310K - a
little big for us 512E types!). Could someone send me the information, or at
least direct me to the proper issue of Info-Mac (or whatever)?
------------------------------
Date: 29 JUL 87 10:30 EDT
From: V2002A%TEMPLEVM.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: OVERVUE GLITCH
Hi everyone,
While executing the following macro in overvue on our Mac-SE...
1 Do "Recalls" (The line numbers are there
2 Column "Nm" for clarity, they are not
3 Scrap "Enter recall month:" "2" actually in the macro.)
4 Select "[]"
5 Column "Ny"
6 Scrap "Enter recall year:" "2"
7 Select "[]"
8 Join "Students" "ju" "Recall/ov"
9 Column "Stunum"
10 Sort
11 Column "Student L"
12 Sort
13 Column "Stunum"
14 Group
15 Report1
16 PrintReport
..everything is ok until the PrintReport statement. I get...
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| /-------- |
| print | OK | |
| --------/ |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
.. below the menu bar. When I click the `OK', nothing happens. My
chooser appears OK and when I do the actions by hand, I do get my report.
To complicate things, when I remove lines 2 thru 7 (the data input)
everything works! I get my report.
Do I need an updated Overvue, or has anyone else had problems with
Overvue macros? Our SE is Appletalked to a Laserwriter.
Any ideas/hints/help would be much appreciated.
Andy Wing <V2002A@TEMPLEVM.BITNET>
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 87 08:45 EST
From: Paul Christensen <PCHRISTENSEN%rca.com@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: RE: FKEYs under System 4.1 and Excel
I've never seen problems activating FKEYs under System 4.1. My System
file has all FKEY slots from 5 to 0 occupied, and all can be activated
even when in Excel 1.04. I have, however, seen problems with FKEYs NOT
being disabled (eg. Kermit).
You might try starting with a "fresh" copy of the System file, and try
installing your FKEYs using the FKEY Installer or ResEdit, both of which
I've used with System 4.1.
Paul Christensen
CSNET: PCHRISTENSEN@RCA.COM
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 87 10:00:04 EDT
From: "William C. DenBesten" <denbeste%andy.bgsu.edu@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: Re: "disk insert..." bug
Nihar Gokhale <MMAR013%ECNCDC.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu>:
> why are the Cmd-Shift-1/2 fkey's disabled during a "disk insert..."
This is not always true. I have been ejecting disks like this ever
since I put in 128K ROMS and switched to System 3.2/Finder 5.3. I
miss this feature when I go back to a 64K ROM mac running
System 2.0/Finder 4.1. Perhaps you are running on an older system or
on old ROMS.
> This is a really bad flaw in the system obviously not fixed because
> most apple techies out there either use one drive or a HD.
Why do you find this obvious? The flaw was, in fact, fixed.
William C. DenBesten | CSNET denbeste@research1.bgsu.edu
Dept of Computer Science | UUCP ...!cbosgd!osu-eddie!bgsuvax!denbeste
Bowling Green State University |
Bowling Green, OH 43403-0214 |
Don't be too quick to flame, or you may scorch yourself.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 87 09:04 EST
From: Paul Christensen <PCHRISTENSEN%rca.com@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: yet another FullPaint gripe or two...
As long as the FullPaint flame committee has not been disbanded, I'd
like to throw in my two cents to problems with it:
flame #1:
When run on a MacSE, FullPaint *ignores* the keyboard mappings that
I've been used to in MacPaint. For example, it ignores the tilde
key for UNDO and the backspace key for CLEAR. It does, however,
properly recognize the SHIFT and OPTION key combinations (because
those are simple bits in the modifier field of an event record).
Note that MacPaint has no difficulty with these shortcuts on the
new Apple keyboards.
flame #2:
Try printing a document in High Quality in FullPaint, and Print Final in
MacPaint. FullPaint not only takes two to three times *longer*, but its
smoothing algorithm for the ImageWriter STINKS. Curves and text that are
jagged in FullPaint's printouts are perfectly smooth when printed from
MacPaint. It's becuase of this that I haven't thrown away MacPaint.
To the best of my experience, there is yet to be a perfect replacement
for good ol' MacPaint. FullPaint is superb, but its printing speed,
unacceptable print quality and incompatibilities with the new keyboards
send me back to MacPaint each time I want to print. If AnnArbor removed
the print commands from the File menu, I'd probably never even notice!
The only graphics program that I've ever seen with a printing algorithm
that generated quality comparable to MacPaint was PaintCutter from
Silicon Beach software. Unfortunately, PaintCutter was not a complete
painting package, it only allows large cut and pastes between documents
and creation of startup screens. SuperPaint, Silicon Beach's full
graphics package, merely uses the ImageWriter driver to print, and
although faster than FullPaint, it lacks any smoothing algorithm!
Does anyone know of a "perfect" replacement for MacPaint? I've used
ComicWorks, GraphicWorks, FullPaint, and SuperPaint, and all are at
least lacking in the area of ImageWriter print quality.
Paul Christensen
CSNET: PCHRISTENSEN@RCA.COM
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 87 09:17 EST
From: Paul Christensen <PCHRISTENSEN%rca.com@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: Data/Control flow management programs for the Mac
Does anyone know of any programs that exist for the Macintosh that allow
management of large data flow (or control flow) diagrams and algorithms?
