=========================================================================
 
INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Fri,  1 Dec 89       Volume 89 : Issue 734
 
Today's Topics:
                     Did I come from the desktop?
               Did I miss something? (concerning FORM)
                           GEM help wanted
                       How to get new members??
                   Off the subj, but very relevant
                    Rainbow Tos Porblems (2 msgs)
                       Still searching...close
                          Trash, Disks, etc.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Date: 29 Nov 89 18:22:53 GMT
From: nis!pwcs!stag!daemon@UMN-CS.CS.UMN.EDU  (Dale Schumacher)
Subject: Did I come from the desktop?
Message-ID: <1989Nov29.182253.2681@stag.UUCP>
 
[jmw@tasis.utas.oz.au@munnari.oz (John Williams) writes...]
> A recent article suggested three possible methods by which a process  could
> determine whether it was being run from the desktop or from a shell. I'd like
> to suggest another method which works for me. I don't suggest that it is
> foolproof however. It simply requires moving the basepage ptr up to its parent
> until it becomes null. If this requires three iterations then the program
> is running from the desktop. Any more and it is running from a shell.
 
Alright, I guess it's time to post this message again (is this the 3rd
time now?).  The quoted message is mostly correct, but incomplete.  The
situation is slightly different if you're in the /AUTO/ folder programs
at boot-time.  I check for the text-base pointer pointing to ROM, as
recommended by Alan Pratt @ Atari.  The following code (which, like John's
code, assumes access to a basepage pointer) uses this "approved" method.
I've also included a copy of <basepage.h> from dLibs for those who don't
know the layout of the basepage structure.
 
/***********************************************************************/
#include <basepage.h>
 
#define FROM_AUTO       0
#define FROM_DESKTOP    1
#define FROM_SHELL      2
 
camefrom()
        ?
        register BASEPAGE *p = _base;
        register int n = 0;
 
        p = p->p_parent;
        if((((long) (p->p_tbase)) & 0x800000L) == 0L)
                return(FROM_SHELL);
        while(p = p->p_parent)
                ++n;
        return((n == 1) ? FROM_AUTO : ((n == 2) ? FROM_DESKTOP : FROM_SHELL));
        ?
/***********************************************************************/
/*
 *      BASEPAGE.H      Definition of the basepage structure
 */
 
#ifndef BASEP_H
#define BASEP_H
 
typedef struct basep
        ?
        char            *p_lowtpa;      /* pointer to self (bottom of TPA) */
        char            *p_hitpa;       /* pointer to top of TPA + 1 */
        char            *p_tbase;       /* base of text segment */
        long            p_tlen;         /* length of text segment */
        char            *p_dbase;       /* base of data segment */
        long            p_dlen;         /* length of data segment */
        char            *p_bbase;       /* base of BSS segment */
        long            p_blen;         /* length of BSS segment */
        char            *p_dta;         /* pointer to current DTA */
        struct basep    *p_parent;      /* pointer to parent's basepage */
        char            *p_reserved;    /* reserved for future use */
        char            *p_env;         /* pointer to environment string */
        long            p_undef[20];    /* scratch area... don't touch */
        char            p_cmdlin[128];  /* command line image */
        ?
        BASEPAGE;
 
extern  BASEPAGE        *_base;
 
#endif BASEP_H
/***********************************************************************/
 
\\   /  Dale Schumacher                         399 Beacon Ave.
 \\ /   (alias: Dalnefre')                      St. Paul, MN  55104-3527
  ><    ...umn-cs!midgard.mn.org!syntel!dal     United States of America
 / \\   "What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out,
/   \\  which is the exact opposite." -Bertrand Russell
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 1 Dec 89 06:14:45 GMT
From: attcan!utgpu!watserv1!bmaraldo@uunet.uu.net  (Commander Brett Maraldo)
Subject: Did I miss something? (concerning FORM)
Message-ID: <261@watserv1.waterloo.edu>
 
        Did I miss the last two postings of FORM in binaries.atari.st?
I didn't seem to get #16 and #17 (I have been anxiously waiting).
If I did miss them can someone please mail them to me?  Thanks
 
Brett L Maraldo
 
 
--
               --------     Unit 36 Research     ---------
                        "Alien Technology Today"
                      bmaraldo@watserv1.UWaterloo.ca
                   ?uunet!clyde!utai?!watserv1!bmaraldo
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 30 Nov 89 15:10:12 GMT
From: mcsun!tuvie!hpuviea!gernot@uunet.uu.net  (Gernot Kunz)
Subject: GEM help wanted
Message-ID: <1218@hpuviea.UUCP>
 
Dear GEM wizards,
 
just recently I designed a dialog box with formatted
box-texts in them. Those text boxes are not editable - I use
them for output only.
 
When the data is displayed I want the user to press one
of the buttons on the box. So I call form_dial(tree, 0).
 
This is when something strange happens. Although I called
form_dial with '0' as a second argument (no start item) a
text cursor also appears in one of the text boxes. It reacts
to the cursor keys, ESC, DEL and BS. Fortunately the missing
EDITABLE flag prohibits any real changes by the user, but still
the cursor is annoying.
 
Does anyone know how to get rid of this text cursor? Do I have
to program my own form_dial() ?
 
