Nebula/nebula.bin/Newsletters/NeXTNuggetNewsDigest/vol.04.13.txt

Text File | 1993-01-27 | 20KB | 526 lines

NeXT Nugget News Digest (vol. 4, issue 13, September 15, 1992)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

      I. Short Course: Object-Oriented Programming on NeXTSTEP
     II. DBkit Documentation Update
    III. Announcing Digital Function Generator Software for NeXTSTEP
     IV. Announcing the release of AUDIO CHALLENGER 1.7 for NeXTSTEP
      V. CuillaMartin Company Announces Calculator Set
     VI. CuillaMartin Company Announces DefaultManager for NeXTSTEP
    VII. NeXTSTEP Software Positions available at Oceania

____________________________________________________________________

To submit articles or announcements to appear in the Nugget
Digest, please send your contributions to the following address:

    [e-mail].


Conrad Geiger
Manager, International NeXT User Groups

P.S.  I hope to see those of you that attend the Seybold Conference
in San Francisco next week (September 23-25).

____________________________________________________________________



I.  Short Course: Object-Oriented Programming
and the NeXTSTEP Development Environment

John R. Glover
University of Houston
August 1992


The notes are located in /pub/next/submissions/UHOOP_3.0.tar.Z on
Purdue archive site.  These are notes used in a 3-day short course
taught occasionally at the University of Houston.  Included here is
the schedule used in teaching the course, the notes themselves, the
lab exercises, and several additional example programs.  The notes
here are updates to the August 1991 edition.  I have updated
everything to NeXTSTEP 3.0, added to and improved many parts, and
corrected known errors.

The notes are sized for landscape presentation on the screen with a
video projector.  They are most easily used as follows:

Call up the desired chapter in WriteNow.   Set the magnification of
the window to 125% and resize the window to fill the screen.
Click on the page forward/backward buttons to move through the notes.
You can modify selected pages in each chapter to give "progressive
disclosure" of the several points on each page.

For hardcopy of the notes, you can either print out the notes as they
are so that each class participant has a full-size page of what is on
the screen, or you can print the pages in 4 Up (Page/Page Layout... )
to reduce the printing volume.  In either case, I suggest you provide
a three-ring binder of the notes to each participant.

The Labs folder contains laboratory exercises 2-9, as listed in the
Schedule.  To prepare the labs for use, you must first go to the
project directories within the Solution and Extension directories of
each lab and type "make."  Or, have each student do so after copying
the lab to his/her own folder.  (I removed the object and executable
files to make this package smaller.)

The Examples folder contains some programming examples I have
collected.  A couple are referred to in the notes and labs.  To run
these you must also go to each one and type "make."

There is a file in the Labs folder named Labs.README which gives
instructions on how each student should set up to use the labs.

These notes were developed and adapted from many sources, including
my old NeXT Developer Camp notes and several other sources I cannot
even remember.  For that reason I am making them public.  They are
being made public under guidelines similar to that of gnu software.
That is,  I ask that you make these notes, or any notes derived from
these notes,  freely available to others, giving appropriate credit
to the original source(s).

If anyone sends me corrections or suggested changes, I will
incorporate them and update these notes in the future, again making
them available to all.  If anyone wishes to add their own notes on
OOP, NeXTSTEP, IB, etc., I will be happy to merge them in some
fashion that makes sense and make the combined notes available to
all.

John R. Glover
Electrical Engineering Department
University of Houston
Houston, Texas  77204-4793
[e-mail]




____________________________________________________________________

II.  DBkit Documentation Update

Between 3.0 PR2 and the final 3.0 Release, there was a minor DBKit
API change  that didn't make into the online technical documentation
and one DBKit example in the release. If you are interested, you can
get the new AddressBook example via anonymous ftp (file transfer
protocol) from one of the following Internet archive servers. Note
that they may still be in /pub/next/submissions.

________________________________________________________
  hostname           MiniExamples-directory
________________________________________________________

cs.orst.edu            pub/next/documents/NeXTanswers/MiniExample
                        (may still be in pub/next/submissions)
sonata.cc.purdue.edu   pub/next/docs/MiniExamples (may still be in
                         pub/next/submissions)


MiniExamples are small programming examples provided by NeXT
Developer Support.  Each one contains its own README file.

The August 92 Release contains 2 miniexamples for the 3.0 NeXTStep
Release.

