#: 5521 S1/General Interest 25-Jul-90 01:13:05 Sb: #Meaningless Files ! Fm: Tony Cappellini 76370,2104 To: Kevin Darling Kev The first three files (on 7-24-90) in LIB 10 don't seem to have any explanation as to what they are to be used for. Most other files have at least a description. Thes files in question are readma.pak, sndmst.pak, fractl.ar. I can ALMOST gues that fractal.ar is some sort of graphics oriented program dealing with fractals. Is there some sort of requirement that a user must give a description of a file before it is uploaded. If not, should this be implemented to benefit all users ? TC There is 1 Reply. #: 5534 S1/General Interest 25-Jul-90 04:50:30 Sb: #5521-Meaningless Files ! Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: Tony Cappellini 76370,2104 I hadn't noticed those, Tony. The uploader can always go back and add a description using the CHAnge command... or I suppose someone here could. Sndmst.pak could be that SoundMaster someone is talking about. I'll go look. thx - kev #: 5522 S7/Telecommunications 25-Jul-90 04:02:40 Sb: #5316-#WIZ Query Fm: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 To: Ches Looney 73016,1336 (X) Well, Don actually became involved after the mirrors were ground. Re the 1100 drivers: have you disassembled the machine far enuf to see if the C: ROM is replaceable? I wonder if we can drop in the BP150 ROM? There is 1 Reply. #: 5555 S7/Telecommunications 25-Jul-90 19:15:51 Sb: #5522-WIZ Query Fm: Ches Looney 73016,1336 To: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 I'm told the C: drive is an EEROM, but the drivers are on the floppy. The story gets more complex, though. I bought Q&A Write after seeing a comment on CIS praising its capabilities, and it has no difficulty driving the Epson DMP (or the LaserJet) with the same drivers that TEXT doesn't work well with. So.o.o. I now suspect that TEXT is the problem - and that is on the C: drive. What is a BP150 ROM? Different topic - I'm using PROCOM with the GSFC business main frame to use a characteristic known as a dedicated printer with the VT100 emulation. The VT100 emulation works as a full-screen monitor with Escape code cursor addressing, but when a special main frame printer program is initiated, long data sets come in "behind" the monitor in a "dedicated printer" mode. I don't understand the details of what I'm saying, but in your VT52 emulation, did you know about a dedicated printer and provide for it?? Ches. #: 5523 S7/Telecommunications 25-Jul-90 04:04:50 Sb: #5317-#WIZ Query Fm: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 To: Ches Looney 73016,1336 (X) Yes, do you want to got together? (to Atlanta) I was not aware of the date. Do you have more details? BTW Ted Paul is apparently folding up his clipboard tent. There is 1 Reply. #: 5556 S7/Telecommunications 25-Jul-90 19:18:21 Sb: #5523-WIZ Query Fm: Ches Looney 73016,1336 To: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 Ruth and I are currently planning to take the train if we can work out schedule conflicts. Read message 20839 for Dave Myers deal and 'Fest description. I called Dave and got in on the "first 125" deal. The dates are October 6,7. #: 5524 S15/Hot Topics 25-Jul-90 04:11:34 Sb: #5052-Is Basic out of date? Fm: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 To: Mike Knudsen 72467,1111 Gosh Mike, basic09 has totally anarchic type checking, not faschist! Global variables are a cinch. Object interfaces are a piece of cake! (especially as compared to C). Now that the "new" basics are in wide use in the Mac & PC, I would think that these old biases against structured Basics would be dieing out. Just my 2 cents! :) #: 5529 S15/Hot Topics 25-Jul-90 04:30:02 Sb: #5209-#Is Basic out of date? Fm: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 To: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 (X) I *will* say that basic09 *NEEDS* an update. Inclusion of INKEY and SYSCALL at minimum. Microware *will* be taken to task in the MOTD for this, the high price, and not distributing RUNB with the OS. There is 1 Reply. #: 5535 S15/Hot Topics 25-Jul-90 04:54:21 Sb: #5529-#Is Basic out of date? Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 You know what I'd like to see in Basic09? Auto-RUN of any unknown name. For example: CLS Would automatically be executed as a RUN "cls" command. Dunno how to do this with functions, tho. ( A = max(C,D) for example). Just an idea. There is 1 Reply. #: 5588 S15/Hot Topics 26-Jul-90 17:44:14 Sb: #5535-#Is Basic out of date? Fm: Jim Williams 72157,3524 To: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 (X) On the Amiga, if you run from Workbench (the GUI), you can assign a program to a tool... for example, if you click on an icon that belongs to a picture, you can have it automatically call up Deluxe Paint, or a picture-viewer, and pass it whatever parameters are needful (usually automatic). For example, an AmigaBASIC program with an icon would automatically startup AmigaBASIC and run the program. I'm not singing the praises of the Amiga, just pointing out that that kind of thing will be possible (even likely) in your GUI, since you know the Amiga. Dunno how you could do that from the shell, tho. Hmm.. --Eet-- Director of Mayhem Extra Terrestrial Imports, Ltd. There is 1 Reply. #: 5591 S15/Hot Topics 26-Jul-90 18:46:02 Sb: #5588-Is Basic out of date? Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: Jim Williams 72157,3524 (X) Aye, the coco's gshell (gfx shell) does the same, tho with slightly different file methods. On the Amiga, you use a xxx.info file for each program; the coco took after the IBM PIF file idea and uses generic "aif.xxx" files, where the xxx is an extension. So a program with the name, say, "picture.gif" would use the icon named in "aif.gif", and be passed as a parameter to the program named in aif.gif. The aif file is editable english... the icons are kept in one main directory. Some kind of combo deal would be nice. #: 5530 S15/Hot Topics 25-Jul-90 04:33:32 Sb: #4997-#Is Basic out of date? Fm: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 To: Paul K. Ward 73477,2004 (X) I the MM/1 appears at the same speed as your MOTD material, the 6800000 will be out first. (am I getting nasty in my old age?) There is 1 Reply. #: 5559 S15/Hot Topics 25-Jul-90 19:52:35 Sb: #5530-Is Basic out of date? Fm: Paul K. Ward 73477,2004 To: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 OUCH! Actually, the speed with which the MM/1 material gets to you is INVERSELY proportional to the speed with which the MM/1 gets out. We're working over overtime! However, wrists are appropriately slapped! I'll get on it tonight. Paual Paul, that is. #: 5527 S15/Hot Topics 25-Jul-90 04:19:23 Sb: #5400-Is Basic out of date? Fm: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 To: Mike Knudsen 72467,1111 Basic09 don't have a VARPTR. (It does have (ADDR(var)). I haven't used a poke or a peek in years. The main problems I see with C is the proliferation of libraries, lack of (often) useable interfaces to drivers, and low maintainability factors. #: 5526 S15/Hot Topics 25-Jul-90 04:14:26 Sb: #5078-Is Basic out of date? Fm: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 To: Jim Williams 72157,3524 (X) You may want to read the book "The New Basics". B09 is not new, but it falls into that mold. #: 5528 S15/Hot Topics 25-Jul-90 04:24:08 Sb: #5236-#Is Basic out of date? Fm: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 To: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 (X) Kev... on Basic09. Don't forget its size efficency. Remember that once you pay for the RUNB overhead, lots can be added with just a little code. Everytime I add anything to C I seem to have to pay 3k! There is 1 Reply. #: 5544 S15/Hot Topics 25-Jul-90 15:05:38 Sb: #5528-#Is Basic out of date? Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 Bill - Not so.... same concept as Basic09, only less so. You pay once for the initialization and startup code, and then once for each function you use. Only ROF's that include called functions are linked in, not the whole library (equivalent to Basic09's requirement for the 12K life support system). Pete There is 1 Reply. #: 5596 S15/Hot Topics 27-Jul-90 01:19:06 Sb: #5544-#Is Basic out of date? Fm: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X) Guess I better and my comments to the Basic vrs C debate, especially since I have resisted using C for quite a while. First, the only time I recall using PEEK/POKE in Basic09 programs was to do something like changing a string to uppercase. My experiments showed the PEEK/POKE method to be much faster than anything else I could come up with. My biggest complaints with Basic09 are: 1. The primitive editor used. When doing something serious I always used my own editor in another window, saved the source and then loaded into Basic workspace. Seems to a waste of time somewhere here. 2. The fact that all "functions" are loaded as separate modules. All those little modules kicking around always bothers me. Yes, Bill, I know the advantage of being able to create large programs this way. But having essentially a seperate program for something like "toupper" just doesn't sit right with me. But C ain't perfect either. What I do like about C is the large number of functions already written (and debugged?), its portability, flexibility and speed. But its tersness (extolled by some) really makes the learning curve much longer than it should be. And getting a real handle on pointers is akin to solving the Gordian Knot. Dispite these problems I am now using C for most of my programming. I am even avoiding assembler (which I really prefer) now that I C the light! There are 2 Replies. #: 5609 S15/Hot Topics 27-Jul-90 09:40:56 Sb: #5596-Is Basic out of date? Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 Yes, brother Bob, it's always good to hear from a newly saved soul (grin)! Pointers are a but indigestible at first, but make rampant sense once you get the hang of them. Candidly, I never have used anything with more than two layers of indirection (i.e. char **woof), but some folks] revel in that stuff. I'm taking a languages course at the moment, and we have to write 3 projects in 3 languages in 10 weeks. So far the cut has been project 1 was Pascal (Cobol, Fortran, and Algol68 were the other options). #2 was either Prolog or Lisp (I chose Prolog), and #3 is Smalltalk, ADA, or C++ (with emphasis on the object orientation). The point of all this is that I now _really appreciate_ C's terseness. It may steepen the initial ramp, but is a blessing thereafter, brother Bob! I neither like or dislike b09... it's just been too long since I have used it. I recall that as Basics went, it was pretty slick. Major drawbacks are the availabilty of reusable code (i.e. linkable libraries), requirement for life support (Runb), and non-portability. Pete #: 5612 S15/Hot Topics 27-Jul-90 10:41:46 Sb: #5596-Is Basic out of date? Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 I don't like a lot of little modules around either... just cuz an mdir looks messy . What OS9 needs is what OS9000 has: the in-memory module directories. #: 5539 S15/Hot Topics 25-Jul-90 06:11:33 Sb: #5510-#Is Basic out of date? Fm: Mark Griffith 76070,41 To: Mike Guzzi 76576,2715 (X) Mike, I understand your need to detect carrier, but that should be done in the driver and not the applications. I know the current ACIAPAK doesn't do that, but one should have been written that does. (The Level II upgrade has one). Then again, I have never seen the need for a carrier detect. I have users logging into my system all the time via UUCP or interactively and I have rarely had any problem with applications not ending when they hangup. Of course, these are all knowledgeable people, probably more so than the average BBS user (not to malign them). This is not to say that you are wrong to do that. You took care of the situation in the best means available to you. On another note, you mentioned to Kevin about keeping a signal from breaking a loop so you could finish it first and then take care of the signal. I don't think it a good idea to mask them, even if you can. I never tried it myself. What you can do is setup you signal handler to just set a flag that a signal was received and then return to your loop. Once you exit the loop, check for the flag and the go service the signal. Hmmm....you're programming in BASIC09 which doesn't return to the spot in the code where the signal was received. I guess this is not going to work. Perhaps you should start using "C"?? This is one example where BASIC09 just can't cut it against "C". Mark There is 1 Reply. #: 5568 S15/Hot Topics 26-Jul-90 00:02:14 Sb: #5539-Is Basic out of date? Fm: Mike Guzzi 76576,2715 To: Mark Griffith 76070,41 (X) yes but so far i am not to good with C. I KNOW I will have to learn it but for my BBS I found that Basic09 will do the job very well. the loops that would need signals masked would last for about .1 seconds so it wouldn't take much... ahh ill have to see what happens when i code it into the MM/1 Mike #: 5525 S5/OS9 Users Group 25-Jul-90 04:12:37 Sb: #'Fest Fm: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 To: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 (X) Kev, do you have any dates for Atlanta? There is 1 Reply. #: 5536 S5/OS9 Users Group 25-Jul-90 04:56:07 Sb: #5525-'Fest Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 Yes, I'll email them to you asap. #: 5531 S10/Tandy CoCo 25-Jul-90 04:38:42 Sb: #4923-Ledger Fm: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 To: Joseph Cheek 76264,142 SYSCALL and GFX2 should *not* be merged with RUNB. They should be merged with the application. #: 5532 S10/Tandy CoCo 25-Jul-90 04:44:05 Sb: #4884-#SCSI drives Fm: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 (X) SCSI now usually means: "hard drive with built in SCSI controller". (like Seagate ST277N. The "N" means SCSI. A "kit" means with a PC (AT-Bus) controller. SCSI can be daisey chined. SCSI don't care about sectors.... thats up to the OS & drivers. There is 1 Reply. #: 5587 S10/Tandy CoCo 26-Jul-90 17:43:56 Sb: #5532-SCSI drives Fm: Jim Williams 72157,3524 To: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 a SCSI harddrive usually means a harddrive with an imbedded SCSI controller.... which I think you just said --Eet-- Director of Mayhem Extra Terrestrial Imports, Ltd. #: 5533 S10/Tandy CoCo 25-Jul-90 04:47:41 Sb: #5071-SCSI drives Fm: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 To: Paul K. Ward 73477,2004 (X) Paul... as a rule of thumb: CD ROM is about the same as floppy. #: 5537 S14/misc/info/Soapbox 25-Jul-90 05:36:26 Sb: #Be Thankful... Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: all Wow. If y'all ever feel like Gshell/etc is buggy or tough to learn, or that this or that doesn't work quite the way you think it oughta.... then spend a few minutes reading the messages in the Microsoft Windows forum . Yikes. There is 1 Reply. #: 5547 S14/misc/info/Soapbox 25-Jul-90 15:49:47 Sb: #5537-Be Thankful... Fm: Wayne Day 76703,376 To: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 (X) Now, now.. it's not nice to gloat over other people's troubles.... And yes, they indeed have enough troubles for everyone! #: 5538 S3/Languages 25-Jul-90 06:11:20 Sb: #5502-#Clib docs Fm: Mark Griffith 76070,41 To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 (X) Bob, Huh, rand() is right. I talked to Carl when there was a hubbub here about how to use it and he gave me the scope. Rand() has no scale and srand() is used to seed it. The example I gave in the docs works. Here is another: #include main() { long time(); srand((unsigned) time(0)); /* seed the generator */ printf("%d\n", rand()); printf("%d\n", rand()); printf("%d\n", rand()); printf("%d\n", rand()); srand((unsigned) time(0)); /* reseed the generator */ printf("%d\n", rand()); printf("%d\n", rand()); printf("%d\n", rand()); printf("%d\n", rand()); } Mark There is 1 Reply. #: 5595 S3/Languages 27-Jul-90 01:18:40 Sb: #5538-Clib docs Fm: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 To: Mark Griffith 76070,41 Mark, thanks for the additional comments on rand(). The problem is that according to the recent docs you uploaded (as well as my original docs for Carl's library) the syntax for rand() is given as rand(sf). Also, there is no example in the docs (I'm looking at the page titled "math"). By the way, if a range is needed it is simple enought to do using the modulus operator. For example, to get a random number between 1 and sf just do something like: int n; n=(rand()%sf)+1; Also, the way the function works is in agreement with other 'C' library info I have. Anyway, thanks again for the excellent job on the new docs. Having the whole works in one manual is very nice. #: 5541 S4/MIDI and Music 25-Jul-90 10:11:19 Sb: #5518-#midi help Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Lester Hands 70135,430 (X) Lester - Yup. I just received the manuals the other day. So much that we tried to add to OS9/6809 is already there in OS9/68000. The books appear to be pretty good, and it looks like a pretty nice development environment. You'll weaken (grin). Pete There is 1 Reply. #: 5562 S4/MIDI and Music 25-Jul-90 20:48:38 Sb: #5541-#midi help Fm: Lester Hands 70135,430 To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X) Hmmm. I don't doubt that the MM/1 is wonderful. Do the makers have super distribution channels so that they can sell a zillion? It takes a lot of users to really support and get the ball rolling when it comes to software development. Lester There is 1 Reply. #: 5577 S4/MIDI