Garbo/Garbo.cdr/pc/ts/0news89.ts

Text File | 1991-01-01 | 36.0 KB | 699 lines

University of Vaasa, Finland, Sun 4 node number 128.214.12.3
(chyde.uwasa.fi) has a collection of PD and shareware programs which
are available by anonymous ftp (file transfer program).  This
/pc/ts/0news89.ts text contains news about the programs in the
/pc/ts directory (in reverse order).
...................................................................
Prof. Timo Salmi        (Moderating at anon. ftp site 128.214.12.3)
School of Business Studies, University of Vaasa, SF-65101, Finland
Internet: [e-mail] Funet: vakk::salmi Bitnet: salmi@finfun
...................................................................

                 N e w s   o f    1 9 8 9

Sun 24-Dec-89: Let me wish A Merry Christmas to all users of our ftp
archives here at Vaasa, Finland.  We are pleased at the popularity
we seem to have gained, and the many new contacts we have made also
in the international community.  It seems that we now really are
beginning to live in the global electronic village which was pure
science fiction only a few years ago.  Geographical coordinates have
suddenly lost much their meaning in the most distinguishing feature
of man, communication.

Sat 23-Dec-89: I have updated my MsKermit utilities collection to be
version (/pc/ts/)tskerm23.arc.  This is a major revision.  To
simplify things I have streamlined the collection, and the tools
within, by excluding all explicit support for MsKermit versions
earlier than 2.32A.  Most of the tools probably still are compatible
with MsKermit versions through 2.30-2.32, but I have done nothing to
check this out.
  The documentation TSKERM.INF has finally been reorganized and
rewritten to make it clearer, since there have been so many
developments during the lifespan of the tskerm package.
  Part of the idea of the recent versions of this package has been
scripts which facilitate kermit file transfers so that the user need
not give a series of kermit commands him/herself.  These scripts
have again been improved so that they take the file name as a
parameter, and if the file name is omitted, the script asks for it.
Should be really convenient to use.
  Appended a couple of more interesting messages about MSKermit with
the kind permissions of the authors.
  Scripts for defining Home End PgUp, PgDn, and Del keys for
MicroEmacs instead of VAX/VMS EDT.  Simple redefinition script for
ansi terminal emulations.  Scripts for making all the
initializations at one go.
  The z-modem macros can now handle also uploading a list of file
names, not just a single file (wildcarded) definition.
  Introduced a script for dialing from a dialing directory.
Includes system names, phone numbers, modem speeds, and passwords.
Easily customized.

Fri 22-Dec-89: I am in the process of making a major revision of the
MsKermit utilities package tskerm22.arc.  The revision will
naturally be called tskerm23.arc.  Stand by.

Fri 22-Dec-89: Jari Perkiomaki has updated the two shortwave
listening information files about Finland and Nordic countries. They
are now available as radio11.arc.

Wed 20-Dec-89: Updated file datestamp and timestamp touch and go :-)
utility TOUCH.EXE.  Petri Hartoma ([e-mail]) suggested
that the request for confirmation prior touching be optionally
turned off.  A new /n switch takes care of this.  Thanks, Petri, for
the suggestion.  The year in the date need no longer four digits
long, two can be optionally used.  - Incidentally, why another touch
utility, since there already are many around? Because there are two
features which I have noticed missing in many of them.  The first is
being able to timestamp also the seconds.  The second is the
safeguard of the (optional) confirmation before touching.  - I have
added new switches to the DIRE.EXE extended directory.  These
programs are contained in the updated package /pc/ts/tsutlb16.arc.

Wed 6-Dec-89: Updated the Turbo Pascal 5.0 (and 4.0) units
collection to be version /pc/ts/tspas17. The new procedures include
WHEREXFN and WHEREYFN which locate the cursor position without the
Crt unit. As you will recall Crt unit includes a WhereX and a WhereY
function. The reason I have prepared alternatives to Crt functions
and procedures in this, and the earlier releases, is because with
some incompatible PCs the Crt unit causes problems, and redirection
requires special measures with the Crt. - KEYPREFN is a replacement
of KeyPressed and READKEFN for ReadKey. - CLUSIZFN gives the cluster
size on a device. ALLSIZFN gives the true total size allocated to a
file instead of the size shown on ordinary directory listings. -
INKEYFN is a Basic-like timed input.

