PD ROM 1/PD ROM Volume I - Macintosh Software from BMUG (1988).iso/Electronic Messages/Delphi Digests/Delphi Vol. 3/Delphi 3.49

Internet Message Format | 1988-04-08 | 31.4 KB | [TEXT/ttxt]

Date: Sat 7 Nov 87 08:26:21-GMT
From: Jeff Shulman <SHULMAN@SDR>
Subject: Delphi Mac Digest V3 #49

Delphi Mac Digest     Saturday, November 7, 1987     Volume 3 : Issue 49

Today's Topics:
     HyperCard Importing. (4 messages)
     RE: MacWrite 4.6
     RE: MultiFinder SIZE
     Hard Disk Backup (4 messages)
     RE: FullWrite Professional grievance
     RE: re: DiskTimer II claims (2 messages)
     TermProg features? (2 messages)
     ?
     C Compilers
     TIFF - EPSF (2 messages)
     Novy Accelerator (3 messages)
     A5 at interrupt time...? (4 messages)
     pr
     Imagewriter II (2 messages)
     RE: FullWrite Professional grievance

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: NATURAL
Subject: HyperCard Importing.
Date: 30-OCT 19:52 Programming

Ok, here's a good one.

I am trying to import a variable lenght record into Hypercard and can't
figure out where to put the read until return statement to make it work
correctly. What I _want_ it to do is to go to the new card after
encountering a return and

stop filling the old fields and start on field one. Any help would be
great appreciated... here's the code.


on mouseUp
  ask "Import Text from what file?"
  if it is empty then exit mouseup
  put it into fileName
  open file filename
  repeat
    domenu "New Card"
    repeat with i=1 to the number of fields
      --  read from file filename until return
      read from file filename until tab
      if it is empty then              -- end oU file
        if i=1 then doMenu "Delete Card"
        close file filename
        exit mouseup
      end if
      put empty into last char of it -- kill tab
      if it is not return then put it into field i
    end repeat
  end repeat
end mouseUp


[Thanks]

Joshua

------------------------------

From: JIMH
Subject: RE: HyperCard Importing. (Re: Msg 23150)
Date: 31-OCT 00:28 Programming

I am toying with the idea of implementing a data dictionary program on
hyper card but i am not sure i can do what i need.  what i have is a
text field of unknown length of the form item1 + item2 + item3 + ....
which is the composition of whats callekd a data flow.  what i want to
be able to do is click on any of the items and have its associated card
come up.  is there a way to do this?  thanks jim

------------------------------

From: NATURAL
Subject: RE: HyperCard Importing. (Re: Msg 23154)
Date: 31-OCT 03:03 Programming

Jim...

have you seen the Importer script?  It seems to do well if the first
record has the maximum number of fields but I can't seem to figure out
why.

------------------------------

From: NWOLF
Subject: RE: HyperCard Importing. (Re: Msg 23166)
Date: 1-NOV-01:26: Programming

Jim, There are a number of ways to do what you want. Right offhand I
can't locate the scripts but I have 'em lying around here someplace, so
maybe I can find them & post 'em. Anyway, it's not all that difficult.
After you import the text into the fields you need to make sure that the
fields are locked. This will allow you to follow one or more course(s)
of acion depending on exactly how you want things to work out.
Essentially what you have to do is click on the word you want in the
field then have the script double-click at the clickloc after unlocking
the text field. This selects the word. Place the selection in some
variable and lock the field. Use the variable as a means to navigate to
wherever you want to go. If necessary, create a new card which will
store the info you want and which can be deleted when the script has run
its course and the card no longer serves any purpose. Make sure you
push-pop or otherwise provide for returning to your starting place or to
whatever place you' d like to be able to go to next. Another way to do
this is with buttons, either hidden by hiding, or hidden by placing
behind, which, when activated will do whatever you want. I've found the
best way to do this is to place the script in the background. That way
you can provide one script for many buttons without having to write it
in each one. Of course to do this you often have to place some
information in a container some- how. This can be done by doubleclicking
as described above or by whatever means suits your stack. Manytimes you
can set up a matching situation whereby the buttonname or some coponent
of the script will be matched to some predetermined variable which can
be designated through a boolean process, if necessary.