and Music 26-Jul-90 09:25:59 Sb: #5562-midi help Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Lester Hands 70135,430 Lester - Paul Ward will have to respond to their logistics position... dunno myself. I think it's priced well and feature packed enough so that many former (and current) os9 cocoists will nab one. Pete #: 5542 S9/Utilities 25-Jul-90 11:07:53 Sb: #5508-#Reading Directorys Fm: George Hendrickson 71071,2003 To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X) All right! I knew that 256 had something to do with it but wasn't sure what the formula was. Thanks alot for the help. There is 1 Reply. #: 5543 S9/Utilities 25-Jul-90 15:01:13 Sb: #5542-Reading Directorys Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: George Hendrickson 71071,2003 (X) De nada, George. Let us know how it comes out. Pete #: 5546 S15/Hot Topics 25-Jul-90 15:12:18 Sb: #5450-MM/1 Conference Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X) Steve - I expect I'll be there as well, at least for a bit! (MM/1 co). Pete #: 5558 S15/Hot Topics 25-Jul-90 19:45:13 Sb: #5450-MM/1 Conference Fm: John Dickey 76537,2631 To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X) Steve, Count me in please John Dickey Susquehanna QBS #: 5549 S10/Tandy CoCo 25-Jul-90 17:38:15 Sb: #MOTD? Fm: Floyd Resler 72500,2572 To: all This may sound like an dumb question but what does MOTD stand for? There are 2 Replies. #: 5551 S10/Tandy CoCo 25-Jul-90 17:40:27 Sb: #5549-MOTD? Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Floyd Resler 72500,2572 (X) MOTD = Message of the Day. Taken from a file in the /etc directory on Unix systems that is printed out as each user logs on. OS9 copied this and stuck it into /DD/SYS I believe. MOTD is also the name of the newsletter of the OS9 User Group. Bill Brady is the editor. Pete #: 5552 S10/Tandy CoCo 25-Jul-90 17:41:00 Sb: #5549-#MOTD? Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: Floyd Resler 72500,2572 (X) MOTD = Message Of The Day... when you log into a system, it usually prints the "motd" file in your /dd/sys directory. Kinda like when you log onto CIS and get the What's New stuff... or the bulletins here in the forum. It's also, of course, the name of the OS9 Users Group magazine ;-). There is 1 Reply. #: 5582 S10/Tandy CoCo 26-Jul-90 13:26:18 Sb: #5552-MOTD? Fm: Floyd Resler 72500,2572 To: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 (X) That simple, eh? And I thought it was going to stand for some long, cryptic computer term! #: 5554 S15/Hot Topics 25-Jul-90 18:56:00 Sb: #Tandy takes on PS/1 Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: all [edited from BUSINESS WIRE announcement] Tandy Corp. Wednesday introduced the Tandy 1000 RL -- "the first personal computer with unique home management programs so practical and simple that it can become an essential part of family life." Sold at Tandy's more than 7,000 Radio Shack(R) stores nationwide, the price of the ready-to-use systems range from $750 to $1,299. In addition to the computer's built-in tutorial programs, Radio Shack personnel have been specially trained to work individually with customers who have a question. A dedicated team of computer experts is set up at Tandy's Fort Worth, Texas, headquarters for store representatives to contact for quick, on-the-spot solutions. Customers with a telephone modem can communicate with the technicians themselves. The "RL" comes with 24 built-in programs developed especially to make everyday home tasks easier. Also, it is fully PC-compatible and will run other business and personal software programs. Its unique comprehensive approach to the home and its ease of use has earned it the "Good Housekeeping Seal." There is 1 Reply. #: 5560 S15/Hot Topics 25-Jul-90 20:01:43 Sb: #5554-Tandy takes on PS/1 Fm: Wayne Day 76703,376 To: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 (X) And, a bit more information is available in "1000RL.ANN", in the Products/ Reviews Library of TandyPro (GO TANDYPRO). Wayne #: 5557 S1/General Interest 25-Jul-90 19:21:57 Sb: 'Fest query Fm: Ches Looney 73016,1336 To: Bill Brady 70126,267 Bill, apparently message 20839 has been scrubbed - I guess Dave got his 125 subscribers and took the message down. You might message him - Dave Myers 71750,210 if Kevin doesn't send you all the details you want. #: 5561 S10/Tandy CoCo 25-Jul-90 20:47:17 Sb: #5444-#Dung. Depths 1.5 Crash? Fm: Mark E. Sunderlin 74026,3235 To: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 (X) Kev, Actually, my new time taker-uper for a while has been a new interest in Ham radio. Thatalong with moving in with my sweetie last May have been keeping me away from my little coco friend. I still work for the evil IRS, but I still live in rural Virginia. I'm on a diet so LOTS of fish, it not just a at Rainbowfests. At work I'm forced to use an IBM, honest to god true BLUE IBM, pc, bit Istill have and use the CoCo here at home. Thoufh I've been tepmted to look at some other machines.. such as the Atari ST, Amiga, MM/1, and the tomcat. I'm feeling the upgrade itch. My sweetie wants to use this computer thing, and bare OS9 just doesn't cut it for her.. Multiview might be a good temp fix, look for my general message on the subject. You still in NC? Well, I got to scoot. There is 1 Reply. #: 5565 S10/Tandy CoCo 25-Jul-90 23:43:11 Sb: #5561-#Dung. Depths 1.5 Crash? Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: Mark E. Sunderlin 74026,3235 (X) Sounds like you've been busy, alright. BTW, I finally saw a picture of a monkfish.... ugly! Good thing I tasted it before seeing it . Yah, you _need_ a new machine for your sweetie to use (yeah, right hehe)... don't you just feel the need, the need for speed?! There is 1 Reply. #: 5585 S10/Tandy CoCo 26-Jul-90 17:27:24 Sb: #5565-Dung. Depths 1.5 Crash? Fm: Mark E. Sunderlin 74026,3235 To: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 (X) Gosh Kevin, after spending about $600.oo on radio equipment and not being able to really justify any more until I get a lisence to transmit... I got to spend money on something! Sue has looked over my should once in a while and asked, "Why don't you get something modern that doesn't spraw all over your desk.. something maybe I can use too?" Heh, but of course I need speed, speed to support that GUI for my sweetie! #: 5563 S10/Tandy CoCo 25-Jul-90 20:58:47 Sb: #Multi-View: Questions! Fm: Mark E. Sunderlin 74026,3235 To: All After several months of gathering dust while I moved, I'm back to using my CoCo3 with OS9. However, now I have my sweetie here with me and she7s like to use this computer some too. I'm an olde 'C' and Unix hacker by trade so bare OS9 works great for me, but I don't want to inflect that on her. So, in order to make OS9 easier for her (and me!) to use, I'm thinking about the $40.00 splurge(grin) for Multi-View and I have some questions: 1. How many modes to you have to make to the off the shelf version from R.S before it works the way it should? 2. True or False: I can run all my current Os9 programs under Multi-View. 3. T or F: I cen set up all my programs and files so my sweetie can use and access them with the mouse and Icons, sort of like she7s seen on a mac. 4. I don't need to write my own programs and utilities to make this all work. 5. Multi-View can deal with my hard disk T or F? 6. There is no question #6 7. What Shocks am I in for with MV? 8. T or F: Multiview has been out a while and it's a "Mature" programs with us OS9 wizzes having worked out all the bugs. 9. What "bad" things come with using MV? 10. Whatelse do I need to know? If it can make my programs and files "Point & Shoot", then it'll be worth the $$ and time i spend hacking & configuring. There are 2 Replies. #: 5573 S10/Tandy CoCo 26-Jul-90 05:51:51 Sb: #5563-Multi-View: Questions! Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: Mark E. Sunderlin 74026,3235 (X) Mark, let's see: 1. There are about 3 or 4 mods to make to stock GShell, all in Lib 10 here. Hopefully someone knows which ones they all are . Ask again. 5 cents, please! Actually, they speed up gshell, and add some new gizmos (Kent Meyers did those). And you'll want (if you don't have it already), the FSTGRF.AR file to speed up GrfDrv... it really helps with gshell and icons. 2. True. And you don't have to use MV always.. you can still open regular interactive shell windows... even from MV. Gshell is just another program, y'see... it doesn't take over or anything. Umm, VDG-screen games/etc do require an extra util or two. 3. Pretty much true. You add icons, and what would be called PIF files on the IBM, and gshell uses those to display and start programs. Altho you may not find yourself using gshell that much (which is in line with Amiga types not using their Workbench, but instead simple shell windows like us), your sweetie should find many things easier. I know quite a few people who have their machine set to come up into Gshell so that their kids/wives can just click and go, pretty much. 4. Naw, icon editors and other utils are all over the place. I believe Mark Griffith and Ron Lammardo helped with some of the Gshell-specific commands. 5. No sweat on the hard disk. Works best off there. 6. If no question, no answer. But you still get charged 5 cents . 7. Shocks? Slow, until you patch. Otherwise, not much. 8. Yeah, it's pretty solid these days, with Kent's patches. 9. No bad things, since you can always CLEAR to a regular shell. Maybe some room taken up for icons, etc. 10. I'd do a "sca/sho/key:gshell" in Lib 10 and see what pops up. NOTE* if you do a lot of programming (like you used to), then you may not use it much. But your sweetie may. And besides, you need the Windint module which is included to do/run the fancy menuing stuff around. #: 5583 S10/Tandy CoCo 26-Jul-90 13:34:10 Sb: #5563-Multi-View: Questions! Fm: Floyd Resler 72500,2572 To: Mark E. Sunderlin 74026,3235 (X) I patched MV rather painlessly to make it better and faster. I use it on my hard drive as well. As a matter of fact, I think a hard drive really makes MV shine. Now, I had to do a little extra programming to get some of my existing programs to work for two reasons: 1. Some programs have to be run from the VDG window. You can find C programs that will create a VDG window in the libraries. 2. I have all my AIFs in one directory (called PROGRAMS). So, when a program must access a different directory, I had to change it before booting the program so I had to write some special boot programs. If you want to do any programming with the point-n-click interface, the WindInt module alone makes it worth the money. #: 5564 S10/Tandy CoCo 25-Jul-90 21:41:54 Sb: #5500-words Fm: PHIL SCHERER 71211,2545 To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 (X) Thanks a lot Bob for the help!! #: 5567 S8/BBS Systems/TSMon 26-Jul-90 00:00:05 Sb: #5492-#APBBS Editor question Fm: Mike Guzzi 76576,2715 To: Zack Sessions 76407,1524 (X) Well it depends on what version of APBBS your using. if its the version availabe for download here its version 2.XX.XX and is old and obsolete and I lost all source code to it (thats why i strongly urge hard disk backups now) version 3.00.00, 3.01.12/15, and 3.1.26 are commercial versions. since then i have corrected that and about a thousand other bugs and made improvements which is why its so obsolete. but i can tell you this. when logged in locally the editor uses the INPUT command for the text and thats why commas aren't allowed. in the newer versions (with newer drivers) i replaced all that with inkey and my own getchar routines to bypass a bug in INKEY and ACIAPAK (still legit code) and the commas are not a problem. APBBS Version 2.XX.XX is really tough to work with, everything is hard-coded and my docs were something to be desired. i wrote that