HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: pdh@netcom.com (Phil Howard )
Subject: Re: Is findfirst/findnext deterministic? (same order each time)?
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1993 07:18:46 GMT

raymond@kronos.arc.nasa.gov (Eric A. Raymond) writes:

>Are the DOS findfirst/findnext directory functions deterministic.
>That is, will they report the files in the same order for a given
>disk?

Not unless the files are on there in exactly the same order.  You get
the files in the order they are in the directory data blocks themselves.
I am working on a program where I want the files in a more deterministic
way, and I sort them myself.
-- 
/************************************************************************\
| Phil Howard,  pdh@netcom.com,  KA9WGN    Spell protection?  "1(911)A1" |
| "It's not broken... it's just functionally challenged" --Phil and Pete |
\************************************************************************/
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From: zjtp04@trc.amoco.com (John T. Penn)
Subject: Re: Setting up serial ports
Originator: zjtp04@dolomite
Organization: Amoco Production Company, Tulsa Research
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 14:13:22 GMT


In article <1992Dec30.200952.5153@panther.mot.com>, ronf@panther3.panther.mot.com (Ron Feigen) writes:
> Being my first post, I hope this is the appropriate newgroup.
> 
> I am a Unix/C/Assembler type that finds himself in the position of having to
> write/port an app. on an IBM PC.  One of the functions needed is to establish
> carrier on a modem.  My problem?  How do I setup the com?: port using 'C'.
> Asking the user to use the DOS mode command would be sort of kludgy.
> Can anybody give some leads?  Books?  Examples?
> 
> Anyhelp would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance, 
> -- 
> 
> >
> Ron Feigen
> ronf@panther.mot.com


There are numerous ways of initializing a serial port with 'C'. My standard
method is to directly write to the UART addresses. A more commonly used method
is to use a library function such as `_bios_serialcom`. Most `C` compilers for
DOS have this function or one that is similar. If you wish to write directly
to the port addresses, the proper function to use would be 'outp','outport`,
`outportb', etc., again depending on the compiler you are using.
Good Hunting...

John
From: withrow@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov (Jim Withrow)
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: NonDos
Date: 21 Dec 92 20:01:08 GMT
Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center, Power Systems Facility

In article <rol-211292131758@90.222.1.80> rol@grasp1.univ-lyon1.fr (Paul Rolland) writes:
>From: rol@grasp1.univ-lyon1.fr (Paul Rolland)
>Subject: Re: NonDos
>Date: 21 Dec 92 12:19:04 GMT
>In article <18240@mindlink.bc.ca>, Robert_LaCasse@mindlink.bc.ca (Robert
>LaCasse) wrote:
>> 
>> I have discovered in my chkdsk/f.com a reply stating--PROBABLE NON DOS DISK--
>> every time I on my Hard c: drive the boot sector seems to be working just
>> fine in booting up but I think that my partition section must be snafued
>> since the command- PROBABLE NON-DOS DISK- is always displayed on chkdsk/f.
>> I realize that this is usally bad news, but nothing apparently seems to be
>> wrong with the general operation of the unit. I tried to sys c: from a floppy
>> but the boot is alright. It was suggested that I format, but who wants to do
>> that? Are there any other metods of fixing this problem;
>
>Hello,
>
>If my memory is good (and i think it is), this message appears when chkdsk 
>doesn't find a DOS signature at the beginning of the FAT. In other words,
>the
>first byte of your FAT on the C: disk isnot 0xF8.
>This is a bad news. It seems to prove that your FAT may be wrong...
>
>> incidentally I put my
>> pkunzip files in the DOS directory for faster access, could that be the
>> problem?
>
>No, i don't think pkunzip could cause such a problem, even if you are using
>beta release. May be a virus... Why don't you run your favorite virus
>checker?
>
>Paul Rolland
>
>A bug can be changed to a feature by documenting it. Developpers know !

I have seen this problem a few times before.  It usually showed up when the 
disks were larger than 32Mb and some other non dos method of 
partitioning and formatting were used.

Try using norton utilities to repair it (Norton Disk Doctor) or you may be 
using an old version of dos which you may want to upgrade.