The AddressBook example shows you some simple usage of the DBKit
Access Layer such as how to get connected to a SYBASE server, and how
to do simple operations such as select, update, and delete. This
example supersedes the same example that comes with the 3.0 Release
under /NextDeveloper/Examples/DatabaseKit that doesn't work properly.

Please note that the on-line documentation for the method
saveModifications: for  DBRecordList has some errors.  A return value
0 should mean success. Here are the corrections for DBRecordList.
The possible return values from saveModifications: are as follows:

Value   Reason
0       The save operation was successful.
1       The save completed but not all records were saved.  This
happens if errors are encountered but the delegate requests that the
save proceeds anyway.

DB_NoIndex - Either the DBRecordList isn't ready (its status is
DB_NotReady or DB_NoRecordKey), or one or  more records in the
database have changed since they were fetched and the delegate hasn't
forced the modifications to be saved. (See
recordStream:willFailForReason:    (DBRecordStream))


The TextORama example is a 2.0 example adapted to 3.0. It illustrates
two things:

1.  How to create a TextField which supports one or more of these
features:

- Restricting text length (both when typing and pasting).
- Autojumping to another TextField when maximum length is reached.
- Interpreting a carriage return literally rather than as an
    indication to end editing.

2.  How to implement emacs key binding support for the Text object.

Enjoy!

Mai
Developer Support



____________________________________________________________________


III. Announcing Digital Function Generator Software for NeXTSTEP


For Immediate Release            Contact: Marek Roland-Mieszkowski
August 25, 1992                  Tel: [phone]
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada     E-mail: [e-mail]



         DIGITAL RECORDINGS RELEASES DFG
              (DIGITAL FUNCTION GENERATOR) SOFTWARE
                     FOR NeXT COMPUTERS


Halifax, August 25, 1992 - Digital Recordings announced today
official release of Digital Function Generator (DFG) software for
NeXT computers.

 - The DFG/NeXT combination is a powerful tool for generating
arbitrary sounds of arbitrary complexity and ultimate quality. Since
DFG does not use DSP resources (Motorola 56001 chip), it can run
simultaneously with such applications as the Digital Oscilloscope
and Spectrum  Analyzer (both applications come with NeXT).

Therefore, the single DFG/NeXT combination can be used to perform
sophisticated tests and experiments, since it can synthesize and
analyze signals at the same time. The DFG is an ideal signal source
for many applications in the field of acoustics, psychoacoustics,
physics, architecture, audiology, electronics, electroacoustics,
vibration measurements and transducer testing.


Software  Specifications / Parameters:

  - Stereo output - different waveforms can be synthesized in two
       independent channels.

  - Frequency range from 0 to 20,000 Hz.

  - Frequency stability +/- 0.0001 Hz (accuracy of the quartz clock).

  - Amplitude adjustable continuously from -140 to  0 dB or from 0 to
       32,767.

  - Phase adjustable continuously from 0 to 360 degrees.

  - S/N ratio = 95 dB (with dither).

  - No harmonic and no intermodulation distortion.


  - DFG does not use DSP resources (Motorola DSP 56001 processor),
     therefore the DFG, Digital Oscilloscope and Spectrum Analyzer
     can run simultaneously.

  - The simultaneous playback of sound by DFG and the recording of
     this sound via microphone input or the stereo A/D interface
     (from Singular Solutions, Ariel or MetaResearch) allows for very
     flexible testing and experimental procedures.

  - Generated sounds are written to standard stereo, linear 16-bit
     soundfiles (*.snd). These files can be used in other sound
     applications such as sound editors. Complex sounds can be saved
     for fast retrieval and playback.

  - Available Signals: sine wave, square wave, triangular wave,
     sawtooth wave, pulse, white noise, AM, FM and AFM modulation,
     frequency sweep, amplitude sweep, amplitude plus frequency
     sweep, additive synthesis, etc.


DFG Modules

   The Digital Function Generator software consists of five modules:

1. Principles of Digital Audio - for generating  pure tones and white
noise, to illustrate concepts of signal amplitude, frequency, phase,
interference, coherence, incoherence, signal ramping, additive
synthesis, beats, virtual pitch as well as  to demonstrate
quantization, dithering, aliasing / hard clipping / harmonic /
intermodulation  distortions, etc.

