PD ROM 1/PD ROM Volume I - Macintosh Software from BMUG (1988).iso/Electronic Messages/USEnet Digests/USEnet Vol. 4/USEnet 4.64

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List (Unformatted): USENET MAC DIGEST V4 #64


Usenet Mac Digest     Friday, May 20, 1988           Volume 4 : Issue 64

Today's Topics:
     What can you assume about the current port?
     Re: How do you count unused master pointers?
     Re: StartUpScreens Eats Memory!?
     Re: What can you assume about the current port? (2 messages)
     That amazing MPW C compiler.
     Re: inittab
     Fullwrite Professional Question... (2 messages)
     Re: Brief overview of FullWrite (Really solution to Word 3.01 problem)
     Re: FullWrite on shelves
     Database for Abstracts?
     Re: SoftPC Speed
     Re: Fullwrite Professional Question...
     BBS requirements
     Re: MS Excel recalculations
     Serial Port, Resources etc
     Re: MPW<->LSC object files
     Re: LightSpeed C query
     9-track tape support under A/UX
     Re: Fullwrite Professional Question...
     Re: System Tools  6.0
     Re: FullWrite on shelves
     Re: Mac Security
     Kinetics FastPath box & CAP
     MPW Fortran V1.0B3 vs. Mactran Plus v3.0
     Re: Kinetics FastPath box & CAP
     Re: Info on EMAC hard drives

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

From: [e-mail] (Edward Rothberg)
Subject: What can you assume about the current port?
Date: 10 May 88 21:07:58 GMT
Organization: Stanford University

Here's something I can't find documented anywhere.  I have an
application, and in it I assume that a certain port is the 'default'.
Whenever I change ports, I always change back to this one after I'm
done.  If I want to draw into this port, I just go ahead and do it.  My
question is: is this a safe thing to assume?  I had thought so until I
tried the alarm clock DA.  It changes the current port to it's own port,
and doesn't restore the old one.  I see three possibilities:

1) What I'm doing is totally bogus, and I should always say SetPort
before
        drawing into the port. 2) Alarm clock is broken and I shouldn't worry
about it. 3) Alarm clock is broken, and I should be conservative about
it and call
        SetPort just in case.

Which is the right answer?
--
Ed Rothberg
[e-mail]


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

From: [e-mail] (Larry Rosenstein)
Subject: Re: How do you count unused master pointers?
Date: 10 May 88 20:29:55 GMT
Organization: Advanced Technology Group, Apple Computer

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Julian Vrieslander) writes:
>
>initialization code to cover that worst case.  A more sophisticated
>approach that I have seen described in a couple of places (including Scott
>Knaster's first book) involves periodically counting the number of unused
>master pointers.  When you see them running low you call MoreMasters()
>again, making sure to do the call when it will not cause fragmentation
>(eg. from the event loop, with all segments unlocked).

I don't think you need to go to this trouble.  At the time Scott wrote
that tip, the Segment Loader did not automatically move segments to the
top of memory, so it would be possible to fragment the heap if
MoreMasters was called at a bad time.

The 128K ROM and beyond Segment Loader will automatically move unlocked
code segments to the top of memory before locking them.  (You can also
make a patch on 64K ROMs to do the same thing.)  This means that low
memory is always free of locked handles.  Provided you don't lock one of
your handles without moving it high, then it should be safe to allow the
system to call MoreMasters when you run out of master pointers.

>That sounds like a good idea, but I am not sure how to do it in a way that
>will not be broken by future changes to the master pointer format.  Inside
>Mac says that the unused master pointers are kept in a linked list, and
>the address of the first one can be found in the heap zone header.  But
>the master pointers themselves are not normal pointers - the high byte is
>used for flags, the low 3 bytes for the address.  So it seems that special

When dealing with addresses like this, you should always use the
StripAddress call to make a clean address.  This works on the Mac O/S
(with 24-bit addresses) and A/UX (32-bit).

The other question if whether master pointers will always be linked
together in the way Inside Mac describes.  I don't know how likely this
is to change, but note that Inside Mac only talks about the head of the
list.  It says nothing about how the master pointers are actually
linked.

In MacApp, we traverse the list of free master pointers for debugging
purposes (the programmer can see if memory is being allocated but never
freed).  We also make sure that code segments are locked at the top of
memory, and allow the Memory Manager to call MoreMasters when needed.


