HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: cole@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu (Sandra Stewart-Cole)
Subject: Re: using the A5 register (help wanted)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 07:16:27 GMT
Keywords: Help wanted

In <1993Jan4.051629.7363@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> rduta@nyx.cs.du.edu (Radu) 
writes:

>Ok, that's a start.  So you say that A5 is used as a reference for the global
>application variables.  Is this an agreed standard?  For example, if i wrote
>a program strictly in asembly, would even need set up A5, from the description
>you gave me it sounds as though the compiler creates and uses A5 for it's 
>own purposes, which i doubt.  I think I heard somewhere that it's used to
>store QuickDraw information that pertains to the current application.

A5 contains the address of the boundary between the system-handled 'application
parameters' and an application's global variables. AT that boundary is a 
pointer to the QuickDraw global GrafPtr ThePort. THAT pointer is at the bottom
of the application globals, and the top of the QuickDraw private 
application-specific globals. Compilers for the Mac of any quality set that up
for you. It is my understanding that even MPW Assembler has a built-in 
mechanism for establishing the 'A5 World' if you desire it (i.e. if you are 
writing an aplicatyion that will run under the Mac OS)  Because QuickDraw calls
rely on A5 to find data structures, it is imperative that at least the QD 
referenceability of A5 is maintained, as well as the applications parameters 
referenceabilty. If you rigght in raw unmediated 680x0 assembler, you will have
to set it up at least to that extent yourself, or use an assembler that handles
it for you. That does NOT just mean the SetUpA5 call, which is solely to enable
disconnected pieces of code to finbd their parent's globals. It is not a matter
of the compiler using A5, it is the operating system, which makes it also 
useable by compilers for globals, and facilitates this by preserving A5 thru 
every interrupt, every trap call, and every context switch.  


If you need clearer explanation, the most complete source again is Inside 
Macintosh. Sure, IM is Pascal-prejudiced, but it describes the operating system
AS IT IS and you are most certain of easier coding and debugging if you rely 
only on what it says (supplemented by the Apple Tech Notes) 

(I always feel like that is the bottom line... a LOT of questions have very 
full answers in IM... I never understand why anyone thinks they could either 
work without it or find its equivalent on Usenet, CompuServe, or other 
electronic services. )

Bill Stewart-Cole
From: wallich@ncd.com (Ken Wallich)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: The Mac is not a hacker's computer (was Re: Sozobon...)
Date: 5 Jan 93 23:53:13 GMT
Reply-To: wallich@ncd.com (Ken Wallich)
Distribution: comp

>In article <1993Jan5.023237.18823@cs.yale.edu>, bobf@flint.geology.yale.edu (Bob Fischer) writes:
>>
>> I hope that GCC will see the light of day on the Mac.  Since the Mac
>> is not really a hacker's computer, few people have shown an interest
>> in porting it.

I missed the beginning of this, so forgive me if I missed something
crucial...

Well, I disagree that the Mac is not a 'hackers computer'.  I know of a lot
of good hacks written for the Mac by good hackers.  There may be more of
them hacking for other machines, but they still exist.

I've had a several versions of GCC running under MPW that I got from
different sources, including apple.com.  It's been available in the
past, and the fact that it isn't available as part of the "standard"
GCC distribution has nothing to do with 'hackers' not being interested
in the machine, but rather with one hacker in particular, and those
that too closely follow his beliefs, justified or not.  This doesn't
mean that people who like GNU and use software don't also use the Mac.

I don't use MPW much anymore, mostly because I can't afford Apple's
new pricing for it, especially considering that I'm not a large
commercial developer for the Mac.  I find it nearly impossible to
believe that you cannot find a current version of GCC that works on
the Mac.
-- 
Ken Wallich

wallich@ncd.com ~ ken@wallich.com ~ kmw@al.org ~ [...]decwrl!vixie!amber!ken
From: dev@cats.ucsc.edu (/dev/null)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Apple event questions
Date: 9 Jan 93 20:53:11 GMT
Organization: University of California; Santa Cruz
NNTP-Posting-Host: am.ucsc.edu


In article <C0LM1r.F8z@news.udel.edu> kurisuto@chopin.udel.edu (Sean J. Crist) writes:
>What I'm not sure of is whether the Toolbox also sends the information the
>old way as well.  Do I have to use Gestalt to see whether I will get Apple
>events to open my startup documents (and specifically not call
>CountAppFiles to avoid getting the same information twice), or can I just
>go ahead and do both, knowing that CountAppFiles will return 0 files if
>there are odoc Apple events pending?