Wed 6-12-89: I have updated my programs BIGCURS and BIGNCURS
altering the cursor into a block to make it better visible. Handy
for laptops. The programs now can take a numerical parameter to
adjust the starting scanline. This makes the program better
adjustable to different video adapters. Furthermore, Erik Jacobsen
([e-mail]) from the Computer Science Department of Aarhus
University pointed out to me that BIGCURS may interfere with other
resident programs by stealing the timer interrupt, and kindly
provided me with a solution to avoid this snag. Thanks Erik.
   I have also programmed FILES.EXE giving file statistics of a
device in the following type of format (this is for my ramdisk):
  Type       Count        Size  Allocation  Efficiency
                 1         419         512       81.84
   COM           4       13473       13696       98.37
   EXE           3      106212      106368       99.85
   TPU           1       15536       15616       99.49
  Total D:       9      135640      136192       99.59
The information can be sorted by any of the fields.
   These programs are included in my fourth utilities collection
upgraded now to be /pc/ts/tsutld13.arc.

Tue 5-Dec-89: Released version /pc/ts/tsbits17.arc of my base
conversion and binary operations programs. Nothing out of the
ordinary in these programs, rather the contrary. Just that I have
needed these utilities myself in some programming tasks. These
programs have their origins in my older Pascal programs for the
VAX/VMS and Sinclair QL from the times when PCs were not common at
all. - The improvements in the current update are mostly in the user
interface. Incidentally, if you need base conversion routines in
your own Turbo Pascal 4.0 or 5.0 programs there are suitable
routines in the /pc/ts/tspas16.arc (or whatever is the latest
version) units collection.

Fri 1-Dec-89: Augmented to the feedback file Rahul Dhesi's comments
on my programs that have appeared in the UseNet Binary Postings,
that is the newsgroup comp.binaries.ibm.pc.  The feedback file is
now fback006.txt.

Thu 30-Nov-89: Updated the user feedback file.  It is now
fback005.txt.

Tue 28-Nov-89: Some time ago there was a lively discussion in the
InterNet news group comp.lang.pascal how to redirect all write and
writeln statements to the printer without having to change the
statements. I now have a solution to that problem for Turbo Pascal
4.0 and 5.0. The procedures USEPRN and USECON are part of update
/pc/ts/tspas16.arc of my Turbo Pascal 5.0 and 4.0 units collection.
The new procedures/functions also include WEEKNRFN function in the
TSUNTE unit. It gives the weeknumber for a given date. REVCOLOR in
TSUNTC reverses (toggles) text colors. And there are many other new
routines making up a new unit TSUNTG.

Sun 26-Nov-89: In our series of completely useless programs please
meet switchar for Unix freaks. Switchar toggles the MsDos switchar
between the slash (/) and the hyphen (-). When the switchar is the
hyphen, the slash can be used in path names instead of the backslash
(\).  Have fun.  Included in the update /pc/ts/tsutld12.arc.

Sun 26-Nov-89: Updated the questions / answewrs file.  It is now
tsans007.txt.

Sun 26-Nov-89: I have updated my MsKermit utilities collection to be
version tskerm22.arc.  I have included some interesting postings and
email about MsKermit related file transfer problems and principles
with the kind permission of the authors.  I have prepared a set of
command synonyms to further automate Kermit and Z-modem file
transfers.  Furthermore, I included separate scripts for downloading
and uploading text files with a VAX/VMS host.

Fri 24-Nov-89: Some time ago there was a discussion on the InterNet
news on the problem caused by the fact that the ordinary "underline"
cursor shows too weakly on certain laptops.  There were requests for
a utility changing the cursor into a block.  I do know that there is
a nice blockcur.zoo utility that was distributed through the UseNet
Binaries, that is comp.binaries.ibm.pc.  Nevertheless, making the
cursor a block involves interesting programming problems, and I
wanted to look at those myself.
   To be effective and permanent, a cursor size changing program
must be made resident, and this one is a text-book problem for
trying out writing a TSR (terminate and stay resident) program.  The
result of my experiments is a BIGCURS.EXE program.  It is a resident
program that keeps altering the cursor to a block even in cases
where the program you are running keeps altering the cursor size. I
also wrote a similar BIGNCURS.EXE program, which is not resident,
and its effect is thus transient.  I also included a ADJCURS.BAT
batch file as an optional user interface to these programs.
   Writing a TSR utility is a tricky business, and I cannot
guarantee, that BIGCURS.EXE will be well-behaved under all
circumstances.
   I have made these new utilities part of my fourth utility package
and upgraded it to be tsutld11.arc.  Available by anonymous ftp as
usual.