--
                 Larry Rosenstein,  Object Specialist
 Apple Computer, Inc.  20525 Mariani Ave, MS 27-AJ  Cupertino, CA 95014
            AppleLink:Rosenstein1    domain:[e-mail]
                UUCP:{sun,voder,nsc,decwrl}!apple!lsr


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

From: [e-mail] (Clay Maeckel)
Subject: Re: StartUpScreens Eats Memory!?
Date: 11 May 88 00:08:42 GMT
Organization: Claris Corporation, Mountain View CA

What Dan states is true, but is not the problem the Frankie Sierra and I
are having with the StartUpScreen.  But while we are on the topic of
BufPtr, how much longer is it going to be around?  There are hints in
either Inside Mac or the Tech Notes that is may be going away soon.  For
my init, DeskPict, I use the BufPtr trick to store the color bitmap up
high in memory but for version 2.0 I will try putting into the system
heap.  After that change the free space in the system heap would be
eaten up by the desktop picture.

Back to the StartUpScreen.  MultiFinder, for me, effectively reclaims
the space used up by the SUS because of the 150+ K of stuff that gets
loading into it with everything else that is running in my system. Under
the UniFinder I lose around 150 to 180 K of memory in the system heap if
I have SUS. I  have not had the time to track down what happens in those
early stages of booting but the memory used by the SUS code is not being
reclaimed after its use. Can anyone at Apple (or elsewhere) shed any
light on this problem? Some type of patch or fancy init should be able
to reclaim the space but I get scared of the thought of moving zone
pointers around :-).

--
 Clay Maeckel         *   UUCP: {ames,apple,portal,sun,voder}!claris!clay
 (I know nothing!)    *   Arpanet: claris![e-mail]
 Claris Corporation   *   AppleLink: Maeckel1   *   CompuServe: 73057,255


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

From: [e-mail] (Duane Williams)
Subject: Re: What can you assume about the current port?
Date: 11 May 88 04:16:28 GMT
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI


I don't know what the current Apple dogma is regarding the User
Interface Guidelines, but an early version of the Guidelines said that
"the user should feel in control of the computer."  Selecting the active
window (by clicking in it) is supposed to be the prerogative of the user
and is one of the ways of making the user "feel in control" of the
machine.

There are only a few circumstances when the current port should be
changed by the application.  The primary one, in obedience to the above
standard, is when an activate event is received, generally caused by an
explicit user action, e.g., clicking in a window or creating a new
window.  The activated window should become the current port.

Update events also require changing the current port, but such a change
should be strictly temporary (lasting the lifetime of the redraw
procedure only).

There were documented problems with some DAs changing the current port
non- temporarily; so you may have to save and restore the current port
around the opening of a DA.

Of course, we all know that Apple changes the dogma from time to time --
after which we read in press reports about how awful it is that third
party developers are not following the rules.  And we all know that
Apple has been a prime violator of its own rules (even prior to changing
them); witness the Finder, MacPaint, and HyperCard.  So, feel free to
change the current port with the phase of the moon and keep those users
guessing! :-)

Duane Williams

--
uucp: ...!seismo!cmucspt!me.ri.cmu.edu!dtw
arpa: [e-mail]


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

From: [e-mail] (David M. O'Rourke)
Subject: Re: What can you assume about the current port?
Date: 11 May 88 08:00:37 GMT
Organization: Cal Poly State University -- San Luis Obispo

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Edward
Rothberg) writes:
>
>1) What I'm doing is totally bogus, and I should always say SetPort before
>       drawing into the port.

  My training has told me this is the correct way to do it.  Since your
program might have to handle update events in any window, which is in
effect, a grafport.  The update routine you write should just set the
port anyways. So it shouldn't be a problem.  You might be drawing into a
"non-active" window in which case you should first save the port, set
the port, draw the contents, and then restore the old port.

  Also this is right out of Inside Macintosh Volume I, page 440.

  Warning:  Early versions of some desk accessories may set the current
            grafport to the accessory's port upon return from
OpenDeskAcc.
            To be safe, you should bracket your call to OpenDeskAcc with
calls
            to the QuickDraw procedures GetPort and SetPort, to save and
            restore the current port.

   Since the alarm clock is one of the oldest DA's I can think of, I
guess it comes under the catagory of "Early versions of some desk
accessories".