The system does not send the information the old way.  I think that it would
work to still call CountAppFiles, but since you have to call Gestalt anyway
to be able to tell that it is safe to make Apple Event calls, you might
as well use it to know that you need not call CountAppFiles.

If you still want the application to work on System 6, you will need to call
CountAppFiles, and not call any Apple Event traps.  They will cause an
undefined A-Trap error (or actually, failure to load Pack8).

There is some good sample code for handling this in the Writeswell Jr. source
code.   It is part of the Word Services Software Development Kit, which is
available for anonymous ftp from ics.uci.edu.  It is in the file
/mac/think-c/demos/ws-sdk-1.0.hqx.

Writeswell Jr. is a simple word processor that can have its text spellchecked
by a standalone spellchecker via the Word Services Apple Event Suite.  The
SDK comes with the complete source code to writeswell jr., as well as a test
speller and the protocol specification.  Though it is in the demo directory,
it is not a demo - it has everything that you need to support Word Services in
your own application.

The AE Registry is quite large.  Though you may be able to find it on FTP
somewhere, I think that it is worthwhile to buy a paper copy.  It may be
cheaper than the toner cartridge you will burn printing it.
From: roy@mchip00.med.nyu.edu (Roy Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Best and worst Mac values of all time
Date: 5 Jan 93 21:10:30 GMT
Organization: New York University, School of Medicine
NNTP-Posting-Host: mchip00.med.nyu.edu

howard@netcom.com (Howard Berkey) writes:
>>WORST MAC VALUE OF ALL TIME (including peripherals)
>The Mac "Portable" when it came out

	I don't know about that.  When the portable came out, sure it was a
*lot* of money, but it was, at the time, the only way to take a Mac on the
road.  I know of two people who bought them, one of whom I actually agreed
with.  One was just somebody who just needed to have the latest gizmo and
didn't mind spending the money.

	The other one was somebody who ran a lab in Mexico, in a town that
had very unreliable electric service, and frequent thunderstorms (the
building had an emergency generator system, but that wasn't particularly
reliable either).  As a result, they didn't have *anything* electronic that
wasn't on a UPS.  UPS's are expensive.  Turns out that a Mac Portable with a
wall charger was a more economical solution than a regular Mac and a UPS,
even discounting the portability factor.

	My vote for the worst Mac value was the original SE, before the FDHD
"Superdrive", and before the big mid-production-run price break.  Compared
to the Plus, it cost about twice as much and just didn't have enough
increase in functionality to be worth anywhere near that.
-- 
Roy Smith <roy@nyu.edu>
Hippocrates Project, Department of Microbiology, Coles 202
NYU School of Medicine, 550 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016
"This never happened to Bart Simpson."
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
From: tmorrow@oracle.com (Thomas Morrow)
Subject: back issues of Develop
Organization: Oracle Corporation, Belmont, CA
Distribution: comp
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 05:05:13 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by an unauthenticated user
              at Oracle Corporation.  The opinions expressed are those
              of the user and not necessarily those of Oracle.

I need to get ahold of an issue from an issue of Develop from a little
while back that had an article on how to use the SoundManager to make
an Echo box.  If you can send me a Xerox of the article I will
compensate you whatever you feel is reasonable.  Or please give me the
phone number for Develop mag customer service if you know it.


(I don't subscribe)

Thanks!

Tom 			tmorrow@us.oracle.com

--

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Morrow       3OP4     voice:415-506-2202    Office: 427
tmorrow@us.oracle.com       fax:415-506-7292    Application Object Library
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
From: freek@phil.ruu.nl (Freek Wiedijk)
Subject: Re: Why the Piracy? Here's why...
Organization: Department of Philosophy, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 21:34:40 GMT

potts@oit.itd.umich.edu (Paul Potts) writes:
>Or, if two people in our office leave
>Photoshop running on their machines overnight, when I'm hear late suddenly
>I try to edit a picture and find that I can't do it. What to do then?

Easy: turn Appletalk off (in the Chooser), edit the picture,
turn Appletalk on again.

