8bitfiles.net/archives/archives.tar/archives/genie-commodore-file-library/Information/GEOS-RTC.NOTES

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The following Text is from our $pring Break Geos Real Time Conference
with Jim Collette:


From:   STENO.POOL                      RTC Stenographer Pool

Sub: Minutes of your RT Conference.

From Steno: Jennifer Marlowe

Date: 04/26/91   Time: 22:42EDT
Minutes:
<C128-BILL> OK, first off.. welcome to the FlagShip Conference and
$pring Break!!
<C128-BILL> Second... a few words of introduction for our Guest Speaker... Jim
Collette!
<C128-BILL> Jim Collette has been programming in Geos for several years, is
part owner of Comm-Plex Software, and is a BSW customer service rep.
<C128-BILL> We are very lucky to 'twist' his arm to join us, tonight...
<JIM.COLLETTE> LOL Bill! I'm happy to be here!!!
<C128-BILL> His expertise is unique for us, being 'into' many different types
of hardware, and also...
<C128-BILL> an expert on GeoWorks Software...
<C128-BILL> Please welcome Jim to our first Friday Night Real Time COnference
in recent years!!
<C128-BILL> Jim, would you like to...
<C128-BILL> open up the conference with a few words?
<[ Mark ] M.WEBB13> WELCOME Jim!!
<[Keith] A.HOELL> Welcome Jim, glad to make your acquaintance!
<C128-BILL> <clap><clap>
<JIM.COLLETTE> Howdy everyone, thanks for inviting me tonight. Nice to see a
bunch of CBM users out there... who said 8-bit is dead?! :)
<C.JOLMAN1> <clap><clap>
<[Keith] A.HOELL> I can't spell when I type fast!
<C128-BILL> Me neither, Keith.  Don't worry about spelling, guys/gals!
<[Keith] A.HOELL> Thanks!
<C128-BILL> Well, maybe we should open up the floor to questions.....  Please
use the   /RAI  command, and I will call on you in order of the queue!
<L.QUESADA2> are there different types of GEOS software available?
<C128-BILL> OK, Brad.. Please G/A
<BRAD-HARRIS> I'm having trouble getting GEOWRITE installed on my CMD
hard disk.
<BRAD-HARRIS> I used Maverick to get GEOS on it, but can't seem to get WRITE to
work...
<BRAD-HARRIS> I keep getting an error message that I can't install GEOWRITE on
this disk....
<JIM.COLLETTE> (I wish I had an HD!) What happens when you try to use it?
<JIM.COLLETTE> Oops, sorry... :|
<BRAD-HARRIS> Do I need to put it in a different partition?  G/A
<JIM.COLLETTE> Brad - where are you getting the copy of geoWrite from to put on
the HD? You're using an installed copy. It must either be from an orig
inal GEOS 2.0 system disk
<[ Mark ] M.WEBB13> I want to know more about editing icons... Trying to
capture a font style to use on the desktop icon. Easier to look at the deskto
p for the font than the book.
<JIM.COLLETTE> that was never installed, or else you ran the Maverick parameter
on geoWrite as well. If the former, just double-click geoWrite from the
e system disk and it will
<BRAD-HARRIS> Jim, I'm using my original disks.  Should I...
<JIM.COLLETTE> install there and then you can copy it over to the HD. If you
just ran the parameter on it, you don't need to do that. I'd just grab a
copy of geoWrite from one
<JIM.COLLETTE> of your work disks and dump it right into the HD from there.
<JIM.COLLETTE> (G/A)
<BRAD-HARRIS> Install it to a floppy first, then copy it...
<BRAD-HARRIS> to the hard disk?
<BRAD-HARRIS> G/A
<JIM.COLLETTE> Yep, you need to copy over an installed version. When you get
the master disk, there is copy protection on it so it will only install o
n the master (and hence it
<JIM.COLLETTE> fails on the HD). Once it's installed it will run anywhere -
just install it and copy it over and you're all set. :)
<C128-BILL> OK, I think Mark had a question.  Thank you, Brad.
<JIM.COLLETTE> Mark - you're having trouble making font icons to resemble the
font?
<[ Mark ] M.WEBB13> Yes
<JIM.COLLETTE> It's easy to do if you have the right tools... you will want
Icon Editor 2.0 (or possibly a PD substitute, I'm not familiar with many t
hough and not sure if
<JIM.COLLETTE> they will support scraps) and either geoFont 2.0 (from the
International Font Pack) or Font Editor 2.4 or 2.5 (sold through us) - what
you can do is open the
<JIM.COLLETTE> font in the font editor, copy a letter out to a Photo Scrap, and
then run the icon editor and paste it in. (Then draw a border around i
t or whatever.) :)
<JIM.COLLETTE> BTW... "us" is Comm-Plex Software, the Font Editor is on our
GEOS Font Collection disks.
