Archive Magazine CD 1995/Archive Magazine CD 1995.iso/text/hints/volume_06/issue02

Text File | 1995-02-16 | 20.1 KB | 398 lines

Hints and Tips
6.2
•   3D icons for RISC-OS 3.1 − Here are some tips for those of you who
upgraded from RISC-OS 3.00 to RISC-OS 3.10 (and for anyone else who is
interested in a fancy desktop).
6.2
If you have used the fancy 3D-like window borders on your A5000, you
will probably have noticed that, with RISC-OS 3.1, the borders will not
install properly. This is because RISC-OS 3.0 programs used the
‘IconSprites’ command to install the wimp’s tool sprites (i.e. borders),
while in RISC-OS 3.1 there is a new command to install user defined
window tools:
6.2
*ToolSprites <spritefile>
6.2
This is, I think, because the border sprites are now held in a separate
sprite area for faster redrawing. So, the only thing you have to do is
to change the command ‘IconSprites’ into ‘ToolSprites’ at the appropri
ate places in your files. Note that you can also re-install the default
window tools by entering ‘ToolSprites’ on the command line.
6.2
The small utility I use to install enhanced icons (a modified version of
!SetIcons), shows another minor modification of RISC-OS 3.1. It is now
assumed that some icons have the same dimension. For example, some
border elements are painted from two sets of sprites − one that is
normally used and one that is used when you select this particular
border element. If corresponding sprites within these sets are different
in size, you will see that some parts of the elements are not painted
when you select them. To overcome this problem, you can adjust the sizes
with !Paint.
6.2
For those programmers who liked the Impression-style dialogue boxes,
there exists a module called ‘Interface’. This module takes care of most
of the code to generate fancy icon borders. RISC-OS 3.0 has some in-
built extras to achieve the same thing without the need to insert extra
lines of code into your program. (The programmer only has to define some
validation strings which contain the information to generate the desired
effect.) However, because the validation string command syntax was
essentially the same as the syntax used by the Interface module, there
were sometimes problems when using the Interface module with RISC-OS
3.0.
6.2
After I installed the new RISC-OS 3.1 ROMs, I was surprised to see that
my own (RISC-OS 3.0!) programs didn’t have fancy borders any more. After
some experimenting with the validation strings, I discovered that the
command syntax is now different from the syntax used by the Interface
module. To be more specific, RISC-OS 3.1 makes use of ‘r<int><colour>’
(where <int> is a number between 0 and 8 and <colour> is a WIMP colour
number), instead of ‘b<int>, ...’. This modification probably has been
made to overcome the incompatibility problems with the Interface module.
The simplicity with which you can use this prompts a question: Why don’t
the ROM based applications like Draw use this facility? I guess this is
just another ‘Acorn-mystery’.  Paul Groot, Holland.
6.2
• Editing paper sizes in RISC-OS 3 − If attempts are made to edit the
paper sizes contained within the standard RISC-OS 3 printer driver
files, it will be found that any changes made to the Text Margins
section will revert to 0 when the window is closed, even if Save
Settings is selected. This is due to a bug, but can be rectified by
editing the paper files directly.
6.2
Editing any of the paper sizes results in a new file called PaperRW
being generated in the Printers application directory. This file can be
modified using Edit. Make sure that the Printers application is not
running (i.e. Choose Quit from the iconbar menu if it is). Find the
!Printers application (normally in the App1 directory) and open it using
Shift-double-click. Open the file called PaperRW by Shift-double-
clicking on it. Scroll down the file until you find the name of the
paper setting which you defined or modified. It will look something like
’pn: Fanfold A4’. At the bottom of the set of numbers relevant to this
paper setting are five values (called tb, tt, tl, tr, th) which
correspond to the text bottom, top, left and right margins and the
height (in lines) respectively. Alter the values from 0 to your required
numbers and save the file. When you re-run the Printers application,
your paper sizes will be rectified.  Simon Moy, N.C.S.
6.2
•   How NOT to treat your SCSI hard disk − A few weeks ago I found a new
way to get rid of all those files that clogged my external hard disk(!)
6.2
Every verify I did showed up one questionable sector, so I decided to
map it out as defective. The *Defect command applies only to ADFS, so I
browsed through the SCSI disk’s manual and, finally, found what I was
looking for (or so I thought).
6.2
Morley supply their hard disks with a formatter application which,
amongst other things, can add defects to a list. There is a warning that
a low level format would result in total loss of data but, later in the
description, an option was mentioned to decide whether or not to do the
low level format while running the application.
6.2
This led me to believe that clicking on ‘No’ would keep my data intact −
alas, I was wrong!