for my use only and thats it... version 3.00.00 and higher is a different story with a full manual, enviroement files (no hard-coded) and a better I/O system to get the higher baud rates plus tons of other improvements. if you wish to see the latest version call my BBS at 717-586-2771 24hrs a day. APBBS can be purchased from Second City Software (yes they are still with us but laying low for a few months) the cost is $39.95. Mike There is 1 Reply. #: 5580 S8/BBS Systems/TSMon 26-Jul-90 10:05:39 Sb: #5567-APBBS Editor question Fm: Zack Sessions 76407,1524 To: Mike Guzzi 76576,2715 I may send SC a check, then! I suppose the commercial version does not include sources, eh? One thing I really DO like about the version in the libs is that you did include sources. With them, I could add new features that I wanted, and change some of the wording of some of the messages and such. Not a bad job, though, really. Zack #: 5569 S10/Tandy CoCo 26-Jul-90 00:25:30 Sb: #sound Fm: Everett Chimbidis 76370,1366 To: 70721,435 (X) OK i have done all this and all files are found and iniz ssc and echo comes back with no error BUT it wont say anything?? What does this mean? Still the same error when running the program (sound) . What Slot should the sspak be in?? There is 1 Reply. #: 5592 S10/Tandy CoCo 26-Jul-90 21:46:36 Sb: #5569-#sound Fm: Dan Robins 73007,2473 To: Everett Chimbidis 76370,1366 (X) Everett, Are you using this with Level 1 or Level 2 OS9? If Level 2, it won't fly without a hardware hack to the SSC pack. Still interested? Dan There is 1 Reply. #: 5593 S10/Tandy CoCo 26-Jul-90 23:03:21 Sb: #5592-#sound Fm: Everett Chimbidis 76370,1366 To: Dan Robins 73007,2473 (X) YES now what?? Also are you useing the new shell & gfx2? There is 1 Reply. #: 5603 S10/Tandy CoCo 27-Jul-90 05:22:10 Sb: #5593-sound Fm: Dan Robins 73007,2473 To: Everett Chimbidis 76370,1366 Everett, Okeydokey....now what you need to do is download the file Bruce Isted uploaded on modifying the Speech Sound pak so that it works at the CoCo's high speed CPU rate. The file is in LIB 10 and is called SSPAK.AR. The pak depends on the CPU frequency of the CoCo, and since Level 2 OS9 runs in the CoCo's hyper speed (grin) it throws the pak off, which is why it won't fly. Making this modification to the pak will allow it to run with the CoCo3's high speed. RE: GFX2 & the new shell....yeppirs! However, if you do have a question about these, might be best to point them towards Kevin Darling, as he wrote them both! Dan #: 5570 S3/Languages 26-Jul-90 01:09:51 Sb: #info headers in c Fm: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 To: all I was just looking for something in my C manual (the MW.6809 version sold by Tandy) and came across something interesting. On page 2-2 in the middle of the page there is a section "information" which implies that version numbers, etc. can be placed in C programs. But just what is the "directive 'info'"? According to the manual one should have something like #asm info /version/ #endasm But, of course, RMA has never heard of the op "info". Any one have any ideas as to what this means--or is it just wishful thinking on the part of the person who wrote the docs? There are 2 Replies. #: 5572 S3/Languages 26-Jul-90 04:35:41 Sb: #5570-#info headers in c Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 (X) Bob - just a guess, but I'd say that perhaps they meant a label instead? Like perhaps "info fcb version" ? That would embed a number, tho who knows where (unless they had you put it at the front, maybe). I thought the compiler had an option to add the revision number? Or maybe that's under OSK only. Dunno. There are 2 Replies. #: 5578 S3/Languages 26-Jul-90 09:31:42 Sb: #5572-#info headers in c Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 (X) Not staring at a manual at the moment, but I believe that the CC (or CC1, CC2) compiler driver has a '-E' option that allows you to set the edition #, or something to that effect. Pete There is 1 Reply. #: 5590 S3/Languages 26-Jul-90 18:39:17 Sb: #5578-info headers in c Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X) The wonderful help file you gave me a long time ago for CC, agrees with you ( -e=n for edition number). And I shoulda said "edition" myself, instead of "revision" in my previous message. thx! #: 5601 S3/Languages 27-Jul-90 01:47:47 Sb: #5572-info headers in c Fm: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 To: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 (X) Kevin, Yes, it would be possible to use a label like you suggested. But I'm quite sure the data would NEVER end up in the space they say it will. #: 5581 S3/Languages 26-Jul-90 12:44:25 Sb: #5570-info headers in c Fm: Zack Sessions 76407,1524 To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 (X) Hmm, I see what you're talking about, Bob. (Oh, btw, got the disk, THANKS!) I never noticed that before, not sure what they are talking about, but as Pete mentioned, there is a commandline option to set the edition number. Actually, this is passed on to rlink, which actually sets the edition number in the final memory module created. Looks like the info directive lets one put character string data in for some type of identification, but since I never noticed that in the manual, I haven't tried to use it. If you figure it out, let us know! Zack #: 5571 S3/Languages 26-Jul-90 01:10:34 Sb: #Data compression Fm: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 To: all Does anyone know if there is a chunk of C code kicking around which will do some kind of effecient data compression on a string. I would like to pass the routine a pointer to a null terminated string and get back a pointer to a compressed version of the string plus its size. The data would be ascii characters (always) so I'm not sure what compression scheme would be best. LZW? I've looked at the source for AR and I guess I