Jim Withrow
Xref: sparky alt.msdos.programmer:3040 comp.os.msdos.programmer:11669 comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer:697 comp.lang.c++:18496 comp.lang.c:18964
From: furballs@sequent.com (Paul Penrod)
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer,comp.os.msdos.programmer,comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Newbie Wants Advice on C-Programming
Date: 29 Dec 92 08:42:28 GMT
Article-I.D.: sequent.1992Dec29.084228.2717
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Inc.

In article <C003EI.H3u@news.udel.edu> bew@brahms.udel.edu (Ben Williams) writes:
>In article <1992Dec24.230420.4243@sequent.com> furballs@sequent.com (Paul Penrod) writes (among other things in an excellant article):
>
>;                                         PASCAL was designed solely
>; for the purpose of teaching structured programming as espoused by
>; Tom DeMarco, Richard West, et al. C was written in 1969 for the
>; express purpose of providing a general purpose Operating Systems
>; language that was portable, (spelled UNIX).
>; 
>
>  Yes, isn't it interesting that two of the most popular general purpose
>languages for writing applications software were not designed to be used to
>write application software.  Has anyone written a general purpose language
>to do what I would think is the most common use of computer programming -
>to write application programs?  And if this/these exist, what are they and
>how do you rate them?  [just curious]
>
>Ben.
>

C was designed to write portable operating systems code. This means
that OS code is being treated like an app. A novel concept of the
time, but demanded today. An OS is an application in the sense that
it is the applications that creates a hospitable environment for
child processes (what are generally described as application
programs) to run underneath it. What better language to write an
application in than the language the OS was created with.

Now if you want languages written for the express purpose of
problem solving, ie: applications, I give you:

FORTRAN, COBOL, APL, PROLOG, LISP, DBASE and other xBASE clones,
PL/1, RPG and all it's mutant variants, etc. The list goes on. I
have purposely excluded BASIC, and PASCAL because they were
conceived to teach programming in acedamia. We've already discussed
C, and C++ is another watershed of religious furvor that is best
left undiscussed at the moment.


-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
            Bureaucracy: noun, plural - Bureaucracies.
         The process of turning energy into solid waste.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer
From: klosp@rimail.interlan.com (Patrick Klos)
Subject: ******** WANTED: Programmer's Guide to IDE ********
Keywords: IDE
Organization: Klos Technologies, Inc. (603) 424-0138
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 14:01:18 GMT


Does anyone have (or know where I can get) more information on the IDE
interface??  I'm looking for a definition of functions that are available
through the IDE interface, and how to access them.  Specifically, I'm sure
there's a function that will return the ACTUAL drive parameters for the
attached drive (not what the BIOS might *think* the parameters are).  I
expect there are other not-too-well-known features and functions that the
IDE interface supports as well.

Sincerely,

Patrick Klos
========================================================================
        Patrick Klos                 Internet: klosp@rimail.interlan.com
        Klos Technologies, Inc.      Compuserve: 71521,145
        (603) 424-0138
========================All opinions are my own!========================
From: captain@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Bran Muffin)
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer
Subject: Which language/compiler?
Summary: newbie question
Date: 4 Jan 93 01:11:13 GMT
Organization: UT Austin Computation Center, Unix Services

It seems that everyone thinks that newbies should start with Pascal, but
WHICH Pascal to start with?  I have Turbo Pascal V3.0.  Should I blow $130
for the latest version of Turbo for DOS, what about Turbo for Windows, or
some other Pascal?  It's really hard to know the differences when you're
just starting out.


-- 
|The opinions expressed above are merely the result of chaotic synapse firings|
|Electrics and electronics work on smoke. If you let the smoke       -   O    |
|out, they stop working.   --   Fight AIDS.  Play safe.                |      |
|captain@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu  (Brian Murfin)  DoD# 0690  nt650gt     \_^___/   |

Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer
From: furballs@sequent.com (Paul Penrod)
Subject: Re: Newbie Wants Advice on C-Programming
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Inc.
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 92 01:11:28 GMT

In article <1992Dec29.231527.17834@mksol.dseg.ti.com> mccall@mksol.dseg.ti.com (fred j mccall 575-3539) writes:
>In <1992Dec29.195705.2444@sequent.com> furballs@sequent.com (Paul Penrod) writes:
>
>>In article <1992Dec29.150728.18195@ra.msstate.edu> chambles@whale.st.usm.edu (John William Chambless) writes:
>>>
>>>When you mention a "general purpose" language designed by hundreds 
>>>of programmers, I think of ADA .... and my reaction is:
>>>
>>>AAAAAAARrrrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhh!
>>>
>>>Thank you very much, but no, C is just fine for me.
>>>Really.
>
>>ADA: Another Dumb Adaptation...
>
>If we're happy with C (I'm happier with C++, personally), why waste
>time and bandwidth bashing someone else's choice?  There are people
>who love Ada; let them use it.  What's the big deal?
>