6.2
The Morley hotline informed me that I had in fact done a high level
format which wipes out the information about the addresses for each
file. As the passage in the manual could be misunderstood, they very
kindly offered to restore my data for me free of charge (just p&p).
(Great service!!)
6.2
However, it was not to be: I forgot to inform them that I use Computer
Concepts’ Compression on most of my files and this, I was told later,
encodes the files in such a way that retrieval becomes virtually
impossible.
6.2
I learned two things from my self-made disaster:
6.2
1) Even the excellent Compression is not proof against all kinds of
fools.
6.2
2) 800 Kb floppy disks are just not good enough as a backup medium! I
shudder at the thought that I will have to feed 112 floppies into my
machine, once the hard disk returns from England.
6.2
As a consequence, for future backups I have ordered a 20Mb floptical
drive from Morley, to be sent as soon as it is able to read and write
Acorn floppy formats.  Jochen Konietzko, Köln, Germany.
6.2
•   Humour in RISC-OS 3.1! − You will be pleased to hear that humour still
exists within Acorn. If you load ‘Resources:$.Resources.
Switcher.Templates’ into the template editor, FormEd, you get an
interesting message.  Knut Folmo, Norway
6.2
•   Loading multiple Impression documents − If you want to load a number
of Impression files at once, just select them (with rubber band dragging
on RISC-OS 3, if you like) and drag them down onto the Impression icon
on the iconbar.
6.2
• Memory size from Basic − In Basic, there is no specific way to find
out how much physical memory is fitted to the host machine. However, it
can be calculated using a SWI call as in this example:
6.2
10 SYS “OS_ReadMemMapInfo” TO PageSize%, NumOfPages%
6.2
20 TotalMemory% = PageSize% * NumOfPages%
6.2
30   REM This value is in bytes
6.2
40 Total% = TotalMemory% / 2^20
6.2
50   REM This value is in Mbytes
6.2
Simon Moy, N.C.S.
6.2
•   More RISC-OS 3.1 Alt Characters The current A5000 Welcome Guide
mentions some additional Alt-key characters. These alt-keys don’t
actually produce a character themselves, they just set up an accent, so
that the following character is changed into an accented character. This
only happens if the accent is suitable for the following character.
6.2
For example to type an ‘e’ with an acute accent (é): Whilst holding down
the Alt key, press and release <[>. Release <alt> and the press and
release <E>. Thus:-
6.2
Alt-[  E     é
6.2
Alt-]  E     è
6.2
Alt-;  E     ë
6.2
Alt-’  E     ê
6.2
Alt-,  N   ñ
6.2
Alt-.  A     å
6.2
Alt-/  C     ç
6.2
The only other Alt-key character missing from the previous list is Alt-
hyphen which gives character 173, which, in the Acorn fonts, looks
exactly like a normal hyphen, but is often different in fonts from other
suppliers.  Simon Moy, N.C.S.
6.2
• MS-DOS 5, PC Emulators and the Archimedes keyboard − (This excerpt
from a reply to an Archive reader’s letter may prove useful to others.)
The cursor keys do not work correctly with the PC emulators due to a
bug. They will not work properly with either QBasic or DOS Edit. They
can be used to move around the text but, to select text, you must use
the cursor and editing keys which are mapped on the numeric keypad (as
on a normal PC AT-style keyboard). Therefore, when inside the editors,
make sure that NumLock is off and use <shift> and the following keys (on
the numeric keypad):
6.2
6.3
6.2
AMOUSE.COM is fully compatible with MS-DOS 5. However, as with all PCs,
you cannot display the mouse pointer at the DOS prompt. Also, not all PC
programs support the mouse. However, if the AMOUSE command is present in
your AUTOEXEC.BAT file and the program you want to use accepts a mouse
(e.g. QBasic, EDIT and DOSSHELL), you must start the appropriate
application first and then select Connect Mouse (by pressing <menu> over
the PC emulator window) if you are running the emulator from a window in
the RISC-OS desktop. If you are using the emulator under Single Task
mode, the mouse should automatically connect itself. (If the mouse does
not connect itself automatically when running the emulator under Single
Task mode, then this is a further bug in the PC emulator.) Typing AMOUSE
at the DOS prompt or selecting Connect Mouse from the window’s menu will
not display the DOS mouse pointer, as DOS itself does not support a
mouse. If you do this, the RISC-OS pointer will disappear (because
control has passed to DOS) and you must press <menu> on the mouse to
relinquish control from the emulator back to RISC-OS.  Simon Moy, N.C.S.
6.2
• Pound sign problems − The pound sign has always been a difficult
character to print and display on the screen. To make the pound sign
appear in the PC Emulator, press and hold <alt> and type 156 on the
numeric keypad. When you release <alt>, the pound sign will appear.
