Executor 2.0/executorv2.0.iso/pc/dos/extra/docs/maillist/text/archive.92/text0023.txt

Text File | 1996-03-31 | 29.8 KB | 662 lines

   Having just doinged this mailing list and not knowing if any of this has
   been hashed over in the list's past (short) life, what other Mac stuff
   have people got working via twiddlings of .execonfig files?  Although I know
   that it would be much too much to hope for, I'd love to see if I could get
   Pagemaker 4.0 to work. Unfortunately, because I need to split the puppy into
   chunks (the executable file is > 1.5meg), and hence use Stuffit to reassemble
   it, I get stuck because Stuffit bombs. Perhaps I should binhex it into a huge
   file on the mac, chop it into parts, reassemble it in Word, and then try
   to unBinHex it? Hmmmm...

Hey, how's about MacCompress? It can handle Unix Compressed files.

   Anyway, I'd just be interested to hear what else people have gotten to work
   so far..

Me too.

   ...

   matt

-harri-

From [e-mail]  Thu Feb 20 08:56:37 1992
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Date: Thu, 20 Feb 92 10:55:39 CST
From: [e-mail] (Tad Kellogg)
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Does macintax or any mac tax program work with executor?
Thanks,
Tad
e-mail: [e-mail]

From @pucc.Princeton.EDU:[e-mail]  Mon Feb 24 13:26:21 1992
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Date:         Mon, 24 Feb 92 16:14:24 EST
From: John Troxell <[e-mail]>
Subject:      A partial list of games that work and don't work
To: [e-mail]


Hi,

     Recent posts have inquired about software people have run with
Executor-MSW.  For kicks, I have tried grabbing some games off mac archives.
Below I list some of the games I have tried so far.  I want to thank
Mat Hostetter, Harri Valkama and Cliff Matthews for their help in getting
me started.  Even though I purchased a copy of Executor because I was
curious, I have almost never used a real mac.  So I was really a novice.

     First thing I found was that the mac programs that unpack .sit and
.cpt files don't seem to run on Executor-MSW, and I don't have a mac
handy on which to run the uncompression.  But I read a FAQ from one
of the mac newsgroups that got me straightened out.  Anyway, I include
the following paragraph for completeness even though I realize most of
you reading this list must already be mac and NeXT gurus.

     The solution that worked for me (standalone NeXT dialing in via
kermit to a Sun connected to internet) is as follows.
1)  ftp to rascal.ics.utexas.edu, and download macunpack_1.1 and mcvert_1.65.
    They are in a unix utilities for mac directory (I forget the exact name
    of the directory).
2)  on the NeXT, unshar (macunpack only?) and compile macunpack and mcvert.
3)  To get a game into Executor,
    a)  in a NeXT Terminal shell, mcvert filename.hqx
    b)  if the filename contains .sit or .pit or .cpt, macunpack -v filename
    c)  drag the resulting .bin files into the ExecutorVolume directory
        of your choice ("games" for me)
    d)  launch Executor and run BinHex (in the "other" directory) to
        "download" the .bin files you dragged in
    e)  quit BinHex, launch Executor again
    f)  if the result is a .SEA, double-click & it will try to self-extract
    g)  after (e) and if necessary (f) you are ready to play the game

     I notice that if the game has a sound option, you should always set
it to off or at most system beeps only.  Otherwise, as soon as the game tries
to make sounds, it will crash.  I suspect that a lot of the games crash when
launched because they try to make sounds.

     I have not tried fooling with the Executor configuration for any of
these games.  Perhaps that would help with a lot of them.

     Sumex-aim.stanford.edu has found a virus and stopped permitting
downloading some time last week.  I got all these files before then (gulp).
But it is probably cleared up by now and I'm not about to try downloading
them all again anyway.

