HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: aki@cruzio.santa-cruz.ca.us
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: 4DOS diversion (Was Re: A batch programming contest for you)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 92 10:55:55 PDT
Reply-To: aki@cruzio.santa-cruz.ca.us

In article <1992Aug19.132543.7617@swlvx2.msd.ray.com>, rgc@swlrau.msd.ray.com (RICK CARLE) writes:
> 
> ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi) writes:
> 
> >The funny side of it is that it is almost predestined that when an
> >MsDos problem is posed some dedicated soul suggests using 4DOS. 
> 
> On the other hand, the solution to perhaps half the msdos problems seems
> to be replacement of command.com by 4dos.  The solution to half the
> remaining half is replacement of msdos by drdos.  After that you need
> something like os2v2.  So it's not hard to replace msdos, but solving
> its problems takes 3 programs.
> 	Rick


I don't agree about that DRDOS part.  I just ran DRD6 for a couple of
days on my PC and was not very happy.  Maybe it's me being used to
MSD5 or something else;  anyway it was a delightful experience to find
out that uninstalling DRD takes less than 30 seconds (plus putting
back some DOS files which DRDOS kills).

The main thing that I didn't like about DRDOS were a bunch of unpolished
features.  IT DOES have _fantastic_ functionality compared to MS-DOS,
but when I can't see the size of the files listed with DIR or need
to remember to NOT place a space between a command and argument in
SID (their DEBUG copy),  or can't list files with the a-attribute bit
set,  or this or that,  it's just too much.  

Aki.
-- 
/  Phone: 408-662 9664   Fax: 662 9676  |  "Aki" pronounced: Ah-Key. I know  \ 
\  125 Searidge Ct #D, Aptos, CA 95003  |  what I'm doing most of the time.  /
From: dubner@hpspkla.spk.hp.com (Joe Dubner)
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 15:10:34 GMT
Subject: Re: How to detect base address of COMx ports?
Organization: Hewlett Packard Company, Spokane, Wa.
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer

lubkt@synergy.CC.Lehigh.EDU (Binod Taterway) writes:

> I am writing a software that dials various computers using a comm
> package. In order to dial thru a particular, I need to know the base
> address of the serial port. For COM1 and COM2, base addresses are set
> to 0x3F8 and 0x2F8, respectively. For the rest of the ports, their
> addresses are highly dependent on the vendor. So right now, I ask my
> users to specify this address and the interrupt level if they are
> using ports such as COM3 and COM4. Many of these users are too naive
> to understand what these two terms and have hard time looking up the
> manual. Is there any way, via some interrupt routine or the like, to
> determine how many ports are available and their base addresses and
> interrupt levels. Is it stored anywhere on the system?

MS-DOS stores the serial port base addresses at 0:400, 0:402, 0:404, and
0:406 for COM1 through COM4.  (Parallel port base addresses are also
stored, starting at 0:408.)  Using DEBUG, take a look at this area with
a "d 0:400" command.  Note that DOS has to "know" about COM3 and COM4 --
I'm not certain how it "finds out" about them, particularly if they're
at non-standard I/O addresses.  And support for COM3 and COM4 was not
present in earlier versions of DOS.

As for interrupts, sorry, but I don't have any ideas for you.  I'm of
the opinion that you're up against a brick wall here.

Regards,
Joe

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Dubner   K7JD  |  Hewlett Packard Company  |  dubner@hpspkla.spk.HP.COM
                   |  TAFC-34         M.S. 2I  |
                   |  Spokane, WA  99220       |  (509) 921-3514
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: nelson@crynwr.com (Russell Nelson)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Question about packet driver....
Date: 23 Aug 92 08:14:39 GMT
Organization: Crynwr Software

In article <1992Aug20.074233.22514@debbie.cc.nctu.edu.tw> u8023506@cc.nctu.edu.tw writes:

      I'm writing a program that may get packet from ethernet. But, I don't know
   how to call packet driver functions. Could someone tell me how I can do and    whatreference I can read?

Have you read PACKET_D.109, found in the Crynwr packet driver collection?

-russ <nelson@crynwr.com>  I'm proud to be a humble Quaker!
Crynwr Software            Crynwr Software sells packet driver support.
11 Grant St.               315-268-1925 Voice
Potsdam, NY 13676          315-268-9201 FAX
From: hemant@girl.enet.dec.com (Hemant Babtiwale)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: A Quick Basic Question !!
Date: 19 Aug 92 21:43:17 GMT
Reply-To: hemant@girl.enet.dec.com (Hemant Babtiwale)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation

Hi,

I have a structural design application that was written in older version
of Microsoft QuickBASIC. It runs on PC/AT, however, it does not support
use of extended/expanded memory. It is slow...

