drv@cbnewsj.ATT.COM (dennis.r.vogel) (11/17/89)
This seems to work but I want a program that will make the blinking cursor stop blinking! When its an underline style, it isn't too bad. But when I use blockcur to make it a whole block, it is too distracting. How about someone posting a stop-blink program? Dennis R. Vogel AT&T Bell Laboratories Lincroft, NJ
ts@chyde.uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi LASK) (11/18/89)
In article <2351@cbnewsj.ATT.COM> drv@cbnewsj.ATT.COM (dennis.r.vogel) writes: >This seems to work but I want a program that will make the blinking >cursor stop blinking! When its an underline style, it isn't too >bad. But when I use blockcur to make it a whole block, it is too >distracting. How about someone posting a stop-blink program? Actually, before blockcur (block the cursor :-) came out, I was considering writing a similar utility myself (and still might for my own edification). It is not very difficult. What one has to do is to access the interrupt controlling the cursor size at regular intervals, and make the program resident. The cursor size control is well documented in several sources such as the Norton & Wilton book and inter589.arc interrupt summary available from any well stocked ftp site or BBS. Stopping the blinking is quite another matter. In fact the programs with the (seemingly) unblinking cursor, do not use a cursor at all! They subsitute the cursor with ascii 219 or ascii 220. And anyway, were the resident cursor unblinking, how would you see che character at the cursors' location? There are many situations where the cursor is to move back and forth. ................................................................... Prof. Timo Salmi (Site 128.214.12.3) School of Business Studies, University of Vaasa, SF-65101, Finland Internet: ts@chyde.uwasa.fi Funet: vakk::salmi Bitnet: salmi@finfun
drv@cbnewsj.ATT.COM (dennis.r.vogel) (11/19/89)
In article <1049@chyde.uwasa.fi>, ts@chyde.uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi LASK) writes: > And anyway, were the resident cursor > unblinking, how would you see che character at the cursors' > location? There are many situations where the cursor is to move back > and forth. > > Prof. Timo Salmi Agreed, that the characters under the cursor must remain visible. I think reverse video would be OK for that purpose. Dennis R. Vogel AT&T Bell Laboratories Lincroft, NJ
psfales@cbnewsc.ATT.COM (Peter Fales) (11/19/89)
In article <1049@chyde.uwasa.fi>, ts@chyde.uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi LASK) writes: > In article <2351@cbnewsj.ATT.COM> drv@cbnewsj.ATT.COM (dennis.r.vogel) writes: > >This seems to work but I want a program that will make the blinking > >cursor stop blinking! > > ... > > ... > Stopping the blinking is quite another > matter. In fact the programs with the (seemingly) unblinking > cursor, do not use a cursor at all! They subsitute the cursor with > ascii 219 or ascii 220. Before I decided on BLOCKCUR, I tried out a commercial program called "Ken Skier's No-Squint Cursor." I have seen it sold several places. It makes the cursor stop blinking, but uses a lot of CPU cycles to "follow" the hardware cursor around with a solid block character. The program's documentation admitted that it might not be compatible with all applications, escpecially time-critical ones like modem programs. I returned my copy after I found that it would not work with Procomm on my laptop. I also found $34.95 to be a bit much after $10.00 for BLOCKCUR. -- Peter Fales AT&T, Room 5B-420 N9IYJ 2000 N. Naperville Rd. UUCP: ...att!ihlpb!psfales Naperville, IL 60566 Domain: psfales@ihlpb.att.com work: (708) 979-8031
ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi LASK) (11/20/89)
In article <4899@cbnewsc.ATT.COM> psfales@cbnewsc.ATT.COM (Peter Fales) writes: >In article <1049@chyde.uwasa.fi>, ts@chyde.uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi LASK) writes: >> Stopping the blinking is quite another >> matter. In fact the programs with the (seemingly) unblinking >> cursor, do not use a cursor at all! They subsitute the cursor with >> ascii 219 or ascii 220. > >Before I decided on BLOCKCUR, I tried out a commercial program called >"Ken Skier's No-Squint Cursor." I have seen it sold several places. It >makes the cursor stop blinking, but uses a lot of CPU cycles to "follow" >the hardware cursor around with a solid block character. This indeed would be the way to do the nonblinking cursor. It would have to be a resident program repeating a cycle of two interrupts. The first one would have to test where the current cursor is, and the second one would have to write the block at that location as fast as possible. This sounds ok in theory, and the two interrupts are easy to access, but my guess is that phasing problems (as you indicate below) would be very tricky. I may be wrong, but I doubt whether this would be practical at all, and your experience is confirmatory evidence. But perhaps I should experiment. >The program's documentation admitted that it might not be compatible with >all applications, escpecially time-critical ones like modem programs. I Yes, no wonder. And what about if there is a program running that hooks the same interrupts? ................................................................... Prof. Timo Salmi (Site 128.214.12.3) School of Business Studies, University of Vaasa, SF-65101, Finland Internet: ts@chyde.uwasa.fi Funet: vakk::salmi Bitnet: salmi@finfun