HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Date:         Sat, 12 Dec 92 12:08:28 EST
From:         "Paul J. Bodin" <pjb3@CUNIXB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU>
Subject:      Re: overflow files
Comments: To: Nota Bene List <NOTABENE%TAUNIVM.BITNET@CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

j-p takala writes:

> Tim Moore,
>   after your posting I tried again.  Shelling out to DOS from
> NB4 still does create a file "@NBDTA.TMP" in the directory
> specified in the line "DR=" in NBCUSTOM.SET, which in my case
> is a ramdrive.  I did not check in on a 'real' disk, so I'm free
> to speculate that this feature may depend on whether the overflow
> drive is a fast virtual drive or a slower real thing.

There are methods that a programmer may use to determine which kind of
drive his program is writing to, but NB doesn't seem use any of these
as far as I can tell except to check whether the volume used is
removable (in some cases).  I don't think the type of drive involved
is the determining factor here.

I have done some experimenting with this phenomenon.  Michael at NBI
told me that the new NB creates only one overflow file, no matter how
many editing windows have overflows.  NB does its own housekeeping
internally to keep track of which part of the overflow file belongs to
which edit window.  I have verified this experimentally.  No matter
how many of my windows have overflows there is only one overflow file.

On my system, I have also noted that NB4 creates an @NBDTA.TMP file on
the overflow drive when (and only when) it shells to DOS, and that
this temporary file is created in addition to any overflow file that
may exist.  It is created whether or not an overflow file already
exists, and regardless of the amount of free memory available inside
NB.  On my system it seems always to be the same size--55232 bytes.

One may speculate, then, that this is a temporary file created by NB
that helps it keep track of its own configuration, and perhaps free
some memory.  Since my configuration is pretty much the same all the
time, NB would be saving pretty much the same information all the
time.  If this is the case, then logically something about the
configuration of NB would determine whether it needed to write the
@NBDTA.TMP file--perhaps the size and nature of printer drivers loaded
or some such.

Can anybody suggest another explanation?

___________________________________________________________________________
Paul J. Bodin                         Internet: pjb3@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu
Union Theological Seminary               smail: 435-52nd Street
(718) 439-3549                                  Brooklyn, NY 11220
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Date:         Sat, 19 Dec 92 22:41:37 EST
From:         Dieter Christensen <dclists@WOOF.MUSIC.COLUMBIA.EDU>
Subject:      real words
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene


Deprovement ibn Dick it be - Roy Harris' "retrogradation" would be a
retrogradration from deprovement, indeed. Oh, these Verschlimmbesserers!

After all, where in retrogradation is the element of intended improvement that
only produces degradation? Retroprovement?? No!

It's late.

D. Christensen
aka Shaib Abu Aidah al-Faari
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Date:         Sat, 12 Dec 92 10:23:06 -0600
From:         Kenneth Salzberg <ksalzber@HAMLINE.EDU>
Subject:      xxencoding
Comments: To: NOTABENE@VM.TAU.AC.IL
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

Michael,
	I'm glad you got the encoder to work.  I was motivated by
your success to try again, in spite of the opaque "instructions" that
came with the program.  I finally realized what the syntax of the
command line had to be to get my version (xxdecode.exe) to work:

To encode myfile.bin into a file on disk named myfile.xx, I had to say:

xxdecode -e -f myfile.bin > myfile.xx

Other syntax might have worked, but at least this does the job, and
I can now encode, and decode in both uu and xxcode.

--Ken Salzberg
ksalzber@hamline.edu
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Via:        UK.AC.DURHAM; 14 DEC 92 16:40:42 GMT
Date:         Mon, 14 Dec 92 16:40:55 GMT
From:         M.A.Elass@DURHAM.AC.UK
Subject:      Re: Orbis and sweet disappointment
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

Many thanks to all who led me by the hand through Orbis to copy collected
material to a separate file.  I'll remember you all when I become famous....