Regards
 
Gernot
 
---
Gernot Kunz                             gernot@hpuviea.UUCP
Hewlett-Packard Austria GmbH,           ...mcvax!tuvie!hpuviea!gernot
A-1220 Vienna, Austria                  ...hplabs!hpfcla!hpbbn!hpuviea!gernot
(0043) (222) 2500 x428 (9-18 CET)
--
Gernot Kunz                             gernot@hpuviea.UUCP
Hewlett-Packard Austria GmbH,           ...mcvax!tuvie!hpuviea!gernot
A-1220 Vienna, Austria                  ...hplabs!hpfcla!hpbbn!hpuviea!gernot
(0043) (222) 2500 x428 (9-18 CET)
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 30 Nov 89 16:16:00 GMT
From: inmet!hedger@uunet.uu.net
Subject: How to get new members??
Message-ID: <30200026@inmet>
 
Rich,
 
I think the strongest thing you can do to get new members is to
recruit through the local dealers. That's the place that you are
going to reach new and existing ST users.
 
I would print up cards, posters etc. and see if I could get them in
all of the atari stores in town and in any neighboring towns.
 
 Make sure that your posters mention the BBS.
 After you get some members, I would talk to one of your local dealers
 and Atari about maybe having a guest lecturer come in and do a
 presentation. Maybe you could hold it at one of the stores. This is a
 fairly common practice in music stores. Anyway, if you can get some
 sort of presentation happening then Advertise that one event in the
 paper. Maybe throw a party and advertis in the science section of the
 paper for the party to recruit people.
 
 I don't belong to any users groups but these are just ideas that
 occurred to me.
 Hope this helps,
 
 
=====================================================================
|                                                                   |
| Keith Hedger :  ?...!?uunet!inmet!hedger   hedger@inmet.inmet.com |
|    'It is a sad, but beautiful world..........'                   |
=====================================================================
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 30 Nov 89 14:59:57 GMT
From: njin!jvnca!njitgw!mars!parker@rutgers.edu  (bruce parker cis fac)
Subject: Off the subj, but very relevant
Message-ID: <875@njitgw.njit.edu>
 
The bill is HR 2712, not 2172 (at least that is what the White House comments
line person told me.)
Bruce Parker
305 Weston Hall                                 (201) 596-3369
Computer and Information Science Department     parker@mars.njit.edu
New Jersey Institute of Technology
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 30 Nov 89 19:43:32 GMT
From: fox!portal!atari!apratt@apple.com  (Allan Pratt)
Subject: Rainbow Tos Porblems
Message-ID: <1839@atari.UUCP>
 
rode@uniol.UUCP (Dirk Rode) writes:
> yesterday I got a version of the TOS 1.4 as a disk version.
 
The rest of your message doesn't matter.
 
DO NOT USE DISK VERSIONS OF TOS 1.4 ANY MORE.
 
If you experience the same problem with a ROM (EPROM) version of TOS
1.4, then you can start blaming it on the application or TOS. Not until
then.  The disk-based version was for developers to get a taste of TOS
1.4 early, and IT IS NOT A PRODUCT SUPPORTED BY ATARI.
 
============================================
Opinions expressed above do not necessarily     -- Allan Pratt, Atari Corp.
reflect those of Atari Corp. or anyone else.      ...ames!atari!apratt
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 30 Nov 89 19:08:46 GMT
From: fox!portal!atari!kbad@apple.com  (Ken Badertscher)
Subject: Rainbow Tos Porblems
Message-ID: <1838@atari.UUCP>
 
rode@uniol.UUCP (Dirk Rode) writes:
|  yesterday I got a version of the TOS 1.4 as a disk version.
Aieeee!!!  Where did you get it?  Aren't ROMs available where you live?
 
I _strongly_ advise against using _any_ disk based version of TOS,
especially if you don't know its lineage.  TOS ROMs have been available
for years, and Rainbow TOS ROMs now for months (UK users aside - but
that's another story, and hopefully one that is getting fixed).
 
I'd like to echo the sentiments of another article here recently:
How can Atari be expected to support an operating system if we don't know
what's _really_ in it?
 
Caveat Emptor.
--
   |||   Ken Badertscher  (ames!atari!kbad)
   |||   Atari R&D System Software Engine
  / | \  #include <disclaimer>
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 29 Nov 89 11:33:51 GMT
From: eru!luth!sunic!tut!hydra!hylka!jalkio@bloom-beacon.mit.edu  (Jouni Alkio,
 University of Helsinki, Finland)
Subject: Still searching...close
Message-ID: <1571@cc.helsinki.fi>
 
> daniel@pkmab.se (Daniel Deimert) writes:
>
> | I'm still looking for some kind of information about how to program
> | the new chips in the STe.
>
 
In a German magazine "ST-Magazine" issue 12/89 pages 64-66 there is
quite complete description of the STE's new hardware registers and their
meanings. I think this is the information you need.
 
                                        Jouni Alkio
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 1 Dec 89 08:09:53 GMT
From: agate!saturn!ucscg.UCSC.EDU!dstr012@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU  (10003012)
Subject: Trash, Disks, etc.
Message-ID: <9911@saturn.ucsc.edu>
 
Does anyone out there have or know where I can get a program to change
the Trash and file cabinet icons on the desktop?  The old desktop is getting
pretty boring and I am due for a change.  Thanks.
 
         Roman Baker
 
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End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 Issue #734
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