2. Modulation (AM, FM, AFM) - for generating amplitude modulated
tones (AM), frequency modulated tones (FM) and amplitude plus
frequency modulated tones (AFM).

3. Additive Synthesis - for generating complex sounds synthesized
from their Fourier components.

4. Sweep Generator (AS, FS & AFS) - for generating linear,
logarithmic, up or down types of amplitude sweeps (AS), frequency
sweeps (FS) and amplitude plus frequency sweeps (AFS).

5. Function Generator - for generating waves such as sine, square,
triangular, sawtooth, pulse and to generate white noise.




Use  of  DFG  in  Teaching  and  Research

   The quality of signals generated with DFG is higher than the
quality of signals available on most test CDs. Also, DFG can generate
a much wider variety of test signals than are available on CDs. This
proved to be very helpful in both teaching and research.

   Teachers' and students' satisfaction with DFG has been very high.
Concepts which have often been difficult or even impossible to
demonstrate with standard equipment, can now be easily demonstrated,
both acoustically and visually, with the DFG/NeXT/A/D64x
combination.This dramatically increased the speed of learning and the
level of understanding.


For more information about the DFG software and how to order it
please contact:

            Marek Roland-Mieszkowski, Ph.D.
            Digital Recordings
            5959 Spring Garden Rd., Suite 1103
            Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H-1Y5
            Canada

            Tel:   [phone]
            E-mail:    [e-mail]



____________________________________________________________________

IV. Announcing the release of AUDIO CHALLENGER 1.7 for NeXTSTEP

"Audio Challenger 1.0"  was the first ear-training software released
for the NeXT computer and version 1.7 offers substantial
improvements.

Audio Challenger randomly generates ascending and descending melodic
and harmonic musical intervals which can be used in assisting music
students in trying to improve their ability to aurally identify
musical intervals.   Audio Challenger features real-time synthesis on
the DSP (digital signal processing) chip of the NeXT computer which
gives it the advantage of a more natural and "lively" musical timbre
than ear-training programs that currently exist on other platforms.
Audio Challenger is released as FREEware to the internet archives by
the researchers and students of DREAMS:  Digital Research (in)
Electro-Acoustic Music (at) Skidmore College.

**To request a copy of Audio Challenger via NeXTmail, simply send
your request to: [e-mail] and be sure to make clear
your NeXTmail address.


**If you have access to the INTERNET, you can use anonymous FTP to
get your most recent copy of Audio Challenger (1.7).

    [princeton.edu][sonata.cc.purdue.edu][cs.orst.edu]

AudioChallenger.app = .133 MB
AudioChallenger.tar = .141 MB
AudioChallenger.tar.Z = 63.6 KB


IMPROVEMENTS in Version 1.7 include:

1.  Ability to have melodic or harmonic intervals.
    (i.e. notes played one at a time or simultaneously)

2.  A new "Sample Melodies" window, which will play "well known"
tunes... (incipits for you musicologists out there) to give you a
memory device for learning your intervals. (Special thanks to
Jennifer Kong at Skidmore for this part !).


SPECIAL INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS:  only one, in order for the sample
    tunes to work properly, you must do the following:


First, create the following path of new directories on your disk:


/LocalLibrary/Music/Scores

You're going to copy the scorefiles into that last (Scores)
directory.

Now, highlight the AudioChallenger.app in your directory browser.
Hold down the command key AND the shift key and press the letter 'o'.
You'll see that AudioChallenger is actually a directory containing
many files (all .app files are a type of directory).


Now, find all the files ending with a .score extension in the
AudioChallenger.app directory.  These files are in the path:

Library/Music/Scores

"inside" the AudioChallenger.app.
Drag the mouse across all the  .score files.  In the browser you'll
see a  hand holding a bunch of cards.  Drag this hand icon into the
new  /LocalLibrary/Music/Scores directory you just created at the
start.   You should now be able to hear the tunes listed in the
"Sample Melodies" window.


Comments, suggestions, etc. to: [e-mail]



____________________________________________________________________


V. CuillaMartin Company Announces Calculator Set

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    August 31, 1992

The CuillaMartin Company Announces Calculator Set Upgrade for
NeXTSTEP

GRAYSLAKE, Ill. - CuillaMartin Company today announced a major
upgrade to the Calculator Set from CuillaMartin for the NeXTSTEP
platform.  Calculator Set from CuillaMartin, now version 1.1, is a
significant upgrade to version 1.0, which has been shipping since May
1992.