No big deal Fred, just couldn't resist :):)

I guess it's back to OS2 and WINDOWS advocacy for more B.S.
entertainment. He's due back soon.... :)


-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
            Bureaucracy: noun, plural - Bureaucracies.
         The process of turning energy into solid waste.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Xref: sparky alt.msdos.programmer:3007 comp.os.msdos.programmer:11610 comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer:672
From: gabe@msgpad.uucp (Gabe Helou)
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer,comp.os.msdos.programmer,comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer,comp.la
Subject: Re: Newbie Wants Advice on C-Programming
Date: 24 Dec 92 14:38:49 GMT
Organization: The Message Pad

noring@netcom.com (Jon Noring) writes:

> 2) We want to do most of our programming on our 386-33 PC running MSDOS 5.0.
>    What C-type compilers exist for the PC?  Which ones are better?  How much
>    do they cost and where can one get them at a discount?
> [..]
> 4) What books would you recommend in learning C (my wife might want to take
>    classes - I do better teaching myself)?  

For $19.95, I find it hard to beat Power C from Mix Software.  The manual that
comes with this compiler has a good tutorial; I found it useful when I first
set out to learn C.  It is not the most powerful compiler I've used, but it's
a good general purpose one and I've used it to write a number of utilities.

You can contact Mix at:

                    Mix Software, 
                    1132 Commerce Drive, 
                    Richardson, TX 75081
                    
                    Phone  1-800-333-0330
From: ted@helios.UCSC.EDU (Ted Cantrall)
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: Two Joystick Port prob
Date: 22 Dec 92 15:34:58 GMT
Organization: UCO/Lick Observatory
NNTP-Posting-Host: helios.ucsc.edu

Here is part of a post I snagged from the net a while back.

In article <724450360.15021@minster.york.ac.uk> wgt-a@minster.york.ac.uk writes:
>Help! Does anyone know what value variable-resistors
>are required for the joysick port on an IBM PC?

100K

>And, as an aside, can anyone give a good reason why
>they used open ended resistors, necessitating (SP?)
>particular value resistors, when a potentiometer
>setup (as in the good ol' BBC) would have
>been MUCH more sensible?

Because it's the timing resistor of a circuit whose pulse width can be
counted.  

Here are the details of the joystick connection.

You can attach two joysticks to the controller.  Each joystick follows
this wiring diagram:

                   +------------------ 1,9 +5VDC
                   |                   
                   +---/\/\/\-- 0-100K
                   |     ^
                   |     |    X-coord
                   |     +------------ 3,11 Timer
                   |                   
                   +---/\/\/\-- 0-100K
                           ^
                           |  Y-coord
                           +---------- 6,13 Timer

                   +------------------ 2,10 One-Shots
                 | o  #1 Button
                 | o
                   +------------------ 4,12 GND

                   +------------------ 7,14 One-Shots
                 | o  #2 Button
                 | o
                   +------------------ 4,12 GND

Pins 1-7 Are for Joystick A, pins 9-14 are for joystick B.  You can also
use paddles, having only one 0-100K pot and one button per controller. 
The data show up in the same place but are named differently.  Here's a
chart of the the byte at 201H:

Bit     |  7  |  6  |  5  |  4  |  3  |  2  |  1  |  0  |
Joystick|B-#2 |B-#1 |A-#2 |A-#1 | B-Y | B-X | A-Y | A-X |
Paddle  |  D  |  C  |  B  |  A  |  D  |  C  |  B  |  A  |
Pin     | 14  | 10  |  7  |  2  | 13  | 11  |  6  |  3  |
Device  |<-------Buttons------->|<------Resistors------>|

----------------------------Univ Calif @ Santa Cruz----------------------------
ted@helios.ucsc.edu |"He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the
W (408)459-2110     |Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness
H (408)423-2444     |and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8 (RSV)
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer,comp.os.msdos.programmer,comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.c
From: pauljo@microsoft.com (Paul Johns)
Subject: Re: Newbie Wants Advice on C-Programming
Date: 29 Dec 92 03:50:13 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Corp.
Distribution: usa

It's up to you whether you learn C or C++ first.
Anything you learn in C will apply to C++, so you
won't hurt yourself by learning C first.

