mithomas@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (Michael Thomas Niehaus) (12/21/89)
Here are some questions/comments that I have about the Communications Toolbox.
Maybe someone out there can come up with some good hypothetical answers and
comments.
1. Would it be possible to write an application using two connection tools,
say ADSP and LAT, so that one connection just relayed data to the other?
Since it has been pointed out that the LAT tool will not work over
LocalTalk, it sure would be nice to find a cheap and easy way to
accomplish this (with one Ethernet card and the Internet router).
2. When MacX ships, it will have a MacTCP tools to connect to Unix machines,
I would assume. But what about connecting to a VMS machine to run
a DECwindows session? Does AppleTalk for VMS play some role in this?
How?
3. Has anyone considered that maybe FTP is not a very good file tranfer
protocol? If it is so much trouble to implenent (hypothetically -- I
don't have the slightest idea), maybe you are looking in the wrong place
for the problem.
4. How about using the ADSP tool to connect to an A/UX machine (since it
already knows AppleTalk, it may already be able to handle this). If I
could manage this, I could always use Telnet from there. (So it is a bit
of a round-about way. So is a box that just sits there stripping AppleTalk
headers from TCP/IP packets...)
So it is finals week here, and I am trying to waste some time... Anyway, any
idea when we will see the final version of the CommToolbox? I would like to get
my hands on a good set of documentation and sample code (1.0B2 just didn't cut
it). Maybe by the time it comes out, I will have amply time to play with it.
(I graduate in May -- any jobs out there? If I don't find one, I'll have all
kinds of time.)
-Michael
--
Michael Niehaus UUCP: <backbones>!{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!mithomas
Apple Student Rep ARPA: mithomas@bsu-cs.bsu.edu
Ball State University AppleLink: ST0374 (from UUCP: st0374@applelink.apple.com)alan@Apple.COM (Alan Mimms) (12/21/89)
In article <10478@bsu-cs.bsu.edu> mithomas@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (Michael Thomas Niehaus) writes: >Here are some questions/comments that I have about the Communications Toolbox. >Maybe someone out there can come up with some good hypothetical answers and >comments. > >1. Would it be possible to write an application using two connection tools, > say ADSP and LAT, so that one connection just relayed data to the other? > Since it has been pointed out that the LAT tool will not work over > LocalTalk, it sure would be nice to find a cheap and easy way to > accomplish this (with one Ethernet card and the Internet router). It certainly would be possible. We're adding a convention in which each connection tool will have a resource called 'caps' which defines its capabilities very clearly and also defines the low-level connection transport it uses, using a set of standard names. This can be used by applications to find connection tools that can handle the tasks the application requires and also permits them to determine which tools are, for example, LAT tools... >2. When MacX ships, it will have a MacTCP tools to connect to Unix machines, > I would assume. But what about connecting to a VMS machine to run > a DECwindows session? Does AppleTalk for VMS play some role in this? > How? MacX will ship with a MacTCP tool and an ADSP tool (which is not announced, but I've seen other people talking about it, so I guess it's an open secret at least). Other interesting tools will come from third parties. >3. Has anyone considered that maybe FTP is not a very good file tranfer > protocol? If it is so much trouble to implenent (hypothetically -- I > don't have the slightest idea), maybe you are looking in the wrong place > for the problem. The problem is there are a whole TON of Unix machines that don't grok much other than FTP and rcp for file transfer. Perhaps someone who is looking into this should try the rcp file transfer protocol or some kind of hack using the rmt protocol? >4. How about using the ADSP tool to connect to an A/UX machine (since it > already knows AppleTalk, it may already be able to handle this). If I > could manage this, I could always use Telnet from there. (So it is a bit > of a round-about way. So is a box that just sits there stripping AppleTalk > headers from TCP/IP packets...) There is some talk about doing this. I don't know if it will happen for the next release of A/UX and X for A/UX though. Perhaps if you ask the right folks it could be