HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jadams@ux2.cso.uiuc.edu (Jeffrey J. Adams - Invoice)
Subject: "Other" page sizes
Keywords: postscript,Layout
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 20:06:36 GMT

     I am having problems with generating "Other" page sizes from the Page
Layout Panel of a custom application I have written on the NeXT.
    For example, I am trying to create a 20.5" x 7" document page.  The
postscript that is generated looks okay but the page that is produced, when
either viewed with Previewer or when I sent it off to a service bureau and
printed it on a Linotronic 300, is clipped to 8.5 x 11 inches to the upper left
of the document.  This occurs for any "Other" page size document.
    The drawing rect that the view receives to draw in is the entire 20.5" x 7"
and the following line is even in the postscript produced:

%%PageBoundingBox: 0 0 1476 504

     When I print my document with the page style set to A3, the doument page
produced is correctly shown as the expected 11.69" X 16.52".  So all of the
given page sizes work but the "Other" page sizes are all clipped to 8.5" X 11".
Am I supposed to be including more postscript prologue info to allow the custom
page size?
     When you compare the postscript of the same document printed as A3 and as
"Other" (20.5" X 7") the following lines are essentially different:

Document printed as A3
---------------------
.
%%DocumentPaperSizes:A3
%%Orientation: Landscape
.
%%PageBoundingBox: 0 0 1190 842
%%PaperSize: A3

Document printed as "Other" (20.5" X 7")
---------------------
.
(no document paper size specification)
%%Orientation: Landscape
.
%%PageBoundingBox: 0 0 1476 504
%%Feature: *CustomPaperSize 504.000000 1476.000000

     This "%%Feature" line seems to state what I want but it seems to be
ignored.  Also, why would having a custom page size be all that special for
Postscript that it has to be a "feature"?

Can anyone explain what I haven't set up correctly yet?



Jeffrey Adams:     jadams@ux2.cso.uiuc.edu  (Non-NeXT mail)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.programmer
From: andrew@cubetech.com (Andrew Loewenstern)
Subject: Re: Virtual memory devours my disk
Reply-To: andrew@cubetech.com
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 19:16:16 GMT

In article <274@moene.UUCP> toon@moene.uucp (Toon Moene) writes:
>  Well, actually, running 'shutdown -r now' from a suitably privileged  
>  account (root :-) will fix it; no need to pull the cord :-}
>  Or you could try to kill the window server (which most likely is the  
>  culprit - having grabbed the 'farthest' page in the swapfile).

If the machine is really hosed you won't be able to do anything short of  
pulling the cord.  I've only seen this happen *once*...  Usually you get the  
friendly panic prompt that dumps you into the ROM monitor when you type  
'cont'...  :-)


andrew
-- 
andrew@cubetech.com
Andrew Loewenstern            |  "listen: there's a hell of a good universe
Cube Technologies, Inc.       |   next door; let's go." --- e.e. cummings
From: toon@moene.uucp (Toon Moene)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.programmer
Subject: Re: Virtual memory devours my disk
Date: 11 Apr 92 22:07:35 GMT

In article <1992Apr9.013043.13697@gagetalker.com> scotty@gagetalker.com  
(Scott Turner) writes:

[ ... Comparison with SPARCs deleted ... ]

> Because the NeXT doesn't work the swapfile like a "normal" swap 
> partition when hiwat is set. On my slab programs will start dying when 
> hiwat is hit, as they should. BUT they start dying long before the 
> swapfile is really exhausted, ie swapfile hits hiwat but there is STILL 
> ROOM IN THE SWAPFILE! Worse, if I hit it the wrong way, my slab turns 
> into a boat anchor and must be recovered via pulling the power cord.

Well, actually, running 'shutdown -r now' from a suitably privileged  
account (root :-) will fix it; no need to pull the cord :-}
Or you could try to kill the window server (which most likely is the  
culprit - having grabbed the 'farthest' page in the swapfile).

> Hey NeXT, do me, and my local NeXT dealer, a favor and FIX THIS!!!