Freek
--
Third theory of Phenomenal Dynamics:  The difference between
a symbol and an object is quantitative, not qualitative.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
From: jimlynch@netcom.com (Jim Lynch)
Subject: Re: Yacc on Mac
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 05:01:37 GMT

In article <1993Jan6.172004.309@physc1.byu.edu> goblec@physc1.byu.edu writes:
>I am writing a simple language parser for a hypertalk like language.
>I am thinking of doing the parser on a MIPS using C and YACC and
>then bringing the C code over to the Mac.  Unfortunately I am
>not sure how easy this will be.  A better solution would be a
>Yacc compilier or equivalent for the Mac that works with Think C.
>Does anyone know of something like this?  Thanks.

There is a Bison for the mac, but since the parser it outputs is GNU, you would
have to follow the terms of the GNU public license. However, if you rewrite
the parser, you can do whatever you want.
From: mxmora@unix.sri.com (Matthew Xavier Mora)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: UMPG Updates (Request for articles)
Date: 12 Jan 93 18:20:14 GMT
Followup-To: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Organization: SRI International

I'm finishing up the new UMPG and would like to know if anyone
would like to submit any new articles or update any of the information
in the old UMPG.

Please reply to me at mxmora@unix.sri.com or Matt_Mora@qm.sri.com


--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Matthew Xavier Mora                                mxmora@unix.sri.com
SRI International                                       (415) 859-5011
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: mwalker@novell.com (Mel Walker)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Why the Piracy? Here's why...
Date: 7 Jan 93 20:10:21 GMT
Followup-To: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Organization: Novell, Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: chezmoto.ai.mit.edu

In article <C0Hv06.7rB@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>, neath@brazil.psych.purdue.edu
(Ian Neath) wrote:
> 
> In article <1993Jan7.155907.19880@mail.cornell.edu> Tim Larkin 
> (tsl1@cornell.edu) writes:
> > It makes no difference whether piracy is most
> > like shoplifting or most like illegal parking or most like serial
> > killing.
> > It's wrong even if it's easy and low risk. If it's wrong, don't do it.
> > There's nothing complicated about it. It is fully susceptible to a simple
> > answer.
> 
> A hypothetical question:
> Would you rather I pirate some software from you (or park in your parking
> space illegally) or would you rather I make you viction number 6 in a
> series of a dozen grizly murders?  

The fact that piracy is less wrong than murder does not make it not-wrong.

Or is that too obvious a statement for the rationalizations that are going
on in this discussion?

Clearly, most humans are not rational beings; they are rationalizing
beings. :-)

----------------------------------------------------------------
Mel Walker                                    mwalker@novell.com
All opinions expressed are of the author.
Novell, Inc. is not responsible for the content of this article.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
From: wang_dj@syzygy.cs.jhu.edu (David J. Wang)
Subject: ZModem src
Followup-To: wang_dj@server.cs.jhu.edu 
Organization: Johns Hopkins Computer Science Department, Baltimore, MD
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 16:32:05 GMT


Does anyone out there know where (if) I could get my hands on code for zmodem
transfers that I can look at?  

I assume I would have to look at some code for some shareware
comm program -- where can I get these? I am totally new to communications
programming, so any help you anyone can give would be greatly appreciated.


-- 
_______________________________________________________________________________
David J. Wang                                    CAUTION!
wang_dj@server.cs.jhu.edu                SPACE UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
_______________________________________________________________________________
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
From: grass@cs.uchicago.edu (Joshua Grass)
Subject: Re: Think C bug? [sprintf]
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Chicago
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1993 22:55:59 GMT

In article <1ihnnfINNm9p@tamsun.tamu.edu> bpb9204@tamsun.tamu.edu (Brent Burton) writes:
>mssmith@afterlife.ncsc.mil (M. Scott Smith) writes:
>|Does anyone know of any bugs in the sprintf() function of Think C v5.x?
>|
>|I don't have time to elaborate, but I've found that it doesn't do what
>|it's supposed to.  It seems more than three arguments cause it to bomb.
>
>Hmm, I used it all the time and I never had a problem with it, no
>matter how many arguments I passed.
>
>|It should be identical to printf, except the first parameter passed is
>|a string to "print to."  But this doesn't seem to work in Think C.
>|
>|If this is a bug, are there any work-arounds?
>
>Are you sure the string you are passing to store the result (the first 
>argument) is large enough?
>
>char s[20];
>  sprintf(s, "%d", 5);  
>
>Will obviously work, but if there is something like
>
>char s[20];
>  sprintf(s, "The number is now %d.\n", 5);
>
>will not, since the string (with 5) will need 22 places and you overrun s.
>
>Just be sure to #include <stdio.h>.
>
>Hope this gives some help, I can't think of why it wouldn't work since I've
>never had problems.
>
>-Brent
>-- 
>+-------------------------+
>| Brent Burton    N5VMG   |    
>| bpb9204@tamsun.tamu.edu |  
>+-------------------------+ 