As HyperCard tends to run more slowly when you get a lot of fields in
one card - and especially if you cluster the fields together - it's a
good idea to avoid too many fields in the original card. It sounds like
you already have somewhat delineated information. This is good because
you can create separate fields to handle each segment and a new card
when you' ve reached a certain number of fields. (I think critical mass
for the slowdown is somewhyere upwards of 25 fields - depending how
close together they are.)

Best o' luck.

Neil.

------------------------------

From: MACENGLISH
Subject: RE: MacWrite 4.6 (Re: Msg 22946)
Date: 30-OCT 20:46 User Supported Software

Steve,

I printed out your comment as well as Chuq's, Peabo's, and MadMac's and
sent them with a letter to my dealer in Marion.  A friend of mine was
going to pick up her computer Thursday, and I ask her to take the
letter.

Brian, the salesman we work with, really didn't have 4.6 and told her he
understood why I might be a bit upset.  He called Apple right then and
there. He told my friend that someone would call him back and hopefully
they'd send him 4.6 by modem.  He must have gotten it, for today is
Friday, and I got 4.6 in the mail today!  Now that's service!  Thanks to
everyone who wrote because it must have made an impression.

The Muncie dealer, where I bought my first Mac and thank God not my
second, still has my disk (it's lost) who knows if I'll ever see it
again.  But I did call Apple about them, and they gave me a Chicago
number.  I called there, and someone who services the Indiana area is
supposed to call me back, but I'll probably never be home if the person
calls.  I'd probably do better to write, but I don't know whom to write
to.

Debbie

------------------------------

From: STEVEMALLER
Subject: RE: MultiFinder SIZE (Re: Msg 23127)
Date: 31-OCT 03:44 Bugs & Features

Here's some inside poop on MultiFinder and the "SIZE" resource...

GIVEN -> Application "A" and Application "B" running under MultiFinder
(MF).
         (Uh, Finder is running, too)

When you activate "A", MF suspends "B" unless "B" includes a SIZE
resource that indicates that it is MF "aware". If it IS MF AWARE, MF
will give it CPU time whenever the front application is not busy. (I'm
not sure exactly how much time it gets).

HOW? -> You can use ResEdit to diddle the bits in an existing SIZE
resource, or copy and paste one from a MF-friendly application (the
Finder or PrintMonitor are examples). If you have an early copy of
ResEdit (current # is 1.1b3), it includes a template (TMPL resource) for
the Switcher SIZE format. This is the same as the MF SIZE, but the MF
SIZE uses some of the "reserved bits". These bits are listed below,
counting from the first listed one. Memory figures are basically the
same as Switcher's, although MF's can be altered in the Finder by saying
"Get Info".

Here are the bits in the MF SIZE resource:

  Save screen...................unused
  Accept suspend events.........OFF >> This should only be set if the
  Disable option................OFF    application is in fact written to
  Can background................ON     take advantage of MultiFinder.
  MultiFinder aware.............ON
  Only background...............OFF
  ...
  ( the remaining 10 bits are still RESERVED by Apple)

What about MF requiring applications to call "WaitNextEvent"? Apparently
the only thing that this does for the MultiFinder world is that it makes
the frontmost application MORE MF friendly, because it allows you to say
that you only need CPU time every n ticks. If you are a pre-MF app, you
are probably wasting CPU cycles when there are no events.


  WARNINGS * WARNINGS * WARNINGS * WARNINGS * WARNINGS
  ----------------------------------------------------
  Please be careful! Some words of advice:

  * ALWAYS work on a backup copy of your application
  * Some apps make assumptions about the world being their's. Test your
    application COMPLETELY before you commit any real work to it. For
    example, I added a SIZE resource to Microphone and got it to run
    in the background, but it isn't really designed to do so. I can't
    switch out of it all the time, and it doesn't handle errors too
    gracefully whilst in the background.
  * You may find that the Clipboard is not converted properly in apps
    converted in this manner. If this is true, change the
    "MultiFinder aware" setting to OFF. This tells MF that the app needs
    to have the Switcher-vintage fake DA charade pulled in order to
    get the clipboard converted properly.
  * MF will NOT switch out of a program while the frontmost window is
    a standard "modal" dialog window. This is the familiar style with
    a double border around the edge of the window. You may be able to
    (OY - be careful) change the window type in ResEdit of a particular
    window and get MF to switch out of an app while a dialog is being
    displayed. The catch is that if the application is relying on the
    Toolbox routine "ModalDialog" to handle events, MF won't switch
    out anyhow anyway.

