PD ROM 1/PD ROM Volume I - Macintosh Software from BMUG (1988).iso/Electronic Messages/USEnet Digests/USEnet Vol. 4/USEnet 4.44

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From: Jeffrey Shulman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Usenet Mac Digest V4 #44
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From: Jeff Shulman <SHULMAN@SDR>
Subject: Usenet Mac Digest V4 #44
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Usenet Mac Digest     Friday, April 1, 1988          Volume 4 : Issue 44

Today's Topics:
     Re: Mac to pic/troff Conversion
     Electronic circuit design and simulation
     MPW Pascal Suggestion
     Re: CMS Pro80II/i vs. Pro102k-II/i Disks
     Re: MPW Pascal Suggestion
     Dove SCSI + CMS: do they mix?
     CE Vaccine
     Re: TI microExplorer (Mac II coprocessor) ...
     Re: Info on Concertware + 4.0
     Re: How to quit MF?(was Re: Quitting the Finder under MF)
     Additional Serial Ports for MAC II (2 messages)
     Proposal for enhancements to the Macintosh System (Repost!)
     DiskTools Plus comments
     Help List Manager
     Re: Polygon question

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

From: [e-mail] (CROWE)
Subject: Re: Mac to pic/troff Conversion
Date: 25 Mar 88 01:57:44 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories

This came across the MacGroup mailing list and I saved it.  Sounds
pretty interesting.

****************

Another way, which I've just recently started using, is a new print
driver called MDPIC from AVATAR (5606 Northumberland, Pittsburgh, PA
15217 [phone]).  This print driver actually doesn't print, it
just creates a file. But the trick is that the file is in PIC format, a
format readable by the pic preprocessor for troff on UNIX.  PIC will
draw pictures on laser printers (or tektronix terminals).  MDPIC has
it's limits, like not translatting bit mapped images, but what it does
do it does very well.  Even at $300, I recommend it.

****************


Hope this helps.
--
Donald Crowe
whuts!crowe


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

From: [e-mail] (Mikael Eriksson)
Subject: Electronic circuit design and simulation
Date: 24 Mar 88 13:38:57 GMT
Organization: University of Lulea, Sweden


  Does anybody has any experience of programs for design and simulation
of electronic (both analog and digital) circuits on macintosh. I would
like to know about such programs and how good they are.

  Other things I want the program to do is:

    - Save subcircuits.
    - It should be possible to design board layout.
    - Work on Mac II (This is a must).


 Please answer by mail, I will summarize to the net if there is
 any responce.

  -- mikael
--
Mikael Eriksson  ([e-mail])  or  ...enea!sm.luth.se!mikael
.........    From the US         ..!uunet!enea!sm.luth.se!mikael
A value is just a bit pattern and its type is whatever the
programmer wants it to be.


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

From: [e-mail] (Richard Siegel)
Subject: MPW Pascal Suggestion
Date: 25 Mar 88 04:53:23 GMT
Organization: Carnegie Mellon University


I've been experimenting with porting a moderately large (500K source,
100K code + 80K resources) application from Lightspeed Pascal to MPW
Pascal. This isn't because of any inherent faults in Lightspeed Pascal -
it's just so that I can generate a test version of my program that is
compiled for use on 68881-equipped Macs.

The port went fairly smoothly, but I was amazed at how long a typical
build took - to rebuild the whole program from scratch took about 45
minutes in MPW; this is a task that Lightspeed Pascal does in 15
minutes, including build time to write the completed application to
disk.

At any rate, I noticed that a considerable amount of compilation time is
taken sucking the source files for units in a USES clause from disk, and
the following occurred to me: Suppose, if after a successful
compilation, the compiler were to write a .Dump file to disk? The .Dump
file would contain the symbol tables (just the same as dump files
created by the $LOAD directive), but upon looking for this unit in the
future, the compiler would first look for the .Dump file, and if it's
found, use it instead of textually including the unit.

Is there anything wrong with this?