Yes, you are correct, there are problems with sprintf.  I've had to actually
re-write some of sprintf in order to make it work.  (Trust me, you don't want
a copy of my solution it is a mess!)  The problem, from what I gather, does
not have to do with sprintf so much as it has to do with the variable argument
functions that sprintf use so that you can pass as much as you want to the
function and it all works.  It has been a long time since I've dealt with the
problems of sprintf, but I think with a little clever hacking you can get
around using the functions, because they are extremely un-safe for an app.

								Joshua

PS Give Think a nasty call, I did, and if enough of us do it, they might
get off their butts and fix it.  (This error was also in ver. 4.0)
From: trsnyder@mcs.drexel.edu (Bob Snyder)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer,comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.tools,comp.windows.ms.programmer
Subject: Re: Stallman and friends
Date: 6 Jan 93 20:31:22 GMT
	<1993Jan6.003222.10898@unlv.edu> <1993Jan6.142544.28293@kth.se>
Organization: ASCI

In article <1993Jan6.142544.28293@kth.se> d88-jwa@dront.nada.kth.se (Jon Wdtte) writes:

   In <1993Jan6.003222.10898@unlv.edu> grover@brownie.cs.unlv.edu (Kevin Grover) writes:

   >Have you read any of the FSF literature?  It was my understanding
   >(from the reading and a talk Stalman gave) that the idea of the FSF
   >was not necessaraly that all software should be free, but rather that

   You are confusing the EFF (Electronic Freedom Frontier) with
   the FSF (Free Software Foundation)

Actually, this sounds like the League for Programming Freedom (LPF) more than
the EFF.  The LPF is the group that is calling for the boycott of Apple
products due to the Look and Feel lawsuit, and the FSF is agreeing with the
boycott.  The FSF and LPF and fairly closely linked organizations.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is generally interested in broader
computer issues, like the FBI wiretap bill, and the seizing of Steve Jackson
Games, and the like, although if you looked in their newsgroup nowadays, you'd
think it was a organization for debating the virtues of Libertarianism. :-)

Bob
From: speth@cats.ucsc.edu (James Gustave)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Help needed with File Param Blocks
Date: 9 Jan 93 02:46:41 GMT
Organization: University of California; Santa Cruz
NNTP-Posting-Host: am.ucsc.edu


I need to get info on a file such as the FInfo, length of data fork, creation
and modification dates, etc.  All of this info seems to be in the FileParam
and HFileParam structures.  First, what is the difference between these
structures?  Second, how should I get the info into one of them?  I tried
using PBHGetFInfo, but I believe I was unsuccessful.  I have an FSSpec of the
file I want to examine, where do I go from there?

Thanks.

-- 
________________________________________________________________________________
james speth          finger for pgp 2.0 public-key           speth@cats.ucsc.edu
From: jpugh@apple.com (Jon Pugh)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Best Mac value of all time
Date: 5 Jan 93 07:27:20 GMT
Followup-To: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Organization: Apple Computer, Inc.

In article <1993Jan2.052527.13939@netcom.com>, howard@netcom.com (Howard
Berkey) wrote:
> 
> 
> I'm curious as to the opinions of csmp posters of which Mac has been
> the best price/performance value (new).  My nominee is the SE/30.  Any
> others?
> 
> (Please no used machines... bargains abound.  Also, upgrades are
> acceptable.  The SE/30 I nominated was an upgraded SE (though SE/30's
> were bargains themselves.))

I bought my SE/30 at the developer discount for $3700 as a 4/80.  The only
thing that beat it was my Quadra 900 4/400 at Loan-to-Own (once in an
employee's lifetime purchase) for a lot less than that (I was sworn to
secrecy).  Granted, this doesn't qualify for all the "little people" in the
world, but it sure does make me happy.  ;)

Jon
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
From: rsm@world.std.com (Robert Marlan)
Subject: Re: Think Ref 2.0
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1993 15:59:21 GMT

93Jan10.105211.527@sics.se>

ollef@sics.se (Olle Furberg) writes:

>In <PHILS.93Jan9225124@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu> phils@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu (Phil Shapiro) writes:

>>Using TE (or some
>>TE replacement) would add memory overhead, slower screen drawing,
>>slower page changes, etc.