  Hope this helps
--
David M. O'Rourke

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
| dorourke@polyslo | Disclaimer:  All opinions in this message are mine, but  |
|                  |              if you like them they can be yours too.     |
|                  |              Besides I'm just a student so what do I     |
|                  |              know!                                       |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|    When you have to place a disclaimer in your mail you know it's a sign    |
| that there are TOO many Lawyer's.                                           |
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


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

From: [e-mail] (Larry Hutchinson)
Subject: That amazing MPW C compiler.
Date: 11 May 88 15:16:49 GMT
Organization: Tektronix Inc., Beaverton, Or.

I recently happened upon an amusing little feaure/bug of the MPW C
compiler.  In the little routine below, the compiler actually did what I
wanted and NOT what I told it to do!  The relevant code is the 'if'
statment.  You will note that if the first part of the 'if' is true then
cTop will be loaded with the undefined value in tmp. What is actually
used is the result from the (xxx*8/10) which was calculated in register
d0.  This is exactly what I intended and the code worked just fine.  The
code had been working for months and I found it only because I wanted to
change something and couldn't figure out how it worked!

Since cTop IS loaded with tmp if something is assigned to tmp before the
'if' statment, I assume that this action is the result of a conscious
decision on the part of the compiler writer.

        /*
        *       Autosize thewin in the lower portion of useable.
        *       Window top is not moved if it is in the lower 20% of
        *       useable.
        */
        void
        SetCWinPos(thewin,useable)
                WindowPtr thewin;
                Rect *useable;          /* screen space for windows */
        {

                int cTop;               /* top of the c window */
                int tmp;

                cTop= -thewin->portBits.bounds.top;

                if( (cTop < (useable->bottom*8)/10) ||
                                (cTop > (tmp= (useable->bottom-MINCMD_VSIZE))) )

                        cTop= tmp;

                MoveWindow(thewin,useable->left,cTop,0);
                SizeWindow(thewin, useable->right-useable->left,useable->bottom-
cTop,
                                -1);
        }
--
Larry Hutchinson, Tektronix, Inc. PO Box 500, MS 50-383, Beaverton, OR 97077
UUCP:   [uunet|ucbvax|decvax|ihnp4|hplabs]!tektronix!tekgvs!larryh
ARPA:   [e-mail]
CSNet:  [e-mail]


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

From: [e-mail] (Hernan'Jackie' Macapanpan)
Subject: Re: inittab
Date: 11 May 88 15:48:20 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA

In article <[e-mail]>,
[e-mail] ( Rakesh Patel) writes:
> We have a Mac II from Apple here for evaluation (sound familiar?),
> and have a slight problem. Some how, /etc/inittab got blown away.
> Could someone please mail me the original inittab?

Hello,

There's a couple things you can do right now to get the /etc/inittab
file back:

1) You can use AutoRecovery from the Sash to replace the file. The
instructions
   are in the man pages and in the Release Notes. (If you need more
help,
   send me email and I'll be glad to give you a step-by-step.)

2) You can execute this command line from the Sash:
                "cp (0,0,3)/etc/inittab /etc/inittab"
   This command line will copy the /etc/inittab  file from the
Eschatology 1
   partition.

3) Also, you could mount one of the Eschatology partitions and copy the
file
   from there. (NOTE: Mounting any Eschatology partition may have
undetermined
   effects on AutoRecovery.)

Ofcourse, life could be made a whole lot easier if someone just sent you
the file. Lemme' know by email :-) .

Hope this helps.
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Disclaimer: I works heres, buts theys don'ts knows I's cans types. :-)
        Whats I's says iss nots necessarilys whats mys employers says. :-(

Hernan 'Jackie' Macapanpan                            amdahl \
Technical Communications/A/UX Hotline             pyramid!sun - apple!jackie
Apple Computer, Inc. [phone]                   decwrl /
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


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

From: [e-mail] (Curt Stevens)
Subject: Fullwrite Professional Question...
Date: 12 May 88 16:16:32 GMT
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder

I have been a Word user for some time nd I have been playing with a
friends copy of Fullwrite to see if I want to switch. The comments on
the net lately have been very helpful, but I have noticed a problem?
which hasn't been mentioned. Perhaps it is not a problem at all. Here is
the situation. I want to write a paper which has a heading and abstract
in single column format and then switches to 2 column format directly
beneath that on the first page. It seems that the "column" option in
Fullwrite applies to the entire chapter. So I guess I need to know how
to either stop new chapters from generating page breaks, or specify
column instructions which apply to only part of the chapter. I'm hoping
that I don't have to use sidebars or heraders or something like that
because it seems counter-intuitive to have this stuff "special" to me.