Some files from mac.archive.umich.edu:

AirTrafficController 1.0               ***OK***
canfield4.0.sit.hqx                    opens but flaky
card99.sit.hqx                         opens but flaky
chinesepuzzle.sit.hqx                  never is recognized as an exe
ducks.hqx (Sitting Duck)               **REALLY PAINFULLY slow
euchre1.1.sit.hqx (Euchre 1.1)         **launches but doesn't recognize clicks
golf.sit.hqx (Golf 2.0)                logs me out!
guess.hqx (MasterGuess)                ***OK***
hoylespoker.sit.hqx                    flaky or crashes
jack.hqx                               flaky or chashes
klondike.sit.hqx                       flaky or crashes
lunar.lander.hqx                       launches but runs out of control
maccribbage0.81.sit.hqx (MacCribbage)  ***OK***
megaroids.hqx                          crashes
missile3.0.hqx (Missile 3.0)           ***OK***
seahaven.sit.hqx (Seahaven Towers)     requires Color QuickDraw
solarian1.04.sea.hqx (Solarian II)     requires Color QuickDraw
spacedodge1.1.hqx (Space Dodge v1.1)   **runs sort of OK

Some files from sumex-aim.stanford.edu:

3d-tic-tac-toe.hqx (3D Tic-Tac-Toe 1.0.3)   crashes
? (Action-Strategy Baseball 1.1)       crashes
action-strat-baseball-11.hqx (Action-Strategy Baseball)   crashes
adventure-11.hqx (Adventure)           crashes
armor-12.hqx (Armor 1.2)               corrupted
assault-20.hqx (assault 2.0)           launches but is flaky
ataxx-102.hqx  (Ataxx   )              ***OK***
battle-zone-12.hqx (macBzone 1.2)      requires 68020 or higher, 6.0.7 or
                                       higher and an FPU
bikaka-12.hqx (Bikaka 1.2)             flaky
black-box-103.hqx (Black Box 1.0.3)    crashes
blockade-091.hqx (blockade 0.91)       ***OK***
bombs-22.hqx (Bombs 2.2)               ***OK***
bread-and-circuses.hqx (Bread&Circuses-9)    Error 35 at 00018
catch-the-buzz-101.hqx (CTB 1.01)      ***OK***
chello-11.hqx                          disk-doubler error when self-extracting
classic-tennis.hqx (Classic Tennis)    did not macunpack the cpt.bin OK
core-11.hqx                            too humongous /too many - I left alone
core-wars-simulator.hqx                too humongous /too many - I left alone
covert-action-11.hqx (Covert Action)   crashed
crab-attack-ii.hqx (CRAB ATTACK II)    needs 1 Meg to run
crush-10.hqx                           doesn't debinhex into exe
crystal-cave-22.hqx                    flaky, crashes
cthulhu-monsters.hqx (CthulhuCard 1.0)  crashed while self-extracting
diamonds-15.hqx (Diamonds)             requires Color Quickdraw
dice-master.hqx (Dice Master)          ***OK***
flip-disks.hqx (Flip - discs)          ***OK*** (a very inferior reversi)
funhouse.hqx (Fun House)               (requires a system file)
galaxis-101.hqx (Galaxis 1.01)         crashes
game-master.hqx (GameMaster)           crashes (lots of games in a folder)
genesis-10.hqx (Genesis)               ***OK*** (an evolution game/simulation)
glider-311.hqx (Glider+3.1.1)          starts then hangs or crashes
hangman-plus-20.hqx (HangMan Plus)     requires MacPlus or later computer
                                       running 6.0.4 or later
hex-11.hqx (Hex 1.1)                   crashes when self-extracting
knight-edit-15.hqx (Knight Edit v1.5)  crashes when clicked on
kongbots.hqx (Kongbots 1.0)            crashes
light-cycle-duel-121.hqx (LightCycle Duel 1.21)  crashes
mac-chase-217.hqx                      macunpack says it is corrupted
mac-qubic-22.hqx (MacQubic 2.2)        ***OK*** (3D tic-tac-toe)
math-attack.hqx (MathAttack)           it is a "stack" I guess for hypercard
movod.hqx (MovoD)                      hangs
oids-paranoid-galaxy.hqx
phraze-craze.hqx (PhrazeCrazePlus)     ***OK***
                                       While self-extracting, a file error
                                       occurred.  Couldn't find New York info.
                                       This was interesting - it tried to
                                       create a folder - I then recycled the
                                       folder in NeXTstep, created one with
                                       the same name using HFSXfer, then
                                       re-ran the self extraction, and then
                                       the self-extraction worked!
pinochle.hqx (Pinochle 1.0)            crashes
polyominoes.hqx                        macunpack reported bus error
praxis-15.hqx (Praxis 1.5)             **interesting but flaky
quayle-tetris.hqx (Quayle's Tetris)    crashes while self extracting
reversi-mac.hqx (ReversiMac)           ***OK*** (a much better reversi)
                                       not as good as NeXT ReversiSend
robo-sport-arena-1.hqx
robo-sport-arena-2.hqx
robo-sport-arena-3.hqx
robo-sport-arena-4.hqx
robo-sport-arenas.hqx
roboids-ii.hqx (Roboids II)            requires 16 colors
roboids.hqx (Roboids)                  crashes
robowar-212.hqx (RoboWar)              ***OK***
save-the-farm-bw-22.hqx (Save The Farm 2.2) ***OK***
slime-invaders-10.hqx (Slime Invaders 1.0)  **runs but flaky