I want to know if the latest version of Microsoft QuickBASIC has this
support ?? What would be the best way to enhance the system performance
if I wish to continue with BASIC  on PC/AT ?? 

thanks in advance for any info..

-hemant
From: hasty@netcom.com (Amancio Hasty Jr)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: Programming the S3 video chip?
Date: 15 Aug 92 04:47:40 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)


Does anyone know how to set the clock values for the Diamond Stealth
svga? I am writing a driver for X11R5. Also, I already have the doc
set from S3 Corporation for 911 chipset.


Thank you,
Amancio Hasty
From: sjm@miles.com (Scott Mark)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: OS writing
Date: 13 Aug 92 14:57:57 GMT
Organization: Miles Inc., Diagnostics Division, Elkhart, IN

>|> In article <yqoBPB2w164w@jksclub.scol.pa.us>, jks@jksclub.scol.pa.us (Jeremy K Summe writes...
>|> >I am interested in learning more about how OS's are  created.  Would 
>|> >anyon know of a good book or reference for me?  

The best book I've read for getting practical experience on operating system
design and implementation is Operating System Design: the XINU approach, by
Douglas Comer.

The book is available in several flavors, including the original book for
the relatively obscure LSI/11, and versions for the PC and for the Mac.

For extensions, there is a book Internetworking with XINU that has much
information on ethernets and IP.  Dr. Comer has also written books on
TCP/IP that work well with XINU.


I get the impression that Minix is more well-known than XINU, but XINU
is a very viable alternative- at least take a look at it.

(The books are published by Prentice Hall, and I think that source code
 for at least some versions are available from Purdue.  Check out the
 newsgroup comp.os.xinu for more info.)

Scott Mark
sjm@miles.com
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
From: rdippold@cancun.qualcomm.com (Ron Dippold)
Subject: Re: Why can't I hook INT 21h???
Organization: Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, CA
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1992 00:08:07 GMT

ralf+@cs.cmu.edu (Ralf Brown) writes:
>}interrupts is just as reliable in C.  There is NOTHING you can't do in C that you CAN in assembley.

>Hmm, I sense a challenge.  OK, how about a TSR that only takes 64 bytes when
>resident?  Or a swapping spawn() that takes less than 300 bytes while the
>child program executes?

No problem.  Just don't use any library functions and make sure you
don't get any in the link.  Easier with some Cs than others.
-- 
Why do you have so much quickness of movement if not to avoid responsibility?
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
From: yogi@cs.ubc.ca (Yossi Gil)
Subject: Re: A batch programming contest for you
Organization: Computer Science, University of B.C., Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 23:32:07 GMT

ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi) writes:

>As you might know I have a large collection of batch files and
>tricks garbo.uwasa.fi:/pc/ts/tsbat36.zip. I am always looking for
>useful new information for it.

>I have a puzzle for you gentle fellow programmers who are interested
>in batch programming. The task is the following.  With the standard
>batch commands write a batch that returns the extension of the
>(file) name given to the batch as the parameter (%1). No external
>commands or programs are allowed to perform the task.

I am away from my DOS machine now, but I think that the above ideas
will work after some polishing. 

	erase echo.*
	copy %1 echo.*
	for %%f in (echo.*) do %%f > ext 

The extension of %1 should be in the file ext now.

--
Joseph (Yossi) Gil                 {alberta,uw-beaver,uunet}!ubc-cs!yogi
Dept. of Computer Science          yogi@cs.ubc.ca (cs.ubc.ca=137.82.8.5)
6356 Agricultural Road., Univ. of B.C.,             Tel: +1-604-822-8175
Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z2, Canada.       Fax: +1-604-822-5485
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
From: tom@igs.com (Tom Nelson)
Subject: mem check utility
Organization: IGS, Inc.
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 92 18:55:34 GMT

Can anyone suggest Public Domain/Shareware source of memory
checking code you can link in with MSC 6.0 to do bounds checking,
tracking of allocation/deallocation of memory blocks, checking for
freeing of null pointers, freeing of already freed memory, etc?

Please email response (and also post as you like).
Thanks very much.



-- 
Tom Nelson
IGS, Inc., Boulder, CO
tom@igs.com
From: yev_g@athena.mit.edu (Yevgeny Gurevich)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: How do I recognize arrow keys with getch() in C?
Date: 12 Aug 92 15:45:40 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

In article <S9a-CYB@engin.umich.edu> thesame@engin.umich.edu (Stephen Su) writes:
>I am using Borland C++ to try and write a simple text viewer and would like
>to use the up and down arrow keys and the PgUp/PgDn/Home/End keys for various
>operations.  How can I recognize the keys with getch(), or am I on the wrong
>track?
>

I haven't used getch() to recognize the extended keyboard codes, but I
know that bioskey can be used to scan for all possible keyboard
inputs.  See the reference manual for a description of what it returns
(it has to do with shifting 8 bits to determine what kind of input was
received (normal character or extended code) and then a shift to find
the actual character code.  You will need a reference book to find
what extended codes to look for.  The _Programmer's PC SourceBook_ and
_Programming the IBM User Interface_ (by Ben Ezzel) are two good
books.

If you need further help, please email me and I can send you some of
my code.
--
yev_g@athena.mit.edu   500 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA.  [ Yevgeny Gurevich ]
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Help : SVGA, VGA drivers
From: ebolog@elaine.ee.und.ac.za (EDWIN BOLOGNA : THIRD)
Date: 20 Aug 92 13:24:12 +0200
Organization: Electronic Eng., Univ. Natal, Durban, South Africa


Does anyone out there happen to have PAS, C, or ASM source code to decode
drivers (.DRV) formats so that I can use them in my programs (To access
different video cards).

Any information at all on any of these formats will be greatly appreciated.

        Desperate fellow programmer (And very Greatful for any information)

                E.B. (EBOLOG@ELAINE.EE.UND.AC.ZA)

PS : Please be kind hearted and Assist !
From: johnb@fexco.ie (John Bowler)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Test post
Distribution: world
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 92 21:14:10 GMT
Organization: Foreign Exchange Company Ltd.

Posting the the msdos programmer newsgroup.

Test number #1

Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
From: bx304@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeff Epler)
Subject: Re: 4DOS diversion (Was Re: A batch programming contest for you)
Reply-To: bx304@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeff Epler)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 92 23:56:21 GMT


In a previous article, ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi) says:

>In article <!00mmbb.messina@netcom.com> messina@netcom.com (Tony Porczyk) writes:
>The funny side of it is that it is almost predestined that when an
>MsDos problem is posed some dedicated soul suggests using 4DOS. 
>(Which, I repeat, is an impressive and useful interpreter, but that
>still is beside the original question). 

Well I was the guy who was destined to bring it up this time, but I
*did* still express interest in the way you people would do it..

Which you conveniently failed to quote in your reply.. :)
-- 
|Jeff Epler               Additions Welcome           c(-8 ;-) >{8-) |
| :) (=( =-] (-= Celebrating the variety of faces =-> :^) {-= |-) (: |
| >X^P                                              Lincoln, Nebraska|
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
From: gmribeir@david.wheaton.edu (Glauber)
Subject: Re: Summary: P.D. MAKE for msdos
Organization: (n.) Body of persons united for a specific purpose.
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1992 18:08:33 GMT

In article <1992Aug13.052930.19832@druid.uucp> darcy@druid.uucp (D'Arcy J.M. Cain) writes:
>glauber@vpnet.chi.il.us (Glauber Ribeiro) writes:
>> [Re: Gnuish Make]
>>     Second catch is, there is an irritating inconsistency in 
>>dealing with the backslash. You normally have to use 2 backslashes 
>>instead of 1 (e.g,: c:\\dos\\edit instead of c:\dos\edit). UNLESS 
>>the backslash appears on a line that is an internal messydos 
>>command (e.g.: "dir c:\dos\*.*" is correct). Moreover, it doesn't 
>
>Have you tried using the forward slash?

	I will, and if it works i will tell. But i suspect that
the DOS programs won't be happy.


>
>>recognize "cls" as a valid msdos command (use "command /c cls", 
>>instead). If you can live with these booboos, you will love this 
>>program.
>
>Why not create a "clear.bat" and use clear instead of cls?  simpler
>and also compatible with the Unix command.

	One more batch file, etc. I'm trying to make this as
self-contained as possible. command /c cls works just the same.