<C128-BILL> OK, L.Q. has a question, but I see that he disco'd.   Anyone else
have a question for Jim?
<[ Mark ] M.WEBB13> Ok that makes sense. Thanks! Also would like to get more
info on Comm-Plex Software.
<JIM.COLLETTE> What would you like to know? (I don't want to turn this into an
online ad!)
<C128-BILL> No problem, Jim..   I'm also interested in Comm-Plex.  ;)
<[ Mark ] M.WEBB13> Where do I get a listing of software?
<JIM.COLLETTE> We sell: GEOS Font Collection 1 (with Font Editor 2.4 (old) and
over 30 fonts) for $16.50. The Font Collection 2 with the newer v2.5 an
d over 20 fonts is $21.50.
<C128-BILL> Maybe we can twist Jim's arm again and ask him to upload a listing
to the Libraries, here.
<[ Mark ] M.WEBB13> Perhaps E-Mail me some, if that would be easier...:-)
<JIM.COLLETTE> The MegaFont Disk 1 is $16.50 and is a full disk of pure
MegaFonts. And finally, geoWizard is $16.50 and requires an REU of 512K or mor
e.
<JIM.COLLETTE> If you drop me your address in E-Mail I can send you more info
if you like.
<C128-BILL> Brad... did you have a 'Q' ??
<BRAD-HARRIS> Yep...  You may have guessed from my last question...
<BRAD-HARRIS> that I'm not a GEOS expert ;)  What is a MegaFont?  G/A
<JIM.COLLETTE> Oh no Brad, more?! LOL :)
<JIM.COLLETTE> A MegaFont is a font that's too big to be used as a regular font.
 They're usually 48 points and geoPublish is the only program that sup
ports them directly.
<JIM.COLLETTE> They work by splitting up the character set into about 6 or 7
different point sizes and only storing a section of characters in each on
e to keep the size down.
<JIM.COLLETTE> (G/A)
<C128-BILL> Brad, follow up?
<BRAD-HARRIS> Thanks.  You're doing great!
<BRAD-HARRIS> G/A
<C128-BILL> OK, Mark has a question....  G/A, Mark!
<JIM.COLLETTE> (Thanks!)
<[ Mark ] M.WEBB13> Would like to know if GEOS 128 V2.0 will support color on
the desktop icons. I've got the 64K Video chip, just wondering....
<[ Mark ] M.WEBB13> I know it will in the 40 col mode. But I would like it in
the 80 col better.
<JIM.COLLETTE> Mark - I assume you mean in 80 columns... nope. :( It's funny,
there IS support for the 80 column color in the 128 Kernal (it's been th
ere since GEOS 128 1.4)
<C128-BILL> Don't forget...Please use the  /RAI command (raise) to be placed in
a queue.  I will notify you when it's your turn.  Thanx!
<JIM.COLLETTE> but nothing was ever done to take advantage of it. For the
curious: there is the standard 640x200 mono mode, a 640x176(?) 16K VDC 8X8
color mode, and 640x200
<JIM.COLLETTE> 64K VDC color in 8X8, 8X4, and 8X2 (much like BASIC 8).
<JIM.COLLETTE> (G/A)
<C128-BILL> Follow up, Mark?
<[ Mark ] M.WEBB13> Do you think it will ever make the 80-col stuff? (icon
colors)
<JIM.COLLETTE> I don't think so. At least not in deskTop. I have an 80 column
640x400 interlaced color geoPaint viewer that I'm working on but there i
sn't much available that
<JIM.COLLETTE> supports 80 column color. Michael Schell's "Scrap It!" will work
in 80 column color, and so does Bill Coleman's geoInvaders game.
<JIM.COLLETTE> Other than that, it's been pretty much ignored (most people
don't even know the color support exists).
<JIM.COLLETTE> (G/A)
<C128-BILL> OK, Brad...  you have another question?
<[ Mark ] M.WEBB13> Thanks Jim, I've learned something tonight! :-)
<BRAD-HARRIS> I had one, but it was just answered :)
<JIM.COLLETTE> Heh, the secrets of GEOS there are to tell... :)
<C128-BILL> OK, I have one...
<C128-BILL> that really doesn't apply to Geos, but it is timely...
<C128-BILL> Jim, I just heard a rumor today about TC128....