And if you (NeXT) don't want to, then at least let someone else fix it. (I  
thought these guys had an OS departement or what ...)

> I mean I'm using a DOS box to review images processed on my slab because
> viewing them on my slab is too damaging to the horsepower of my slab. 
> And if I had a color slab I would STILL be using the DOS box because of 
> this swapfile mess. So why buy a color NeXT?

You must be really desperate 'using' a DOS box. I have to 'use' one at  
work (as a noisy, energy-hungry and inadequate vt200 terminal). See the  
last line of my signature.

--
Toon Moene (toon@moene.uucp)
Kantershof 269, 1104 GN  Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tel.: + 31 20 6982029; Fax: + 31 20 6003411
No Disclaimers; a NeXT at home protects against this occupational hazard.
From: rhoadse@prism.CS.ORST.EDU (E. Robert Rhoads)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.programmer
Subject: Manipulating Sound Samples
Date: 14 Apr 92 08:14:19 GMT
Organization: Oregon State University, Computer Science Dept.

After studying the "Sound, Music, and DSP Reference" I got the
idea of playing a sampled sound file backwards.  I simply reversed
the data that a SNDSoundStruct pointed to after getting its location
with the C function SNDGetDataPointer().  This worked great with
8 bit mu-law samples, but not so great with some of the system
sound files (i.e. Bonk.snd, Funk.snd, etc) which are 16 bit linear
samples, 2 channels.  After playing with the format and order I 
couldn't figure out exactly how the samples are physically represented.

Does anyone know how samples are storedin memory?  What is the best 
way to directly manipulate the sample data?  What is the byte ordering 
for 16 bit samples? etc.

Thank you for any help you can give me.

E. Robert Rhoads
rhoadse@prism.cs.orst.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.programmer
From: andrew@cubetech.com (Andrew Loewenstern)
Subject: Re: violent crashes
Reply-To: andrew@cubetech.com
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 01:43:16 GMT

In article <1992Apr13.232753.25043@ucsu.Colorado.EDU>  
schildba@spot.Colorado.EDU (Wolfgang Schildbach) writes:

>  every once in a while it happens to me that upon executing my code
>  the NeXT just kills *ALL* my processes, logs me out and leaves me
>  with the login screen. My understanding of UNIX is that no matter
>  how nasty a program, it should never infringe on other processes.
>  
>  What could cause these nasty crashes?

That is your Windowserver dying.  You are right about Unix.  When the window  
server dies, it doesn't affect any other processes EXCEPT NeXTstep process like  
Workspace and all your apps since they rely on the Windowserver for everything.   
When the Windowserver dies, it takes all of your NeXTstep apps along with it.   
Anyone logged in over the network won't notice...

Generally it takes some pretty wicked PostScript code or a bug to crash the  
windowserver...


andrew
-- 
andrew@cubetech.com
Andrew Loewenstern            |  "listen: there's a hell of a good universe
Cube Technologies, Inc.       |   next door; let's go." --- e.e. cummings
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.programmer
From: gad@eclipse.its.rpi.edu (Garance A. Drosehn)
Subject: Re: CD-ROM operations
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 22:49:27 GMT

ratlifc@prometheus.stu.rpi.edu (Christian A. Ratliff) writes:
> 
>    I am looking to write a nice interface for my CD-ROM drive to play  
> audio disks. I know that cdplayer and CDPlayer both exist, but I want a  
> lot more functionality than that, and I'm willing to write it. I would  
> like pointers, however, to any docs on how to do CD-ROM operations on the  
> NeXT. I understand that it is SCSI controlled, however, I don't recall  
> there being any SCSI commands like "how many tracks", "what is the length  
> of track n". If the writers of cdplayer and CDPlayer would give me  
> information, I would be most appriciative. (Why should they do all the  
> work? And have all the fun?)

I'd be pretty interested in this information too.  Both Christian and I have  
ideas that we'd like to write up, but we're not quite sure where to start.