					Glauber



-- 
Glauber Ribeiro - Wheaton College, IL  (USA)
                  glauber@david.wheaton.edu 
                  glauber@vpnet.chi.il.us
From: lubkt@synergy.CC.Lehigh.EDU (Binod Taterway)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Table lookup ...
Date: 20 Aug 92 14:47:04 GMT
Distribution: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Organization: Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA


Could some one shed some light on how best to implement the following.
I have a configuration file that contains parameter-value pairs like
the following:

	xyz_directory	= c:\xyz
	feature1	= 20
	feature2	= 10
	feature3	=

For every parameter, I want to define a global variable (I will use a
structure) with the same name as parameter name. So I have a table as
follows: 

struct p_table {
	char	*parameter_name;/* name of the parameter */
	bool	specified; 	/* whether or not it is user-specified */
	short	type; 		/* Integer, string, long, etc. */
	char	*default_value; /* Default value */
	char	*value; 	/* User-specified value */
} P_TABLE;

P_TABLE p_table[] = {
	{"xyz_directory", TRUE, TYPE_STRING, "c:\xyz_orig", "c:\xyz"},
	{"feature1", TRUE, TYPE_INTEGER, "100", "20"},
	{"feature2", TRUE, TYPE_INTEGER, "200", "10"},
	{"feature3", FALSE, TYPE_INTEGER, "300", NULL}
}

Though not implemented yet, I am not convinced if this the best
approach. If you know of any other approaches to reading a
configuration file, please throw in your two cents. Thanks.

--

- Binod Taterway                     
  Sr. User Consultant (LUCC)
  E-mail: bt00@Lehigh.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
From: u8023506@cc.nctu.edu.tw (By SWH Maybe catch by someone from NTHU )
Subject: Question about packet driver....
Organization: National Chiao Tung University
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 07:42:33 GMT

   I'm writing a program that may get packet from ethernet. But, I don't know
how to call packet driver functions. Could someone tell me how I can do and whatreference I can read?

Thanks in advance....

                                                    u8023506@cc.nctu.edu.tw
                                                Tomous Guan-Hsuong Liaw
From: mlevis@ringer.cs.utsa.edu (Mike Levis)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: A batch programming contest for you
Date: 19 Aug 92 07:24:40 GMT
Organization: University of Texas at San Antonio

In article <1992Aug19.045036.5132@uwasa.fi> ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi) writes:
>In article <1992Aug18.233207.1159@cs.ubc.ca> yogi@cs.ubc.ca (Yossi Gil) writes:
>>I am away from my DOS machine now, but I think that the above ideas
>>will work after some polishing. 
>>
>>	erase echo.*
>>	copy %1 echo.*
>>	for %%f in (echo.*) do %%f > ext 
>>
>>The extension of %1 should be in the file ext now.
>>
>>Joseph (Yossi) Gil                 {alberta,uw-beaver,uunet}!ubc-cs!yogi
>
>@echo off
>rem That's a very inventive trick, Yossi.  I expanded a bit. The snag is
>rem the the file must exist in order to get the extension. Another
>rem question is how do you get the extension name into an environment
>rem variable so that we can utilize it.
>
>if not exist %1 goto _out
>if exist echo.* erase echo.*
>copy %1 echo.* > nul
>for %%f in (echo.*) do %%f > ext
>type ext
>if exist ext erase ext
>:_out

I modified this.  The following batch file will work somewhat.
It is not efficient (it copies the file that you want
to find the extension of), and it does not do much
error checking (it fails if the filename has no extension),
but it works if the filename either has an extension or
the filename is not given.

It creates a variable xyz to have the filename extension.
It creates (and later deletes) a temporary batch file
called tmp.bat .  Essentially, tmp.bat is a clone of the
original batch file below, but it also has the filename
extension as part as the batch file code.

@echo off
set xyz=
if %1.==. goto end_batch
del echo.*
copy %1 echo.* > nul
for %%f in (echo.*) do %%f > tmp.dat
if exist %0 copy %0+tmp.dat tmp.bat > nul
if not exist %0 copy %0.bat+tmp.dat tmp.bat > nul
call tmp.bat
del tmp.bat
:end_batch
if %xyz%.==. set xyz=^Z

Important!!!  The ^Z means Control-Z (End of file).  It
must be on the same line as the last command, not on the
line following it.  Since ^Z is on the same line as the
last command, we can append the filename extension to
a copy of the batch file and run the copy to set the
variable.

Even though this code works somewhat, I'm sure there is a
much better way of doing it.

