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C.S.M.P. Digest             Sun, 03 May 92       Volume 1 : Issue 70

Today's Topics:

    Can I get a handle to a TE in a dialog box?
    Two Neophyte Questions (dialog box, screen depth)
    PostScript Tool Needed
    animation: novice needs help
    Anyone want to write/has written a 'sun-mouse' init ?;-}
    filename from pathnumber
    Floppy Disk Override Part II


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-------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (David Lee Matuszek)
Subject: Can I get a handle to a TE in a dialog box?
Date: 19 Mar 92 19:38:48 GMT
Organization: Paoli Research Center - Paoli, PA

I have a dialog box with something like this in it:

    When should the program quit?
       o  after _____ minutes
       o  when _____ responses have been given

The "o" denotes a radio button, the "_____" denotes a TextEdit area
overlaid on the radio button text. (The example is simplified;
actually there are half a dozen radio buttons, etc.)

Tabbing through the TEs works just fine. And just as I want, whenever
I tab to the next one, the whole range of text is selected/highlighted
in it.

Clicking on a TE also works fine. I can get the corresponding radio
button set.

BUT if I click on a radio button, I want to be able to select the
correct TE, and select/highlight the range of text in it. I can't do
this.

My fuzzy understanding is that there's really only one TE record for
the whole dialog, and the OS reuses it as you move from TE area to TE
area. (Corrections welcome.) OK, I can live with that; but how do I
get a handle to it so I can do things like select the entire range? Or
what do I do to associate the TE record with the right area on the
screen? I CAN get a handle to the _text_ in the TE record, which is
sometimes useful but is _not_ what I need here.

Is there any way to get this handle? Failing that, is there any other
way to accomplish the same sort of thing?

BTW, I have played around with other ways of arranging the dialog, but
I just can't find anything as clean or as Mac-like as the arrangement
I've described above.

aTdHvAaNnKcSe

- -- Dave Matuszek ([e-mail])  I don't speak for my employer.   --

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Jeremiah Blatz)
Date: 26 Mar 92 04:12:20 GMT
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

Inside Mac Vol. 1 tells you how to do this stuff on pp. 421-422. The
routines are (In pascal):

PROCEDURE GetDItem(theDialog: DialogPtr; itemNo: INTEGER; VAR itemType:
INTEGER; VAR item: Handle; VAR box: Rect);

itemType will be an editText, item is a handle to the item you specify
in "itemNo".

After you do that, you can call:

PROCEDURE GetIText (item: Handle; VAR text: Str255);

"item" is the handle you got in GetDItem, text is the field's contents.
(If they're more than 255 characters in the editText item, the Mac
chops off the tail.)

By the way, if you want to set a default value, you can use:

PROCEDURE SetIText (item: Handle; text: Str255);

By convention, you should hilite the default with:

PROCEDURE SelIText (theDialog: DialogPtr; itemNo: INTEGER;
strtSel,endSel: INTEGER);

You should pass 0 for strtSel and 32767 for sndSel to hilite the whole
thang.

Hope this helps,
[e-mail]
In case Apple gets pissy about copyrights, all of this is from Inside
Macintosh, but if you mess up, it's not their fault.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Tim Dierks, ToyMeister, Cray abuser)
Date: 1 Apr 92 04:30:20 GMT
Organization: MacDTS, Apple Computer

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (David Lee Matuszek) writes:
> BUT if I click on a radio button, I want to be able to select the
> correct TE, and select/highlight the range of text in it. I can't do
> this.
>
> Is there any way to get this handle? Failing that, is there any other
> way to accomplish the same sort of thing?

Use the dialog manager call SelIText (Inside Macintosh I-422).  It will allow
you to select a particular item and to select the text in that item (pass
0 and 32000 for min and max respectively).

Enjoy,
Tim Dierks
MacDTS, but I refuse to sing.

---------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Elon Danziger)
Subject: Two Neophyte Questions (dialog box, screen depth)
Date: Sat, 21 Mar 92 08:46:53 EST
Organization: Princeton High School, Princeton, New Jersey

Greetings.  I'm having two problems programming under Pascal.  First, I
can't get the insertion point to blink or highlighting to work in a
dialog box, and I don't know how to determine screen depth.