6.2
If you are printing a file as text (i.e. from Edit or PipeDream for
instance) then the pound sign will print as a hash (#). You can reverse
this by using a hash symbol in your text in place of the pound sign,
although it is important that your printer is set up with a UK character
set − see the DIP switch settings for your specific printer. If you are
printing a file produced using bitmaps (e.g. Impression) then the pound
sign will print correctly anyway. Basically, any program which defaults
to printing on the screen using the system font will print characters as
plain text − there is a section on plain and fancy text in the RISC-OS
User Guide.
6.2
By the way, does anybody know why you can’t access the pound sign
(either from the keyboard or <alt-156>) in a Task Window under RISC-OS
3.0?  Simon Moy, N.C.S.
6.2
• RISC-OS 3.1: A310 − There is a problem when fitting RISC-OS 3.1 to
A310 machines fitted with the Arcram 434 ARM3 + 4Mb upgrade from Watford
Electronics. It causes the machine to hang on power-up. Replacement PAL
chips and more information are available from Watford Electronics on
0923−37774 (Fax: 33642).  Simon Moy, N.C.S.
6.2
• RISC-OS 3.1: SCSI drives − There may be problems accessing the SCSI
drive using the HCCS Hard Card interface with RISC-OS 3.1. Contact HCCS
for details.  Simon Moy, N.C.S.
6.2
• Rotated fonts and sprites using Laser Direct − With the advent of
RISC-OS 3.1, there are problems with printing rotated text and graphics
using the currently existing RISC-OS 2 printer drivers such as that
supplied with Laser Direct. To overcome the problem, transform the text
or sprite to any angle in Draw, make sure that the item is selected and
choose the Convert to Path option from the Select submenu. This will
allow rotated text or sprites to be printed correctly using the RISC-OS
2 printer driver supplied with Laser Direct. This does not mean that it
will work with all RISC-OS 2 printer drivers − you will have to
experiment! Steve Costin, Ramsgate.
6.2
•   TV interference − In response to Chris Bass’ enquiry in Archive 6.1
p36, here is a general procedure which covers almost all cases:
6.2
1. Does the computer interfere with your own TV, when it is as close/
closer to your computer than your neighbour’s TV is? (On either side of
a party wall they could be less than 1 m apart!)
6.2
If YES, go to 2. If NO, go to 3.
6.2
2. Does the interference disappear when the computer is 3 m or more from
the TV?
6.2
If YES, agree with your neighbour to move your computer and his TV so
that they are more than 3 m apart. If moving them apart is inconvenient,
you could try sticking cooking foil on to the party wall (under the wall
covering, eventually). You need a minimum of about 2 m by 2 m, and there
is usually no point in earthing it, but you could try the effect.
6.2
In some types of building, your computer might be too close to your
neighbour’s TV aerial, in which case moving them apart is the best bet.
6.2
If NO, the computer may be faulty. Many dealers may not be able to cope
with this type of fault, so you, or your dealer, should contact Acorn
with a FULL description of the problem.
6.2
3. If NO to question 1, your neighbour’s TV has either an inadequate
aerial or inadequate ‘immunity’. (This is a technical term describing
‘resistance to electromagnetic disturbances’.) An inadequate aerial
usually also gives ‘fuzzy’ pictures and/or ghosts (outlines of images
displaced sideways). The aerial itself may be OK; the fault may be in
the downlead. They tend to fill up with water and deteriorate after a
time. A new aerial (and downlead) is quite inexpensive, even a large
one. If the aerial is not the problem, the manufacturer of the receiver
should be contacted, either directly or through the TV dealer or rental
company, regarding the probable lack of immunity of the TV. Manufac
turers (of TVs and computers) are quite concerned about this at present,
because of an EC Directive on the subject.
6.2
4. If all else fails, the DTI Radio Investigation Service will look at
the problem and give advice but there is a fee of about £21 involved.
The Service has much information and experience of such problems and
their cures, including private information about know immunity problems.
For Lincolnshire, the address is (or was) PO Box 2500, Nottingham NG8
3SS. The head office is at Waterloo Bridge House, Waterloo Road, London
SE1 8UA. A book, ‘How to improve Television and Radio Reception’ is/was
available from the Service, and gives a good deal of information on
interference problems (some of it technical).  John Woodgate, Rayleigh,
Essex.  A



Hints, Tips and Letters
6.2
A combined selection this month, since the hints and tips stem from
letters I have received recently.
6.2
• Key Window / Impression problem:  I am grateful to Jack Evans of
Bristol for pointing out this problem to me, particularly since I am the
author of the program in question. Key Window (available on Shareware 47
– see review in Archive 6.1 p31) is a program which displays keystrips
in a window, and the strips update themselves as you move the caret
between tasks.