Sat 18-Nov-89: There are several nice memory resident push/pop
directory utilities around.  As you know pushdir stores the name of
the directory where you are.  You can then change the directory (and
the drive) as much as you like, and popdir takes you right back to
the original directory.  But memory resident programs tend to pile
up, and I started thinking whether push/pop can be achieved using
non-resident batch methods.  PUSHDIRE.BAT and POPDIRE.BAT together
with SETPUSHD.EXE do this by juggling the environment variables.  I
pushed these files in my batch file collection and updated it to be
tsbat12.arc.  You can pop them from there.

Sat 11-Nov-89: I have been using Telix, Procomm Plus, and MsKermit
successfully for terminal emulation for quite awhile. All these
programs have their strengths and weaknesses, and to some extent
they are complementary to each other. Which telecommunication
program to use is dependent on the circumstances.
   The strengths of MsKermit are in its flexibility of terminal
emulation, and the robustness of its kermit file transfer protocol.
For example in VT102 emulation I have definitely achieved the most
satisfactory results with MsKermit. Of these three communication
programs it is the only one that has never caused me unacceptable
problems in emulating VT102, nor in translating the Scandinavian
keys. With MsKermit version 2.32A the keyboard keys of a PC can be
made to simulate true VT102 terminal layout very closely. See
MSK232AT.INI in my tskerm21.arc package for an example of
configuring such a keyboard.
   Kermit file transfers are far from convenient. Kermit file
transfer is rather slow, and it is very awkward to use. Whenever
possible, I prefer to use the z-modem file-transfers which are
inbuilt in Telix, and external for Procomm Plus. Unfortunately, I
have encountered situations where using MsKermit's kermit file
transfer is the only option that works. This occurs under two
different circumstances. First, the host machine (such as our VAX)
may not have any other file transfer protocol. Second, with some
modems the mainframe <--> PC file transfers z-modem simply fails.
This is aggravating.
   Because of these problems in file transfers I decided to do
something about the clumsiness of MsKermit's file transfers. So, I
wrote scripts that fully automate both sending and receiving files
between a Unix host (which has C-Kermit) and the PC (which has
MsKermit 2.32A). I have included these scripts is my MsKermit
utilities collection tskerm21.arc.
   Incidentally, Procomm Plus users, who do not already have my
Procomm utilities and advice collection, might be interested to take
a look at the tspfon29.arc package.

Fri 10-Nov-89: I have updated the set of my statistical programs as
follows:
  /pc/ts/ts1st16.arc    Univariate statistical measures.
  /pc/ts/ts2st17.arc    Statistics: Multiple regression analysis.
  /pc/ts/ts3st14.arc    Statistics: Transformations of observations.
  /pc/ts/ts4st14.arc    Statistics: Correlation analysis.
In the multiple regression program, the regression line in the high
resolution scatter diagram was incorrectly drawn for negative
regression coefficients. This has been corrected. - While I was at
it I also made the some small enhancements, which are common to
all these four programs.

Tue 7-Nov-89: I have released updated utilities /pc/ts/tsutil28.arc.
This is first of my four utilities packages. The system information
utility SYSINFO.EXE includes some new items, and should be better
compatible. - The date utilities now also show the week number and
the day number. The week number algorithm was kindly provided to me
by Seppo Pynnonen, Ph.D. - I have moved the two .bat botch (pardon,
batch) files which were previously in the tsutil package to the new
/pc/ts/tsbat11.arc collection.

Thu 2-Nov-89: Updated the file containing answers to frequently
asked questions.  It is now /pc/ts/tsans006.txt.