Here's my code for the dialog box; I'm hoping someone can tell me what
I've done wrong:

  repeat
   SystemTask;
   if (GetNextEvent(EveryEvent, eventRec)) then
    begin
     if IsDialogEvent(eventRec) then
     writeln(DialogSelect(eventRec, aDialog, item));
    end;
   case eventRec.what of
    KeyDown, AutoKey:
     begin
     theChar := Chr(BitAnd(eventRec.Message, charCodeMask));
     end;

    ActivateEvt:
     begin
     if BitAnd(eventRec.Modifiers, activeFlag) <> 0 then
     begin
     SetPort(WindowPtr(eventRec.Message));
     case GetWRefCon(WindowPtr(eventRec.Message)) of
     MainWindRef:
     ;
     end;
     end
     else
     case GetWRefCon(WindowPtr(eventRec.Message)) of
     MainWindRef:
     ;
     end;
     end;
    UpdateEvt:
     begin
     BeginUpdate(WindowPtr(eventRec.Message));
     case GetWRefCon(WindowPtr(eventRec.Message)) of
     MainWindRef:
     ;
     end;
     EndUpdate(WindowPtr(eventRec.Message));
     end;

That WriteLn up there is really for debugging purposes, but it didn't
help much.

Anyway, if you don't have time to look at that code, I would appreciate
some sample code using dialog boxes, controls, and so forth.

Thanks in advance!

- -Elon

Elon Danziger, Technical SysOp PHSBBS            Princeton High School
DNS: [e-mail]      UUCP: ...!princeton!phsbbs!elon
US Mail: 17 Chestnut Street / Princeton, NJ 08542
DISCLAIMER: Author bears full responsibility for this message.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Tim Dierks, ToyMeister, Cray abuser)
Date: 1 Apr 92 04:38:24 GMT
Organization: MacDTS, Apple Computer

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Elon Danziger) writes:
>
> Greetings.  I'm having two problems programming under Pascal.  First, I
> can't get the insertion point to blink or highlighting to work in a
> dialog box, and I don't know how to determine screen depth.
>
> Here's my code for the dialog box; I'm hoping someone can tell me what
> I've done wrong:
>
>   repeat
>    SystemTask;
>    if (GetNextEvent(EveryEvent, eventRec)) then
>     begin
>      if IsDialogEvent(eventRec) then
>      writeln(DialogSelect(eventRec, aDialog, item));
>     end;

You need to call IsDialogEvent _regardless_ of whether GetNextEvent returns a
null event or not; the cursor blinking occurs inside of this call, and if
you don't call it on null events, no blinking will occur.  Try this on
for size:

  repeat
     gotEvent := GetNextEvent(EveryEvent, eventRec);
     SystemTask;
     if IsDialogEvent(eventRec) then
        writeln(DialogSelect(eventRec, aDialog, item));
     if gotEvent
       begin
         [... deal with the event]
       end;

Forgive my faked-up Pascal.  Note that you want to call SystemTask all the
time also- if you ran your program as shown above under System 6 Finder and
opened up the Alarm Clock, the time would only change when you posted an
event.

To determine the screen depth, you examine the depth of the pixMap associated
with the gDevice for the screen you're interested in.  This is described in
Inside Mac volume V, chapters 4 and 5.

Tim Dierks
MacDTS, but my Sea-Monkeys die anyway

---------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Morgan Davis)
Subject: PostScript Tool Needed
Organization: Crash TimeSharing, El Cajon, CA
Date: Sat, 21 Mar 1992 18:37:38 GMT

I've been in search of a utility that will easily allow me to send
PostScript to a LaserWriter (via AppleTalk) and view any error messages
coming back.  All the apps I've scavenged don't seem to be able to
run under System 7.  For example, the myriad of SendPS programs all
fail to open a connection with the printer, but Apple's LaserWriter
Utility can do it just fine.

The problem with Apple's utility is that it is too cumbersome for
programming work.  I'd like to be able to run an application that
lets you write your PS code in one window, download it to the printer
directly from the window, and then view any returned error messages
(perhaps in a second window).  This would allow for quick development
and testing of PostScript programs under System 7.