No, I don't have the documentation. I've just been playing with a copy
thats on a local machine in order to decide if it's worth the switch.
The first thing I tried was this paper (I actually imported it) and I
was dissapointed in my inability to easily do this. Am I missing
something or are sidebars/headers the only solution to this? Thanks much
in advance. Respond by e-mail if you like.
--
===============================================================================
|Curt Stevens        [phone] |   /   |              E-MAIL:             |
|University of Colorado at Boulder |  o o  |              -------             |
|Computer Science Department       |   |   |arpa: [e-mail]|
|Campus Box 430                    |  \_/  |csnet:       [e-mail]|
|Boulder, Colorado 80309           |       |uucp:{ncar|nbires}!boulder!stevens|
===============================================================================


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

From: [e-mail] (Chuq Von Rospach)
Subject: Re: Fullwrite Professional Question...
Date: 12 May 88 20:04:59 GMT
Organization: Fictional Reality

If you want to mix number of columns on a single page, you have to use
sidebars. Once you start thinking in terms of sidebars, it's not
non-intuitive at all. Don't try to shove Fullwrite into a Word-oriented
paradigm, or you'll be in trouble.

Chuq Von Rospach                        [e-mail]            Delphi: CHUQ

        Robert A. Heinlein: 1907-1988. He will never truly die as long as we
                           read his words and speak his name. Rest in
Peace.


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

From: [e-mail] (Clive Steward)
Subject: Re: Brief overview of FullWrite (Really solution to Word 3.01 problem)
Date: 11 May 88 20:58:40 GMT
Organization: resident visitor

>From article <[e-mail]>, by [e-mail]:

> Customs styles, why they look adequate for my purposes, are still missing
> two features

I understand a third very substantial missing feature is inheritance --
FullWrite styles can't inherit from other styles as Word's can.

It's a part of the object-inheritance model I think very powerful and
convenient.  If Microsoft would (perhaps graphically) illustrate that
this is how their program really works, I think it would be much clearer
to everyone what Word is about, and show it to be quite easy to use.  At
least I personally find it so.

This leads to the solution to your problem, probably.

> I had a *very* bad
> experience with MS Word 3.01 the other night, where it wouldn't change the
> font according to the Style Sheet, and I am not feeling particularly
> generous towards them of late.
>
Think this one is easy.  If you have changed the font of a paragraph
over what the original style had (instead of changing the style itself),
this has priority, which is very likely the case here.  Afterwards,
alterations to the font of the style underneath (following me?)
continues  to be over-ridden by what you put on top.

The solution is to select the whole paragraph, and from Format menu,
select  Plain Text, which clears any formatting above the basic style.
If you like  keyboard shortcuts, you could instead type
clover-shift-spacebar against the selection.


Have fun -- I'd like to try FullWrite, being just as interested as
anyone else.  It does unfortunately sound a lot less powerful than Word,
so far, and the notes about bombs on large selections, etc., don't bode
well.  But maybe they'll fix it... others have done so!

Give my regards to Seattle.  And where should I consult to there, who
will pay me for my time???

Clive Steward


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

From: [e-mail] (Juri Munkki)
Subject: Re: FullWrite on shelves
Date: 11 May 88 13:57:12 GMT
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland

>       ignores them. This looks to be, also, the only way to get postscript
>       code into your documents. Hope I'm wrong on that one.

You can always use Postscipt Escape to incorporate postscipt in your
documents. This works even with programs like MacWrite and MacDraw.

>+ They've implemented something called a variable. A more generalized flavor

I think people will find a lot of uses for them. I guess the version
number or name of the document could be one. My address would make a
good variable. :-)

>- Startup is rather slow, and it brings up a copyright message every time.

I did some digging with TMON (and removed the demo text from my demo
version) and found out that FullWrite uses packed code resources. It
checks if the code is packed and unpacks every time it loads from disk.
Unfortunately it has a lot of code resources to unpack when it starts
up, so it is very slow. Fortunately it does check first if the code is
packed (I bet they use an unpacked version of FullWrite at Ann Arbor and
Aston Tate). I wrote a small FKEY that saves a code resource once that
it has been unpacked. It worked fine, but I haven't had time to do any
serious experimenting. Of course an unpacked version of FullWrite no
longer fits on a disk, but then again...who cares.