>>It was decided that copying all source code text was an adequate
>>solution, given our constraints of memory and speed.

>I think the speed is more important than any sort of extra features; don't
>put any special features into TR 2.0 if it slows things down. I can live
>with the somewhat clumsy copying of the source code if this is the only
>way to do it without making the drawing taking more time.


>  /Olle
when is think reference going to be updated for the 'new' inside macintosh
series.   I know that they are in evolution, but if I upgrade now, will I
again have to upgrade (at additional expense!) in another 6 months....
or is that the idea?  Seems reasonable to add the new module for free to
people have upgraded to 2.0.   Thought everyone.....

Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
From: k044477@hobbes.kzoo.edu (Jamie R. McCarthy)
Subject: Re: Why does BinHex exist?
Organization: Kalamazoo College
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 22:41:49 GMT

bowman@reed.edu (BoBolicious) writes:
>howard@netcom.com (Howard Berkey) writes:
>
>>C.  [BinHex] doesn't seem to do anything
>
>>I claim C because I have had many mac files stored on a UNIX file
>>system for long periods of time, in MacBinary II, with no ill effects.
>>This has proven true on various Suns, 2 RS-6000's, and 2 HP-9000's.
>>It may be that some machines will damage mac files if they aren't
>>binhexed, and thus it would be neccecary in that case.

Yes, in fact, just last week someone found code in the Windows NT
installer that searches your hard drive for MacBinary files, and
scrambles any that it finds.  So it's best to BinHex everything you
can, because the installer ignores text files.

Just kidding.

>Mail on the internet, at least in the u.s., can only handle 7-bit bytes.
>Binhex converts 8 bit bytes to 7 bit bytes.  Thus it makes the files slightly
>larger...in principle, 1/8 bigger.

In practice, it's 1/3 bigger.  BinHex goes down to 6 bits;  control
characters don't transfer too well either.  300K raw -> 400K BinHex'd.
-- 
 Jamie McCarthy      Internet: k044477@kzoo.edu      AppleLink: j.mccarthy
 "Estimated number of DOS viruses in existence today:  1,500
  Number of Macintosh-based viruses:  Less than 40
  New DOS viruses discovered in summer '92:  More than 100"   - ComputerWorld
Xref: sparky comp.sys.mac.programmer:20668 comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.tools:1864
From: root@shawn.uucp (Mark Jeghers -- UNIX/X/Motif Contractor)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer,comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.tools,comp.windows.ms.programmer
Subject: Re: Stallman and friends
Date: 5 Jan 93 07:50:21 GMT
Organization: Mark Jeghers -- UNIX/X/Motif Contractor

peirce@outpost.SF-Bay.org (Michael Peirce) writes:


>Also, Stallman doesn't not intend to "GIVE SOFTWARE AWAY FREELY" as
>you say.  That's the little trap he sets.  All GNU software is very
>specifically not placed into the public domain.  This is not being
>picky, it goes straight to the core of what FSF and GNU software is
>all about, that is politics.
            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Please clarify.  What exactly do you believe are the real motives
of FSF and GNU?
From: ksand@apple.com (Kent Sandvik )
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Known problems with MPW's SIOW library???
Date: 7 Jan 93 06:49:30 GMT
Followup-To: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Organization: (Evil Eye Creature from Mars, Inc.)

In article <1993Jan6.065258.17972@gn.ecn.purdue.edu>,
jess@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (Jess M Holle) wrote:
> 
> Are there big, known problems with MPW's SIOW library?  I know
> I asked this a year or two ago (shortly after the SIOW library
> came out.  I just seem to have inexplicable problems when I use
> it, though I am not discounting my own errors.

An problem case study would certainly help concerning narrowing
down the problems. I've used SIOW quite a lot for quick hacks 
testing out stuff, and so far I haven't seen anything dramatically
broken.

Kent
-------------------
Kent Sandvik (UUCP: ....!apple!ksand; INTERNET: ksand@apple.com)
DISCLAIMER: Private activities on the Net.		
Predictions: Soon moving to Newton DTS, bye bye.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer