INFO-MAC@SUMEX-AIM.STANFORD.EDU (Moderator Dwayne Virnau...) (05/26/87)
INFO-MAC Digest Tuesday, 26 May 1987 Volume 5 : Issue 93
Today's Topics:
Re: Dimmed (or gray) Text
Re: dimmed text:
arrow keys, numeric keypad
RE: LISA Help
Mac+ Power Supply (Summary)
Properly behaved Fortran?
Icons for non-APPL files
Kermit on the SE
MAC-II development environemnts
Finder 5.5 Suggestion
Mac II problems
questions about apple's non-scsi hd-20 test program
Icon Quest
'FOND' resources
32K limits
Princeton/ResEdit question
Question about FEDIT Plus
Re: Archived SuperMac utilities [and a lot more news]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 May 87 04:41:29 PDT
From: oster%dewey.SOE.Berkeley.EDU@BERKELEY.EDU (David Phillip Oster)
Subject: Re: Dimmed (or gray) Text
Draw the text as usual.
PenMode(patBic);
PenPat(&gray);
PaintRect(&boundRect);
if boundRect bounds the text, this will gray it out. If you don't use Chicago,
you should make the text bold if you want to keep it legible while grayed.
David Phillip Oster "The goal of Computer Science is to
Arpa: oster@lapis.berkeley.edu build something that will last at
Uucp: ucbvax!ucblapis!oster least until we've finished building it."
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 May 87 23:26:26 PDT
From: Fat_Freddy's_Cat%SFU.Mailnet%UBC.MAILNET@MIT-Multics.ARPA
Subject: Re: dimmed text:
Dimming text in menus is easy; just use the functions
DisableItem (menu, item) to dim it and
EnableItem (menu, item) to darken it, and
DrawMenuBar () to make the changes show up on the screen.
("menu": a MenuHandle to the menu you're changing
"item": number of the item, or '0' to en/disable the whole menu)
You haven't read Inside Macintosh! Tsk! Tsk!
If the prospect of slogging thru it daunts you, I very highly recommend
'Macintosh Revealed' as the best all-round intro to using the Mac Toolbox.
It contains enough info that the average programmer will have little use
for Inside Mac, and presents it very understandably.
The question of activating/deactivating controls (buttons, boxes, radio
buttons, scroll bars, etc) is a little more involved. Get a book.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 May 87 04:50:17 PDT
From: oster%dewey.SOE.Berkeley.EDU@BERKELEY.EDU (David Phillip Oster)
Subject: arrow keys, numeric keypad
I've been bitten by this one too. It appears that there is a bug in the
processor in the MacPlus keyboard so that shifted arrow keys can not be
distinguished from shifted keys on the numeric keypad. Since the processor
in the keyboard has only ROM, no RAM, it isn't possible to patch this. The
best you can do is ask the user whether he wants shifted arrow-keys or
shifted keypad keys in some configuration dialog.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 May 87 02:05 N
From: <FRUIN%HLERUL5.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU> (Thomas Fruin)
Subject: RE: LISA Help
> From: FMBBS
> Subject: LISA Help
The LisaTalk Report is a journal that is especially for Lisa users. The
summer 1986 issue (which I found at the recent MacWorld Expo in Rotterdam)
lists as its topics:
o PenMac Works XL, an electronic pen & pad for the XL
o Reviews of TypeNow and Hayden: Speller
o LisaProject made simple
o LisaCalc & Stock Prices
o Lisa Error Codes (a listing with explanations)
o Unix on the Lisa, a comparison of XENIX and UniPlus+
o An interview with PBN Company
o and _many_ interesting columns; also lots of letters.
It's full of ads for memory upgrades and other hardware. In all it looks
like a very useful magazine for Lisa owners. You might want to check it out.
The LisaTalk Report is published on a quarterly basis by The Networkers,
21 Canyon Road, San Anselmo, California 94960. Phone: (415)258-9152.
Thomas
FRUIN@HLERUL5.BITNET
thomas@uvabick.UUCP
Leiden University, Netherlands
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 May 1987 07:57 PDT
From: PAAAAA7%CALSTATE.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: Mac+ Power Supply (Summary)
In response to the 8 or 9 letters I received pertaining to questions about
the Mac+ power supply: Most everyone who owns several report close to a 50%
failure rate, the same as ours. The problem appears to be a bad flyback
transformer. This usually occurs in the earlier edition Mac+ machines that
are left on (sorry, Irv!) or used for long periods of time. Three people
said that once Apple repairs the machine, you never have another power
problem.
Rich McGee
<PAAAAA7@CALSTATE>
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 15 May 87 17:27:12 PDT
From: Bernard Aboba <aboba@portia.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: Properly behaved Fortran?