  GENERAL TIP
  * If you hold down the Option key while opening a DA, it is opened in
    that application's memory space ("heap") as opposed to the DA
    Handler heap.

Remember, you didn't hear any of this here!

   (Not Steve)

------------------------------

From: DSACHS
Subject: Hard Disk Backup
Date: 1-NOV-16:18: Hardware & Peripherals

I would like recommendations as to suitable programs for backing hard
disks to floppies. I am dissatisfied with the ones I have tried.

 Features I would like to see are:

 The program must work properly.

 When doing and incremental backup, added files should be backed,
regardless of modification dates.

 When doing an incremental backup, it should be possible to bypass files
whose changes are of no consequence, such as System and some large
Hypercard stacks.

 When doing a full restore, superseded and deleted files should not be
copied to the hard disk.

 Folders that do not contain any files should be backed up and restored.

I am also interested in tape backup for a new Mac II at work, and am
very disappointed at the reports of the poor speed of the Apple unit.

Backup programs I have tried:

Megacopy: works well but is restricted to cartridge to cartrige backup
for the IOmega Bernoulli box.  currenly works with Mac Plus only.

 FileGuard (Rodime): The program failed on a full restore, but I was
able to restore all files, a group at a time.

 HDBackup: Seems to work OK but insist on copying every single
(expletive deleted) file

------------------------------

From: JIMH
Subject: RE: Hard Disk Backup (Re: Msg 23183)
Date: 1-NOV-19:57: Hardware & Peripherals

I use HFS backup myself.  the newest version works quite well and can do
all you stated, (i am 90% sure of that ;-) )  it is also a lot faster
than hd backup.  A lot of folks like diskfit, but personally i dont want
anything!!! to do with a backup program whic goes out and deletes files,
then rewrites them on the old backup disks during incremental backup.
you save floppies i agree but how often do you have to blow away a
floppy full of backups to make this a dangerous thing to do!  I have the
apple tape b ackup at work and it sucks!!! if you thought the SE fan was
loud you aint heard nothing yet!  Also it is slower to do a backup with
theis than it is to use floppies and since it wont work in the
background your machine is unusable until it finishes.  It also wont
back up files across a file server.  so i have to move it from machine
to machine. i ordered for myself the new drive from tecmar after playing
with it at the show.  it does 40 megs in 15 minutes which is quite
impressive. they claim it wil backup in the background and across file
servers as well.  i will let you know what i think when i get it.  best
jim

------------------------------

From: NWOLF
Subject: RE: Hard Disk Backup (Re: Msg 23183)
Date: 2-NOV-00:37: Hardware & Peripherals

I'm a fan of DiskFit, although I was not aware of the problem that Jim
mentioned about deleting files. It seems to do everything on your list.
Another choice might be Fastback, from Fifth Dimension. IT is
appropriately named, as it is very quick, it uses the disk drives and
the hard disk all at the same time and achieves a good measure of
efficiency in the process. 2 problems with it tho, 1) it does not create
Finder-compatible files (that is you can't read a FB disk from the
finder, and 2) because the disks appear to be empty to the finder (!) if
you inadvertently try to save a file to that disk it will TRASH the
directory file on the startup disk. If that was the hard disk, and if
the file you overwrote on the floppy was your 1.2Meg system file, you
have just created a DS error of rather large proportions! Moral - if you
elect to use FB, put thedisks somewhere where you won't use them for
ANYTHING else! Also, Fastback will not back up to volumes other than
floppies, although 5th Generation says that will be fi xed in an
upcoming re-release.

Neil.