Of course, the compiler's *still* dog-slow... :-)

    -R.


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

From: [e-mail] (David Williams)
Subject: Re: CMS Pro80II/i vs. Pro102k-II/i Disks
Date: 24 Mar 88 17:38:40 GMT
Organization: Hewlett Packard, Cupertino

Well my Jasmine I90 is a nice fast drive, but there is an obnoxious
whine that periodically starts up during operation. Seems to be related
to vibration of the drive itself. I have taken to shoving wads of paper
under the connector edge (point of connection at the drive)that runs
from the drive to the SCSI stuff on the motherboard to try and shut it
up but find that it only helps for a short while.
--
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
David L. Williams   | Hewlett Packard  MS:47LR  | S/W Engineer
[e-mail]  | 19447 Pruneridge Ave      | S/W Development Tech Lab
...!hplabs!hpda!dlw | Cupertino, Ca 95014       | DCE User Interface Project
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


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

From: [e-mail] (Larry Rosenstein)
Subject: Re: MPW Pascal Suggestion
Date: 25 Mar 88 21:25:50 GMT
Organization: Advanced Technology Group, Apple Computer

The $LOAD mechanism does avoid rereading the interfaces.  If the $LOAD
file exists, it is read instead of the textual interfaces, otherwise the
text files are read and the $LOAD file is created.

The main problem with $LOAD file is that you have to use a $LOAD file in
the same context in each compilation.  The information in the $LOAD file
depends on the units it includes as well as the units preceeding it in
the USES statement.  (Some of these issue will be addressed in MPW 3.0,
and this whole mechanism will be much more automatic and streamlined.)

Using $LOAD speeds up the compilation significantly, although it still
is much slower than LSP.

--
         Larry Rosenstein,  Object Specialist
 Apple Computer, Inc.  20525 Mariani Ave, MS 32E  Cupertino, CA 95014
        AppleLink:Rosenstein1    domain:[e-mail]
        UUCP:{sun,voder,nsc,decwrl}!apple!lsr


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

From: [e-mail] (Mark Nagel)
Subject: Dove SCSI + CMS: do they mix?
Date: 25 Mar 88 22:59:17 GMT
Organization: Dept. of ICS, Univ. of Calif., Irvine

Has anyone ever successfully used Dove's SCSI upgrade for the 512e with
any CMS hard drive (specifically the SD60)?  I hooked mine up with the
terminator still connected and the drive wouldn't work (Mac worked fine,
though).  I called Dove and they were very helpful -- they told me to
clip the terminators.  Well, that didn't work.  Then they told me to
solder a jumper.  I did.  It still didn't work.  Then they tell me I
wasn't supposed to cut the terminator at all!  So, now it is being
exchanged at MacConnection (out of stock, so I now have to wait 2 *more*
weeks).  I tested the drive on a Plus and it works fine, so it must be
the SCSI port.  When I called CMS originally, they said that Dove's port
doesn't work well with their drives.  This was disturbing, since I never
heard about any such problem in any ads or anywhere else. Has anybody
used Dove's SCSI with a CMS drive?  Did I just get a bad SCSI board?
Can anyone refer me to another upgrade (that will work with my Dove 2M
memory upgrade) in case the next board doesn't work?  Please respond via
e-mail and I will summarize to the net if I get enough  responses.
Thanks in advance!

Mark D. Nagel         Department of Information and Computer Science, UC
Irvine
                      [e-mail]  (ARPA)
              {sdcsvax|ucbvax}!ucivax!nagel (UUCP)


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

From: [e-mail] (Paul Molenaar)
Subject: CE Vaccine
Date: 25 Mar 88 15:32:15 GMT
Organization: National Institute for Nuclear Physics; Netherlands

A few minutes ago I suffered a system crash, probably due to Vaccine,
the anti-viral INIT/CDEV by CE Software.