--
Garance Alistair Drosehn     =     gad@eclipse.its.rpi.edu
ITS Systems Programmer            (handles NeXT-type mail)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute;           Troy NY    USA
From: wilson@mimsy.umd.edu (Anne Wilson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.programmer
Subject: stdout/stderr and apps fired from workspace mgr
Date: 17 Apr 92 20:50:02 GMT
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742

This seems like a simple question, but I've found nothing about
this in the docs:

How are stdout and stderr set when an app is invoked from the
workspace manager?   Is there any way to recapture that output
and still fire the app from the workspace manager?

Like an earlier poster, I have an application that works fine
from a shell window.  It creates all the necessary interface
objects that I created via IB.  It also displays trace text
to the shell window.  But, firing the app by clicking
on its icon causes it to start then quit without doing anything.
Suggestions are gratefully appreciated.

Anne Wilson
From: jnicolas@image.mit.edu (Julien Nicolas)
Subject: ICA anyone?
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 19:24:45 GMT



Has anyone succeeded in porting the Integrated Chameleon Architecture to
the NeXT? If so, I would be very interested in knowing about it. Here is
an extract of the announcement:

------------------
				 ICA
			     Release 1.3
			     7 April 1992
	   $Id: ANNOUNCE,v 1.3 92/04/07 11:59:42 ware Exp $

We  are pleased  to  announce that a   beta  release of the Integrated
Chameleon   Architecture (ICA) is available  for  public distribution.
The ICA is a toolset for  generating data translators.  In particular,
the  toolset can  be  used  to generate translators   to  and  from  a
constrained subset of instances  of  SGML  Document   Type Definitions
(DTD).

There are several  example translators  included.  The first is a book
DTD and includes specific translators for the LaTeX book documentstyle
and a specific troff macro package.  The second is a bibliographic DTD
and includes specific  translators for BibTeX  and refer bibliographic
database  formats.   Please   note   that the  ICA is  for  developing
translators and not providing translators.

The ICA runs in the Unix environment,  using  the  X Window System for
the basis of the graphical  user interfaces.  Unfortunately, there are
many  variations  on the above   so the following list  fills   in the
details.  The primary development platform is  a Sun4 with SunOS 4.1.1
using   X11R4 from   MIT.  The   primary  window manager  used  during
development is tvtwm.

	Hardware OS		 X11 Release	 Window Manager
	-------------------------------------------------------
	Sun4	 SunOS 4.1.1	 R4,R5		 twm
						 tvtwm
						 mwm
						 olwm
	HP 300	 HPUX 8.0	 R4		 --
	HP 700	 HPUX 8.0	 R4		 --

Other configurations    are supported  on   a best--effort  basis.  We
believe this should work on many platforms however we  do not have the
facilities for testing such platforms.

The   distribution     is   located    on   archive.cis.ohio-state.edu
(128.146.8.52)  in pub/chameleon/ICA-1.2.tar.Z  as   a  compressed tar
file.         The        postscript      documentation     is       in
pub/chameleon/ICAdoc-1.2.tar.Z.  The postscript  is split into several
smaller files.  The manual is 186 printed pages.

A  mailing list,  ica@cis.ohio-state.edu, exists  for  those who would
like to  solicit and exchange ICA  information.  A  list for reporting
bugs has also been established.  Details are given below.

[....]
---------------------------------





Thanks
Julien Nicolas
From: jdoenias@next.com (Josh Doenias)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.programmer
Subject: Re: Pipes, Child Processes and Other Uglies
Date: 8 Apr 92 01:59:09 GMT

In article <1992Apr7.170318.19742@noose.ecn.purdue.edu>  
songer@ei.ecn.purdue.edu (Christopher M Songer) writes:
> 
>      Here's my problem. Common Lisp can respond to commands in its
> own sweet time. I don't want to sit around polling on the file
> descriptor all the time. This would hose the user interface. What
> I want to happen is this:
> 
>      When the OS detects something to be read on the descriptor it
> wakes up a thread (or whatever) and the thread takes care of all my I/O.
> I think maybe the SIGIO signal sort of does this -- but it seems  
awefully
> crufty to me. (Not thread based at all, and who wants to poll ALL the
> possible descriptors.)