Tue 31-Oct-89: Released update /pc/ts/tsbat11.arc of my batch files
collection. The new release introduces LOGRUN.BAT. It can be used
for calling programs and logging the call in a usage log with
time/date information. The batch utilizes MsDos time and date
commands for making the usage log of the program calls. The bug
caused by the non-standard switch /i in the file finder WHERE.BAT
has been amended. A new batch LOCATE.BAT for locating a file (or
files) on a disk has been added. Contrary to WHERE.BAT it is not
case sensitive. The "change the directory" batch has been renamed
C.BAT (was SD.BAT). I have also added more comments within some of
the batches.
  If you get an "Out of environment space" message in these, or any
other batches, try increasing your environment space by using shell
configuration in config.sys:
     Example: shell=c:\bin\command.com c:\bin /e:1024 /p

Sun 29-Oct-89: I decided to introduce a batch file collection
/pc/ts/tsbat10.arc.  The batches are quite straightforward, and do
not need any special auxiliary programs, just the ordinary MsDos
commands.  Some of the batches are from my other utility packages,
some are new.  I do not claim a high degree of originality.  This is
because the methods and tasks of batch programming keep repeating
over and over again.  But I hope that you will find some of my
tricks useful.
  And if you feel that you have useful batches yourself, which you
would like to distribute to your fellow users, I would be interested
in considering any good ideas for development.  Due credit would
naturally be given.  I would, however, reserve the right to choose,
and to develop your batches to suit the future versions of this
Public Domain collection.

Thu 26-Oct-89: I have a private mailing list for posting these news.
Especially, if you have my programs downloadable at your site or
your BBS you are welcome to ask for inclusion on this list.

Thu 26-Oct-89: The feedback file has been updated and is now
fback003.txt.

Wed 18-Oct-89: Released update /pc/ts/tspas15.arc of my Turbo Pascal
5.0 and 4.0 units collection.  New procedures/functions include
BINFN in TSUNTB for fast conversion of decimal words to binary and
HEXFN for fast conversion to hexadecimal.  LBIN and LHEX convert
long integers fast to binary and hexadecimal respectively.  POWERLFN
raises a longint to a power, fast.  BORDER in TSUNTE changes the
border color for CGA or VGA.  All the rest of the procedures and
functions remain unchanged.

Mon 16-Oct-89: Released a new utilities package tsutld10.arc and
update tsutlc16.arc of my third set of PC utilities:
  In managing and backing up the harddisk I have noticed a need for
a utility that would scan the disk for files that are dated today
(or a given number of days back from today).  I have written a new
utility TODAY.EXE which performs this task.  This program starts my
fourth utility collection /pc/ts/tsutld10.arc.  The new package is
available by anonymous ftp in the usual manner.
   There is another utility which I use in managing the harddisk.
This is a utility which tells if there are any duplicate files on a
disk.  I have a DOUBLES.EXE program for this purpose, and it is
updated in my third utility collection /pc/ts/tsutlc16.arc.  I know
that there are other programs around for the same task, but I have
noticed problems with those of them which I have tried out.  Either
they have lacked the capacity to scan large numbers of files, or
they have lacked the ability to test whether the duplicate files are
duplicate by contents, not only by name.  DOUBLES.EXE has a capacity
of scanning 5040 files, and the user can decide whether to scan for
files with same names, or for files with same names and contents
(comparison by filedate and size).
   DOUBLES.EXE has the capability of scanning one or TWO disks for
double files.  Extending DOUBLES to handle two disks was suggested
to me by Petri Hartoma of Tampere University of Technology.  Thank
you Petri for your useful feedback.  I wish more of the users were
as active as you.
   While I am at it, let me take up a request for those of you who
may have found my programs useful.  As I am not asking for any
registration fees for the PD versions, would you do me a reciprocal
favor by uploading at least some of my packages to, say eg one local
bulletin board (BBS), and thus contribute to disseminating the
*latest* versions of these packages.  And, if you distribute these
packages, would you PLEASE distrubute an entire package, not
individual programs from within any package.  This is a request that
all of us share who write PD programs.

Mon 2-Oct-89: In looking at my older files I came upon a description
of file transfers between a home computer and a PC.  Since I think
that the description of this task might be of some general interest,
I decided to make it publicly available.  The particular home
computer is the ill-fated Sinclair QL, but ideas should have some
bearing on other home computers, as well.  The relevant file
/pc/ts/tsqlpc10.arc is available from your site by anonymous ftp
(file transfer program).  The file also contains a list of my
programs for the QL.