What happened:

I tried to install a DA on a system 'protected' by the Vaccine program.
The moment F/DA Mover tried to install the resources, the Vaccine
program started beeping, warning me about possible virus-intrusions.

As the cursor was set to the 'spinning watch' symbol, I couldn't
position the mousepointer accurately at the mini-OK button in the
menubar and probably clicked 'Cancel'. F/DA Mover generated an error
message and stopped. As of that moment my System file was garbled.

What have we learned from this:

1) Don't use 'Expert Mode' in Vaccine CDEV (causing all warnings to be
in small icons)

2) Disable the Vaccine before using F/DA Mover.
--
        Paul Molenaar

    "Just checking the walls"
        - Basil Fawlty -


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

From: [e-mail] (Harald Striepe)
Subject: Re: TI microExplorer (Mac II coprocessor) ...
Date: 25 Mar 88 23:58:22 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (bill luciw) writes:
>Well, our KBS Lab is ordering a microExplorer, the coprocessor for the Mac II.

>1) What impact (if any) does the alledged lack of "true" DMA have on the
>paging performance of the microExplorer?
I do not have exact figures on this, but overall performance is 50% + of
TI's Explorer II; contributors to this differential are reduced clock
speed of the CPU to reduce power consumption, different memory
organization (cache), and disk performance. However, it is nice to have
a single file system rather than dealing with multiple partitions.

>2) Is TI's implementation of RPC available to other applications (such as those
>developed under MPW)?
Texas Instruments is publishing the RPC spec.

>3) How well integrated is the microExplorer into the rest of the Mac
>environment - (cut, copy, paste, print on an AppleTalk printer) ?
The microExplorer uses the Apple peripheral devices. Although the user
interface integration is not yet complete (you are running an Explorer
window system in one or more Macintosh windows under MultiFinder), TI is
working agressively on deeper integration.

>4) Can you install the "load bands" on third party disks (SuperMac 150) or do
>they need to remain on the Apple hard disk (the load bands are supposed to be
>normal, finder accessible files)?
Although we have not tried this, there should be no reason why this
should not work (a Macintosh volume is a Macintosh volume).

>5) How much of a hassle is it to port applications over to the little beastie
>from a normal Explorer (what about ART, KEE, SIMKIT, etc.)?
Some vendors have installed their application in less than a day.
Inference, IntelliCorp and Carnegie Group all announced support of the
microExplorer.

>6) Do any benchmarks (ala Gabriel) exist for this machine?
You might want to contact TI, they ran a whole suite. Unfortunately, I
do not have the details.

>7) How about ToolBox access from the Lisp Environment? (or am I dreaming?)
Not available in the first release, but a kit is planned. Since RPC is
public, you would have to "roll your own" in the meantime. Another
approach would be to use Coral's Allegro CL on the Macintosh side,
implement the RPC, and...

>Thankyou in advance for all your comments and I will post our experiences
>(good or bad, of course) as they develop ...
Although the microExplorer is supported by TI, we all would be
interested in hearing about your experiences, and definitely would be
willing to help you reach the right people, should you run into
unforeseen problems in getting help.

--
Harald Striepe
Business Development Manager, Artificial Intelligence
Apple Computer, Inc.
email: [e-mail]       AppleLink: STRIEPE2


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

From: [e-mail] (SIEMON)
Subject: Re: Info on Concertware + 4.0
Date: 25 Mar 88 21:17:50 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Jeff A. Hallett) writes:  [questions on ConcertWare]
>
>   1.  I am primarily interested in being able to enter music and have the
> program play it back.  Does it do this?

    Yes; entering is a bit kludgy (in several variant modes) but entirely
    doable (if you can read a line of music -- i.e., you don't need to
    be able to handle scoring/transposition yourself)
>
>   2.  Is there someway I can have it play a specific line?  Suppose I have
> some SATB piece entered.  Is there someway I could have it play tenor only?
> (even if I have to enter it a certain way...)