Cheers,

Mateen (m.a.elass@uk.ac.durham)
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Date:         Sat, 19 Dec 92 08:55:40 IST
From:         "J-P Takala, University of Helsinki,
              Sociology" <JTAKALA@FINUHA.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: Running XPL programs
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene


Tony,
  I still cannot run xpl-programs by their short name only unless their
location is in the DOS path.  In my NBCUSTOM.SET, there is, loud and clear,
NBIP=C:/NB4/XPL/   (slashes reversed)
and that is where the programs are.  That notwithstanding, 'run pgm.rn'
will not work, unless 'C:/NB4/XPL' is in the DOS path.
This does seem funny, and--if you really can do it without the help of
the DOS path--maybe this is one of those things that are a bit unfinished
in some shipped versions and fixed in others.  I would think that one
of the main ideas of asking for a default directory for XPL-pgms would
be to help NB to find the programs automatically (yes, the menu system
does know how to use the NBIP= line, but that is far too slow for programs
you often use and know by heart).

j-p takala

Tony Woozley wrote:

> You can have your XPL programs in any subdirectory you want and set a
> default path for them.  I have all mine (both for NB4 and for NB3) in a
> subdirectory of NB3, and run them from NB4 just by using the
> filename.  As an example: when in the NB4 subdirectory I want
> to run a progranm called AMPERSAN.RUN, using the full path it would
> be (slashes reversed here): 'run c:/nb/prgrm/ampersan.run'.  But all
> I have to enter is 'run ampersan.run'.  I don't remember how I set
> it up (must have been via one of those long threads through the menu),
> but the result is a line in NBCUSTOM.SET, which reads
> NBIP=C:/NB/PRGRM/
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X-Mailer: Mail User's Shell (7.2.3 5/22/91)
Date:         Sat, 12 Dec 92 16:39:48 -0500
From:         "Marvyn R. Harris" <mrh3b@FARADAY.CLAS.VIRGINIA.EDU>
Subject:      Re: LaserTwin 5.0 & NB
Comments: To: Nota Bene List <NOTABENE%taunivm.BITNET@Virginia.EDU>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

Do you know if Laser Twin 5.0 will reader a non scalable HP
softfont file supplied by the user (i.e., one of his own
creation) and print it on a Toshiba P351?

Roy Harris
X-Mailer: Mail User's Shell (7.2.3 5/22/91)
Date:         Thu, 17 Dec 92 17:35:05 -0500
From:         "Cora A. Diamond" <cad2m@FARADAY.CLAS.VIRGINIA.EDU>
Comments: To: NOTABENE%TAUNIVM.BITNET@Virginia.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

Allan Needell's problem with all those spaces in the left margin of
review files.  They are all put there by your OF setting, whatever it
is, to represent all the white space to the left of each line in
print.  You can prevent that appearing in a Review file by putting in
as the first delta in the original file <<OF0,0>> [angled brackets
there stand for command brackets].  But don't forget to take the delta
out again before printing the file.

Tony Woozley
cad2m@faraday.clas.virginia.edu
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Date:         Fri, 11 Dec 92 15:56:00 CST
From:         LAVENDA@MSUS1.BITNET
Subject:      Re: NB4 and Laserwriter
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

I've had no trouble with NB4 and the NEC 95 at the office or the NEC 990,
which I have at home. Please note that (1) NB4 does not work well with
the emulation switching software provided by NEC (in this, it is not alone;
several programs that I use go directly to the hardware for printing). There-
fore, it is necessary to switch the printer to PS emulation either by using
the menus on the printer or by using EESWITCH, a program provided by NEC.
(2) LINGUA does not support Postscript at the the moment. If you're using
LINGUA fonts--Hebrew, Cyrillic, Greek--they won't print right. (3) You need
to install the Postscript printer from the NB printer menu or the Set-Printer
set of menus. Please note that the PS driver that I'm using is dated 8/4/92.

I hope this helps; you need do nothing more to the printer than switch
emulations. Also, Level 2 is not supported by most software yet, and
if I remember correctly, is really intended to support color and other
extensions.

Rob Lavenda              lavenda@msus1
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Date:         Fri, 18 Dec 92 13:10:32 EST
Comments:     Converted from PROFS to RFC822 format by PUMP V2.2
From:         Allan Needell <NASSH100@SIVM.BITNET>
Subject:      Running xpl programs
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

From: Allan Needell

Ken,

Having just done a lot of playing around with these, if your xpl files are
located in /nb4/xpl (reversed backslash to protect unix systems among us) they
can be run by the ACCESS-XPL-RUN menu sequence by just typing the filename.ext
in the blank. If you want to run a file from the action line, you need to add
the full path to the statement, e.g., "run /nb4/xpl/filename.ext". But they
run no problem. If you give the files the .run extention, they will match the
default mask "dir *.run" used by the xpl menu screen.