Any help or pointers to such a tool would be appreciated.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Lawrence D'Oliveiro, Waikato University)
Date: 23 Mar 92 18:38:20 +1200
Organization: University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Morgan Davis) asks for a tool to send PostScript to a LaserWriter
and retrieve any messages from the printer.

I wrote one that runs as an MPW tool. This way I could use MPW itself
to edit the PostScript and view the printer messages. If this is of any
use to you, just ask, and I'll send you a copy.

Lawrence D'Oliveiro                       fone: [phone]
Computer Services Dept                     fax: [phone]
University of Waikato            electric mail: [e-mail]
Hamilton, New Zealand    37^ 47' 26" S, 175^ 19' 7" E, GMT+13:00

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Tim Dierks, ToyMeister, Cray abuser)
Date: 1 Apr 92 04:40:27 GMT
Organization: MacDTS, Apple Computer

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Morgan Davis) writes:
>
> I've been in search of a utility that will easily allow me to send
> PostScript to a LaserWriter (via AppleTalk) and view any error messages
> coming back.  All the apps I've scavenged don't seem to be able to
> run under System 7.  For example, the myriad of SendPS programs all
> fail to open a connection with the printer, but Apple's LaserWriter
> Utility can do it just fine.
>
> Any help or pointers to such a tool would be appreciated.

All System 6 SendPS programs will work correctly if you move the LaserWriter
file to your System Folder from your Extensions folder (not an alias).
They're looking for necessary code, and they can't find the file they
need.

Tim Dierks
MacDTS, but why?

---------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Gim Mark)
Subject: animation: novice needs help
Date: 25 Mar 92 15:49:24 GMT
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory


I'm trying to learn how to do animation on my Mac Plus with Think C
5.0.  As a start, I want to simulate a billiard ball on a table.
Here's the basic code I'm using:

/* initialize position and velocities */
FrameOval( ... );
while ( /* conditions are OK */ )
{
    pause();
    EraseOval( ... );
    OffsetRect( ... );
    FrameOval( ... );
    /* recalculate position and velocities */
}

'pause()' exists simply to waste time; it increments an int 1000
times.  Without it, the loop goes so fast you can't see any movement.

This code does produce an animation, but it flickers.  I read in the
answers to FAQ's for this group that, to prevent flicker, one should
synchronize redrawing with the vertical refresh.  That sounds
reasonable but I have no idea how to do it.

My questions: what's the best way to pace the animation loop?
('pause()' is a poor and wasteful kludge.)  Are QuickDraw routines the
best to use?  (Might bitmaps be better?  How are they used?)  How does
one deal with flicker?  Most generally, are there books or other
references that deal with this subject?

Thanks.

Graham Mark
Los Alamos National Laboratory
[phone]

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Jon W{tte)
Date: 25 Mar 92 20:50:12 GMT
Organization: Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

> [e-mail] (Gim Mark) writes:

   'pause()' exists simply to waste time; it increments an int 1000
   times.  Without it, the loop goes so fast you can't see any movement.

That might be all well on a MacPlus, but on a Quadra, iterating
1000 times takes 50 microseconds or so; not a long enough pause...

Use TickCount() instead.

On the plus, it has the interesting side effect to be synchronized
the vertical retrace !

- --
[e-mail]; Jon W{tte, the Diplomat - NOT!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Paul Casey)
Date: 27 Mar 92 01:43:14 GMT
Organization: University of Virginia

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jon W{tte) writes:
: > [e-mail] (Gim Mark) writes:
:
:    'pause()' exists simply to waste time; it increments an int 1000
:    times.  Without it, the loop goes so fast you can't see any movement.
:
: That might be all well on a MacPlus, but on a Quadra, iterating
: 1000 times takes 50 microseconds or so; not a long enough pause...
:
: Use TickCount() instead.
:
: On the plus, it has the interesting side effect to be synchronized
: the vertical retrace !
:
: --
: [e-mail]; Jon W{tte, the Diplomat - NOT!

Actually, I believe TickCount() was intended to be updated with the vertical
retrace on older Macs and isn't a side effect. Now that one is able to have
multiple monitors each with a potentially different refresh rate, TickCount()
no longer holds. It is still updated every 60.15ms (I believe), so you could
base your pause() routine on this.