I would REALLY like to get in touch with the developers of FullWrite.
(E-Mail would be great and TeleFAX is ok...) I'd like to help them
internationalize FullWrite because we need a version with Finnish
hyphenation and probably a Finnish spelling checker too. So, if you know
how to contact them, please tell me how.
--
Juri Munkki
Helsinki University of Technology, Computing Centre
Microcomputing Support Division

Otakaari 1, Room Y250A
SF02150 Espoo, Finland

Internet:       [e-mail]
Bitnet:         [e-mail]
Telex:          125161 htkk sf
TeleFAX:        [phone]


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

From: [e-mail] (Robert G. Trevor)
Subject: Database for Abstracts?
Date: 13 May 88 00:46:06 GMT
Organization: Princeton University, NJ

I'm looking for a database program that will allow me to search through
abstracts of and/or notes (of various lengths) on academic works.
Ideally, this program would allow me to find entries by author, title,
subject, location, etc (the easy bit) as well as by ANY word in the note
or abstract field (the harder bit).  I do not want to have to develop
and religiously use an index of keywords, unless there is no other
alternative.  If I can get all that, it would also be nice if this
program could export entries to standard word processing packages, and
automatically create in-text references and bibliographies.  Of course,
you would need to be able to define your own referencing style! A
colleague would like to run such a program on an IBM-AT compatible with
WordPerfect.  I would like to run a similar program on a Macintosh with
Microsoft Word, WordPerfect or FullWrite Professional.  In case this
sounds like a difficult request, I know of one product (EndNote - for
the Mac) nearing completion that claims to be able to accomplish the
task.  Are there any for the PC or others for the Mac? Please email any
responses as I don't always read this group. If there is enough
interest, I will summarize and post the replies. Thanks.
--
Rob Trevor
MaBell: [phone]
Bitnet: 6029334@PUCC
UseNet: [e-mail]


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

From: [e-mail] (David Williams)
Subject: Re: SoftPC Speed
Date: 12 May 88 17:24:41 GMT
Organization: Hewlett Packard, Cupertino

>- WHO produces Soft-PC?
Insignia Solutions 1255 Post Street, Suite 625 San Francisco, CA 94109
Telephone:[phone]

>- WHERE can I buy it from?
Well, you can order it from them directly...other than that I don't know
Insignia Solutions Inc. Department MA Cupertino, Ca 95019-0399
       -or- For Fastest Service Phone your order toll free now!
[phone], Ext. 700

>- HOW MUCH does it cost?
$595.00  per copy
 $19.75  per copy "Handling and expedited shipping
 $39.50  per copy "Sales taxes (california addresses only)

>- WHAT kind of hardware does it need to run?
It needs a 68020 (yes, this can be an accelerator card in SE or plus)

Hope this helps............

and of course, I am in no way affiliated with Insignia Solutions, I just
think they have a neat product!

David L Williams "SoftPC, for those rare occasions when you MUST descend
into DOS hell"


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

From: [e-mail] (Curt Stevens)
Subject: Re: Fullwrite Professional Question...
Date: 13 May 88 14:28:05 GMT
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder

>   You will have to use a sidebar or start a new chapter. Learn to use sidebars


Well, now I see the real problem with using sidebars for this. The
problem is that this paper has a lot of authors and we commonly but a
footnote on the first page to indicate that the authors are listed
alphabetically. Unfortunately, footnotes in sidebars appear at the end
of the sidebar, not at the end of the page which contains it. This might
be logical for newsletters with true sidebars, but is not the way I want
a conference submission to look. Any more suggestions, or should I wait
for Word 4.0 :->.........
--
===============================================================================
|Curt Stevens        [phone] |   /   |              E-MAIL:             |
|University of Colorado at Boulder |  o o  |              -------             |
|Computer Science Department       |   |   |arpa: [e-mail]|
|Campus Box 430                    |  \_/  |csnet:       [e-mail]|
|Boulder, Colorado 80309           |       |uucp:{ncar|nbires}!boulder!stevens|
===============================================================================


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

From: [e-mail] (Fernando Borcel)
Subject: BBS requirements
Date: 13 May 88 19:00:34 GMT

To all SysOps out there:

I'm implementing a BBS for the macintosh, which will hopefully be done
by next fall.

I'm doing some research on what the SysOps expect from their BBS
software, and some questions just come to mind:

1.  What features do you consider STANDARD in a BBS? (eg transfer
protocols,
    networking capabilities, etc). 2.  What would you like to see in a
BBS? (i.e. non standard features) 3.  What do you really hate about your
BBS? 4.  Anything you want to add.