made to happen? (This is NOT a commitment for this support in ANY version of A/UX -- I just happen to know the lady who's spent a few minutes looking into this and I don't think talking about its possibility here will hurt anything. Please don't get me fired for this!) >So it is finals week here, and I am trying to waste some time... Anyway, any >idea when we will see the final version of the CommToolbox? I would like to get >my hands on a good set of documentation and sample code (1.0B2 just didn't cut >it). Maybe by the time it comes out, I will have amply time to play with it. >(I graduate in May -- any jobs out there? If I don't find one, I'll have all >kinds of time.) Good luck in finals. >-Michael > > >-- >Michael Niehaus UUCP: <backbones>!{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!mithomas >Apple Student Rep ARPA: mithomas@bsu-cs.bsu.edu >Ball State University AppleLink: ST0374 (from UUCP: st0374@applelink.apple.com) -- Alan Mimms My opinions are generally Communications Product Development Group pretty worthless, but Apple Computer they *are* my own... "The company has new jobs and Jobs has a new company" -- Harry Anderson
tim@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Maroney) (12/24/89)
In article <10478@bsu-cs.bsu.edu> mithomas@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (Michael Thomas Niehaus) writes: > Has anyone considered that maybe FTP is not a very good file tranfer > protocol? If it is so much trouble to implenent (hypothetically -- I > don't have the slightest idea), maybe you are looking in the wrong place > for the problem. FTP is the best LAN/WAN file transfer protocol that I know of short of transparent file service. It is far better than most modem-based protocols, because it includes features like directory browsing, remote removal, remote renaming, and so forth. It's also pretty easy to implement if you already have a TCP available. What's hard to implement is FTP-under-Comm-Toolbox, a different kettle of fish. This is difficult, not because there's anything wrong with FTP, but because the Toolbox wasn't designed with TCP/IP in mind. However, you should be aware that even if FTP were the worst transfer protocol in the world (crowding out XMODEM), it wouldn't matter. There are tens of thousands (possibly hundreds of thousands) of TCP/IP computers out there which are hooked into long-established networks using it. Apple has no power and no business saying that each of these computers, running various different operating systems, should throw away their existing protocol software and write new software that's more compatible with a minor product they're bringing out. Fortunately, Apple would hardly do such a silly thing. At least overtly.... -- Tim Maroney, Mac Software Consultant, sun!hoptoad!tim, tim@toad.com "Someone to flame us, someone to follow, Someone to shame us, some brave Apollo! Someone to rule us. Someone like you. We want you, Big Brother." -- David Bowie, "Big Brother"
rickf@Apple.COM (Rick Fleischman) (12/27/89)
In article <10478@bsu-cs.bsu.edu> mithomas@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (Michael Thomas Niehaus) writes: >So it is finals week here, and I am trying to waste some time... Anyway, any >idea when we will see the final version of the CommToolbox? I would like to get >my hands on a good set of documentation and sample code (1.0B2 just didn't cut >it). Maybe by the time it comes out, I will have amply time to play with it. >(I graduate in May -- any jobs out there? If I don't find one, I'll have all >kinds of time.) We at APDA have received the masters for the final version of the Communications Toolbox. We should be able to mail the updates out to purchasers of the beta version in early January. Purchasers of the beta will receive the following: 1) Macintosh Communications Toolbox v.1.0 2) Communications Tools -- Basic Connectivity Set v.1.0B15 Contrary to early rumors, all beta purchasers will receive BOTH the final Communications Toolbox AND the updated beta set of tools, even though the toolbox and tools have been separated into different products. In addition to the above two products, a new product is available to order: Macintosh Communications Toolbox -- Source Code Examples v.1.0B15 Part Number: M0380LL/A, Price: $30.00 It can be ordered from APDA at (800) 282-2732 or (408) 562-3910. I would be happy to answer any other ordering or availability related questions via e-mail. Rick Fleischman Developer Channels/APDA Apple Computer, Inc. e-mail: rickf@apple.com AppleLink: FLEISCHMAN@applelink.apple.com