What you probably want to do here is to use the DPS function DPSAddFD.  If  
you pass this function a file descriptor, the Application will monitor the  
file descriptor for you.  You will get a callback whenever there is  
activity on the descriptor.
Check out the description of DPSAddFD in DL.

HOWEVER...

It sounds like you may be re-inventing the wheel here.  There is already  
some great example code which does all this grungy stuff for you.
The Subprocess example in /NextDeveloper/Examples is an example of how to  
launch a UNIX subprocess and communicate with it from a NeXTstep app.
It contains a Subprocess object, to which you send the UNIX command to be  
launched.  It handles all the nasty unix stuff for you, including  
asynchronous communication, pty support, etc., etc.

You may want to use this object instead of re-creating it yourself from  
scratch.

-- josh
From: daugher@cs.tamu.edu (Walter C. Daugherity)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.programmer
Subject: IB for Motif?
Keywords: interface Builder, Motif
Date: 13 Apr 92 16:44:24 GMT
Reply-To: daugher@cs.tamu.edu

Is there something akin to Interface Builder which will generate a graohical  
user interface which uses Motif?  Please e-mail me directly if you have any  
information.  Thanks!

Walter C. Daugherity			Internet, NeXTmail: daugher@cs.tamu.edu
Texas A & M University			uucp: uunet!cs.tamu.edu!daugher
College Station, TX 77843-3112		BITNET: DAUGHER@TAMVENUS
	---Not an official document of Texas A&M---
From: cnh5730@calvin.tamu.edu (Charles N. Herrick)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.programmer
Subject: Re: Transferring port access rights
Date: 12 Apr 92 22:08:36 GMT
Organization: Please note: I speak only for myself
In-reply-to: wilson@mimsy.umd.edu's message of 12 Apr 92 21:18:25 GMT

In article <53054@mimsy.umd.edu> wilson@mimsy.umd.edu (Anne Wilson) writes:
   I am puzzled about how to transfer port access rights across tasks.  

[... chomp ...]

   Also, for the NeXT people, perhaps some clearer documentation on this
   topic would be useful.  (Or did I miss it?) (Or maybe this should be
   directed to the Mach people...)
                ^^^^^^^^^^^-------> uh huh :-)

Thank you Anne!!

Oh, Avie ...
--
 <->   My personal opinion, speaking only as myself, an individual :-)   <->
	<->	Not an official document of anyone	<->
	     <-> from: a SUN SPARC1+ w/ SUNos 4.1 <->
 	    Charles N. Herrick <cnh5730@calvin.tamu.edu>
From: ralf@reswi.en.open.de (Ralf E. Stranzenbach)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.programmer
Subject: NeXT-cc bug report
Date: 7 Apr 92 08:48:48 GMT
Organization: News on  RESWI from ENtenhausen.OPEN.DE

Hi,

the following code fragment did _not_ compile properly:

	void some_function (char * s)
	{
		char * d;
		d = strcpy (alloca (strlen (s) + 1), s);
		printf ("%s copied as %s\n", s, d);
	}

There are some problems using "alloca" as part of a functions  
parameter list.

	- ralf

--
Ralf E.Stranzenbach  -   (NeXT)-Mail: ralf@reswi.en.open.de
                                Fido: via 2:245/5800.12
                       (Voice)-Phone: +49 2302 / 68403
--
In jedem grossen Problem steckt ein kleines, das gerne raus will.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.programmer
From: brian@clarisse (Brian Gottlieb)
Subject: Network Kernel Server
Reply-To: brian@wucs1.wustl.edu
Organization: Washington University, School of Engineering, St. Louis MO
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 16:37:09 GMT

I am trying to write a Network-Related Kernal Server.  I am following chapter 4  
of the "Writing Loadable Kernel Servers" manual and writing a getbuf and output  
functions.  For my first test of the server, I am trying to manipulate IP  
datagrams from within my kernel server.