Paul Casey
[e-mail]

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail]
Date: 29 Mar 92 21:45:26 GMT
Organization: Adept Solutions

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Gim
Mark) writes:
>
> I'm trying to learn how to do animation on my Mac Plus with Think C
> 5.0.  As a start, I want to simulate a billiard ball on a table.
> Here's the basic code I'm using:
>
> << CODE REMOVED>>
> 'pause()' exists simply to waste time; it increments an int 1000
> times.  Without it, the loop goes so fast you can't see any movement.
>
>
> Graham Mark
> Los Alamos National Laboratory
> [phone]

Graham, 'tis bit of a no-no to use loop-based timing.. The loop will execute
magnatudes faster on a Quadra, than on a stock-plus!  It's best to use Delay(),
or more directly, TickCount(), which is based on 1/60 of a second time
intervals.

- -Roy
- --
- -----------------+--------------------------------------------------
Roy Lovejoy      | internet:  [e-mail]
Head RGB Guy     | AppleLink: adept
Adept Solutions  | CIS:       72447,1447

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Matthew Hall)
Organization: Oberlin College Computer Science
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1992 17:55:44 GMT

- -All right, but how to actually implement this-

Tickcount isa function which retrieves a lo-mem global that stores the
number of ticks since the system started up.  It increments as soon as
the bottom of the screen has finished drawing on small screen macs.
When the bttom has finished drawing you have a few milliseconds to
draw on the screen and not flicker.  So - one way to do this, on a
small screen mac only, goes like this:

...
var tc : longint;
...

{prepare to draw}
tc:=tickcount;
repeat
until tc<tickcount;
{draw FAST}

If you need a delay of n 60ths of a second, you can replace
until tc<tickcount
with
until tc+DELAY<tickcount.

In Think environments, you are provided with a Synch procedure, which
halts the program until the beam is at the TOP of the picture and then
returns control.  This should work on all macs (I think)

Another note-  Drawing ovals takes (relatively) a lot of time.  It's
probably best to just create an offscreen bitmap, draw a circle in
there, and copybits, it will be much faster.  See the monthly FAQ list
if you need to learn more about bitmaps, I think there is something in
there.

- -Matt Hall


- --


- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matt Hall.    [e-mail]  OR  [e-mail]
              (216)-775-5805 (That's a Cleveland Area code. Lucky Me)

"If a man comes up to you and says:
    'A dog just carried away your ear.'
Do you run after the dog, or search first for your ear?" - Moon over Morocco


---------------------------

From: [e-mail] (David G. White)
Subject: Anyone want to write/has written a 'sun-mouse' init ?;-}
Organization: Computer Services Centre, Australian National University
Date: 27 Mar 92 01:43:05 GMT

You might have seen my post in c.m.s.system asking about the availabilty
of a 'sun-mouse' init - ie an init that makes the window that is under the
mouse the currently active window.  Well it seems that not only has no-one
seen one of these babies but quitte a few people want one too.

So I don't supppose there is a community-minded programmer out there who
wants to help us out ? ;-} please please please ?  :-) with sugar ? :)

Well it was worth a try ;)

Thanks (in anticipation),

David.

- --
_ David G. White ________________________   ______   _____ "What I did with _
_ [e-mail] _________________  \    /  ______ Rex Mossop wasnt _
_ 2 Spencer Street, Turner,  ______________  \  /  _______ Porn,it was Art" _
_ ACT 2601, Australia. Ph: [phone] __  \/  ________  - Julian Clarey _

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Jon W{tte)
Date: 27 Mar 92 18:35:20 GMT
Organization: Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

@coombs.anu.edu.au (David G. White) writes:

   of a 'sun-mouse' init - ie an init that makes the window that is under the
   mouse the currently active window.  Well it seems that not only has no-one

You would have to get really, _really_, REALLY down and dirty to pull
something like that off. And all for something which I don't even see
the value of - I run MWM instead of TWM just because I loke a fixed focus.

   So I don't supppose there is a community-minded programmer out there who
   wants to help us out ? ;-} please please please ?  :-) with sugar ? :)

There is a shareware editor (called Alpha) that supported that mode
of operation last I checked. However, that's only for the editor,
it doesn't affect other applications.