could change it to work on in-memory buffers, but I hate to re-invent the wheel all the time--besides, it looks pretty complicated and is probably a case of overkill for my purposes! There are 2 Replies. #: 5579 S3/Languages 26-Jul-90 09:36:43 Sb: #5571-#Data compression Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 (X) Bob - None that we know of. Also, the effects of LZW encoding might be lost on parcels as small as simple strings. JJ and Carl are more up on LZW than I, but I believe it analyzes a larger cross section for redundancies, and then builds a table based upon the frequency of the redundancies. If you were only working with ASCII, you could write your own that would take characters and mash them to 7 bits. This way, you could have 8 characters in every 7 bytes. If you were working with non numeric, or all upper/lowercase, you could probably get a better compression as well by using less bits (6 or 5). Pete There is 1 Reply. #: 5600 S3/Languages 27-Jul-90 01:47:34 Sb: #5579-#Data compression Fm: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X) Hmmm, the 8 to 7 compression just isn't enough. My strings will actually be quite long - probably 1500 bytes - and will contain a lot of spaces at times. I'm toying with doing an index-card type DB. The idea is to have a full-screen card which will get compressed and saved in a file. I'd like to compress things to keep the filesize down. There is 1 Reply. #: 5610 S3/Languages 27-Jul-90 09:44:03 Sb: #5600-Data compression Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 Bob - Hmmm... at 1500 bytes, you might be able to get some advantage out of LZ, or even the RLE, especially if your data is highly redundant. RLE may also be the lowest overhead. Pete #: 5586 S3/Languages 26-Jul-90 17:43:47 Sb: #5571-#Data compression Fm: Jim Williams 72157,3524 To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 (X) I dled some C source for an LZW type of compression scheme from DDJ forum a few months ago. I assume a simple RLE scheme wouldn't do? --Eet-- Director of Mayhem Extra Terrestrial Imports, Ltd. There is 1 Reply. #: 5599 S3/Languages 27-Jul-90 01:46:48 Sb: #5586-Data compression Fm: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 To: Jim Williams 72157,3524 (X) Actually RLE would probably be just as effective (see my note to Pete). Do you happen to recall the name/library of the the stuff you D'ld. And, speaking of RLE, do you happen to have any code for that? #: 5574 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 26-Jul-90 07:13:12 Sb: #PT68 Fm: Jim Chapman 72557,1120 To: Ed Gresick 76576,3312 (X) I now have STRM working. The problem was the drivers. How can I get the source code for the ones you sent me? The first program I downloaded was ARC.BIN in the OSK library. When I ran it I got an error 103 (address exception). Can you tell me which ARC program works. Thanks, Jim Chapman There is 1 Reply. #: 5602 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 27-Jul-90 05:21:04 Sb: #5574-PT68 Fm: Ed Gresick 76576,3312 To: Jim Chapman 72557,1120 Hi Jim! Great! Glad STERM is working for you. I don't have the source code for the drivers. Simmy sent me object code only. To get the original source, contact Fred Brown at PT. BTW, which version of OSK are you using? The sc68681 code provided with 2.3 is fine as is - no problems. If you're using an earlier version of OSK, Fred will send you an upgrade to 2.3 for a nominal charge. Re ARC.BIN - dunno. Don't use it (I *think* it's used mainly by MSDOS'rs). I use AR. It's in DL12. Ed #: 5584 S15/Hot Topics 26-Jul-90 17:14:11 Sb: #OSK - passwords? Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Paul K. Ward 73477,2004 Paul - In scanning the OSK docs, I noted that the Tsmon provided is a clone of the OS9-Net oriented Mtsmon (Microware's - not mine/Carl's).. In looking at it, I *think* I noted that password files are STILL not using encrypted password fields! Can this be true? Please tell me no... Also - if the 'fix' is simply to adjust the attributes on the PW file for root-only read, that's no fix. All the password related C functions (Unix, Kreider LIB, and possibly soon to be OSK LIB) won't care for that at all. Pete There is 1 Reply. #: 5604 S15/Hot Topics 27-Jul-90 05:23:04 Sb: #5584-#OSK - passwords? Fm: Ed Gresick 76576,3312 To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X) Hi Pete! In TOP3.tz in DL12 is a complete tsmon (mmon), login, password, etc system using encrypted passwords. I use an earlier version and its great. Know several other OSK users using the latest version and they're also happy. (Just my 2 cents). Ed There is 1 Reply. #: 5611 S15/Hot Topics 27-Jul-90 09:46:30 Sb: #5604-OSK - passwords? Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Ed Gresick 76576,3312 (X) Ed - Good news! It's that a functional A for B replacement of the existing [M]Tsmon? Compatible in all ways except password encryption? I can't believe that uWare is still missing that boat after all this time. Pete #: 5594 S10/Tandy CoCo 27-Jul-90 00:01:05 Sb: #/d2??? Fm: edward langenback 73510,145 To: all i recently got hold of an OLLLLD radio shack CoCo drive (model what would it take to set this drive up as /d2 for os/9? i'm currently running a disto mini controller 1 and two 40 trk dsdd drives as /d0 and /d1. i'd consider getting another 40trk, but i got the 26-3022 free, can't do that with new 40trks. thanks, Ed. There is 1 Reply. #: 5605 S10/Tandy CoCo 27-Jul-90 06:50:04 Sb: #5594-/d2??? Fm: James Jones 76257,562 To: edward langenback 73510,145 All you need is the appropriate descriptor. I note that in the descriptors that come with stock OS-9/6809 Level Two, there's a d2_35s.dd, and that could very well be what you want. (Just as a simple check, see if the length is the same as your d0 descriptor--sdisk3, I think, may keep an extra field or two, and I'm not sure what device driver you are