Here is my problem:
	I am #include-ing the <netinet/in.h>, <netinet/ip.h> and  
<netinet/udp.h> files in my program.  When I compile my program, I get the  
following errors from the ip.h file:

/usr/include/netinet/ip.h:125: parse error before `n_long'
/usr/include/netinet/ip.h:128: parse error before `n_long'

I am also including <sys/types.h>, so I don't know where to find n_long.  Can  
anyone help?

Another problem is with the "netif_t" type.  I am including <net/netif.h> and  
<net/netbuf.h>.  I have the following line in my program:

netif_t ifp;

which gives me the following when I compile:

if_test.c:5: parse error before `ifp'
if_test.c:5: warning: data definition lacks type or storage class

why doesn't this work? 
--
Brian Gottlieb
brian@wucs1
From: roy@adeptsln.cts.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.programmer
Subject: Re: NeXT with mMacs
Date: 10 Apr 92 20:57:48 GMT
Article-I.D.: adeptsln.1992Apr10.205748.2629
Reply-To: roy@adeptsln.cts.com
Organization: Adept Solutions

In article <1992Apr8.184540.3183@oz.plymouth.edu> young@oz.plymouth.edu (Prof.  
Leroy Young) writes:
> 
> 
>  I have a few questions that maybe someone can answer. My father is a
> graphic designer and he has a lab of macs that he andhis students use for
>  basic and andvanced design. The most frequently used programs include
> macwrite , pagemaker, letrastudios and aldus freehand. He wishes to 
> purchase a color printer in the near future. And he would like that
> printer to be postscript. He recently talked with a next rep who
> suggested using a colorstation as a printserver for the next
> colorprinter. He likes the next as great deal and would like one but 
> he cannot afford to be isolated from his macs. 
> 1) How easy would it be to hook up the macs and the next? 

Very easy. Asante Ethernet card in the Mac, (<$300), Ethernet cable to the Mac

> 2) What could he and could he not do accross platforms? 

Can grab files (see below). If he has a strong heart :), he can run MacTCP,  
with NCSA TelNet, and actually pull up a NeXT UNIX window on the Mac.

> 3) Could the next be a file server? 

Yes.. Buy uShare. We've had it running for a week and its fantastic. IPT's  
prices put fileserver < $300. Many people have used CAP, but it is a behemoth,  
and the installation is not for those with week constitutions. Besides, it  
requires a HARDWARE router to hook up to a Mac. Quite costly.

> 4) Does nextstep 3.0 allow this?  

Sortof. NeXTstep 3.0 will allow the _NeXT_ to be an afp _CLIENT_. I.E. if your  
MAC is the file server (or running personal file sharing under 7.0), the NeXT  
will be able to get files off of the Mac, but NOT the other way around.

-- 
Roy Lovejoy      | internet:  roy@adeptsln.cts.com
Head RGB Guy     | AppleLink: adept
Adept Solutions  | CIS:       72447,1447
.................| dual certified developer: NeXT & Apple ;)
From: dan@quiensabe.az.stratus.com (Dan Danz)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.programmer
Subject: Re: NeXT-cc bug report
Keywords: alloca
Date: 12 Apr 92 18:47:49 GMT
Reply-To: dan@az.stratus.com

In article <1992Apr8.183539.1868@talus.com> ajamison@talus.com (Alex  
Senkevitch) writes:
> In article <1992Apr7.084848.29747@reswi.en.open.de> 
> ralf@reswi.en.open.de (Ralf E. Stranzenbach) writes:
> > the following code fragment did _not_ compile properly:
> > 	void some_function (char * s)
> > 	{
> > 		char * d;
> > 		d = strcpy (alloca (strlen (s) + 1), s);
> > 		printf ("%s copied as %s\n", s, d);
> > 	}
> try this:
> void some_function(char *s) {
> 	char *d;
> 	strcpy((d=(char*)malloc(strlen(s)+1)),s);
> 	printf("%s copied as %s\n", s, d);
> }

What Alex has done is create a memory leak -- every time this
version of the routine is called, it allocates something in the
heap and then leaves it there.   That's the beauty of alloca --
it allocates on the stack (by extending the stack pointer), and
this storage is automatically reclaimed when the subroutine 
returns.