Allan Needell
National Air & Space Museum
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC 20560  (BITNET: NASSH100@SIVM)
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Date:         Tue, 15 Dec 92 19:25:50 EST
From:         J.BERG@ACAD.SUFFOLK.EDU
Subject:      re: Panasonic 1124 annoyance with NB4
Comments: To: Nota Bene List <NOTABENE@taunivm.tau.ac.il>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

I don't have answers to Bill TeBrake's problem with the Panasonic 1124.
I use one at home, but am still using NB3.1 there.  At the office,
where I use NB 4 and an HP-IIP, which I reach through my university's
network using a program called PCX, I have been having a similar
problem--except that the blank sheet does not get ejected every
time and it often is not quite blank, but has a tiny black triangle
printed near the top left corner.
  It happens particularly often (but not always) when I print an
envelope with F1-Alt P-E-4.  The blank sheet will eject by itself;
then the HP will wait for a manual feed command (as it is supposed
to do) before printing the envelope correctly.  Sometimes the
envelope, too, will bear a small black triangle.
  Others in my department--who use WP--sometimes experience the same
problem, but it has been my impression that this has only happened
after it has first happened to me.  The problem began the same time
that I installed NB 4--although I have not yet tried to print envelopes
with NB 3.1, in order to see if I can replicate it.
  I have no idea why this is, but it may have something in common
with Bill's problem.

John Berg
j.berg@acad.suffolk.edu
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Date:         Sun, 13 Dec 92 21:08:19 EST
Comments:     Converted from PROFS to RFC822 format by PUMP V2.2
From:         Allan Needell <NASSH100@SIVM.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: an xxdecode trick
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

From: Allan Needell

Paul,

I did mean following. The extra spaces appear at the beginning of each line,
not the end. To remove them and make the downloaded email file suitable for
xxdecoding, I copy a carriage return character and the following space (which
is on the next screen line) to the command line. I get a double ascii combo
(ascii 10 and a music symbol or some such) and a space. After the space I
insert a separator and copy another cr combo and a separator without the
space. I realize this is probably all unecessary and simply removing the
spaces will suffice. But I tried that once and it didn't seem to work, while
this longer procedure always does.

When I execute the change routine, the whole xxcode block moves one space to
the left (i.e. to the margin). I store the file, shell to dos and run uudecode
on the file (which I have given the .xxe extension).

I will send for the uuencode upgrade. I doubt it will work on my downloaded
xxencoded email files, however, without this editing. I'll let you know if I
am wrong.

Allan Needell
National Air & Space Museum
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC 20560  (BITNET: NASSH100@SIVM)
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Date:         Fri, 18 Dec 92 19:00:36 EST
From:         Dieter Christensen <dclists@WOOF.MUSIC.COLUMBIA.EDU>
Subject:      Re: deprovements
Comments: To: MLO%KSUVM.BITNET@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu
Comments: cc: dc@woof.music.columbia.edu, notabene@taunivm.BITNET
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

BUT - deprovement is a very REAL word now - we all know what it means!
There is even a German equivalent - of long standing, not in the
standard dictionary either, but with just the same feel:
VERSCHLIMMBESSERUNG.
OK, it's not quite as elegant as deprovement  .....

Dieter Christensen
Columbia U.
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene
From: GOCH000 <GOCH@UNB.CA>
Subject: hardening counters
Organization: The University of New Brunswick
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 20:47:16 GMT

I am a XyWrite/Signature user. I *believe* XPL is the same for my
programs as NB. I have seen an XPL program called "hardcode.pgm" from
XyQuest. Its description begins: "This program will 'hard code' counters
and their associated Define Counters and References to Counters
commands, while retaining all other formatting commands..." I *think*
it was on the XyQuest BBS, but my subscription has expired, and my
copy of Hardcode.pgm is non-functional (It has a lot of ASCII 191's
and 193's and a few other oddities that probably don't belong.) The
length of the file is something close to 9K. If anyone has access
to XyQuest, you might check it out. Apparently we're all in this
together now!