    Yes; in the non-MIDI version it plays any combination of up to 4 lines;
    the MIDI version allows 8 (which may or may not sound depending on your
    MIDI output device).  You set tempo, volume and voices from the main
    window.  They have an "instrument library" purporting to mimic various
    standard instruments -- and you can modify their attempts (that's fun).
>
>   3.  If I got the plain version, no MIDI, what would be involved in
> upgrading to the MIDI version?  What hardware do you need to take
> advantage of the MIDI capabilities?
>
    I'm not sure what the upgrade possibilities are [anyone else?]; it
makes sense to get the full +MIDI package to begin with (try one of the
mail order houses).  Even an el cheapo ($200 mail order) CZ-101 has MUCH
better sound quality than you can get out of your MAC (& I'm talking MAC
II, here). Besides a synthesizer, you need a MIDI interface.  It plugs
into one of your serial ports and is then cabled to the synthesizer.
There are several MIDI interface boxes on the market, including a new
one from Apple which runs about $95, I think.  Several mail order houses
carry the Passport interface for about this same amount (& it comes with
MIDI cables, which you'll need; I don't know if Apple's includes
cabling.)  With the MIDI version of Concert- Ware you can enter stuff
direct from a synthesizer keyboard -- at least if you are better at
playing to a metronome than I am; else you are reduced to step-time
entry; i.e. note-by-note -- it's still somewhat faster than from the
mouse/keyboard.

    Main complaint about ConcertWare: it only haphazardly follows the Mac
interface (e.g., no command-Q to exit!) and is Multifinder hostile. A
good cheap way to get reasonable play/record/print music capabilities,
without paying the arm+leg the better systems require.  Also, not copy
protected.
--
Michael Siemon
contracted to AT&T Bell Laboratories
ihnp4!mhuxu!mls
[ANSI] standard disclaimer


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

From: [e-mail] (Mahboud Zabetian)
Subject: Re: How to quit MF?(was Re: Quitting the Finder under MF)
Date: 26 Mar 88 10:03:08 GMT
Organization: Advanced Technology, Princeton University

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Phil Goldman)
writes:
>This was our thinking.  Was it unreasonable?  System software (including MF)
>is released every 6 months so it is always possible to add/change features.
>Are there other reasons for allowing MF to quit that I omitted?
>
>-Phil Goldman
>Apple Computer

How about in cases of applications(like Copy2Mac or Disk Express) that
don't always work like they are supposed to because "there are files
that are open or busy on this disk" since the finder will try to read
any disk you insert before your disk utility gets a chance to get its
hands on it.

Or if you try to change the Finder(menus, icons...) with ResEdit, with
MF, you can't.

I think that if its not too hard, then maybe you should put in the
option to quit.  I know a lot of people who would love to be able to
quit MF, add or delete fonts, or DA's without having to reboot.  You're
right Phil, it shouldn't be that big a deal to reboot, but I, like many
other people, sometimes can't do that(like when I have my harddisk
published via TOPS and there are others using my volume).  But the
emphasis is on "if its not too hard"(meaning: as long as it doesn't make
the MultiFinder file much bigger).
--
Mahboud Zabetian                [e-mail]
183 Little Hall                     [phone]
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544        [phone]
****** Anyone need a soon-to-graduate hardware/software engineer? ********


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

From: [e-mail] (Gilles Kuntz)
Subject: Additional Serial Ports for MAC II
Date: 24 Mar 88 18:08:52 GMT
Organization: IMAG, University of Grenoble, France

The two standard serial ports of MAC II are not enough to control some
devices such as videoplayers, videotapes... Thus, I am looking for a
NUBUS card having 2 or 4 additional serial ports (RS-232 or RS-422).

Do you know somebody who sells such a card, including its driver
(hardware and software)?

In France, we can find a card, made by AST Research, Inc.
Irvine,Ca.,named ICP (MILWAUKEE COMMUNICATIONS PROCESSOR), without any
software. Do you have some experience in using this card. In such a
case, could you tell me please how can I use it, or send me the
corresponding driver?