<C128-BILL> and that Loren is not publishing it, anymore.  I hope that it's
just a rumor!  Any comment?
<C128-BILL> <I ask the tough ones> !
<[ Mark ] M.WEBB13> TC128 ??
<JIM.COLLETTE> Unfortunately I never got around to subscribing to that so I'm
not sure. I DO read about that a lot on the "other" net and I get the im
pression it may just be
<C128-BILL> Twin Cities 128.
<[ Mark ] M.WEBB13> Ahhh...
<JIM.COLLETTE> one of their usual publishing delays... although I DID hear
something about them maybe stopping publication or something. I don't think
 it's true though. <G/A>
<[LoadstarTech] J.REA1> Who, US!?  Naaah!
<C128-BILL> I will be very thankful if the TC128 will continue publishing...
<C128-BILL> I sure hope Loren will continue with his work.
<C128-BILL> OK, does anyone have any other questions for Jim?
<JIM.COLLETTE> I hope so too Bill, helps the whole 128 community in general.
<C128-BILL> OK, Mark...
<C128-BILL> Your on!
<[ Mark ] M.WEBB13> What about color in the 80-col geoPaint?
<JIM.COLLETTE> Ah... nope. I've played with this before. There is a Kernal
routine (GEOS Kernal) to set the color mode you want... normally it is rese
t to standard 640x200 mono
<JIM.COLLETTE> whenever you quit a program, but I modified it once to change to
640x200 color and "lock" it there (disabled the routine to change it).
 I then ran geoPaint and
<JIM.COLLETTE> it screwed up the vertical position on the screen somehow
(rolled down about halfway down the screen) but no color. I've hacked around
in it before with geoDebugger
<JIM.COLLETTE> trying to activate the Color icon in 80 columns, and I can't get
it to do anything.
<JIM.COLLETTE> The reason I was so interested is because I am pretty sure BSW
had it running at one point (at least was working on it). If any of you
have GEOS 128 1.4, grab
<JIM.COLLETTE> the manual and look in the geoPaint section. Check out the
screen dumps. If you look closely you can tell that they are 80 column dumps
. But the Color icon is there!!!!!
<JIM.COLLETTE> I was hoping they left the color code in geoPaint and just
disabled it for the release version, but it seems like they did take it out.
 (I'm not sure it was
<JIM.COLLETTE> ever running perfectly in the first place). I asked Jim DeFrisco
(the guy who wrote geoPaint) about it once and he said it was somethin
g they were working on,
<JIM.COLLETTE> but didn't go very far with it (probably because it would have
needed the 64K VDC).
<JIM.COLLETTE> It's a real interesting thing to look at, I almost died when I
first saw those screen dumps in the 1.4 manual a few years ago. :) (G/A)
<C128-BILL> Follow up?
<[ Mark ] M.WEBB13> OK, thanks!
<C128-BILL> OK, Brad...  your up!
<BRAD-HARRIS> Jim, how much of the 128's available RAM does the GEOS Kernal
take?
<BRAD-HARRIS> Does it leave any room for color?  G/A
<JIM.COLLETTE> Hmmm... I can't remember the specific details, but basically it
uses Bank 1 for the main bank (yep, backwards from what we're used to)
- the stuff in there
<JIM.COLLETTE> pretty much resembles GEOS 64 - program space from $0400-$6000,
disk driver at $9000, Kernal from $BF40-$FFFF, etc.... Back RAM is bank
 0, and that is used to
<JIM.COLLETTE> hold a second bank of the Kernal ($C000-$FFFF), the 80 column
SoftSprite work space is down around $0400 in back RAM, and most of the r
est of the space is used
<JIM.COLLETTE> as a buffer for DA swap files... instead of writing to disk like
GEOS 64 does, when you call a DA on GEOS 128 it just saves the RAM out
 to back RAM. (so you don't
<[Keith] A.HOELL> How?
<JIM.COLLETTE> need to have any free room on the disk to run a DA). As for the
VDC RAM, it uses 16000 bytes (a standard 640x200 screen). (G/A)
<C128-BILL> Follow up?
<BRAD-HARRIS> It sounds like there's plenty of room left for color, but only
with the 64K VDC.  Thanks.
<C128-BILL> OK, LoadStar has a question...  you're on.
<JIM.COLLETTE> Yep, with 64K VDC there is plenty of room for it.
<[LoadstarTech] J.REA1> This is my first time in the CBM forum.  I have a C-64,
but am currently using an IBMalike (PClone, Parts-is-Parts, you get th
e idea...).  Can someone give me the lowdown on WIZARD, and how it compares to
PC ALADDIN?