Sat 30-Sep-89: Released update tsfcom22.arc of the file manipulation
package.  This package is a collection of older programs which
originate from my earlier VAX/VMS and Sinclair QL programs.

Wed 27-Sep-89: Released update tslin29.arc of the linear programming
and linear goal programming package.  The changes are minor, but I
made them because I am submitting tslin29.arc to comp.binaries.ibm.pc.

Tue 26-Sep-89: Added /pc/ts/rnordic.inf by Jari Perkiomaki.  This
text file gives shortwave listening information about the Nordic
countries.  This complements the information in /pc/ts/radiofin.inf
about Finland.  If you have any queries concerning these particular
files, please direct the questions to Jari's email address given in
rnordic.inf and radiofin.inf.

Tue 26-Sep-89: Released update /pc/ts/tspas14.arc of the Turbo
Pascal 5.0 and 4.0 units collection. The package contains units from
tsunta.tpu to tsuntf.tpu. Tsunte.tpu contains a new function
cmdlnfn, which gives the entire command line in a program call. The
input line-editing procedure edreadln in tsuntf.tpu now has a recall
option (CursorUp) and the insert key toggle. I have preserved an
edrdln procedure for line-editing without recall and insert. Tsuntd
has new ParamCount and ParamStr like functions for obtaining
substrings from a string.

Sat 23-Sep-89: The multiple regression package ts2st16.arc is now
available.  See Fri 22-Sep-89 for more information.

Fri 22-Sep-89: The multiple regression update package ts2st15.arc
has a heap management error in the STATREGR.EXE program, which
causes an out of memory condition and prevents running this program.
I shall be preparing a correction soon.  (It just means changing one
figure in my source program.) While I am at it, I shall update the
line-editing to include Insert option.  I will let you know when
ts2st16.arc is available.  In the meanwhile ts2st15.arc will not be
available.  Sorry, and thanks to Arie Kenig ([e-mail])
for letting me know.

Wed 20-Sep-89: I have released version /pc/ts/tslin28.arc of the
linear programming (and linear goal programming) package for MsDos.
The capacity of this public domain version has been increased from
80x15 to 80x25.  (A registered version is 80x120.) Line-editing has
been made more context-sensitive, and the Insert toggle has been
made functional.  Available by anonymous ftp as usual.

Mon 18-Sep-89: I have updated the set of my statistical programs as
follows:
  /pc/ts/ts1st15.arc    Univariate statistical measures.
  /pc/ts/ts2st15.arc    Statistics: Multiple regression analysis.
  /pc/ts/ts3st13.arc    Statistics: Transformations of observations.
  /pc/ts/ts4st13.arc    Statistics: Correlation analysis.
They are available by anonymous ftp as usual.

Sat 16-Sep-89: WORDLIST.EXE is a program for extracting all the
words of a text file and calculating the frequency of each word.  I
have made the following enhancement to the wordlist program.  The
capacity of the program has been increased from handling of 3100
*different* words to 8000 different words, and the maximum length of
a word has been increased from 20 to 25 characters.  WORDLIST.EXE is
contained in the updated /pc/ts/tspell21.arc package, which also
contains spelling checking facilities for ascii files.

Mon 11-Aug-89: I am pleased to announce that some of the ts-programs
now also appear in the PC-SIG library.  PC-SIG Disk #1536 contains
the programs of TSLIN, TSGAME and TSPFON packages.  Due to the long
acceptance process, the files here in the pc/ts/ directory are more
recent versions.

Wed 6-Aug-89: Linear programming package again updated now to be
tslin27.arc.  The new version is larger, and has input-recall and
line editing potential.

Sat 2-Aug-89: Updated the linear and linear goal programming package
to tslin26.arc.  The linsolve.exe solution program now has an
optional switch for screen colors.  This is useful in using an
overhead projector in classroom, or if you are not satisfied with
the original colors for some other reason.

Thu 31-Aug-89: I have released a new collection of textfile filters
tsfltc10.arc.  At the same time I have transferred detab.exe from
the configurable filters collection tsfltb12.arc to the new package.
The tsfltb12.arc has consequently been renamed to tsfltb13.arc.  The
programs within the package are unchanged (besides transferring
detab.exe).  The documentation has, however, been changed by
bringing it up to date.  The first of the filter packages,
tsfilt16.arc has not been changed.

Sat 26-Aug-89: Released update tsfilt16.arc of my first filter
collection.

Wed 23-Aug-89: No changes in the /pc/ts directory, but started a new
collection of my programs in /unix/ts directory.

Sat 19-Aug-89: Released update /pc/ts/tspas13.arc of my Turbo Pascal
units.  I have rewritten the cursor-size routines in a more general
fashion and rearranged the units.
   One of the weaknesses of the readln statement in (Turbo) Pascal
is that it does not allow editing the input-string while giving the
input from the keyboard.  I decided to do something about this, and
wrote an edreadln procedure, which allows to use of LeftCursor,
RightCursor, BackSpace, Del, Home, End, and Esc.  Of course such
routines are very common in input from popup windows.  Edreadln is,
however, more of a readln-type procedure with normal scrolling
capabilities, than a fixed position window routine.  This routine is
included in the new release.

Thu 17-Aug-89: Released update tsfilt15.arc of filters and
filter-like programs.

Thu 17-Aug-89: Renamed the questions & answers file tsans.txt to
tsans001.txt, that is to include a version number.

Wed 16-Aug-89: The first filter collection tsfilt14.arc will be
updated to tsfilt15.arc during the next few days.

Tue 15-Aug-89: Introduced a new file fback001.txt.  This file will
contain feedback from users, and it is up to you whether it will
grow, and what it will become.

Mon 14-Aug-89: There are some recurring questions about the
ts-packages. I have made available tsans.txt which gives prerecoded
answers to most of these questions.

Sat 12-Aug-89: I have (again) released an upgrade of the graphics
drawing package: tsdraw13.arc.  Among the new features are
recordmode for recording user's input to a logfile, fill pattern and
color options, option to suppress warning beeps, optional long form
of commands, new pixel grid command, and (hopefully) fixed the bug
in drawing scaled lines.

Wed 9-Aug-89: Released update tsdraw12.arc.  Tsdraw is a system for
drawing in two dimensions.  It is intended in particular for
delineating linear programming programs of two variables, and
simultaneous equations, but it can be used for other drawing
purposes as well.  The current update includes among other things
the following new features.  Choice of palette.  Directory command.
Escape to MsDos shell.  Drawing filename extension defaults to drw.
Stop command for testing drawings loaded from files.

Wed 9-Aug-89: Released update tsprn13.arc.  It contains utilities
for printing text files, and setting Diconix and Daisy Inkjet
printers.  The changes are in the printer setting programs.

Sat 5-Aug-89: I have released an update tsfltb12.arc of the
configurable filter package.  There are three filters, detab,
filtxt, and filbin.  The detab filter filters tabs from a textfile
by inserting a correct number of blanks.  Tab width can be given as
a parameter.  Filtxt (for text files) and filbin (for binary files)
filter files using a translation table.  The package contains a
number of translation tables, and the user can easily build new ones
with any editor.  The most important change in tsfltb12 is that
filbin accepts now both deleting characters, and replacing
characters with strings.

Wed 2-Aug-89: I have released un updated version of the Turbo Pascal
units collection tspas12.arc.  There are new string routines and
detection of the monitor (mono/color) type.

Wed 2-Aug-89: You probably have noticed that each time the packages
in the /pc/ts directory are updated, there is a change in the
version number, which is shown by the last two letters of the first
part of the file name.  The tsarcxx.txt archive contents file is an
exception, however.  For it I have changed the version number only
when there have been major changes in it, like introducing a new
package.

Tue 1-Aug-89: Updated the linear programming and goal programming
package tslin24.arc to tslin25.arc.  The new version includes a
program for coverting mps input into the as is equation format used
by linsolve.exe.

Wed 26-Jul-89: tspas10.arc Turbo Pascal units collection updated to
tspas11.arc.

Sun 23-Jul-89: Made available a new package tspas10.arc. It contains
Turbo Pascal 5.0 units for programmers.

Fri 21-Jul-89: I have released an updated version tsdraw11.arc of my
system for graphical presentation of equations and LP problems.  The
updated version adds a number of new demonstration drawings
including break-even analysis and linear programming sensitivity
analysis.  There are also many new features in the system, including
the possibility of drawing circles, acs and individual pixels,
background for labels, enhanced scaling, and so on.