Thank you for sending me your answer via "mail."
--
Gilles KUNTZ            [e-mail]          [e-mail]
Laboratoire ARTEMIS                       {uunet.uu.netImcvax}!imag!kuntz
BP 53X
F-38041 GRENOBLE Cedex


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

From: [e-mail] (mark anderson)
Subject: Re: Additional Serial Ports for MAC II
Date: 27 Mar 88 04:45:37 GMT
Organization: Palomar Software, Inc.

I have been writing a driver for just such a board. It has four
additional standard serial ports (RS-422) and a builtin modem.  The
driver provides the standard Macintosh OS serial driver  interface to
the board. For more information contact:

    John Metzger
    Tara Systems Company
    912 Santa Hidalga
    Solana Beach, CA 92075
    [phone]

                    Mark Anderson


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

From: [e-mail] (Juri Munkki)
Subject: Proposal for enhancements to the Macintosh System (Repost!)
Date: 25 Mar 88 12:47:02 GMT
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland

This is a repost of an article I posted a few weeks ago. It appears not
to have reached some sites, so I'm crossposting to several groups this
time.

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

The following file is a proposal for an enhancement to the Macintosh OS.
Please tell me what you think about it.

Remember that this is nothing official and that it has almost nothing to
do with Apple Computer (unless they get interested, which is what I
hope).

I am not an expert on either hyphenation or spelling checkers, but since
no one else has done anything to create a standard interface, I decided
to write preliminary specification for a small addition to the system
file.

    Juri Munkki
    Helsinki University of Technology Computing Centre
    Otakaari 1, Y250A
    02150 Espoo

    [e-mail]
    [e-mail]

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


Proposal for a New Macintosh System Service

Introduction

English words tend to be short and hyphenation is not usually
necessary. Most languages are not as fortunate. The average length of
Finnish, Swedish and French words is so long that even single-column
text must often be hyphenated.

Modern word processing applications always have a spelling checker  and
automatic hyphenation. These functions are usually adequate only  as
long as the language being used is English. The Macintosh system
already provides a set of very useful routines for international
localization of applications, but there is no standard way to  localize
an application to use foreign hyphenation and proofreading.

The traditional solution has been either to rewrite part of the
application or to write a general purpose program that works on  files.
Both methods require new work to be done every time a new  version of
the word processor or desktop publishing program is  released. For this
reason, products are released internationally  months after the program
is released in the USA.

This is a proposal to add a new service to the Macintosh operating
system. The system would provide an interface between any application
and third party hyphenation modules and spelling checkers. The end- user
will not be aware of any changes in the system until he/she  copies a
special program into the system folder. The American user  could choose
between several spelling checkers and change his/her  mind later on, if
a better product becomes available.

The proposed interface goes beyond simple localization. It allows  true
multilingual word processing. A single document can combine  several
languages. Manuals and school-books are good examples of such
documents.

Implementation

The interface to the new routines could be added either to the script
manager or the international utilities package. The interface would
receive parameters from a program and pass them on to the appropriate
code resource. Every hyphenation program or spelling checker should
have a unique ID and name so that any number of them can be used
simultaneously. The application should be able to request a certain
resource or ask for the default resource.

The code that actually does the work should be written and sold by
third parties. Creating a hyphenation routine should be no harder  than
writing a new desk accessory. A single entry point receives  parameters
and returns a result to the interface program.

If a function call is not available in the program, a special error
message asks the interface to try to satisfy the request. If new
functions are added to system routines, but an old hyphenation  program
is used, the interface still returns legal results.

Special exception files and dictionaries are managed by the  hyphenation
program. The hyphenation program should come with an  application that
converts between the custom dictionary structure and  a standard text
file dictionary so that user dictionaries can be  exchanged between
programs.