A good friend of mine is working on a contract with this requirement and
is stuck using a program called Nastec for the IBM PC. Although it has
the algorithmic capabilities that he needs, it has some serious
deficiencies that are best handled by the Macintosh environment. For
example, boxes can only be one size, and text must be abbreviated to
fit in that space! Connect lines are not curves, but rather ugly
horizontal/vertical line combinations. Only part of the document can be
viewed on screen...always in actual size.
What he'd like is a program with the capabilities of Nastec, but the
environment of the Macintosh. For example, he'd like to zoom in and out
of his document (he's got several *thousand* nodes), resize and drag
boxes, and print in super high quality. File compatibility with Nastec
is NOT a requirement.
Note that the program *must* have the management capabilities of Nastec.
Simply using MORE to create an outline and generate a diagram from that
outline is not acceptable. Nastec is a dataflow management system
that allows interconnection of states, and will analyze different
algorithms, providing the capability of merging at different levels.
Ideally, he'd like to have control flow capabilities in addition to data
flow.
Thanks in advance,
Paul Christensen
CSNET: PCHRISTENSEN@RCA.COM
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 87 11:18:47 EDT
From: David.TinNyo@VI.RI.CMU.EDU
Subject: Mac II games
I'm writing a full color/sound knock-your-socks-off game for the
Mac II. I've already got a particular idea in mind, but I'd appreciate
any suggestions from the net. Also, any general discussion about the
gaming potential/market of the Mac II would be helpful. Thanks.
David E. Tin Nyo
Plexus
Arpanet: tin@vi.ri.cmu.edu
Uucp: ...!seismo!vi.ri.cmu.edu!tin
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 87 13:12 MDT
From: <RFORSTER%UNCAEDU.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Subject: Flight Traing Scheduler Program required
[I'm posint this for a fellow analyst who does not have write access
to the net. Please send all replies to my BITnet address. Note
if you don't get a signature at the end of this message, you didn't get
all of it.
/Russ]
-------------------Immitate Oliver North here-----------------------
Help!!
Does anyone out there know of a program, (PC, DEC-20 TOPS-20, or VAX/VMS),
that would be capable of creating a flight schedule from the following?
. 150+ students, 1st and 2nd year combined
- Considering class timetable availability, sickness, etc.
. 125+ different missions
- Dual, solo, day, night, aircraft required, classes taken,
sequencing and prerequisites, weather suitability,
instructor required, etc.
. 15+ aircraft
- Single and twin engine, simulators
- Equipment suitability, mechanical availability, etc.
. 15+ instructors
- With student/instructor pairing preferences, instructing
timetables, sick leave, mission qualification,
teaching loads, etc.
. 2 hour time periods. 24hrs, 7 days, 10 months a year
. Weather factors, which change very quickly around here!
The person responsible for doing all this now claims that it's a good job for
a computer, I agree, but we don't have time to spend writing the program. <:(
Even automating 60% - 70% of this stuff would be great. Thanks in advance
--
"We must acknowledge, once and for all, that the
purpose of diplomacy is to prolong a crisis."
- Spock
Russell M Forster (Russ)
Mount Royal College BITnet: RForster@UNCAEDU.BITnet
4825 Richard Rd. S.W. ARPA: OC.Russ@CU20B.Columbia.Edu
Calgary, Alberta USEnet: seismo!calgary!vaxa!forster
Canada, T3E 6K6 Voice: (403) 240-6052
Disclaimer: I deny everything!
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 87 00:57 EST
From: <TEMPLON%IUCF.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Subject: Mac II speed comparisons
Has anyone seen comparisons of the Mac II processing speed
(preferably using standard-type benchmarks) with that of the Amiga,
IBM PS/2, and any member of the VAX family (e.g. VAX 11/780)? I
have a colleague who is trying to choose a micro which can do
heavy-duty 3D graphics calculations QUICKLY; he is having trouble
finding these kinds of figures. I HAVE seen the figures comparing
the Plus, SE, and II in BYTE magazine a few months back, so
comparsions to any of these Macs would be sufficient.
I am a recent subscriber to this digest, so it's possible
that these figures appeared in a prior digest - if so, a reference to
which one would be appreciated. If these figures have *not* made it
into the digest yet, I will summarize replies and post.
Many thanks,
Jeff Templon
Indiana U. Cyclotron Facility
TEMPLON@IUCF.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 87 11:13:59 EDT
From: Michael Robinson <MIKE%UTCVM.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Subject: CASA/CAP Software for Apple Macintosh
I am looking for Computer Aided Software Analysis / Computer Aided Programming
tools for the Apple Macintosh. References would be appreciated.
/mr/
----------
There are three kinds of people: those who make things happen,
those to whom things happen, and those who ask "What happened?"
----------
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Michael Robinson, Systems Programmer | MaBell: (615) 755-4003 |
|University of Tennessee at Chattanooga | Bitnet: MIKE@UTCVM, -or- |
|CECA - 413 Hunter Hall | MIKE@UTCHP1 |
|615 McCallie Avenue | Arpanet: MIKE%UTCVM.BITNET |
|Chattanooga, TN 37403 | @WISCVM.WISC.EDU |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
------------------------------
End of INFO-MAC Digest
**********************