Anyone wants to add to this list, be my guest!

John Troxell

From iclone![e-mail]  Sun Mar  1 18:59:52 1992
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From: iclone![e-mail] (Clifford T. Matthews)
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Subject: State of the Executor Address: 3/1/92

Dear Folks,

    Executor-MSW V1.1 has been shipped to everyone (with the
exception of an overseas order of 20 which will be going out Monday)
that has previously purchased Executor-MSW V1.0.  [you may want to
check out Jiro Nakamura's review in comp.sys.next.announce].  The big
addition to V1.1 is printing.  However, in V1.1, bitmap fonts are
used on the screen and even though the Adobe fonts are used when
printing, the bitmap "metrics" are still being used so text that is
"right justified" doesn't line up correctly.  This will be fixed in
V1.2 which you will also get for free.

    The sad news is that Executor-MSW has been short-changing our
friends across the puddle because it has not properly handled
diacritical marks.  The good news is that we have fixed the problem.
The sad news is that the fix came after 1.1 was released.  The good
news is there's a new release, V1.1.1, which is what will be shipped
to anyone that purchases Executor-MSW from this point on.  If you
need diacritical support (nothing else has been changed), then we're
willing to send you a copy of V1.1.1 for free.  Please don't ask
unless you really need it.  The fix will be in V1.2 and you'll get
that automatically just like you got (or will get shortly) V1.1.

    We still haven't made much progress listing what runs and
doesn't run, since we've been working without sleep to get V1.1 and
more importantly V1.2 out the door.  V1.1 doesn't help other
applications run, however by the time V1.2 comes out I want the
commonly used file utilities to work correctly (notably stuffit and
compactorpro) as well as a couple of small programs that people have
been asking for:  "Quicken" and "MacInTax".

    I believe we can use unmvax.cs.unm.edu for ftp'able material.
I've sent a letter to the appropriate authorities to make clarify
that, but unless they say no, I'll put a few things out there for
general consumption:

setcreatortype.c        discussed below

Documentation/Executor-MSW    the current manuals for people who
                haven't yet purchased Executor-MSW
                to peruse

ReleaseNotes1.1.rtf        the 1.1 release notes for
                non-purchasers

    Work on Excel support is going well, a major breakthrough was
made this weekend and we hope to be shipping copies to beta-testers
within a couple of weeks.