Myron

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Date:         Tue, 15 Dec 92 11:57:04 EST
Comments:     Converted from PROFS to RFC822 format by PUMP V2.2
From:         Allan Needell <NASSH100@SIVM.BITNET>
Subject:      xpl/NB4 problems + email fix
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

From: Allan Needell

Greetings,

List traffic has been a bit slow, so I thought I'd describe something
a bit complicated.

I have been working with a version of Michael Shalev's program to
prepare a file suitable for email from a normally entered nb text
document.  It turns out, at least for me, that the Shalev program
contains a character combination that causes nb4 (even nb4 without
LINGUA) to invoke a complex and  destructive set of conversions.  Most
important, if the file is called to the screen with either ca or cap,
an LA2 delta is inserted at the beginning of the file and all of the
open and close delta characters (double angle brackets) are replaced
by "less/greater than or equal" signs.  Worse, if the file is saved
(in my case with or without the -x switch) the original file is
corrupted and rendered useless.  I suspect the -x switch works only
with LINGUA.

The problem is the way in which Michael chose to remove the MDxx
deltas from the file.  He first saves "MD??" (where ? is a "wild
letter" xpl marker) using the xpl sv function.  Later he executes a
change routine using the xpl pv command, but in such a way as to nest
a delta within a delta (i.e. the sole content of one delta is a pv77
delta. Apparently this construction drives nb4 crazy. (NB3.1 handled it
fine.)

I don't know how general the problem is, perhaps the xpl experts will
look at it.  In the meantime, I have revised Michael Shalev's program
in several ways to make it work with nb4 and the default HPIII laser
printer cartridge I have loaded.  First, inelegantly I admit, I
eliminate mdxx deltas one mode at a time.  Second I replace the use by
Shalev of the "ab" command (which in nb4 calls for a "y" verification
if a file has been altered), with a "st" and "ernv" sequence.  The new
program works for me in nb4.  Before, it would get hung up looking for
the "y" verification.  I assume it will work in LINGUA.  Most
important, it can be called and edited in NB4 to reflect the font
families and pitch/point sizes that come with your normally active
printer table.  (It is simplest to insert monospaced 10 PITCH (not
point) ff/pt combination into the program).  Finally, I have added a
change sequence to remove all triple carriage returns.  Why the program
tends to pile up cr's at the end I do not know.  Rather than figure
it out, I have chosen simply to remove them.

I can provide an xxencoded copy of the revised xpl program privately.

I'd also be interested in comments on the more general problem.  Why
should an LA2 delta appear in files called by NB4 without LINGUA.  A
check with the dos list command shows that the LA2 delta is not there
originally.
|

Allan Needell
National Air & Space Museum
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC 20560  (BITNET: NASSH100@SIVM)
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Date:         Fri, 11 Dec 92 23:22:21 IST
From:         "Michael J." <JASPER@HELIX.MGH.HARVARD.EDU>
Subject: Re: Non-NB question
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

Ken,
I got a hold of the uuencoder from simtel, I think it is called
UUEXE515.ZIP. Seems to work fine.

Michael
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Date:         Sat, 19 Dec 92 10:45:00 CST
From:         Michael Ossar <MLO@KSUVM.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: separators, NB, Orbis
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

On Sat, 19 Dec 92,  J-P Takala, University of Helsinki, writes:
> yes, you can spell-check Finnish.  Its been possible for a number
> of years now, and required some hard theoretical linguistic work
> which could be embodied in computer algorithms.  I've been told that
> the group who made this (mainly Finns) have been able to apply the
> general ideas also to other inflective languages.  I've used a

I don't know if Finnish presents the same difficulties to spell checkers that
German does (chief among them the propensity for combining existing words to
form new, perfectly valid and widely-used compound nouns, which, however, are
often not found in dictionaries), but if it does, I very much hope that the
folks who worked out the algorithms for Finnish will try to apply them to
German and market it commercially.  The German spell checker that Microlytics
developed for NB is not quite useless, but nearly so because it doesn't handle
compound nouns efficiently.  If the Finnish solution could be applied to
German too, it could be a huge commercial success, given the size of the
market.   Maybe the idea could be licensed to Microlytics.
                                         Michael Ossar
                                         Kansas State University
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Original_To:  JNET%"NOTABENE@TAUNIVM"
Date:         Mon, 14 Dec 92 13:41:00 MDT
From:         DIECKER@UNMB.BITNET
Subject:      @NBDTA.TMP
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

I seem to recall that Michael at NBI mentioned to me that the @NBDTA.TMP
file is NB's way of saving its screen settings when one shells out to DOS
or when one uses the Ctrl+Alt+Esc sequence to clear NB's settings
preparatory to calling up a TSR.