------------------------------

From: DDUNHAM
Subject: RE: Hard Disk Backup (Re: Msg 23183)
Date: 2-NOV-21:32: Hardware & Peripherals

HFS Backup meets most of your criteria.  You'll have to do a little
manual work on the incrementals to keep stacks out (no easy way to tell
if you accessed Help or your own stack, after all).

------------------------------

From: CHUQ
Subject: RE: FullWrite Professional grievance (Re: Msg 23170)
Date: 1-NOV-21:35: User Supported Software

According to Ann Arbor, the rumors are all untrue. Thanks to Inforworld
for being completely unprofressional (again). They ARE late, aprtly
because the Ann Arbor folks seem to be hopelessly optimistic about how
long a good beta test should take (they should hire me as a consultant
-- I could design a whopper beta test if they keep marketing's hands off
of it...). rumor has it that two certified beta sites have yet to see
beta copies, by the way. A major stumbling block seems to be multifinder
capability -- which evidently changed out from under a number of
developers until the last second. Considering Apple's track record in
compatibility from beta to FCS on the Ssytem and Finder, I'd probably
hold a release utnil I got golden copies myself, especially when it is
already amazingly late to market and another month won't hurt (he says
-- it only hurts when I laugh........)

Of cource, having already taken over the Paint market (and losing it to
Super Paint at the low end, Illustrator at the high end, and a few
others in the middle), the WP market (well, if they had shipped in time,
they WOULD have taken over the market. Now Word 3.0 is so entrenched
it'll be a real battle, especially with Wordperfect hanging around here
somewhere) the Ann arbor folks have decided to go after a market nobody
has looked at yet -- Spreadsheets. They've announced Fullcalc, to go
after the weak, inadequate Excel. And they're just in time to get
flattened by the rumors Mac 1-2-3.

Ann Arbor turns out good product: a little too little (fullpaint was a
great MacPaint replacement, at least until SuperPaint came out a month
later...) and a little too late (as good as fullwrite looks, I have
nothing but pity for those poor folks who didn't buy Word 3.0 waiting
for their product). Great technical folks, but their marketing seems to
need some serious help. Why, in gods name, don't they find a niche that
someone else hasn't taken over and get their product out before the rest
of the world?

chuq

------------------------------

From: MACWEEKBOS
Subject: RE: re: DiskTimer II claims
Date: 1-NOV-19:44: Network Digests

>re: DiskTimer II claims
>to: Ephraim Vishniac

I am still testing the Hammer 300, but it is the fastest drive I have
ever tested in *real world tests*, specifically the duplication of a
file in the Finder. The cache cannot account for the speed of
duplication of this file (a 766K file), and testing on a Racet drive
with a very large internal cache showed no remarkable speed in this test
(although it gave a DiskTimer access speed of 0 and Read/Write times of
17, 34). I agree that internal caches in hard disks can grossly affect
DiskTimer II times, and we need a better benchmark test nowadays. Some
good ideas for improvements have been discussed on the net, though I've
lost the name of the suggestor at the moment. Anyway, despite the
inappropriateness of quoting DiskTimer speeds, I believe the Hammer is
one of the fastest, if not the very fastest, disk available on the
market.

Ric Ford

------------------------------

From: MACWEEKBOS
Subject: RE: re: DiskTimer II claims
Date: 2-NOV-09:50: Network Digests

(ruffling through piles of paper...)

5.5 sec.

The previous record was about 7 sec. for the DataFrame 40XP and some
Peripheral Land drives.

DiskTimer results for the Hammer were 46, 47, 7.

These tests were on a standard Mac SE.  Norman says the Mac II shows a
substantial speed increase over the SE.


Ric

------------------------------

From: INTECO
Subject: TermProg features?
Date: 1-NOV-23:01: Telecommunicating

I am developing a quite complicated terminal emulation program (very
intelligent terminals). To give the program a more general background I
would like to make it full featured terminal program. What kind of
features do you like with the software you are u sing most and which not
at all?

MacBinary II, XMODEM, YMODEM, Kermit Siemens 9750, VT220 are on the plan
but what about color terminals? Which area standard?