Obviously, the way to fix Alex's version is to add a free(d) 
statement. before the return.  Maybe Alex knew this, but I others reading   
this post might not.

I suspect that Ralf's original problem has to do with both the compiler  
AND alloca trying to anipulate the stack pointer to create
temporary space on the stack. This is one of the things that makes alloca  
a difficult function to implement. Try it by doing the alloca call first
and then do the strcpy into d as a separate line of code.

--
L. W. "Dan" Danz                  VOS Mail:  Dan_Danz@vos.stratus.com
Sr Consulting Software SE         NeXT Mail: dan@az.stratus.com
Customer Assistance Center        Voice Mail/Pager: (602) 852-3107
Telecommunications Division       Customer Service: (800) 828-8513
Stratus Computer, Inc. 4455 E. Camelback #115-A, Phoenix AZ 85018
From: hofmann@cs.uiuc.edu (J. Scott Hofmann)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.programmer
Subject: Preprocessing order
Date: 9 Apr 92 22:22:12 GMT
Article-I.D.: sunb10.1992Apr9.222212.13645
Reply-To: hofmann@cs.uiuc.edu (J. Scott Hofmann)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Originator: hofmann@suna3.cs.uiuc.edu


   In which order does the NeXT cc preprocess? Does it first run cpp, then the
objective-cpp? Or does it first parse all the object messages, and then run
cpp?

                                                             Scott


-- 
J. Scott Hofmann                        | "Scientific Progress goes 'Boink'?"
hofmann@cs.uiuc.edu (NeXTmail accepted) |  -Hobbes
Epoch development team, UIUC            |
From: isbell@cats.ucsc.edu (Art Isbell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.programmer
Subject: Re: Problems with Workspace's -getFileIconFor: TIFF: TIFFLength:ok:.
Summary: Why not offer your improved NXImage to NeXT or to the rest of us?
Keywords: NXImage
Date: 8 Apr 92 15:09:45 GMT
Article-I.D.: darkstar.32371
Organization: Cubic Solutions - NeXT software development and consulting


In article <1992Apr8.123039.20289@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> tgingric@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Tyler S Gingrich) writes:
>In article <1992Apr7.155202.18548@talus.com> ajamison@talus.ogi.edu writes:
>>
[complaints about NXImage]
>>
>
>I agree that some of the appkit objects need help (my personal favorite is the
>text object) -- BUT, if you've rewritten the NXImage object from scratch, 
>write some NeXT style documentation & sell the object for a reasonable price.
>
>I'll buy one.
>
I would think that many people would, maybe even NeXT.  Scott Hess wrote a
much-improved Terminal (remember the 1.0 Shell and Terminal applications?) and
NeXT purchased it.

I think we are getting spoiled by the software that NeXT provides as standard
with their hardware.  How much would you have to pay for the NXImage
functionality on any other Unix workstation, or is it available from the
manufacturer at all?  NXImage may be satisfactory for the majority of NeXT
applications but may be too inefficient for large images, as suggested, but
NeXT may have good reasons for its design.

So when we find something that NeXT has done that we think could have been done
better, I hope that NeXT is approached first with suggestions for improvements.
If NeXT's priorities are such that they can put the effort into making the
suggested improvements, then we all benefit.  But NeXT is a *very* small
company so they cannot do everything we would like them to do.  So if that's
the case, then I hope that we will package up our improvements and offer them
to everyone in whatever manner seems appropriate (freeware, shareware,
commercial product, etc.).
-- 

Art Isbell                                                      Cubic Solutions
NeXT Registered Developer              NeXT software development and consulting
Email: isbell@cats.UCSC.EDU                                Voice: (408)335-1154
USmail: 95018-9442                                           Fax: (408)335-2515