Please EMAIL me your answer!
--
Fernando Borcel
[e-mail]
or
tektronix![e-mail]


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

From: [e-mail] (Straka)
Subject: Re: MS Excel recalculations
Date: 13 May 88 18:02:11 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories - Naperville, Illinois

1) Excel has a "smart" recalc flag that tells when recalc is necessary.
2) If you click the mouse on some other cell, or start typing in a cell,
the
   recalc comes to a halt, unlike that nasty 1-2-3 program, which locks
   things up on you until IT decides that it will relinquish the
keyboard
   to you. Excel will resume the recalc where it left off (unless
something
   else has changed, and it will start from scratch again) after a few
   seconds of inactivity. 3) There is a recalc menu item that allows you
to go manual recalc.

However, Excel does have a few deficiencies in this area:

1) Saving always forces a recalc.  If it is a long one, you can probably
   interrupt it with a ^., but be careful to make sure that the original
   file is not overwritten with nothing, leaving no data file.  I don't
   think this is too much of a problem, but I tend to be VERY
conservative!
   MS support tells me that you can interrupt the recalc without wiping
out
   the file, but not to interrupt during the actual file save. 2) There
should be a visible "recalc needed" flag on the screen.  There isn't.
--
Rich Straka     ihnp4!ihlpf!straka

Advice for the day: "MSDOS - just say no."


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

From: [e-mail] (Ralph Martin)
Subject: Serial Port, Resources etc
Date: 9 May 88 08:16:26 GMT
Organization: Univ. Coll. Cardiff, Cardiff, WALES, UK.

I am posting this for a friend, please reply to him not me!
========forwarded posting========= Please reply to

Sak Wathanasin

uucp:     ...!ukc!kernel!sw JANET:  [e-mail] BITNET:
[e-mail] other:
[e-mail] phone:    [phone] snail:    Kernel
Technology Ltd, 21 Queen Street, Leeds LS1 2TW

I've been trying to get a program to work as a background task under
MultiFinder. The problem is that I cannot find out if some other program
is already using the serial port. IM Vol 4 chp 22 says "The new Serial
Driver verifies that the serial port is correctly configured and free;
if not, the result code portNotCf or portInUse is returned."

Well, as far as I can tell it does no such thing: with, e.g., kermit
already running in an MF partition, I open the serial port in my
program, and I get this:

        Open input SERD returns: 0
        Open output SERD returns: 0 innum = -6 outnum = -7
        RAMSDOpen returns: 0

        Here is a fragment of the LSC code I use:

        err=OpenDriver("\p.AIn", &innum);
        /* display err msg here */
        err=OpenDriver("\p.AOut", &outnum);
        /* display err no here */
        err=RAMSDOpen(sPortA);        /* I need to run with 64K roms */
        /* display error no */

You may say "why do you care? - just grab the port anyway".  Well, on
quitting my program I do a RAMSDClose as prescribed by Apple, and, boy,
does kermit (or whatever's using the port) get upset, and I don't blame
it either. The same thing happens to my program if you exit the other
first, of course.

Now, I dug around IM some more, and found that the PRAM contains some
info, but this is simply the default startup configuration, and is not
affected by an application opening the serial port(s). Does anyone know
how to tell if a port is already in use, and if so, how to get the
current port configuration (baud rate etc)? More important, how can I
stop some other application from stealing the port from me?

I can't believe Apple didn't think about resolving requests for a scarce
resource (I use the term in the ordinary sense) when they introduced
MultiFinder, so how is it done?

On another tack: is there a way to use ResEdit to look at resources in
ROM? I played around for a bit, but gave up in the end, and wrote a
little program to read out what I wanted. Just wondered if there was an
easier way....

Also, does anyone know what errors -4100, -4101 from the PAP driver
mean?

Thanks in advance for any help,

Sak


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

From: [e-mail] (Richard Siegel)
Subject: Re: MPW<->LSC object files
Date: 13 May 88 14:38:47 GMT
Organization: Carnegie Mellon


The next release of LightspeedC will have an object file converter that
will convert MPW .O object files for use with LightspeedC; until then,
what you can do is transport your assembler into LightspeedC's inline
assembler, and transport the C code to LightspeedC.