Jimmy Diecker
Latin American Institute
University of New Mexico-Albuquerque
INTERNET:  DIECKER@BOOTES.UNM.EDU
BITNET: DIECKER@UNMB
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Date:         Fri, 11 Dec 92 14:42:55 -0500
From:         Ian C Jarvie <icj@NEXUS.YORKU.CA>
Subject:      Deskjet
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

In NB 3 there were two printer files for the original Deskjet, an NLQ
file and a Draft file.  NB 4 seems only to have a Deskjet orig. file,
which prints NLQ (unless you tamper with the printer switch), and the
other printer files for Deskjet are for the 500 or for fonts and
cartridges.  Is there no way in NB4 to get the programme to control
the NLQ/Draft choice?




--
icj
(I.C. Jarvie, Dept. of Philosophy, York University, Toronto)
<icj@nexus.yorku.ca>
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Date:         Sun, 13 Dec 92 11:24:44 EST
Comments:     Converted from PROFS to RFC822 format by PUMP V2.2
From:         Allan Needell <NASSH100@SIVM.BITNET>
Subject:      an xxdecode trick
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

From: Allan Needell

For those who have been frustrated trying to decode an xxencoded file
transmitted in an email message, perhaps my experience will be helpful.

Several times I have tried to decode downloaded xxencoded files only to get
the dreaded "invalid character in line x" message. I'm familiar with that from
uuencoded email messages, which I cannot decode because my system maps both
right and left handed square brackets to the same | (vertical hyphens)
character. But xxencoding uses only lower ascii characters and they are mapped
correctly, hence the frustration. What I found out awhile ago and just
reminded myself, is that my system (or something else) introduces an extra
space following each carriage return on my downloaded email files. The space
is the above mentioned "invalid character.

For me to xxdecode an email message (I don't know if Ken or others have the
same experience) I must globally delete the spaces following carriage returns
in the downloaded files. Once done, the -x switch of the uudecode program
(actually, if the file ends in the xxe extension the -x switch is invoked
automatically) works every time.

I hope someone finds this trick useful.

Allan Needell
National Air & Space Museum
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC 20560  (BITNET: NASSH100@SIVM)
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Date:         Sat, 12 Dec 92 10:35:36 IST
From:         "J-P Takala, University of Helsinki,
              Sociology" <JTAKALA@FINUHA.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: AUT0-REPLACE FREEZE-UP
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene


I haven't heard of a fix, but someone had heard NBI admit that the
problem (maybe feature from now on) does exist.  In my case, the
max length for the replacement is 42 characters, but there were
reports of slightly shorter strings, too.  Furthermore, a CR anywhere
in the string was reported to hang the computer as well, and I recall
that my experience was the same.

I used long replacements mainly in letterheads and such. So my "fix" was
to create more boilerplates for such needs.  They don't work as fast
but I do save some memory as well, and even with 3.x any one actual
letterhead had to be combined from several auto-repls.  So life is
bearable.

However, when this problem was first brought up, there were reports that
the replacement string length was the same as before.  Was that from
people using Betas, I cannot recall.  Nonetheless, maybe NBI will
find a fix for this, but I wouldn't count on it coming up very soon.

j-p takala
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Date:         Fri, 18 Dec 92 02:22:55 IST
From:         G9026163@SSCVAX.CIS.MCMASTER.CA
Subject:      Re: NB4 Deprovements
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

> Why can't your wife buy another computer?  Should wives be
> dependent on the whims of their husbands?
> Itamar E-Z
> (himself a husband)

Funny you should mention that.  I can't, for the life of me, get my wife
to use my generic IBM clone, despite her complaints that mine has all the
gadgets, and all she has is an antiquated Apple IIGS with 512K.  Should
I be silently thankful?


Paul Caron                              G9026163CIS.McMaster.CA
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ont.
CANADA
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