=========================================================================
 
INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Tue, 28 Nov 89       Volume 89 : Issue 718
 
Today's Topics:
                       Disappearing Disk Space
                               GEM HELP
                       How to get new members??
                  Lattice C v5 (Was Re: C++ on ST?)
                      Rainbow TOS ROMs (AGAIN!)
                         Re: Craft & TOS 1.4
                 What/Where is the latest version of
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Date: 29 Nov 89 03:59:21 GMT
From: genbank!agate!codon3.berkeley.edu!ladasky@apple.com  (John Ladasky;1021
 Solano No. 2;528-8666)
Subject: Disappearing Disk Space
 
        I just had something terribly unpleasant happen to me... I'm using
Dr T's Copyist to assemble PostScript files of my music.  For those of you
who have worked with PostScript, you're aware that files can be pretty huge -
up to 300k/page.  Anyway, I have a bunch of disks onto each of which I had
placed a Copyist source file and a PostScript file.  I deleted the old Post-
Script files in anticipation of updating them - and lo and behold, the amount
of free space on the disk did NOT increase!
 
        Not that I normally check the amount of free space on a disk after a
deletion - I found this out the hard way.  The PostScript file converter in
the Copyist spins your disk for about 30 minutes continuously (shame on them
for not writing it to memory and saving it all at once!), and about 15 minutes
into the process, each of my disks came up with a "file creation or write
error" (I love how specific this message is, too).  That was when I checked
the disk space.
 
        Now, I just did the deleting operation from the TOS desktop - nothing
fancy (I don't have 1.4 yet).  I might have thought it was a fluke except
that it occurred on three different disks.  Does anyone have any idea how
this might have happened?
 
T CROSS POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS POLICE LINE DO NOT CR
_______________________________________________________________________________
"Do unto others as you would like                      - John J. Ladasky ("ii")
 to do unto them. " Richard Bach                  (ladasky@enzyme.berkeley.edu)
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 27 Nov 89 23:44:37 GMT
From: hpfcso!hpldola!jg@hplabs.hp.com  (Joe Gilray)
Subject: GEM HELP
 
daren@umbc5.umbc.edu Daren Arnold (C at University of Maryland, Baltimore Count
writes:
>I wrote a little program to pop-up a menu whereever the left mouse button is
>clicked. The menu consists of a hand-built object tree, basically pretty simple
>stuff.  The problem I am having is with the mouse pointer!!  I know that the
>AES records the # of times you GRAF_MOUSE(M_OFF, 0L), and that you must
>issue an equal # of M_ON's to restore the mouse. My question: Is there anyway
>to over-ride this mechanism?  If not, is there a way to find out how many times
>the mouse has been hidden (not counting mousehidden in msh!).
>I am using MWC 3.0.5, a .5meg ST, and the tos 1.0.
 
I believe that the VDI routine show_mouse(vdihandle, 0)
will accomplish the task.
 
-Joe Gilray
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 28 Nov 89 22:31:58 GMT
From: cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!hrc!force!covertr@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu  (Richard E.
 Covert)
Subject: How to get new members??
 
I am the new President of the Phoenix Atari ST Club here in
Phoenix AZ. We have only about 25 active members in our club,
and I would like ideas from other club members on how to recruit
new members.
 
Phoenix is part of a metropolitian area of about 2 million people.
We have 2 or 3 stores which sell ST products, the best being Computer
Works in Glendale AZ. Henry sells 2-5 STs each day, so there SHOULD
be a lot of people who aren't members of our club but who have STs.
Our Club only has a cash reserve of $800 so we can't buy paid advertisement
on comeerical TV.
 
So, how can we get the word out about our club??
 
Are there any other STers out there who belong to a club?
 
What about you folks across the Big Pond. How do your ST Clubs
work??
 
Right now we are in the process of splitting from the original 8bit
Atari club. We are planning on using the Michigan AIM magazine as our
newsletter as we are too small to do our own. AIM would be mailed to
each of our paidup members. We would submit our Club minutes, which
would appear in the AIM magazine.
 
We have published our own small newsletter called PHASTE using PageStream
and the SLM804 laser printer. That has gone well.
 
One member suggested printing up ST CLub business cards which would be
included with each ST sold by Computer Works. Henry Ahle (CW owner) would
go along with this. Another idea is to include a free AIM magazine with
each ST sold.
 
We are also planning to mail a postcard to each paidup member a week before
each meeting. But that doesn't get new members. Our ST Club sponsors a fulltime
2400 baud BBS called ST BASE in Phoenix. Club members can d/l PD files from
ST BASE w/o charge. This encourages ST Club membership. But not all ST owners
have 2400 baud modems.
 
We could try advertising on the local access channel of the Phoenix cable TV
system. But would that get new members?
 