If you haven't got the sources, sit tight, the converter's coming
soon...
--
Rich Siegel
THINK Technologies


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

From: [e-mail] (Richard Siegel)
Subject: Re: LightSpeed C query
Date: 13 May 88 14:43:24 GMT
Organization: Carnegie Mellon


Because Desk Accessories use A4 as the base for globals, instead of A5,
the QuickDraw globals will not be initialized properly. You should not
use QuickDraw globals from a desk accessory or device driver, for this
reason.

If you need ScreenBits.bounds, the easy way to do it from a DA is to use
OpenPort to open a new Grafport; that GrafPort's portRect is equal to
screenBits.

As far as the patterns are concerned, you can use GetIndPattern() to get
these patterns from the standard system pattern list.


        -Rich
--
Rich Siegel
THINK Technologies


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

From: [e-mail] (Fred Fish)
Subject: 9-track tape support under A/UX
Date: 12 May 88 01:39:03 GMT
Organization: tbd


For various reasons, I suddenly find myself needing to acquire a 9-track
tape drive.  Is anyone working on, or know of anyone working on, a NuBus
controller and A/UX driver software for supporting a 9-track drive on a
Mac-II.  I am looking for a total software/hardware solution, at a
reasonable price (or at least as reasonable as you can get when you
start talking tape drives).  I am willing to put up with the hassle of
being a beta test site providing the price is right and support is
prompt.

-Fred ><>

--
# Fred Fish    hao!noao!mcdsun!fishpond!fnf     [phone]
# Ye Olde Fishpond, 1346 West 10th Place, Tempe, AZ 85281  USA


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

From: [e-mail] (Chuq Von Rospach)
Subject: Re: Fullwrite Professional Question...
Date: 14 May 88 18:25:45 GMT
Organization: Fictional Reality

I'm sorry. They're intuitively obvious to me, but I grew up in a family
that published a newspaper....

A sidebar is a piece of related but independent text that is attached to
an article. If you look at any magazine, you'll see instances of this.
For instance, in the article I wrote on Timesharing services for
Macintosh Horizons, there was a short sidebar in which Mike Banks took a
semi-fictional look at the future of timesharing services. Not part of
the article, but something that gave it more depth.

In many cases, these are separated from the main text by being boxed, by
the use of spot color, or by some other form.

FullWrite has taken this concept and generalized it. At any point in a
document, you can create a sidebar. This sidebar can be attached to a
given piece of text or a specific spot on the page. You can put
something in the sidebar, text, graphics, whatever.

This allows you to put together very complicated and flexible documents,
once you get the hang of it. It's a really, really neat feature.

>On the other
>hand, it appears to lack some features I use every day in Word.

Like what? I've found two: functionality is lacking in styles
(especially "Based on" styles; and paragraph formatting and text leading
is primitive.

Neither of these are major problems. You can get around them fairly
easily.

Also, it's slower than Word 3.0. Enough to be noticable, not enough to
make me think twice about switching.

If there's something else you think is missing, let me know. There's
probably a reasonable way to do the same thing.

Chuq Von Rospach                        [e-mail]            Delphi: CHUQ

        Robert A. Heinlein: 1907-1988. He will never truly die as long as we
                           read his words and speak his name. Rest in
Peace.


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

From: korn@eris (Peter "Arrgh" Korn)
Subject: Re: System Tools  6.0
Date: 14 May 88 22:50:21 GMT
Organization: What, me organized???

In <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Edgar Balagot) said:
>What has happened to the System Tools 6.0 release that Apple promised??

System Disk 6.0 is finished.  It went "Golden" last Thursday.

Wait the few days it'll take to get it out to Dealers and authorized
users groups and get it from them.  APDA should also have it within the
next few days too.

Peter
--
Peter "Arrgh" Korn
[e-mail]
{decvax,dual,hplabs,sdcsvax,ulysses}!ucbvax!korn


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

From: fisher@gazelle..UUCP (Chuck Fisher)
Subject: Re: FullWrite on shelves
Date: 14 May 88 14:18:22 GMT
Organization: ELXSI Super Computers, San Jose

When I talked to the product manager for FullWrite a couple of weeks ago
I asked him about the inability to keep lines of text or paragraphs
together on the same page.  He remarked that they had indeed been aware
of the problem and said that they would try and have a solution
implemented in the next release due this fall.

Chuck


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

From: [e-mail] (Barry Semo)
Subject: Re: Mac Security
Date: 15 May 88 19:11:18 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA

A recent posting described the merits of Hard Disk Partition.  It
claimed its security was foolproof.