    --Cliff

FOR POWER USERS/PROGRAMMERS ONLY:

    There has been some confusion about "Apple Double" format and
"resource forks".  The problem is that there are programs like
FloppyWorks and kermit that will cheerfully copy the "resource fork"
of a Macintosh file if you ask for it, but then when you prepend a
"%" to the fork and try to use it with Executor, you don't get
anywhere.  This is because the files that Executor (and HFS_XFer)
use/create that begin with "%" actually contain more than just the
resource fork.  They contain other information that's needed as well.
Still, there are some reasons why you may find yourself with a
resource fork and want to turn it into something that Executor can
use, so I wrote a quick hack of a program, called "setcreatortype"
that will allow you to do just that.  The file "type" and "creator"
are two important things that get thrown away when you use a program
like FloppyWorks to copy data between a Mac and a UNIX system.  An
example use of "setcreatortype" is:

% setcreatortype "PNC1" "APPL" < Norton_Util > %Norton_Util

That is the command that I used to check to make sure that
setcreatortype works (I don't have any need for it, because I use
HFS_XFer to push my stuff across).  The first argument, "PNC1", is
what's known in the Macintosh community as the file "creator"; it is
a special tag that identifies programs and data files written by
programs.  I found out the proper creator for Norton Utilities by
using the "ResEdit" program.  The second argument, "APPL", tells what
type of data is in the file that we're using.  "APPL" stands for
application.  Another common type is "TEXT".  If you know what all
these are then you may want to pick up the setcreatortype program
from unmvax.cs.unm.edu (I can mail it to you if you don't have ftp
access).  It is a real hack of a program but some of you have been
clamoring for it.

From iclone![e-mail]  Tue Mar  3 19:52:16 1992
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Date: Tue, 3 Mar 92 19:02:04 MST
From: iclone![e-mail] (Clifford T. Matthews)
Message-Id: <9203040202.AA00490@ iclone >
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To: ictv.com![e-mail]
Subject: need alpha/beta testers for Excel

Dear Folks,

We need people with the following qualifications to test Executor
with Microsoft Excel:

    o Current owner of Executor-MSW

    o Current owner of Excel 3.0 or 3.0a (You'll need to get 3.0a
      to do the testing, but it's a free upgrade from Microsoft)

    o Must be a real Excel user

    o Must have the time to really test our product and send us
      feedback

If you're approved, we'll send you a copy of Executor that runs Excel
3.0a with a few known bugs (none of them debilitating).  While we fix
the known bugs you'll need to look for bugs that we've overlooked.
There's a lot of stuff in Excel 3.0, so we really need your help.
Previous beta testers will get priority and we'll probably only admit
a dozen people.  We hope to have Excel support bug-free and shipping
within a month.  At that time, current Executor-MSW owners will have
the option of adding Excel support for an additional $70 and new
purchasers will have the choice of three configuations of Executor:

    Just Word:    $80
    Just Excel:    $80
    Both:        $150

The next program we'll be qualifying probably won't be a Microsoft
product (it will probably be a Claris product), so we hope to have
better turnaround time than we did with Excel.

Thanks

    --Cliff

From [e-mail]  Tue Mar  3 20:30:56 1992
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Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1992 05:29:59 +0100
From: Edmund Ronald <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail], [e-mail]
Subject: Re:  need alpha/beta testers for Excel

sorry, I don't qualify: Not an Excel user. When it's debugged, then
it'll make sense for me to llok it over for glaring internationalization
problems.

Edmund.

From @pucc.Princeton.EDU:[e-mail]  Wed Mar  4 08:09:10 1992
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Date:         Wed, 04 Mar 92 11:00:21 EST
From: John Troxell <[e-mail]>
Subject:      Copying from ExecutorVolume to floppy
To: [e-mail]


Does anyone know how to copy files from ExecutorVolume to a macintosh-
formatted 1.44 meg floppy diskette using the NeXTstation floppy drive?
>From what I can tell, HFSXfer only copies files from a mac diskette to
ExecutorVolume, not the other way around.

A related subject:  what is the best way to transfer mac executables
via floppy between two standalone NeXTs running Executor?