A lot would depend on the book you choose.  Many
C++ books assume you know C.

**BUT**, whatever you do, ALWAYS use a C++ compiler,
even if you're programming in C.  C++ has much stronger
type-checking than C does, and it will catch many errors
that would cause your system to crash.  You may even find
bugs in your book's examples!

Because of this type-checking, C++ is an appropriate
language for beginning computer science students, and
it's used that way at some universities.  C is much more
difficult as a first language.

If you do C++, **DON'T** try to create your own classes,
particularly classes with dynamic data, until you understand
C pointers well.

But it's OK to use someone else's class libraries (such as
for strings or complex numbers or whatever).  And it's OK 
to do very simple classes.

Using someone else's well-designed classes is some of the
easiest programming you can do; writing your own non-
trivial classes is some of the hardest programming you can
do.

Finally, while it's true that neither C nor C++ have an
exponentiation operator, the standard library DOES come
with a function that does exponentiation.  While it makes
the syntax look a little funny, you can write anything you
can write in FORTRAN given the pow() function and a complex
number class.

In addition to the books already mentioned, 
I like the Waite Groups C Primer Plus and C++ Primer Plus
books.  I tried to use K & R once for a community college
class and changed texts the very next term.  The examples
are fabulous in K & R, but the text is overly terse for
many people.

The tutorials that come with the Microsoft compiler are,
IMHO, excellent.  BTW, it's MUCH  easier to use it under 
Windows than under DOS and the performance is really
quite good.

// Paul Johns
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer,comp.os.msdos.programmer,comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.c
From: erc@netcom.com (Eric Smith)
Subject: Re: Newbie Wants Advice on C-Programming
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 12:03:44 GMT

In article <C003EI.H3u@news.udel.edu> bew@brahms.udel.edu (Ben Williams) writes:
>  Yes, isn't it interesting that two of the most popular general purpose
>languages for writing applications software were not designed to be used to
>write application software.  Has anyone written a general purpose language
>to do what I would think is the most common use of computer programming -
>to write application programs?  And if this/these exist, what are they and
>how do you rate them?  [just curious]


By general purpose, you mean to exclude SQL, APL, Yacc, Awk, etc., right?

When programmers invent new programming languages to write application
programs, the application programs they have in mind are usually those
they have done in the past and/or those they are doing at the time.  For
that reason, a really general purpose language has to be invented by
hundreds of programmers.  That means it has to evolve over a number of
years before it will be really general.  Thus C++ etc.
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer,comp.os.msdos.programmer,comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.c
From: billr@halcyon.com (Bill Ruediger)
Subject: Re: Setting up serial ports
Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc. (206) 455-3505
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 17:55:24 GMT

ronf@panther3.panther.mot.com (Ron Feigen) writes:

>Being my first post, I hope this is the appropriate newgroup.

>I am a Unix/C/Assembler type that finds himself in the position of having to
>write/port an app. on an IBM PC.  One of the functions needed is to establish
>carrier on a modem.  My problem?  How do I setup the com?: port using 'C'.
>Asking the user to use the DOS mode command would be sort of kludgy.
>Can anybody give some leads?  Books?  Examples?

>Anyhelp would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!


>Thanks in advance,



I suggest using an already made library.  I user ENCOM, from ENQUE
software.  I belive the file is ENCOM100.ZIP in the SIMTEL archives.  It
helps recognise special chips...  
I found it easy to use.  If all you need is a small model library, the
SIMTEL file should do... If you need source, the phone number for the
author is included, and I think it is about $50.00 or so.  I called for
tech. support, and they were very helpful.
From: bjkramer@remus.rutgers.edu (Brian Kramer)
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer
Subject: Serial Communications
Date: 26 Dec 92 04:51:45 GMT
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.