Interfaces, Hyphenation:

Function LoadHyphen(doLoad: boolean; theRAM: longint;
        theProgram: progId) : OSErr;

This function tries to load a hyphenation routine into the  application
heap. If it will take more than TheRAM amount of heap  space to load the
routine, an error is returned. There should be a  suggested minimum for
"TheRam". If doLoad is FALSE, the space used by  the routines is
returned to the heap.

Function HyphWord(textStart: ptr; textLength: longint;
        wordStart: ptr; wordLength, beforeChar: longint;
        Hyphens: HyphListPtr; theProgram: progId) : OSErr;

This routine hyphenates a single word or part of the word. TextStart
specifies the beginning of readable text. TextLength is the length of
the readable text. WordStart points to the word to be hyphenated.
Wordstart should be greater than or equal to textStart. WordLength is
the length of the word to hyphenate. WordStart+wordLength should be
less than or equal to textStart+textLength. BeforeChar specifies the
last possible position for the hyphen. BeforeChar is an offset from
wordStart.

Hyphens is a pointer to an array of integers. The array should be at
least 32 integers long and the first item should contain the maximum
size of the array. Legal hyphen positions are stored in this array.  The
actual number of hyphens is returned in the first item. Following  items
are offsets of possible hyphens from the beginning of the word.

If "polyethylene" was hyphenated as "poly-ethyl-ene", the array would
look like this: { 2, 4, 10 }. The choice of adding soft hyphens or
using a custom structure for hyphens is left for the programmer.

Function HyphText(textStart: ptr; textLength: longint;
        Hyphens: HyphListPtr, var lastChar: longint;
        theProgram: progId) : OSErr;

This routine hyphenates long portions of text. The hyphens are  returned
in the array pointed by HyphListPtr. Hyphenation starts from  offset
lastChar. If more hyphens are found that can be stored in the  array,
lastChar will be less than textLength when the function  returns. The
application should then call this routine again after  processing the
hyphens.

Function HyphDialog(defaults: Handle; theProgram: progId) : OSErr;

The hyphenation program should show a dialog box and allow the user  to
change the hyphenation settings. The dialog should be similar in
purpose to the page setup dialog. The handle should contain some sort
of signature so that the hyphenation program can recognize it as its
own.

Function UseHyph(defaults: Handle; theProgram: progId) : OSErr;

The hyphenation routine tries to use the settings in defaults. The
information in defaults is always validated so that if the program
calls this routine with an empty handle, it will get the default
settings in return. These settings can then be used when the file is
opened later on.

Interfaces, Spelling Checker:

Function LoadSpell(doLoad: boolean; theRAM: longint;
        theProgram: progId) : OSErr;

This function tries to load a spelling checker routine into the
application heap. If it will take more than TheRAM amount of heap  space
to load the routine, an error should be returned. The minimum  value for
TheRAM should be sufficient to load part of the code into  memory. If
doLoad is FALSE, the space used by the routine is returned  to the heap.

Function CheckText(theText, fixes: Handle;
        theProgram: progId) : OSErr;

This routine checks the spelling of long portions of text. For every
misspelled word there is a record in the fixes handle. The record
contains the offset to the next record, the position and length of  the
error in the original text and the correct spelling. With this
information, the calling application can fix the spelling while
retaining all the formatting information of the text. This routine  will
allow the user to add and delete words from custom dictionaries.

Function CheckWord(textStart: ptr; textLength: longint;
        wordStart: ptr; wordLength: longint;
        theProgram: progId) : OSErr;

This routine checks the spelling of a word. If the word is suspected  to
be incorrectly spelled, spellError is returned. This routine  should be
fast, since it is most probably used for interactive  checking. The
calling application might beep or alert the user in  some way. Slow
spelling checkers should do nothing and return noErr.

Function FixSpelling(textStart: Ptr; textLength: longint;
    wordStart: Ptr; wordLength: longint; fix: Handle;
    theProgram: progId) : OSErr;

This routine corrects the spelling of a word. Fix will return the
correct spelling. This routine will allow the user to add and delete
words from custom dictionaries. The application should call this
routine only if the user wants assistance.