                John Troxell

From iclone![e-mail]  Wed Mar  4 10:03:37 1992
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From: iclone![e-mail] (Clifford T. Matthews)
Message-Id: <9203041755.AA01118@ iclone >
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Subject: MacMoney + V1.2 rumors

Dear Folks,

    Great news.  On the advise of one JPB, we called Surviver
Software and explained what we're doing and grovelled for a free copy
of MacMoney.  The nice woman I talked to said she'd do it (although
she hadn't heard of us and does want us to send her some
"literature").  The immediate news is that we will most likely have
support for MacMoney out in V1.2 and since MacMoney isn't a big
ticket app (unlike Excel), the support will come for free.  The
secondary news is that if we can get other companies to supply us
with software we may be able to get some of the other easier to
support apps out the door earlier than we expected.

    V1.2 will probably support:

    Quicken
    MacMoney
    Stuffit
    Compactor Pro
        and maybe
    MacInTax (please don't delay your filing on our account; this
          is the lowest priority of the list because V1.2
          will be coming out so close to April 15)

            --Cliff

From [e-mail]  Wed Mar  4 14:50:13 1992
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From: Jeffrey R Fields <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: iclone![e-mail], ictv.com![e-mail]
Subject: Re: MacMoney + V1.2 rumors

There seems to be a need for Mac software on the part of the folks producing
Executor. I am a longtime Mac user with a BIG software collection who
just bought a NeXT and wants Executor to succeed. I am also a student with
low cash reserves.
Seems to me that a deal could be made here. I could provide some Mac software
to Executor, and be a beta tester, in exchange for a break on Executor's price.
Is this plausible? Let me know....and...GOOD LUCK!

Jeff Fields
[e-mail]

From iclone![e-mail]  Fri Mar  6 12:01:48 1992
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From: iclone![e-mail] (Clifford T. Matthews)
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Subject: V1.2 filesystem goodies

Dear Folks,

People have been asking me about what's going to be in V1.2, other than
complete printing support and Word 5.0 support.  The other major
difference will be the filesystem.  It's not totally clear what will be
in V1.2 and what will have to wait, but here's what things look like now.


V1.2 may have the ability to read and write directly to hard disks.  I'm
putting in the code to do that, although there are a couple of questions
I need the answer to before I can be sure that it will be done on time.
I was hoping to have most of the cool filesystem stuff in the Excel beta
testers copy.  With Sophy competing tomorrow I won't get to spend any
time on it then, leaving only the rest of today and Sunday to do a whole
bunch of work.  I hope to have some good filesystem stuff in for the
first round of Excel testing, but even it it doesn't all make it in by
Sunday night, I'm still ahead of schedule.

V1.2 cool file stuff (+ denotes a feature that probably won't be in the
first Excel beta testers copy, * denotes a feature that may not make it
into V1.2 (implies +) ):

    Access to the entire UNIX filesystem (i.e. no need to "dwrite")
    Support for multiple floppies
    *Support for hard disks
    +bugfixes for:
        stuffit
        compactor pro
        Apple's installer (necessary for Word5 and Excel3)
    +GatorBox support
    +NFS/share support
    *uShare support
    Access to floppies and hard disks directly from Executor and the
programs that Executor runs
    *HFS_XFer and Executor merged

The side effect of all this is that the documentation will not be done by
the time the software is, but we'll be willing to send the software
before the docs are ready if people are interested.

    --Cliff

From adobe!adobe.com![e-mail]  Sun Mar  8 20:45:45 1992
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Date: Sun, 8 Mar 92 17:32:06 PST
From: [e-mail] (Joe Pasqua)
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Apparently-To: <[e-mail]>

I tried running a copy of the Far Side Calendar and it kind of worked.
It seemed that all of the icons associated with buttons were missing and it
didn't seem to start up exactly right (displayed a black rectangle enclosing
a white rectangle for a long time). Once it was up, I could navigate through
the calendar and look at the Far Side pictures. I didn't try using the
scheduling mechanisms, but I did notice that the event dialog was also
missing some icons. It does work as a Far Side viewer however.