I would apreaciate any ideas , suggestions and information

Uwe

------------------------------

From: PDNNOG
Subject: RE: TermProg features? (Re: Msg 23207)
Date: 2-NOV-22:23: Telecommunicating

Please consider implementing ZMODEM which is Chuck Forsberg's protocol.
In the PC world, it has taken everything by storm. It's a public domain
protocol with throughput essentially equal to continuous sending with no
timeouts for turnaround.

------------------------------

From: MACWEEKBOS
Subject: ?
Date: 2-NOV-23:14: Bugs & Features

I don't know if this has been posted yet, because I haven't been able
yet to catch up on the two weeks of messages while I was on vacation,
but it's a lot of fun to hold down the command and option keys when you
do "About MultiFinder"...

It's in color on a Mac II

Ric

------------------------------

From: BWD
Subject: C Compilers
Date: 3-NOV-20:22: Programming

Does anyone know if Borland will be coming out with Turbo C for the
Macintosh? We want to do some work with C at the office.  One of the
technicians has a lot of experience with the PC side and wishes that he
could use it on the Mac as well (I know!  There will be much more to it,
but he is pro-Turbo!)

Any comments on other C compilers would be appreciated.

Thanks, Brian

------------------------------

From: SYNTHONY
Subject: TIFF - EPSF
Date: 3-NOV-21:05: Mousing Around

I asked this question severl weeks ago, but no answer, so I hope you
don't mind if I try again.  I wonder if there is any type of program
that can convert the output from my Microtek scanner (TIFF) to a format
that Cricket Draw can understand (EPSF?).  I do a lot of ad layouts and
it would make life much easier!

Bill Synthony

------------------------------

From: TSTEIN
Subject: RE: TIFF - EPSF (Re: Msg 23253)
Date: 4-NOV-17:28: Mousing Around

I don't know any simple way to do it (that is, I don't know of any
program that only does what you want.) However, Image Studio can read
TIFF formatted files and can save them as EPSF. It also can do a lot
more, and that more may be more than you need.

------------------------------

From: ASMCOR
Subject: Novy Accelerator
Date: 4-NOV-00:24: Hardware & Peripherals

Anybody bought one of the Novy accelerators? How good are they? Any
compatibility problems? I'm gonna buy an accelerator soon, so any advice
would be appreciated. It's for a Mac+.
  Jan

------------------------------

From: STEVEMALLER
Subject: RE: Novy Accelerator (Re: Msg 23263)
Date: 4-NOV-01:51: Hardware & Peripherals

Hey Jan!

I have a Radius Accelerator at home in my SE and I just love it (hiding
his Apple hat). Fast as greased . . . er . . . well you know. Actually
feels faster than my Mac II at work! Benchmarks point out that the '020
boards (Levco, Radius, etc) ARE faster than the II in a lot of tests. I
got my Radius sans '881 to save a few bucks. They have pretty attractive
developer pricing, too. As far as the Novy is concerned, I haven't heard
anything either way on it. Keep in mind that large-screen compatibility
should be kept in mind. I'm pretty sure that the Radius card is only
compatible with THEIR monitors (FPD and 2PD).

Good luck,

    Steve

------------------------------

From: DWOOD
Subject: RE: Novy Accelerator (Re: Msg 23263)
Date: 4-NOV-23:50: Hardware & Peripherals

A person in our department got one of the Novy boards.  He bought the
68881 on his own to save some off of their price. He seemed to be very
happy with it. It really improved the speed of his Mac+.  We tested it
against my Mac II and it seems to be roughly 1/2 the speed of a Mac II.
Since the Radius acceleator and others for the SE are apporx. the speed
of a II or a bit faster you should bkeep this in mind.  It may be better
to buy sell your Mac Plus, get an SE and an accelerator.  But you will
end up speeding more (1k or more?) then getting the Novy board.  The
Novy board comes with 2 MB of RAM and so with the advent of Multifinder
it is a nice addition if not just for the increased memory.  His total
cost was about 1200, but he did not get the 16 MHz version (just the
12MHz one). I should say, however, that he was having some problems with
the board. He would get some unexplained bombs and the feeling was that
it was a bad connection on the clip with attached to the 68000.  He set
it back yesterday and is getting the solder-on version (evidence of his
happyness with the product.) Most everything that runs on a Mac II seems
to run on it and the Novy people will give you a truthful list of the
programs that do not work with it. It is Multifinder compatiable.
Pesonally it seems to me like a good option for Mac+ upgrade, but I am
not sure that getting a SE is not a better idea.  On a budget it is a
good option. -Doug Wood