Does anyone know of a good book on serial communications using pascal
& or ASM?  I need bothe INT 14 and UART support.
-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Kramer-Computer Science & Mathematics-Rutgers University           
bjkramer@remus.rutgers.edu - SySop:NJ Computer Connection BBS (609)895-0398
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From: fischer@iesd.auc.dk (Lars Peter Fischer)
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer,comp.os.msdos.programmer,comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Newbie Wants Advice on C-Programming
Date: 30 Dec 92 21:35:32 GMT
	<1992Dec24.172333.7339@grebyn.com> <1hdpluINN1lv@agate.berkeley.edu>
	<1992Dec25.070024.15672@grebyn.com>
Organization: Mathematics and Computer Science, Aalborg University


>>>>> "Michael" == Michael Malak (malak@grebyn.com)

Michael>    1) It has structured syntactic blocks for constants, types and
Michael>       variables.

Which is not much of an advantage. Look at all the pain Knuth has gone
through to work around it.

Michael>    2) It has nested procedures.

Sound like a neat idea but isn't a big deal in practice. Modules in
much better. If you keep your modules (files in C) small, and keep
functions local (static) you rarely need nested procedures. Note that
Wirth is abandoning the idea, too.

Michael>    3) Most importantly, the good structured programming professors
Michael>       wouldn't be caught dead teaching C (biggotry in my opinion).

A professor that believes the notion of structured programming is tied
to a specific language should be teaching gardening instead.

/Lars
--
Lars Fischer, fischer@iesd.auc.dk | It takes an uncommon mind to think of
CS Dept., Aalborg Univ., DENMARK. | these things.  -- Calvin
Xref: sparky alt.msdos.programmer:3058 comp.os.msdos.programmer:11720 comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer:716 comp.lang.c++:18599 comp.lang.c:19085
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer,comp.os.msdos.programmer,comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Setting up serial ports
From: rudy@witt.almanac.bc.ca (Rudy Witt)
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 17:32:34 GMT
Organization: Merit Technologies Ltd.

In article <1992Dec30.200952.5153@panther.mot.com> ronf@panther3.panther.mot.com (Ron Feigen) writes:
>Being my first post, I hope this is the appropriate newgroup.
>
>I am a Unix/C/Assembler type that finds himself in the position of having to
>write/port an app. on an IBM PC.  One of the functions needed is to establish
>carrier on a modem.  My problem?  How do I setup the com?: port using 'C'.
>Asking the user to use the DOS mode command would be sort of kludgy.
>Can anybody give some leads?  Books?  Examples?
>
>Anyhelp would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!
>
>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>
>
>
>-- 
>
>>
>Ron Feigen
>ronf@panther.mot.com


I found a great book called:

Serial Communications in C and C++
written by Mark Goodwin
published by MIS:Press


good luck!
-- 
Rudy Witt                          Internet:  rudy@witt.almanac.bc.ca
Merit Technologies Ltd.               Voice:  604-245-4746
Ladysmith, BC.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer,comp.os.msdos.programmer,comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.c
From: mat@mole-end.matawan.nj.us
Subject: Re: Newbie Wants Advice on C-Programming
Summary: Portability was a nice side-effect
Organization: :
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 17:54:40 GMT

In article <C003EI.H3u@news.udel.edu>, bew@brahms.udel.edu (Ben Williams) writes:
> In article <1992Dec24.230420.4243@sequent.com> furballs@sequent.com (Paul Penrod) writes (among other things in an excellant article):
> 
> ;                                         PASCAL was designed solely
> ; for the purpose of teaching structured programming as espoused by
> ; Tom DeMarco, Richard West, et al. C was written in 1969 for the
> ; express purpose of providing a general purpose Operating Systems
> ; language that was portable, (spelled UNIX).

>   Yes, isn't it interesting that two of the most popular general purpose
> languages for writing applications software were not designed to be used to
> write application software. ...

I'm afraid that the original statement about C is wrong, and the followup
at least partly so.  I can go digging up quotes out of the July-August '78
BSTJ if you insist, but C was written `so that the author and his colleagues
would not have to program in assembler' and the portability of the operating
system was an un-looked-for benefit.  And ``it suffices to say that UNIX
offers many interesting programs, from compiler-compilers to equation
typesetters, that would not exist had their authors had to program in
assembler.''  (From memory, so it's probably a slight misquote.)

Pascal was designed for teaching; for reasons which I've belabored often
enough, it's not really suitable for that either.
-- 
 (This man's opinions are his own.)
 From mole-end				Mark Terribile

 mat@mole-end.matawan.nj.us, Somewhere in Matawan, NJ
Xref: sparky alt.msdos.programmer:2998 comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.tools:1811 comp.os.msdos.programmer:11589 comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d:4270