Joe Pasqua

From iclone![e-mail]  Sat Mar 28 15:29:48 1992
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Date: Sat, 28 Mar 92 16:25:09 MST
From: iclone![e-mail] (Clifford T. Matthews)
Message-Id: <9203282325.AA05211@ iclone >
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To: ictv.com![e-mail]
Subject: bug found in kernel mods

Dear Folks,

    One of the modifications that we're working on is the ability
to use Macintosh formatted floppies directly from Executor (rather
than having to go though HFS_XFer).  However, we ran into problems
when we began running programs directly off of floppies.  A close
inspection showed that the fast a-line dispatching kernel mods were
corrupting the user stack pointer.

    We now have a new version of "ardimods.s", which appears to
fix the bug.  This bug appears to have the side effect of sometimes
crashing Executor when Executor first starts up and when Executor has
just printed something. I have placed a copy of our new "ardimods.s"
in:

unmvax.cs.unm.edu:/usr/spool/ftp/pub/ardi/Source/ardimods.s

    I will be happy to mail it to anyone who doesn't have access
to ftp (it's only 126 lines long).  The new mods will automatically
be part of Exector-MSW V1.2 which has been delayed a bit by this bug
and some display postscript bugs we've bumped into.

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION THAT YOU DON'T NEED TO READ FOLLOWS:

    I suspect what was happening is that either the copyin or the
copyout was causing a page-fault and the page-fault handling code
expected us to have saved more state than we did; because the problem
appears to be limited to unexpected crashes of Executor (most likely
when Executor is just starting, or just after you've printed a
document), it may be as simple as the page-fault handling code
assuming that it can manipulate the user stack pointer with impunity,
since it is saved at the beginning of normal traps and restored at
the end of normal traps (our a-line dispatching code deliberately
tries to save as little state as possible, to keep a-line traps
dispatching as quickly as possible; the problem is that since we
don't have the source to mach, it's hard to tell what the minimum
amount of state to store is).

    --Cliff

From iclone![e-mail]  Tue Mar 31 10:01:02 1992
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Date: Tue, 31 Mar 92 10:55:05 MST
From: iclone![e-mail] (Clifford T. Matthews)
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Subject: I need suggestions for demo version of Executor

Dear Folks,

    If we can whip up a demo version of Executor within the next
few weeks (while doing all the other stuff that we're doing), we can
get a demo version of Executor put on a CD-ROM.  In the past I
personally have objected to demo versions of Executor, because the
primary purpose of the first version of Executor, was to run
Microsoft Word, and hence it wasn't as valuable without Word.
However, I've changed my mind and am willing to put together a gutted
version of Executor that will run a few freeware programs.  We need
to select somewhere between 3 and 5 freeware programs and then we'll
run the programs to death, keeping track of which A-line traps they
use, then make a demo version that contains support for only those
A-line traps.

    What I'd like some help with, is suggestions for programs to
be included.  The requirements are:


    1) must be freeware; not shareware

    2) must run perfectly under the version of Executor that the
demo will be made out of (if you have something that almost runs
perfectly, we can probably tweak things on this end to see that it
runs).

    3) must be fun, interesting, or a useful demo

    4) It can't require the reading or writing of auxilliary
files, or the use of printing (we could bend on this rule, but we
probably won't).

    Right now the only thing I can think of that meets these
criteria is "Risk".

    Please send responses directly to me (which is what a "reply"
will do, by default).

    Thanks.

    --Cliff

From [e-mail]  Tue Mar 31 11:23:35 1992
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Date: Tue, 31 Mar 92 12:23:08 -0700
From: Alex Dahl <[e-mail]>
Apparently-To: [e-mail]

I would like to see a demo of executor within the next two weeks
since I will soon be leaving the internet scene.  Can anyone
put together a quicky before I leave to do some real work?

Thanks,

Alex Dahl
dahla
@bones.caedm.byu.edu