Since a version of Fortran for MPW apparently isn't in the works, and
Absoft (nee Microsoft) Fortran is so bad in so many respects that it's
barely worth discussing anymore, it's time we started discussing solutions
to linking C, Pascal and Fortran with existing or soon to be existing
products. For example, DCM's MacTran '77 version 2.0 will compile routines
into .REL format, from which they can be linked with LightSpeed C and
Pascal (using RelConvert). This is due out momentarily. A/UX Fortran may
also provide a solution to this. I am unsure of what MacTran's calling
conventions are, but it should be fairly straightforward to produce 'glue'
routines if they do not follow the Pascal standard. Anyone know for sure?
Seems to me there's no reason you couldn't write the shell in MacApp, and
link with MacTran subroutines.
------------------------------
Date: 19-MAY-1987 13:52
From: HALLETT JEFFREY A <HALLETT@ge-crd.arpa>
Subject: Icons for non-APPL files
Hi guys!
I was wondering, is the procedure for giving non-application files
like INIT's and so on the same as for APPL's? In other words, do I create
a BNDL and FREF with the FREF file type as "INIT" instead of "APPL"
just like for applications? I tried it and it didn't seem to work. Help
would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jeffrey A. Hallett
Software Technology Program
General Electric Corporate Research and Development
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 May 87 10:37:42 PDT
From: dplatt@teknowledge-vaxc.arpa (Dave Platt)
Subject: Kermit on the SE
I haven't actually seen this behavior (all we have around here are Mac
Pluses), but it doesn't surprise me. The Mac version of Kermit is an old
application, and was implemented using the SUMACC cross- compiler &
development system (UNIX-based, I believe). I seem to recall that Kermit
actually predates the existence of the RAM-based serial-port driver, and
uses only the old ROM-based driver. It wouldn't surprise me if the
256k-ROM serial driver behaves differently than the 64k and 128k
versions... or if the differences between the SE hardware and the 512/Plus
hardware have caused some shift in behavior.
I suspect that there's no short-term fix, and that Kermit won't run
properly on the SE until someone gets around to translating the
Mac-interface code from the old SUMACC style into a more up-to-date style
and rebuilds Kermit using a better development system. The "Kermit
versions in progress" file I pulled down from Columbia a few weeks ago
indicates that several people have been working on a port over the past six
months or so... maybe we'll see a real, honest-to-goodness upgraded
Macintosh Kermit some time before year's end?
And if any of the people working on the port/upgrade are listening, I'd
REALLY love it if the upgraded Kermit were to include either or both of the
long-packet and sliding-window enhancements to the protocol. The
versions-in-progress file lists people who are adding these enhancements to
the C-kermit kernel... maybe you could contact them and acquire the
enhanced protocol drivers? Pretty please?
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 May 87 21:02:06 pdt
From: <ucsbcsl!uncle@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: MAC-II development environemnts
Q.s Re: MAC-II environments
Please give opinions re: specific MAC-II dev environments :
I. Under native mac op.sys
* Default Apple software
* C vendors
* Experlisp etc
II. A/UX etc.
* Does anyone have ``horse's mouth'' info re: A/UX?
* when will it be here?
* what distinguishing features will it/does it have?
* how will it provide a MAC development environment?
What is current net consensus re: MAC-II hardware configurations?
* re: disks (>= 80 meg)
* re: displays
* re: keyboards
------------------------------
Date: Wed 20 May 1987 23:04 CDT
From: Nihar Gokhale <MMAR013%ECNCDC.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: Finder 5.5 Suggestion
Why does the Finder take so long to read MFS disks? It reads in the names
of ALL the files from the disk. I've noticed that Servant does not do this.
It reads only the needed information (the name of the disk, or if any
windows are open, the files in them).
Would it not be easy to just insert that disk reading routine into the
Finder? Hello Apple?? Help!
Nihar Gokhale
Western Illinois University, Educational Computing Network
bitnet MMAR013@ECNCDC
arpa MMAR013%ECNCDC.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
uucp [wanginst!decvax!cbosgd!] psuvax1!ECNCDC.BITNET!MMAR013
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 May 87 12:52 CDT
From: MKonar@HI-MULTICS.ARPA
Subject: Mac II problems
Has Apple responded to the report in the latest Computerworld about
sickly Mac II's? I really want one but I want one that works.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 May 87 11:23:39 EDT
From: dsc@seismo.CSS.GOV (David S. Comay)
Subject: questions about apple's non-scsi hd-20 test program
several months ago i purchased the apple serial-port (not scsi) hd-20
hard drive. along with a more recent version of the system/finder/hfs,
it came with a test program call `hd-20 test' or something like that.