------------------------------

From: INTECO
Subject: A5 at interrupt time...?
Date: 3-NOV-14:57: Programming Techniques

In the multifinder documentation it is stated that the CurrentA5 may be
not your A5 (that of your program). I remember that I have already read
some month ago about a save way to "transport" the A5 of your program to
an routine that runs at interrupt time later. I think it was done with
the ParmBlk...?

Does someone here has experience with this, or does he remember the
source of this solution ?

Uwe

------------------------------

From: PEABO
Subject: RE: A5 at interrupt time...? (Re: Msg 2148)
Date: 3-NOV-21:47: Programming Techniques

What you would do is imbed the param block inside a larger allocation of
memory and take care to put additional parameters such as your A5 value
at the end of any param block that uses your completion routine. I don't
know anything about the state of low memory in this situation though, so
I'd recommend not referencing any globals unless you are completely
certain they are gloabl to the entire environment.

peter

------------------------------

From: STEVEMALLER
Subject: RE: A5 at interrupt time...? (Re: Msg 2148)
Date: 4-NOV-01:57: Programming Techniques

Peter's reply was right on the money. You DO NOT know WHO'S world is
current at interrupt time. In fact, you can really blow things out of
the water if you get called in the middle of a Multifinder context
switch! Imagine if HALF of low memory is valid...

You have to tack your application 's A5 into the param block, and be
careful to restore the current value before your interrupt handler
terminates...

Good luck. I'l try and locate a Tech Note or something if that will
help.

     Steve Maller
     Apple Computer

------------------------------

From: INTECO
Subject: RE: A5 at interrupt time...? (Re: Msg 2153)
Date: 4-NOV-09:51: Programming Techniques

The register A0 should point to the parameter block. So I have to write
a short assembler piece (or inline code) which fetches the value of the
next variable after the ParamBlk instead of CurrentA5 (of course I set
this variable before in the call). I hope that I do not need low memory
globals except TickCount which should be safe.

Ok I will try it, thanks.

Uwe

------------------------------

From: JIMH
Subject: pr
Date: 4-NOV-20:14: Programming Techniques

Does anyone know if it is possible to use MPW C to generate code for a
generic 68020 system?  Problems i see is that standard IO will not be
talking to the correct devices, so can i write a getchar, putchar set of
routines and make it work with our VME pro cessor?  thanks jim

------------------------------

From: MACENGLISH
Subject: Imagewriter II
Date: 5-NOV-22:52: Hardware & Peripherals

I have a question about the quality of the Imagewriter II vs. the
Imagewriter I.  A friend of mine recently bought a Mac Plus and an
Imagewriter II.  I had heard that the print quality was much better.  So
I asked her to print me out some samples.  However, when she prints out
MacWrite samples on High Quality ( Best), they don't look any better
than mine (ImagewriterI).  When she switches to draft on MacWrite and
then puts the Imagewriter II on Near Letter Quality, then I can see a
difference, but in draft all the spacing is off and none of the special
feature (e.g. italics) show up.  Is there a way she can get near letter
quality printing with all the features using MacWrite?  Supposedly using
High Quality in MacWrite overrides whatever the printer is set at.

Debbie

------------------------------

From: NWOLF
Subject: RE: Imagewriter II (Re: Msg 23304)
Date: 6-NOV-00:26: Hardware & Peripherals

you are certainly brave to open up that can of worms! Doubtless there
are others who being more sagacious, salacious and articulatious than i
will reply in far greater detail and accuracy. However, I will (perhaps
albeit somewhat foolishly) start the ball rolling. Remember, what
follows is strictly reliable hearsay, straight from the true vine rumor
and verifiably factual gossip, all of which is honest, straightforward,
unmitigated opinion of the first order.