MacZap will read HD-Partition files effortlessly and recover all files
within it, password or no password.  I had the pleasure of finding this
out when my hard disc crashed.  Hope this helps.
--
Barry
[e-mail]


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

From: cohen@sunybcs (Alexander Cohen)
Subject: Kinetics FastPath box & CAP
Date: 15 May 88 20:59:55 GMT
Organization: SUNY/Buffalo Computer Science



        We just got a Kinetics FastPath box here to use on our small LocalTalk
network, and we are interested in doing more than merely using TelNet.

        I would appreciate it if anyone who is using CAP (from Columbia Univ.)
AlisaTalk (I think that's the name), and K-Spool, or other applications
that connect Unix machines on the Ethernet, could contact me and tell me
how well they've worked for you.

        While I'm here, I'd like to say that I was surprised and very impressed
with the performance of the Kinetics FastPath box in conjunction with
TelNet 2.1 from the NCSA (anonymous ftp).  Although I was a little
disturbed when I discovered that you could 'put' a file onto a mac with
such important names as "DeskTop" and "System"--not even so much as an
error message before they were blown away!
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
       "Who put these fingerprints on my imagination?"   Elvis Costello

..!{ames,boulder,decvax,rutgers}!sunybcs!cohen
internet:    [e-mail]
BITNET:   [e-mail]
GEnie:    AJCOHEN                            >>>Alex Cohen<<<
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


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

From: [e-mail] (William Lipa)
Subject: MPW Fortran V1.0B3 vs. Mactran Plus v3.0
Date: 15 May 88 23:22:34 GMT

I have compared these two compilers on a Mac II in an effort to
determine which one is more usable. Originally I bought Absoft
Fortran/020, but the frequency of unexplained system errors and the
buggy nature of the code produced rendered the compiler essentially
useless.

The summary is that MacTran is harder to use and less polished in
general, but it has one extreme advantage: it works, and it works NOW. I
have been porting several extremely large programs from a VAX, and
MacTran was able to handle then with only a few minor changes (units,
etc.). MPW Fortran was unable to run them successfully (a system error
in one case, and incorrect results in the other).

MPW Fortran is a much nicer environment, however. Editing is quite
natural as is the somewhat Unix-like shell interface. Even though it is
less graphically oriented, it is much less frustrating on a day-to-day
basis than MacTran's interface, which does not adhere completely to the
Mac standard. However, the fact is that MPW Fortran is not debugged yet.

So my recommendation is to get MacTran Plus if you need a good-quality
Fortran compiler right away. However, think about making the switch to
MPW Fortran once a less buggy version comes out. It is still in beta,
after all. Avoid Absoft Fortran like the plague; it is worse than both
of them.
--
Bill Lipa
[e-mail]

PS. MacTran Plus is from DCM Data Products, [phone]. MPW Fortran is
from Language Systems Corp., [phone].


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

From: [e-mail] (Duane Williams)
Subject: Re: Kinetics FastPath box & CAP
Date: 15 May 88 23:42:52 GMT
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI

You can also configure NCSA Telnet on your Mac so that remote access
requires a password.  It's not great security, but it is better than
nothing.

Duane Williams
--
uucp: ...!seismo!cmucspt!me.ri.cmu.edu!dtw
arpa: [e-mail]


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

From: [e-mail] (John O'Malley)
Subject: Re: Info on EMAC hard drives
Date: 16 May 88 01:14:00 GMT
Organization: Personal Computing Learning Resource Center, Purdue University

I own an Everex EMAC 20 DL ("DL" for "deluxe").  It's the EMAC that sits
underneath the Mac like an Apple HD20SC.  It's relatively fast and it's
been quite reliable so far (I've had it for about a month).

>EMAC drives are very nice... Very quiet       ...

Maybe the EMACs that sit next to the Mac are quiet, but the one that
sits underneath is QUITE noisy.  Noisy enough to be distracting in any
place but an office with other fan-cooled computers or printers or in
another similar setting.  My roommates and I refer to my EMAC 20DL as my
Mac's "jet engine" ... it's almost as noisy.  Had I known how noisy it'd
be, I'd have bought the other model.

Then again, maybe there's a problem with mine.  Anyone else have the
"deluxe" EMAC 20 hard drive?
--
John O'Malley         \ Personal Computing       \ Purdue University \ (317)
mace.cc.purdue.edu!ajq \ Learning Resource Center \ Computing Center  \ 494-1787


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

End of Usenet Mac Digest
************************

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