unless my memory is failing me, i think someone posted a note awhile
back about some non-doucmented functions that this program will perform
if a certain set of keys is held down when launched (eg, formatting?).
anyway, i would really appreciate if someone familar with this could
tell me if i was just dreaming or if indeed `hd-20 test' does something
other than testing.
dsc
dsc@seismo.css.gov
seismo!dsc
------------------------------
Date: 19 May 87 15:10:42 PDT (Tuesday)
From: Josh Susser <Susser.pasa@Xerox.COM>
Subject: Icon Quest
Is there anybody else out there that thinks that the new Hard Disk icon
in the Finder is ugly, boring, too small, hard to hit and just plain
gross? I want to change the icon on my desktop so that it is larger and
prettier, but I can't find it! Using ResEdit, I've looked in the ICN#s
in the Desktop, System and Finder, and lots of other random places, but
just can't find the icon anywhere. Does anybody know where this bashful
icon could be hiding?
Thanks
Josh
Susser.pasa@Xerox.com
------------------------------
Date: Thu 21 May 87 13:57:10-PDT
From: Irvin Lustig <OR.LUSTIG@Sierra.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: 'FOND' resources
When I obtained the System 3.2, Finder 5.3, etc. update from my
dealer a year ago, I received a file called "Fonts" and the "System"
file. A careful examination (using ResEdit) of the FOND resources for
the Times font in each of these files reveals that these resources
are different. At the least, the "extra width fields" for bold,
outline, shadow, condensed, and extended are all different!!! (with
nonzero values found in both resources). So the questions are:
1) What is the correct version of the FOND resource to use??? How do
you tell?
2) Does this happen for other fonts as well? (I checked Helvetica, and
the FOND resources were different)
3) What is the proper way to fix this problem?
By the way, I noticed this because somehow my Mac at home and my Mac
at work are using the different FOND resources in their respective
system files, but I can't remember how I installed the fonts on each
machine. Making some text bold showed the problem. Yet the update disk
I have has both files ("Fonts" and "System").
Irv Lustig
Dept. of Operations Research, Stanford Univ.
or.lustig@sierra.stanford.edu
------------------------------
Date: 20 May 87 22:25 PDT
From: BSF.COR@OFFICE-1.ARPA
Subject: 32K limits
The idea that a some operating system recognized data structure (e.g. a program
or an array) is limited to 32k bytes is something that should have died with
the 8080 or 6502. There are many useful algorithms which need single data
structures larger than 32k (e.g. Bloom filters).
As for program segments, when you are writing a new program, you may have the
flexibility to change your ways to match some operating system restriction, but
when you are converting an existing program, any modifications you have to make
to get it to fit just make the job harder and less likely to work correctly.
While I am all for modularity in programs, I don't require that it be visible
at the operating system level, I'm quite happy seeing it at the source level in
the program. (An extreme example is where the modularity shows up only at the
macro call level, and even the compiler is not aware of its existance.)
Let us have 32 bit systems that support structures that can grow to 2**32
bytes. This way our programs can gracefully grow to handle the large
quantities of data which the increasing sophisticated user community will
demand and the increasing power of our machines will support.
Bill Frantz - Key Logic
[
as has been pointed out the Macintosh is no longer bound by this 32K
limitation.
DoD
]
------------------------------
Date: Wed 20 May 1987 13:16 CDT
From: Nihar Gokhale <MMAR013@ECNCDC.BITNET>
Subject: Princeton/ResEdit question
1.
I was wondering if anybody out there has the LATEST version of the
Princeton font. I have version 1.3bg from '85 to which I've added a few
features like square root and over-bar.
2.
The ResEdit FONT editor diagram...
X
X X
X X
XXXXX
X X
X X
~ ~
the two pointers at the bottom determine how much space to leave after the
character. I want to change the character width to the following.
X
X X
X X
XXXXX
X X
X X
~ (both pointers at the same place)
I can do this for one character easily. However, I want to globally change
this setting for ALL the characters in the font. I tried editing the
"missing" or square block character but only the height changes were applied
globally. In other words, if I moved the side arrows for the missing char,
the whole font would be changed.
Any suggestions? (or do I have to manually go from A thru c to get this
done?!)
_____ Nihar Gokhale
/ \ MMAR013@ECNCDC.BITNET
:Ill. : MMAR013%ECNCDC.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
\ x \ {wanginst!decvax!cbosgd!}!psuvax1!ECNCDC.BITNET!MMAR013
\ / \ / : : :
\ / \ / : : : Educational Computing Network
\/ \/\/ : :__:
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 May 87 08:23:45 SST
From: Kenneth Seah <ISCSEAHK%NUSVM.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: Question about FEDIT Plus
I'm planning to order Fedit Plus in the next few days from APDA.
What is the latest version and would APDA stock this? Also, does
Fedit Plus work with HFS?