<C128-BILL> Yes, LoadStar... just send me...
<C128-BILL> GEmail and since I use both term programs,....
<C128-BILL> I would be happy to compare them for you.  ;)
<C128-BILL> Just send it to either FLAGSHIP$   or  me at   C128-Bill
<C128-BILL> LoadStar.. would that be OK with you?
<[LoadstarTech] J.REA1> Okay!
<C128-BILL> Great.  If you would like, after this conference we can compare
notes about both programs.  :)
<C128-BILL> So hang in there.
<C128-BILL> Any other questions for Jim?
<C128-BILL> OK, Wayne?
<C128-BILL> You have a question for Jim?
<[Wayne] W.CUMMINGS> anything new with geowizard?
<JIM.COLLETTE> Not yet... I'm hoping to maybe make a new version over the
summer. :)
<C128-BILL> Any hot improvements that you might let us in on, Jim?
<JIM.COLLETTE> I'm not completely sure yet what will be going into it...
probably will let you keep a few things open at once, maybe a memory viewer o
r something too?
<JIM.COLLETTE> I'll probably think of something when the time comes...
geoWizard originally was nothing more than a screen dumper! :) G/A
<C128-BILL> Sounds neat.  Do you think it'll be ready by the fall?
<JIM.COLLETTE> Most likely.
<C128-BILL> Wayne, any follow up question?
<[Wayne] W.CUMMINGS> no
<C128-BILL> Jim, I noticed that up in the GEOWORKS RT...
<C128-BILL> there was a discussion about a file...
<C128-BILL> export program for 64/128 into Ensemble..
<C128-BILL> for those who would like to keep their data files when they
upgrade.
<C128-BILL> any thoughts about this, or where it's heading?  I like the idea.
<JIM.COLLETTE> Text file conversion is pretty easy - you can use Joe Buckley's
WrongIsWrite to convert the 64/128 geoWrite files into ASCII, and PC ge
oWrite will directly
<JIM.COLLETTE> let you import (and export) ASCII files. Graphics will be easier
soon, when I get geoPCX finished. (It's a 64/128 GEOS program to conve
rt geoPaint files into
<JIM.COLLETTE> color or B/W PCX format, where you can then import them into
geoDraw).
<C128-BILL> I guess Geofile and Geocalc would be a toughie, then.
<JIM.COLLETTE> Currently to get a geoPaint to geoDraw (PC) you have to convert
to Mac, then convert Mac to PCX on the PC. It's a pain and you lose any
 color as well.
<JIM.COLLETTE> Yep, geoFile/geoCalc will probably be impossible... although who
knows?! G/A
<C128-BILL> PCX is very universal.  Ah.. OK.  Good answer.
<C128-BILL> Brad has another question.... g/a
<BRAD-HARRIS> I would think that converting spreadsheet or database...
<BRAD-HARRIS> info form one format to another would be easier than graphics....
<BRAD-HARRIS> What makes doing it with GEOFile or GEOCalc so hard?  I've...
<BRAD-HARRIS> never used either.  G/A
<C128-BILL> [By the way, I just extended the free time for all people present
in this room, so you don't have to watch the clock]
<JIM.COLLETTE> Hmmm... maybe and maybe not. The graphic conversions are
actually not all that bad. I'm not completely sure about the spreadsheet/datab
ase conversions, although
<M.SUBELKA> <clap> <clap>
<JIM.COLLETTE> I would think stuff like the relationships between different
data structures would be difficult to convert to a new format (i.e. the ma
th formulas and all that).
<JIM.COLLETTE> The other major problem is that nobody knows the geoFile or
geoCalc file formats. :( G/A
<C128-BILL> Follow up Brad?
<BRAD-HARRIS> OK, I see what you mean (both former and later).  Thanks.
<C128-BILL> OK, as we are coming up to the end here.. I want....
<C128-BILL> to thank Jim for allowing us to pester him so much....
<C128-BILL> and hope he forgives me for calling him 'The Pope of Geos'!
<C128-BILL> Thanx very much, Jim.  I think we all learned alot, here tonight.
<JIM.COLLETTE> God Bill, cut it out! I love these conferences! (And I guess you
are forgiven.... LOL)
<BRAD-HARRIS> (Especially since he's much better than Pope!
<C128-BILL> OK, now we can end the formal Q/A session.
<C128-BILL> Thanx, again, Jim!
<JIM.COLLETTE> Thank You, I've had a good time tonight! :)

=== End of Steno notes. ===