Tue 18-Jul-89: Introduced a new graphics package tsdraw10.arc.  It
is centered around drawline.exe, which is a system (with a complete
command language) for presenting equations of two variables.  In
particular, I have devised it for demonstrating small linear
programming problems in teaching business students, but it can be
used for other line-drawing purposes as well.

Sat 15-Jul-89: Updated the demonstration package tsdemo12.arc to
tsdemo13.arc.  Of old the package contains a plotdemo.exe program
plotting a selection of functions on the graphics screen.  New
inclusions in tsdemo13.arc are two demonstrations utilizing PCs
standard fonts.  The first (bigchar.exe) prints in large letters the
users text (max 10 chars) on the screen.  The other (bigtime.exe,
pardon the pun) shows the date and continuous time in large
characters on the screen.

Mon 10-Jul-89: I have been interested in the techniques for making
pull-down menus, and MsDos gateways, which are so often used in
commercial programs in their user interfaces.  So, I decided to try
it out.  This resulted in two new programs setdico.exe and
setdaisy.exe.  They are programs for setting Diconix InkJet and
Daisy BubbleJet printers.  These programs are included in the
printer program package, which has been at the same time been
upgraded from tsprn11.arc to tsprn12.arc.

Fri 7-Jul-1989: Added a filter for a right margin to the filter
package tsfilt13.arc and changed its name to tsfilt14.arc.

Wed 5-Jul-1989: Updated ts2flt10.arc changing it's name at the same
time to tsfltb11.arc.  This package contains general user
configurable filters both for text and binary files, and an
"intelligent" detab filter.  These have be updated.  There are also
new translation tables for stripping the high bit from 8bit
characters (strip.xlt), and translating 8bit characters into their 7bit
look-alike (simul8.xlt).

Sun 2-Jul-1989: Updated again two of the utility packages:
tsutil26.arc --> tsutil27.arc and tsutlc14.arc --> tsutlc15.arc. In
tsutil27.arc I have tried to make the programs work also with the
less compatible PCs. (Technically, I have skipped using direct
writes to video memory whenever possible.)  In tsutlc15.arc I have
added two new date related programs, DTEDIF.EXE and WHATDATE.EXE.
The former calculates the difference in days between two dates, and
the latter figures out the date +-number of days given by the user.
In the DOUBLES.EXE program finding the double filenames on a disk I
have added the option of listing only the files which besides having
the same names must also have the same size and date&time stamp. I
have also added a couple of new switches to the directory program
DIRF.EXE. Furthermore, I have changed the file giving the contents
of all the packages from tsarc18.txt to tsarc19.txt, because there
has now been a fair number of updates. And my thanks again to those
who have given me valuable feedback on these programs. If you send
me email, please remember to include your email address and your
affiliation. This is especially important if you send email from
outside of Finland because the return path is not always enough for
sending a reply.

Thu 29-Jun-89: Updates tsutlc13.arc -> tsutlc14.arc and tsutb14.arc
-> tsutlb15.arc.  It is a (well?-)known fact that MsDos DIR command
gives the exact size of a file, not the space actually allocated to
it.  The latter is (usually) bigger since space is allocated in
clusters of bytes.  The DIRF.EXE recursive directory utility in the
updated third utility collection tsutlc14.arc now has a switch to
show not only the file sizes, but the allocations as well.  The
other utilities in the updated tsutlc14.arc still are DIRINFO.EXE
directory information of a disk, DOUBLES.EXE find double file names
on a disk, HIDDEN.EXE find all hidden files on disk, READONLY.EXE
find all readonly files on disk, SPLIT.EXE split a file into pieces,
and ZEROFILE.EXE find all empty files on disk.  The other program
upgraded in tsutlc14.arc is DOUBLES.EXE where a rare memory
allocation error has been amended.  I have also updated the second
utility collection to be tsutlb15.arc, but here the changes are
minor, so if you already have tsutlb14.arc don't bother.

Wed 28-Jun-89: Added radiofin.inf by Jari Perkiomaki.  This text
file gives shortwave listening information about Finland.  Jari has
promised to keep the information up to date.  If you have any
queries concerning this particular file, please direct these
questions to the email address given in radiofin.inf.