Function SpellDialog(defaults: Handle; theProgram: progId) : OSErr;

The spelling checker should show a dialog box allowing the user to  open
custom dictionaries and change settings. The handle should  contain a
signature so that the hyphenation program can recognize it  as its own.

Function UseSpell(defaults: Handle; theProgram: progId) : OSErr;

The application can store spelling settings in a file. These settings
can then be used when the file is opened later on. The handle is a  good
place to store the names of opened custom dictionaries.


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

From: [e-mail] (Henry Greenside)
Subject: DiskTools Plus comments
Date: 28 Mar 88 04:57:36 GMT
Organization: Duke University CS Dept.; Durham, NC

I recently purchased an upgrade of Battery Pack DA's to DiskTools Plus,
mainly to get a hold of the Finder replacement "DiskTools II" which has
received a lot of praise from different Mac magazines.

Unfortunately, the latest version of this DA as of 3/27/88 is
MulfiFinder incompatible, which greatly reduced its usefulness (at least
for me). The launch facility, which allows you to launch any document or
group of documents or application under the normal finder, doesn't work
at all under MultiFinder.

Other comments are that the search by date option only allows searches
before, after, or on a given date but not between two given dates, which
often leads to excessively large matches. There is a "Trash" option that
allows you to delete files, but the default (carried out by hitting
Return) is to wipe out files, a very dangerous way to do things.

The upgrades to the other DA's that come with the package (e.g., the
Calendar, Scientific Calculator, etc.) are minimal improvements over
what already existed in the BatteryPack collection.

Conclusion: if you like to transfer to different documents or
applications under MultiFinder, this DA needs at least one more upgrade
before being really useful.


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

From: [e-mail] (Brad Soe)
Subject: Help List Manager
Date: 25 Mar 88 18:48:34 GMT
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA


I am trying to use the listmanager to display a simple window in  a
dialog box using LSC v2.13. The window is a scrollable list  with a
single column. I seem to have a problem displaying non  selected (cells
not highlighted) when I start up the list manager.  Everytime I call
LActivate (during an activate event),  only the cells that have been
selected as highlighted see to show  up in the window (they show up
highlighted) and all other cells  don't appear at all. When LUpdate is
called (during an update event)  the unselected cells don't seem to be
getting updated.

When I pick a cell with the mouse, the cell clicked gets highlighted,
but the data in the cell is not displayed. Is there something that I
need to know. How can I display a list showing all the cells, with only
one cell highlighted at a time.


                    Brad Soe
                    internet : [e-mail]
                    NASA Ames Research Ctr.
                    Mail Stop 233-18
                    Moffett Field, CA 94035
                    [phone]


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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Polygon question
Date: 25 Mar 88 07:36:00 GMT


Do you really need the area of your polygon in pixels?  There is a very
efficient way to determine the area of a polygon numerically. You take
one point and use it to break the polygon into triangles. There is a
linear-algebra formula that gives the area of a triangle given two
vectors.  The area is positive if you take the vectors in clockwise
order, and the area is negative if you take them in counterclockwise
order.  I think the formula is the magnitude of the cross product ( | A
x B | / 2 = |A||B|sin(theta) / 2), but I'm extremely rusty at linear
algebra.

You just add up all the (positive/negative) areas to get the total area.

You can convince yourself that this works with a pencil and paper --
draw a polygon, pick one point, draw a line from it to every other
point.  Now start at that point and go clockwise around the polygon. For
each two vectors to points on the polygon, add the area of the resulting
triangle if the vectors are in clockwise order, or subtract the area if
they're in counter-clockwise order.  You should end up with an area that
fits exactly within your polygon.

Don Gillies {ihnp4!uiucdcs!gillies} U of Illinois
            {[e-mail]}

P.S. You take the cross product in 3 dimensions, the x and y components
are always zero, and you divide the z dimension by two to get the area
of the triangle.

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