The ImageWriter one has little to recommend it other than it is solidly
built and should last several lifetimes if not mistreated. It is simple,
stout and reliable. The IW II is no less a workhorse but is subject to a
few anomalous glitches which seem to defy reason as well as any attempts
to explain or rectify them. It's strongest point by comparison to the IW
1 is its paperhandling capability. At this it excels. Try printing an
envelope on its predecessor and you'll see what I mean. It is also
faster than the IW 1, in all printing modes. It also has better Near
Letter Quality printing in draft mode, which is _perhaps_ acceptable for
business use under some circumstances. In order to have draft printing
work properly on either printer in terms of spacing especially, it is
helpful to choose a monospaced font (Monaco or Courier for instance) in
10 point size. This will pretty much eliminate the weird spacing which
will otherwise occur. I don't have much experience with this when
printing in draft in either of the enhanced modes, but perhaps someone
else will enlightun us on this.

When going for the best quality it sometimes helps to check Tall
Adjusted in the page setup menu. The degree to which this is helpful
depends upon the font: it works better with some and not at all with
others. Experiment. Of course, to get the best quality it is necessary
to have a font that is twice the size of the one you are printing. But
it is also necessary that it be designed to be compatible in this way.
Some fonts which may seem to be double the size are not really designed
for printing - they are either designed for the screen, or they were not
made to the proper proportions for printing. The font sent to the
printer is not necessarily what you see on the screen in most cases and
that's why what you see is NOT what you get most of the time. If you
stick to more reliable fonts you are more likely to be successful in
this regard. However, I know certain people who claim that most fonts
are such a mess that they have designed fonts which are just for
printing - they don't look too much like what they print like on the
screen but they print beautifully. If you can find it, Juneau 10 (a
serifed Geneva replacement) is such a font; combined with its double it
makes a very clean and easily readable typeface which prints quickly.
This is one of the fonts which appears to print beetter when set to Tall
Adjusted, by the way.

Everyone is familiar with the scrunching line problem inherent in the
IW2. No doubt there are several threads pertaining to this pernicious
problem in the acrchives which Peabo could dig out for your review. I
have seen many many explanations for this anomaly. Some say its a
hardware problem - something to do with the gears and taking up the slop
therein. Some say it's a software problem. (Apple's line, I believe.)
However, several generations of printer drivers from Apple have not
solved it. It is said that it comes from the printer's nasty habit of
rolling the paper back and forth a time or two before it prints. My
experience is that it happens consistently when there is no paper
hanging out of the printer and less often when there is, though this
does not eliminate it. Since the problem usually occurs on only the
first or second line of a document if you insert spaces in these lines
and begin printing just slightly further down the page, the problem is
(usually) eliminated. Some programs do it more than others, also.
MacWrite is the WORST offender. However it also happens with a wide
variety of programs, although sporadically with some and intermittently
with others. It's not reason enough to boycott the printer but it sure
is annoying. Other fixes for this problem have to do with resetting all
the dip switches which control paper movement and finding the
combination which works best for you. Although this method is claimed to
be a sure cure, it's such a headache that most are unwilling to attempt
it. (I am one of those.) It requires setting a switch, printing the
document, setting another switch, printing the document, resetting a
switch, printing the document, etc., etc., etc. Eventually one will meet
with success. But at what price?

And now we have to contend with the LQ which requires a font 3 times the
size of the one you wish to print and also requires everyone to fix
their software to run with it. At this time, very few programs know how
to work with it and of those that do, several are vaporware! Look
forward to more fun and games in the dot matrix printer department from
Apple next year.

OK youse guys. Why doncha jump in and set this lady straight...

Neil.

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From: JIMH
Subject: RE: FullWrite Professional grievance (Re: Msg 23292)
Date: 6-NOV-00:29: User Supported Software

speaking of word processor bugs has anyone else had problems with
microsoft word 3.01 addressing memory beyond one meg?  We have a large
doc in word that wont print evan on a eight meg mac II with or without
multifinder.  Even when i assign work 6 megs of space under multifinder
the about finder dialog shows word runing out of memory when its only
using 1 meg of it.  I been MicroSofted i am afraid!  best jim

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End of Delphi Mac Digest
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