>..................................................................
>Prof. Timo Salmi
>Moderating at garbo.uwasa.fi anonymous FTP archives 128.214.87.1
>Faculty of Accounting & Industrial Management; University of Vaasa
>Internet: ts@uwasa.fi Bitnet: salmi@finfun   ; SF-65101, Finland


-- 
==== Mike Levis   mlevis@ringer.cs.utsa.edu ====
::   ftp ftp.cs.widener.edu (147.31.254.132)  ::  .--.
::   for ``The Simpsons'' information.  Get   :: (OS/2)
:::: ``Simpsons'' FAQL in dir /pub/simpsons ::::  ~--~
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
From: kennu@mits.mdata.fi (Kenneth Falck)
Subject: Re: Summary: How to flush keyboard buffer
Keywords: Keyboard buffer, DOS
Organization: Microdata Oy, Helsinki, Finland
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 21:28:49 GMT

In article <1992Aug13.100340.26026@NCoast.ORG> brown@NCoast.ORG (Stan Brown) writes:
>I can understand why keyboard input is so confusing.  At a quick count I
>see eight DOS and BIOS functions to take keystrokes from the buffer or
>check the buffer for waiting keystrokes, or both.  No wonder people get
>confused!

So, the obvious solution is for everyone to capture INT 9 and
do your own keyboard functions based on hardware-port reads 
and writes :-)

>-- 
>Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems                      brown@Ncoast.ORG
>
>"Ingrate, n.  One who receives a benefit from another, or is otherwise
>an object of charity."                          --Ambrose Bierce

-- 
kennu@mits.mdata.fi
From: kroytin@vpnet.chi.il.us (Kevin J. Fagan)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Int 25H to access BIOS Parameter Block
Date: 16 Aug 92 04:55:05 CDT

Hi.  I hope I'm doing this correctly.  My reference manual says
not to use INT 25 due to it is unrealiable.  What "The programmers
PC source book, Thom Hogan, second edition" suggests is
Function 440d Minor Code 61h of Interrupt 21h.  I KNOW it works
for dos 5.0, but have not tested on lower versions.  Hope it helps
kroytin on vpnet
From: ralf+@cs.cmu.edu (Ralf Brown)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: Parallel port I/O (mostly O : -)
Date: 20 Aug 92 04:32:27 GMT
Article-I.D.: cs.Bt9Ly4.7sD.2
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon

In article <1992Aug19.135359.24909@bas-a.bcc.ac.uk> nino@mph.sm.ucl.ac.uk (Nino Margetic) writes:
}I know that there is also a way to access the LPT port directly thru the
}in/out commands and its 3 I/O registers. Are there any advantages (in
}terms of speed) in using interrupt driven parralel I/O, as compared to
}INT17 BIOS service as I have used it - if there is, how much, and is
}it doable in C?? I can just about read assembler, but that's about it.

Writing directly to the ports can be an order of magnitude faster than doing
separate interrupt calls to check the status and actually write the character.
However, you probably will not be able to get reliable interrupt-driven
operation because (a) a majority of parallel ports don't reliable generate
the IRQ, and (b) the standard IRQ7 is also triggered whenever the interrupt
controller gets an interrupt request which is deasserted before the CPU
responds to the request.

}The speed of the application is crucial - I need to send as many bytes
}thru the LPT port as possible (order of 1e6). N.B. does anyone know the
}approximate number of bytes per second that can be sent thru the LPT port
}via INT17 and/or interrupt driven parallel I/O??

Maximum speed depends on the CPU speed and the speed of the device at the
other end of the parallel cable.  For example, if the other end is an
Epson FX80, the timing specifications for the strobe/ACK sequence set a
limit of about 75,000 characters per second.  Connecting a pair of 386/33s,
a data rate of 300,000 characters per second sounds feasible using tight
loops (you'd never be able to get near that speed in interrupt-driven
operation due to the overhead of handling an interrupt).

I've managed to pump nearly 2400 characters per second to said FX80 using
30% of the CPU cycles on a 4.77MHz 8088 (over one-third of that 30% was
the overhead of handling 2400 clock interrupts per second).  All parallel
port I/O was done using direct port accesses.

-- 
Internet: RALF+@CS.CMU.EDU   |The University would disclaim this if it knew...
FIDO: Ralf Brown 1:129/26.1  |
BIT: RALF%CS.CMU.EDU@CARNEGIE|"Success has a simple formula: do your best,
AT&Tnet: (412)268-3053 school| and people may like it."   -- Sam Ewing
From: kr@jet.uk (Kenneth Reed)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Are there any on-line technical notes anywhere?
Date: 14 Aug 92 10:28:42 GMT
Organization: Joint European Torus

I've just been reading the book "Undocumented DOS" and really enjoyed
finding out how DOS works. However, I'd still like to learn more and I
was wondering if there was any further technical information (on the
subjects not covered by the usual books) available by FTP.

Anyone know of any?

Ken

ps, I've got the latest copy of the interrupt list.


-- 
- Ken Reed, Joint European Torus, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK
  kr@jet.uk
- Disclaimer: Please note that the above is a personal view and should not 
  be construed as an official comment from the JET project.
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer