[comp.sys.mac.programmer] Help: return to Finder with programmer's switch?

rgonzal@elbereth.rutgers.edu (Ralph Gonzalez) (11/15/90)

Hi.  I used to know this...

Could someone tell me the instruction to type, when I've just pressed
the programmer's switch, so I can return to the Finder?  (I'm not
using MacsBug.)  Thanks.

-Ralph

vd09+@andrew.cmu.edu (Vincent M. Del Vecchio) (11/15/90)

> Excerpts from netnews.comp.sys.mac.programmer: 14-Nov-90 Help: return to
> Finder with.. Ralph Gonzalez@elbereth. (199)

> Could someone tell me the instruction to type, when I've just pressed
> the programmer's switch, so I can return to the Finder?  (I'm not
> using MacsBug.)  Thanks.


SM 0 A9F4 <return>
G 0 <return>

Can anyone comment on the safeness of using address 0 as scratch space? 
I've done this for a while--another alternative is to write into the
screen buffer if you're on a + or SE, but the address is longer and
harder to type.  Is there anything important there that's being
overwritten?  I don't think I've had any problems with doing this, so
I'd guess there's not, but that's just a guess.

kaufman@Neon.Stanford.EDU (Marc T. Kaufman) (11/16/90)

In article <UbEfVf_00Vp38DXGtf@andrew.cmu.edu> vd09+@andrew.cmu.edu (Vincent M. Del Vecchio) writes:

>Can anyone comment on the safeness of using address 0 as scratch space? 
>I've done this for a while--another alternative is to write into the
>screen buffer if you're on a + or SE, but the address is longer and
>harder to type.  Is there anything important there that's being
>overwritten?  I don't think I've had any problems with doing this, so
>I'd guess there's not, but that's just a guess.

There are a number of programs, INITs, drivers, etc., that either deliberately
or accidently dereference NIL handles.  Now a NIL handle points to 0.  After
dereferencing you get the contents of 0 as a pointer.  If this is non-zero,
you could be in for lots of fun debugging.

There are a number of debugging aids (Mr. Bus Error, the Debugger, etc.) that
deliberately put an odd address into location 0 to catch such accidental
derefs.

If you try to run your program while any of the above are running, things will
likely not work right.

With all the memory on the mac, and the System heap, and resources, why do you
want to write to 0?  What if another programmer has the same idea?

Marc Kaufman (kaufman@Neon.stanford.edu)

folta@tove.cs.umd.edu (Wayne Folta) (11/16/90)

I am not using Macsbug, and I simply type "G FINDER" at the ">" prompt to
get back to the Finder. (This is System 6.0.7, IIci, if that matters.)

Wayne
--


Wayne Folta          (folta@cs.umd.edu  128.8.128.8)

resnick@cogsci.uiuc.edu (Pete Resnick) (11/16/90)

rgonzal@elbereth.rutgers.edu (Ralph Gonzalez) writes:

>Could someone tell me the instruction to type, when I've just pressed
>the programmer's switch, so I can return to the Finder?  (I'm not
>using MacsBug.)  Thanks.

'G' for go.

(I like knowing the easy ones!! :-))
pr
--
Pete Resnick             (...so what is a mojo, and why would one be rising?)
Graduate assistant - Philosophy Department, Gregory Hall, UIUC
System manager - Cognitive Science Group, Beckman Institute, UIUC
Internet/ARPAnet/EDUnet  : resnick@cogsci.uiuc.edu
BITNET (if no other way) : FREE0285@UIUCVMD

dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner) (11/16/90)

In article <1990Nov15.174005.14697@Neon.Stanford.EDU> kaufman@Neon.Stanford.EDU (Marc T. Kaufman) writes:
>With all the memory on the mac, and the System heap, and resources, why do you
>want to write to 0?  What if another programmer has the same idea?

Read it again, Marc; he's talking about putting a9f4 at location 0 with the
mini-debugger so he can recover from a crash, or similar things.  He wondered
if tromping on location 0 in this manner was OK.

For all the reasons you mention, it is a BAD idea for programs to depend
on location 0 being anything in particular.  Therefore, it is probably safe
to use 0 as scratch space *from the mini-debugger*.
--
Steve Dorner, U of Illinois Computing Services Office
Internet: s-dorner@uiuc.edu  UUCP: uunet!uiucuxc!uiuc.edu!s-dorner

Chris.Gehlker@p12.f56.n114.z1.fidonet.org (Chris Gehlker) (11/20/90)

> Can anyone comment on the safeness of using address 0 as scratch space? 
> I've done this for a while--another alternative is to write into the
> screen buffer if you're on a + or SE, but the address is longer and
> harder to type.  Is there anything important there that's being
> overwritten?  I don't think I've had any problems with doing this, so
> I'd guess there's not, but that's just a guess.

It's fine on a Mac. Don't try it on an Amiga. Note that TMON puts
NIL! into address 0 as a debugging aid. The idea was that attempting
to reference an unitialized pointer would generate an immediate
address error since '!' is odd and that the 'NIL!' would give a
hint to the programmer.

 

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