And finally, our ST Club meets in the large room of a Church. The room isn't
air conditioned and has a large noisy refrigator. It is not a nice area to meet,
especially during the summer when it gets over 115 degrees here in Phoenix.
Where do other ST clubs meet?? When I was a member of the Chicago Area Computer
Hobbyist Exchange (cache) we meet in a community (two year) college in Chicago.
The college was locate on a bus route so folks could get there. Unfortunately,
colleges want big bucks around here to use their rooms, and our club can't
afford them. Any ideas about where to hold meetings??
 
As you can see I would really like to see more new members. I think that a
strong local club is an asset for both novice and experienced computer
owners. I have learned a lot just helping folks use their STs.
 
And finally, is there ANYTHING that Atari can do to help us?? I don't know
who to contact at Atari. I don't believe that our Club was ever registered
with anyone at Atari. Maybe someone at Atari could give me ideas on how to
attract new members. I would be open to any suggestion.
 
Rich Covert
 
P.S. I was drafted for this position, and didn't want it. But now that I
am Club Prez I want to encourage folks to join, and really expand our little
club. That way next time, someone else can have the thrill of saying that
they are club pres!
 
P.P.S. I was vice president of a Denver club back in 1986/1987 and we had the
same problems there. But we meet in a Denver High School classroom. It was an
8bit club and I am not sure what has happened to it since I moved from Denver.
 
 
rec
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 29 Nov 89 03:28:48 GMT
From: cs.utexas.edu!samsung!aplcen!jhunix!dat_08@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu  (Jared
 Brennan)
Subject: Lattice C v5 (Was Re: C++ on ST?)
 
In article <2455@stl.stc.co.uk> "David Price" <dhp@stl.stc.co.uk> writes:
>Apparently Lattice have a C++ *translator* for the Amiga but do not
>intend to release it on the ST until they see how well version 5 of
>their C compiler sells (in UK, Europe, USA ?).
>
>David Price, dhp@stl.stc.co.uk
>STC Technology Ltd., London Road, Harlow CM17 9NA,England.
 
     I confess to a great deal of dismay at seeing this.  Like, huh?
Lattice C v5?  For the ST?  Or for the Amiga only?  Metacomco has been
very good about announcing updates, even for their overseas customers,
such as yours truly, and if there is a Lattice C v5 for the ST, well,
geez, I'm really disappointed they didn't send me a missive or two.
Perhaps if you clarify this point I can return to my usual paranoid
depressive state and stop worrying about where I'll be spending my
money next.  Thanks in advance . . .
--
Another shallow and badly thought out opinion from . . .
Jared Brennan <dat_08@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu>       BITNET: JHEDDY@JHUVMS
ARPA: dat_08%jhunix@hopkins.ARPA        UUCP: allegra!hopkins!jhunix!dat_08
--
Another shallow and badly thought out opinion from . . .
Jared Brennan <dat_08@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu>       BITNET: JHEDDY@JHUVMS
ARPA: dat_08%jhunix@hopkins.ARPA        UUCP: allegra!hopkins!jhunix!dat_08
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 28 Nov 89 21:21:01 GMT
From:
 cs.utexas.edu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!watmath!watserv1!watcgl!electro!ign
 ac@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu  (Ignac Kolenko)
Subject: Rainbow TOS ROMs (AGAIN!)
 
In article <1827@atari.UUCP> kbad@atari.UUCP (Ken Badertscher) writes:
>ignac@electro.UUCP (Ignac Kolenko) writes:
>
>| can you tell us with any great certainty if you will accept a trade from the
>| 6 eprom set to the 2 rom set with no additional cost?????
>I can't tell you with any certainty, but I can certainly offer my opinion.
>It is my opinion that Atari will NOT accept trades.  Why did you buy the
>6 chip set in the first place if you don't feel you can use them?
>
 
because that's all that you were offering if you wanted the upgrade. sheesh.
don't worry, i'm not getting personal ... :-)
 
>| if we here at electrohome don't have to butcher our motherboard [...]
>The modification to install 6 ROM chips in a machine currently using 2 ROMs
>is in no way a butcher job.  It is a simple, clean modification, which was
>part of the original design of the machines when they went from 6 chips to 2.
>It does, however, require some electronics and soldering experience.
 
imho, a butcher job requires the cutting of pins and soldering in things
that weren't originally there. a simple, clean mod would mean simply changing
a jumper, or replacing a rom. anyways, enough semantics.
 
with a bit of work, we got the 6 sockets in, removed the 0 ohm resistors
that you guys were using as jumpers and put in real jumpers so that we
can switch back and forth between the original 2 rom set to the 6 eprom set.
makes it kind of nice this way. (why weren't real jumper pins used anyways??
cost reductions???)  (don't take this personally, i'm just curious!!)
 