Thanks...
Kenneth Seah <<at DISCS>>
National University of Singapore
BitNet - ISCSEAHK@NUSVM
UUCP - ..sun!elxsi!tataelxsi!nus-cs!kseah
------------------------------
Date: Sat 16 May 87 19:11:30-CDT
From: Werner Uhrig <CMP.WERNER@R20.UTEXAS.EDU>
Subject: Re: Archived SuperMac utilities [and a lot more news]
the utilities which SuperMac delivers with their DataFrame disks state in
their documentation that they will work with DataFrame disks *ONLY* and that
SuperMac is also SELLING versions which work on all disks.
To the best of my knowledge the versions which have been made available
online are the "castrated" ones (they should be, at least).
Well, your posting encouraged me to do something I had meant to do for a while
now, mainly pick up the phone and call SuperMac to get their permission MYSELF
to upload the latest software release to the archives.
I chatted with Mr. John Duhring just now (a most pleasant conversation
confirming my positive impression of SuperMac again) - he is General Manager
of SuperMac Software, by the way - and he gave me permission to make the
latest software available (release 5.0) so they should appear in the archives
shortly. I also used the opportunity to chat over the "state of software
affairs" at SuperMac. Here are the details:
The current versions of software are:
SuperSpool 3.1d
LaserSpool 1.1df
DiskFit 1.1df
Initializer 2.51
Note: the "df" indicates that the software checks for the presence of the
DataFrame ROMS without which the software refuses to run.
BTW, the "commercial" versions which will run on any software are priced as
follows:
SuperSpool - $60
LaserSpool, single user - $150
LaserSpool, multiuser (5) - $395
DiskFit - $75
We then discussed some of the problems which currently exist:
DiskFit - runs on all machines, including SE and Mac-II; they have tested
it with folders to a depth of 100 and with 2000 files/folders at
a folder level - this gives me reason to believe all the positive
reports we have seen on this software (John confirmed all the *BAD*
I knew about the previous BackUp program, which had a name that I
have forgotten already ...:-)
Init 2.51 - the initializer was a maintenance upgrade when it was discovered
that 2.5 had problems with 68020 boards, etc. (I recently asked about
this in response to a Delphi message, remember?) John indicated that
2.51 replaces 2.5 in general, not just for folks with 68020s.
However, John also indicated that the Spooler is not compatible with
those "souped-up" machines ....(my notes are a bit unclear on these
points as I don't have one and my jealousy keep me from paying full
attention .:-)
SuperLaserSpool - works with the SE but not the Mac-II or any 68020s
SuperSpool-3.1 - does not work with the SE but version 4.0 is scheduled for
release one week from now which fixes that problem and also incorpora-
tes a lot of the "nicer" features of the LaserSpooler. the price is
going up to $75, however.
(NOTE: I took the liberty of "rounding" all the prices - I hate $74.95 !!!)
we shortly talked about existing bugs, and my notes indicate the following:
the spooler has a bug which causes it to lose the printer resource sometimes
and when you notice that spooled files don't print anymore, there is
nothing to do but reboot, after which the spooled files will come
spilling out again.
there is a problem with Word-3.0 which causes arbitrary overprinting of
characters on a line. this seems to be a hard one to defeat, but
John hopes that both of these problems will be "zapped" for good
with the release of 4.0.
I took the opportunity to encourage John to find a way to get hooked up to
this "WorldNet" and told him about the presence of Apple, MicroSoft, Sun,
GCC, and what a generally great bunch of guys you all are out there. John
was interested but does "not yet" have a machine in-house to run his own
UUCP/USENET site. I mentioned general-access sites he might be able to get
an account on (I don't know what is available near Mountain View, but with
PC-Pursuit he should be able to get to any of them cheap enough).
Or, if any of you out there could give John a guest account so he can "test the
waters" for a while and collect arguments to convince his managers, that
would be a possibility also. Anyway, it's mainly *US* that would benefit
from getting the latest software releases *FAST* and to get bugs reported
and investigated. If nothing else, maybe someone in the Mountain View
area could make contact with John to always get the latest software into
the archives fast and to get bugs reported and responded to.
Toodle-Doo,
Werner
[
archived as
[SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>UTILITY-SUPERMAC50-CHANGEID14.HQX
[SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>UTILITY-SUPERMAC50-INITIALIZER25.HQX
[SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>UTILITY-SUPERMAC50-LASERSPOOL11DF.HQX
[SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>UTILITY-SUPERMAC50-SUPERSPOOL31DF.HQX
[SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>UTILITY-SUPERMAC50-SUPERPARKER13.HQX
DoD
]
[
>Toodle-Doo?
]
------------------------------
End of INFO-MAC Digest
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