using.) #: 5606 S15/Hot Topics 27-Jul-90 07:18:07 Sb: #5485-CoCo/OSK Basic(09) Fm: Ed Gresick 76576,3312 To: Kevin Pease 70516,1633 Keving! Thanks for your response. Where can I get hold of the drystones test routine for OSK? Ed #: 5607 S15/Hot Topics 27-Jul-90 07:23:26 Sb: #5488-#CoCo/OSK Basic(09) Fm: Ed Gresick 76576,3312 To: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 (X) Hi Keven! We ran additional test on the 68010 VME machine under Basic 1.2 and 3.2. The tests under 1.2 confirmed the original results. Under 2.1, there was a 1 second improvement when k = 20,000 (integer) - otherwise the results were the same. Further investigation revealed the machine originally ran at 8.0 MHz. The memory chips were 150 ns. The processor board was upgraded to 12/16 MHz but the memory chips were not changed. The system probably operates with several (2 or 3) 'wait' states. This invalidates the tests and reference to this data should be deleted. BTW, for completness and accuracy - I erred in the Basic Version for the 68030 tests. The version of Basic was 2.1 *NOT* 2.3. Also a note should be added to the effect that the 68030 machine had a math coprocessor installed. Ed There is 1 Reply. #: 5613 S15/Hot Topics 27-Jul-90 10:44:15 Sb: #5607-CoCo/OSK Basic(09) Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: Ed Gresick 76576,3312 (X) Thanks for the update, Ed! #: 5615 S9/Utilities 27-Jul-90 11:59:15 Sb: #Reading Directorys Fm: George Hendrickson 71071,2003 To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X) I thought I'd show you what I've come up with so far. I've been having trouble with 'seeking' the sector were the FD is stored. As before, I have the dirpath set up like this: TYPE direntry=name:string[29]; lsn0,lsn1,lsn2:BYTE DIM direc:direntry This worked fine for reading just the filenames. I set up a second path like this to get the rest of the info: TYPE dirsec=fdatt:BYTE; fdown:INTEGER; y,m,d,h,mn,fdlink:BYTE;fdsiz1, fdsiz2:INTEGER; y1,m1,d1:BYTE;fdseg:STRING[240] DIM dirnfo:dirsec What is happening is, it will read the directory, determine where the sector is by converting the varibles lsn0,lsn1,lsn2 in the sector number using this formula: sector=((direc.lsn0*256)*256)+(direc.lsn1*256)+direc.lsn2 then 'seeking' the second path to the sector, getting to that path 'dirnfo' and printing the results. (e.g. dirnfo.fdatt, dirnfo.fdown etc..) But after a couple of records, I get an error 203. Do I have the sector formula right? I tried 'seeking' the sector x 256 but that gave me an error 203 right away. I also tried seeking to (direc.lsn1*256) also and got the same results. There is 1 Reply. #: 5616 S9/Utilities 27-Jul-90 12:55:56 Sb: #5615-Reading Directorys Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: George Hendrickson 71071,2003 A couple of questions: a) Is 'sector' declared as a REAL? b) The second path... how did you open it? It should have been something like OPEN /DD@, READ (not being a B09'er...) c) Is the information you DO get valid? d) Error 203 is 'Illegal Mode'... usually should occur at time of OPEN. If you're processing multiple directories, you still only need to open /DD@ one time. e) Are you closing the DIRECTORY after finsihing with it, and before moving on to another one? Pete #: 5617 S3/Languages 27-Jul-90 14:39:06 Sb: clib.l docs Fm: Zack Sessions 76407,1524 To: Mark Griffith 76070,41 Mark, I assume you saw my message about popen() and pclose()t(, didn't get any response from ya. Are they supposed to be included in the documentation? Also, a few others, _gs_styp() is not there and strhcpy(). (I wonder why there's not an strhcat()?) And there is still a mention of an int version of the sqrt() function, even though it doesn't exist. Thanks, Zack #: 5618 S10/Tandy CoCo 27-Jul-90 17:03:30 Sb: sound Fm: JIM MCDOWELL 70721,435 To: 76370,1366 The echo test only proves that the system recognizes your SSC. You may or may not hear anything, so that fact that you didn't hear anything does not mean anything unfortunately. This driver doesn't support speech. I'm afraid without more information I can't help you too much. One person who sent me a note on Delphi has had no problems so I don't think the program itself is causing the problem. You mentioned that 3 small screens were drawn before the 43 error. Were these 3 at the top right of the screen? The program should draw 4 identical boxes. 3 at the top and 1 at the bottom left. The program calls the box routine 4 times consecutively so if it could draw 3 boxes why not four? It doesn't make sense. The only possible explanation left (at least that I can think of), if all the necessary files are in memory, is that your process memory is full. Sound.Master uses 2 blocks GFX2 uses 1 block XMODE uses 1 block RUNB uses 2 blocks --Total = 6 For certain shell calls perhaps another 1-2 blocks. Since each process has only 8 blocks if for some reason your process had another file mapped to it (say you merged GFX2 and Basic09, which would be a 4 block file) something would be squeezed out and POOF! an error 43. But unless you provide some detailed information I can't help you. I need to know your complete system config, MDIR, MFREE with all files in memory, etc. #: 5619 S10/Tandy CoCo 27-Jul-90 17:30:34 Sb: Sound.Master Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: Jim McDowell Jim, First, I'd like to congratulate and thank you for your Soundmaster program. I've been looking for something like it for three years now (since I bought the speech cartridge). Now, for some questions: 1) Why use the arrow keys? I'd prefer the mouse myself. 2) Is the device driver capable of speech? I would find that capability very useful. 3) How is it that the SSCart driver works with an unmodified pak? Is the Coco's clock speed dropped down to .89 MHz when doing sound? 4) Would it be possible to "un-hardcode" the window used by the program? Hugo Press !>