>| the 6 eproms make the atari feel like its a cheap clone of the real thing.
>I can't believe what I'm reading here.  EPROMs were made available due to
>popular demand.  Very few sets of EPROMs were sold: around 150, I'm told.
>As soon as OTP's were available, _they_ were sold instead, and likewise
>with masked ROMs.
>
>If the "cheap clone" statement was intended to be a joke, it's a bad
>joke. In case you can't tell, this is an extremely sensitive issue with
>me personally, because I personally worked very hard to make the
>Rainbow TOS ROMs available to developers and to the general public.
>I am truly appreciative of all the Emails of thanks that I've gotten.
>I also truly take complaints very seriously.
 
sorry to offend you ken, but originally, all that was available was the
eprom set. now i hear that masked programmed roms are available, and you
say that you will not accept a trade: eproms for masked programmed roms.
to me, having eproms instead of the roms just doesn't make me feel like
i've got my full money's worth. anyways, that's my opinion, and i didn't
mean to offend you, as i said earlier. accept my apology ken.
(i've got tech questions that need answering)   :-)
 
anyways, in a posting i did a couple of weeks ago, i stated that when
our department at electrohome got our dev kit, everything was a mess inside
the box, whereas some developers in the states got binders and stuff. what
is the status on this. will ALL developers get this treatment??
 
and furthermore, with our tos 1.4 upgrade, the release notes, as i stated
in that posting as well, were shrunken down photocopies which are not
all that readable. little things like this make atari look like a joke. since
we did pay our developers fee, can we *please* get proper, readable notes
for the tos 1.4 upgrade. i would like to hear an answer on this. i feel
as a developer, i'm entitled to an answer.
 
and finally, thanx for tos 1.4. no more complaints! :-)
 
 
 
 
--
=====Ignac A. Kolenko (The Ig)           watmath!watcgl!electro!ignac=====
     co-author of QuickST, and the entire line of Quick Shareware!!!!
       "I don't care if I don't win, 'cause I don't care if I fail"
             from 'Youth Of Today' by SUBURBAN DISTORTION
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 28 Nov 89 22:45:46 GMT
From: hpl-opus!hpnmdla!hpsad!bobw@hplabs.hp.com  (Bob Waltenspiel)
Subject: Re: Craft & TOS 1.4
 
>I have Craft 2.0 Program Development Environment (shell and editor)
>from ComMedia. To my disappointment the shifted cursor keys stopped
>functioning as I upgraded to TOS 1.4 (Swedish version). Any similar
>experiences? Actually, the same problem was present when using
>KBEXT by Ronald Waldi.
>
>BTW, Craft is my favourite shell, I don't use gulam, my earlier
>favourite, any more. To be able to pipe and set mydate = `date`
>and play much more creatively with shell variables is sufficient
>to make the difference to me. I am just a happy customer, nothing
>else.
>
>lippu@csc.fi
>----------
>
Tell us more about Craft, please.  How much does it cost and where do
I get a copy?
 
 ----------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
| Bob Waltenspiel                   | e-mail: bobw@hpsad (hplabs!hpsad!..)    |
| ATE Software Team                 | Telnet: 794-3091                        |
| HP Signal Analysis Division       | AT&T: (707) 794-3091                    |
| 1212 Valley House Dr.             | HPDesk: Bob WALTENSPIEL/HP5300/A0       |
| Rohnert Park, CA 94928-4999       | HP Mailstop: 1UR-M                      |
 ----------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
 
This goes along with another belief of mine: that everyone else my age
is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise.
 
                                        Margaret Atwood
                                        "Cat's Eye"
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 29 Nov 89 03:20:36 GMT
From: cs.utexas.edu!samsung!aplcen!jhunix!dat_08@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu  (Jared
 Brennan)
Subject: What/Where is the latest version of
 
In article <111500071@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu> glk01126@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu writes:
>       In the docs for 2.0e it states that it is probably the last version
>       as it is bug-free to his knowledge and finished as far as his
>       needs go...
 
     I seem to recall seeing several bugs in the Kermit implementation
in this version.  Since I assumed that he'd be out with a new version
in minutes (these were obvious bugs; text came out in strange places
or was missing), I never bothered sending him mail.  So, Simon, are you
still there?  Uniterm v2.0e isn't done yet!
--
Another shallow and badly thought out opinion from . . .
Jared Brennan <dat_08@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu>       BITNET: JHEDDY@JHUVMS
ARPA: dat_08%jhunix@hopkins.ARPA        UUCP: allegra!hopkins!jhunix!dat_08
--
Another shallow and badly thought out opinion from . . .
Jared Brennan <dat_08@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu>       BITNET: JHEDDY@JHUVMS
ARPA: dat_08%jhunix@hopkins.ARPA        UUCP: allegra!hopkins!jhunix!dat_08
 
------------------------------
 
End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 Issue #718
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