Sun 25-Jun-89: Updated the first utility package to be tsutil26.arc.
Among the updated utilities are directory comparison programs
dirs.exe and dird.exe, grapinfo.exe detecting graphics hardware,
scopy.bat for copying when only a single diskdrive is available, and
stack.exe telling the free available memory.  In addition the
package still contains date utilities day.exe, dtetim.exe, and so
on.  There is also the timelog.exe utility for logging program
usage, and sysinfo for obtaining information about your computer.
The previous version, tsutil25.arc, appeared in spring in
comp.binaries.ibm.pc.

Fri 23-Jun-89: The third utility collection now updated to
tsutlc13.arc.  Not much changes this time: The file splitting
utility SPLIT.EXE has now an option to direct the split files to a
directory other than the directory of the file to be split.
   The shortwave information in vaasa.inf has turned out to be
incorrect.  The information has been withdrawn and a separate
shortwave information file about Finland is being prepared.

Sun 18-Jun-89: Updated the third utility collection again making it
version tsutlc12.arc.  The upgraded program within the package is
the recursive directory utility DIRF.

Fri 16-Jun-89: I have updated three of the programs in tsutlc
package and renamed it to tsutlc11.arc.  Most importantly the
program DOUBLES finding all the multiple occurrences on a disk now
gives the path names, sizes and date&time of the multiple files.

Wed 14-Jun-89: Keith Petersen of Simtel20 (thanks Keith) informed me
that the tsutlc10.arc files was invalid.  True.  I had made a stupid
mistake in transferring it from my PC.  I had forgotten to set file
type binary.  I have now put a healthy (I hope) copy of tsutlc10.arc
in here.  Sorry folks.

Sun 11-Jun-89: I have released a new PC utilities collection
tsutlc10.arc.  Among the new utilities there are a directory
utility, which searches subdirectories as well, a utility for
finding multiple occurrences of a file name on the harddisk, a
utility for locating all the empty files on the disk, a utility to
split a file into pieces, and so on.

Mon 29-May-89: Procomm utilities and advice package updated to
tspfon29.arc.  This version has been submitted to comp.binaries.ibm.pc.

Sun 28-May-89: I have released a new version of my second utilities
collection.  At the same time I have changed its name to
tsutlb14.arc from earlier ts2utl13.arc.  There is a new touch.exe
utility in the collection.  Chars.exe and setgra.exe have been
upgraded.

Wed 17-May-89: Update tspell20.arc of the spelling checker package.
Checked text can now be scrolled one line or a whole screen at a
time.

Mon 15-May-89: The new version tsfcom21.arc of the file handling
package is now available.

Sun 14-May-89: Coming soon a new version tsfcom21.arc of the file
handling package.  Most importantly the speed of crypter.exe has
been increased radically (while maintaining compatibility with
earlier versions).  Furthermore, all the programs can now handle
read-only files correctly.  Stand by for the update.

Wed 10-May-89: The filters for text files package tsfilt12.arc
updated to version tsfilt13.arc.  A filter flmarg.exe for adding a
left margin to text files has been appended to the package.

Mon 8-May-89: tsgmeb10.arc is now available containing typevade.exe,
a game for learning fast typing.

Sat 6-May-89: Coming soon tsgmeb10.arc.  Second educational games
package.  Will contain a game for learning fast typing.  Stand by.

Tue 2-May-89: Added time-zone and SW-frequency information about
Finland to vaasa.inf.

Wed 26-Apr-89: Still updates of tspfon now to make version
tspfon28.arc.

Mon 24-Apr-89: tspfon27.arc adds a new program ONLINE.EXE by Matti
Hanninen.  This new program gives a summary of calls recorded in
pcplus.fon.  PCPAQ.TXT again has a couple of new questions/answers.

Sun 23-Apr-89: Upgraded the Procomm utilities and advice to
tspfon26.arc.  A couple of new questions/answers, and some honing of
the old ones plus two new appendices.  Also appended a file
containing information about Finland, Vaasa, and the University of
Vaasa.

Fri 21-Apr-89: A new version of the Procomm Plus utilities and
advice collection tspfon25.arc has come out to replace tspfon24.arc.
The questions and answers section has many new entries along the
lines that have appeared in comp.sys.ibm.pc.