6.2
The problem is that if you have Key Window running at the same time as
you are editing a document in Impression which is set to auto-save, the
auto-save doesn’t work. You can still save manually of course, but this
is something which is easy to forget about. The solution is easily
effected, if not very satisfactory. You have to de-select ‘Sense caret’
in Key Window’s Options menu. Unfortunately, this will prevent Key
Window from changing keystrips as you move between applications. If you
use Impression’s auto-save a lot, and want to disable Key Window’s
interference permanently, you can edit the !Run file to disable the
‘sense caret’ option via a system variable. Full instructions for doing
this are provided in the file.
6.2
Users may be interested to know that I have just started work on version
2 of Key Window, and am re-writing it from scratch to make it a much
better program with enhanced facilities. I intend to approach Computer
Concepts about the problem, to see if a satisfactory solution can be
found. Other programs with auto-save facilities, such as Ovation and
Vector, do not appear to suffer from the problem.
6.2
• Protecting Impression files:  Charles Martin from the Isle of Wight
has been having a few problems with some Impression ‘template’ files –
empty documents with standard formats. He wants to make them Delete- and
Write-protected via the filer’s Access menu but has found that setting
the files (which are, of course, in the form of application directories)
to ‘locked’ does not protect their contents. Similarly, opening the
directories and choosing ‘Select all’ does not have the desired effect.
6.2
This situation actually applies to all applications and directories, not
just Impression files. However, under RISC-OS 3, the Access menu is
completely redesigned and works much better, so the problem only really
affects RISC-OS 2 users. The difficulty arises because of the distinc
tion that the filer makes between directories (be they normal
directories or application directories) and actual files. This is one of
those ‘features’ of RISC-OS 2 which needs a bit of care.
6.2
Under RISC-OS 3, if you select a directory or application directory
(such as an Impression file) and set it to ‘Protected’, the filer will
protect all the files within it, no matter how many sub-directories
there are. Under RISC-OS 2, however, it will only set the status of the
directory itself. You therefore need to open the directory, select all
the files within it and set their attributes via the Access menu.
However, there is a further complication: if the selection of files
contains any directories, the process will be upset − the directories
need to be deselected first.
6.2
Under RISC-OS 2, to protect an Impression file, you would need to open
it up, choose ‘Select all’ from the filer menu, deselect any directories
in the selection by clicking on them with <adjust>, and finally set all
the files’ attributes via the Access menu. Then repeat the process for
each of the directories which you had deselected (‘MasterChap’,
‘Chapter1’, etc). There is simply no point in protecting the directories
themselves, since it is impossible to delete a directory which contains
locked files, and locking a directory (under RISC-OS 2) does not affect
the access status of the files within it in any case.
6.2
All in all, it’s probably easiest to upgrade to RISC-OS 3!
6.2
• Applause for Ovation:  A highly enthusiastic letter about Ovation has
been received from Tony Greenfield of Birmingham. He has the following
to say:
6.2
“[Ovation] does just what I had hoped for and more. The manual is
brilliant! It is a work book on DTP, quite good enough as an introduc
tion to the subject to beginners and as an encouraging tutorial for more
experienced users. I found it much more useful than First Impression. I
have learnt much about Impression II and much about how a manual should
be presented. I wonder if the reason that there are not many hints and
tips on using Ovation [in Archive] is because the user manual is so
clear? (It may also have something to do with the relative numbers of
people using the two packages. Ed.) There are many features which I like
about the program. In fact, there is not very much missing – I wonder
if, for most people, Impression is not really required − after all, it’s
more expensive than Ovation. I’m sure that, for schools who have yet to
purchase a DTP package, Ovation would be a must better buy than
Impression, for many reasons − perhaps most of all for the ease of use,
and I guess it would be easier to learn than Impression.”
6.2
Tony goes on to list various features which he likes in Ovation, notably
its wide range of effects such as word underline, small caps and
tracking, and its system of basing font styles on one family name, so
that changing the base family will also alter the italic and bold fonts.
6.2
I would certainly agree with Tony’s comments about the manual, which is
indeed a very helpful document, although I think Impression is the
easier of the two to learn, as Ovation has a quite unwieldy menu
structure. Perhaps the quality of the manual really is the reason why we
haven’t received more tips on using the program from readers. Anyway,
things are set to change from this month in Archive, with the advent of
Maurice Edmundson’s dedicated Ovation column. (We also have a new DTP
editor, Ray Dawson, whose first column will appear next month.) For
further comments about Ovation, see my Ovation/Impression comparison
article which follows on page 33.  A