"We've received tremendous feedback from our Customers and have
enhanced our product to better address their needs.  We've combined
the previously seperate programs into a single application, added
some new features, improved Scientific and Basic," said Chris Cuilla,
president of CuillaMartin Company.  "The set has also been expanded.
It includes Basic, Scientific and the five Conversion categories
(Volume & Capacity, Mass & Weight, Length, Area, Temperature), but
now adds a Business calculator, with eight major functions."

Calculator Set 1.1 from CuillaMartin is scheduled to begin shipping
in October, and will be fully compliant with NeXTSTEP Release 3.0,
completely 3.0-savvy, including NeXTSTEP Help.  The Calculator Set
1.1 from CuillaMartin will be available through NeXTConnection
(800.800.6398), a variety of NeXT resellers, and directly from the
CuillaMartin Company (708.223.5164).

For more details, contact the CuillaMartin Company at 708.223.5164.

CuillaMartin is  trademark of CuillaMartin Company.  All other
trademarks belong to their respective manufactures.




____________________________________________________________________


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    September, 1992

The CuillaMartin Company Announces DefaultManager for NeXTSTEP

GRAYSLAKE, Ill. - The CuillaMartin Company today announced
DefaultManager 3.0 for the NeXTSTEP platform.  DefaultManager 3.0
from CuillaMartin, is a major, commercial upgrade to previous
versions, created by Drew Davidson, that have been available on the
Internet archives, and will now be fully supported by the
CuillaMartin Company.

DefaultManager 3.0 from CuillaMartin allows users, programmers and
network managers to easily access, modify, store and retrieve default
settings for most NeXTSTEP applications with a convenient, simple
NeXTSTEP interface.  One exciting feature, attractive to system
administrators, is the ability to open the default databases for
multiple users at once, change them, and save them.

DefaultManager 3.0 from CuillaMartin is scheduled to begin shipping
in November, and will be fully compliant with NeXTSTEP Release 3.0.
The DefaultManager 3.0 from CuillaMartin will be available through
NeXTConnection (800.800.6398), a variety of NeXT resellers, and
directly from the CuillaMartin Company (708.223.5164).


____________________________________________________________________

VII. NeXTSTEP Software Positions available at Oceania

Oceania Health Care Systems is a growing start-up software
development company dedicated to improving patient care through a
progressive approach aimed at providing health care information
management solutions.  Oceania is  committed to utilizing industry
standards,  maintaining an open architecture, incorporating the
newest advances in hardware, networking/communication and
software technologies, and changing the notion of the human machine
interface. Our goal is the development of a state of the art computer
human interface and database for the clinical environment.

Oceania extends this progressive philosophy to its corporate
management and operations.  We are committed to a democratic
management approach and high quality working environment which
includes flexible hours, medical benefits, and aggressive profit
sharing plans.

We seek qualified candidates to work in our Palo Alto,
California location in the following areas:


System Administration and Support:
Perform traditional system administration duties,
customer support, and quality assurance. The
individual will need Unix experience, and networking.
NeXT NetInfo a plus. BS/BA in an engineering related
degree with 3-5 years of experience.


Network Designer:
Perform the design and implementation of a distributed
application. The individual will need UNIX, OLTP,
Network, TCP/IP, LU6.2, and  Client/Server application
experience. MS/PhD in an engineering related degree
with 5-10 years of experience.


Software Implementers:
Implementation of a clinical health care application.
The individual will need, OOD, GUI, UNIX, networking,
and database experience. NeXT, multi-media, and Health
Care experience a plus. BS/MS in an engineering related
degree with 3-10 years of experience.


Senior Software Developers:
Design and Implementation of a clinical health care
application. The individual will need strong writing
and communication skills, OOD, GUI, UNIX, networking,
and database experience. NeXT, multi-media, and Health
Care experience a plus. MS/PhD in an engineering related
degree with 5-15 years of experience.



Both full and part-time positions are available with start time and
compensation package negotiable. All interested in Oceania and its
endeavors are encouraged to mail or FAX a CV/Resume (please no
electronic mail) , indicating the position(s) you are interested
in, to:


Edmund Billings, Jr. MD.
325 Lytton Avenue. Suite 400
Palo Alto, CA 94301
FAX: [phone]

____________________________________________________________________

end