- --
[e-mail]; Jon W{tte, the Diplomat - NOT!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Michael A. Kelly)
Organization: University of Oregon Computer and Information Sciences Dept.
Date: Fri, 27 Mar 1992 23:21:00 GMT

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jon W{tte) writes:
>@coombs.anu.edu.au (David G. White) writes:
>
>   of a 'sun-mouse' init - ie an init that makes the window that is under the
>   mouse the currently active window.  Well it seems that not only has no-one
>
>You would have to get really, _really_, REALLY down and dirty to pull
>something like that off. And all for something which I don't even see
>the value of - I run MWM instead of TWM just because I loke a fixed focus.

I'm probably just being naive, but this seems like a relatively simple task.
Just keep track of the mouse position (with GetMouse, probably) and post a
mousedown in the title bar (or some other harmless region) of the window
it's over when it moves from one window to another.  That's probably not the
best way to do it.  You could probably also force the window's application to
come to the front without posting a mousedown, especially with system 7.

Am I missing something?  I almost felt compelled to write the init when I saw
the original post, but I'm just too busy....

Mike.
- --
_____________________________________________________________________________
Michael A. Kelly                                         University of Oregon
[e-mail]                             Computer Science Department
_____________________________________________________________________________

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Matthias Ulrich Neeracher)
Date: 27 Mar 92 17:46:15 GMT
Organization: Integrated Systems Laboratory, ETH, Zurich

In article <dave.701660585@coombs> [e-mail] (David G. White) writes:
>You might have seen my post in c.m.s.system asking about the availabilty
>of a 'sun-mouse' init - ie an init that makes the window that is under the
>mouse the currently active window.  Well it seems that not only has no-one
>seen one of these babies but quitte a few people want one too.
>
>So I don't supppose there is a community-minded programmer out there who
>wants to help us out ? ;-} please please please ?  :-) with sugar ? :)

I thought about doing such a thing. It might be possible to do by patching
FrontWindow to return the window the cursor is in.

I see three main problems:

1) Nobody wants it so badly that they want to risk the eternal wrath of the
window manager

2) It's almost impossible to separate usages of FrontWindow where the front
window should be returned and usages where the mouse window should.

3) What about modal dialogs ?

Summary: Not for the weak of heart.

Matthias

- -----
Matthias Neeracher                                   [e-mail]
 "You must have picked up that copy of Scarlett instead of Inside Mac
  when you tried to find the right call..." -- Keith Rollin

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Rhys Hollow)
Organization: University of Western Australia
Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1992 08:08:43 GMT

[e-mail] (Matthias Ulrich Neeracher) writes:

>In article <dave.701660585@coombs> [e-mail] (David G. White) writes:
>>You might have seen my post in c.m.s.system asking about the availabilty
>>of a 'sun-mouse' init - ie an init that makes the window that is under the
>>mouse the currently active window.  Well it seems that not only has no-one
>>seen one of these babies but quitte a few people want one too.
>>
>>So I don't supppose there is a community-minded programmer out there who
>>wants to help us out ? ;-} please please please ?  :-) with sugar ? :)

>I thought about doing such a thing. It might be possible to do by patching
>FrontWindow to return the window the cursor is in.


WHY?  Why do such a horrible thing?  Have you thought of the
consequences?  What happens when you want to select a menu?  You move
the mouse to the menu bar and... oops, the mouse moved over a different
window, bringing a different window to the front, even a different
application, thus either changing the menus completely, or losing the
window you wanted to do the menu command on.  I HATE SUN MOUSES!

Someone put them on the amiga, thinking it was a great idea.  The Amiga
would have had the same problem as the mac, but it had a separate mouse
button you had to press to bring up the menubar.  So as long as you
pressed the menu button while you were over the appropriate window,
everything was ok, but if you didn't, the same thing happened.  The sun
mouse brought a different window/application to the front, and you had
to start all over again.

I think what I'm saying is that while sun mice are allright on suns
because they have pop-up menus, they would be a disaster on a mac.
(At least this is what I assume they have on a sun, I haven't used a
sun, so I'm not entirely sure)

Rhys (raving again...)
- --
Rhys Hollow ([e-mail]) "ee'er by gum he's a bad'un!" -DangerMouse.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Jon W{tte)
Date: 27 Mar 92 18:35:20 GMT
Organization: Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

@coombs.anu.edu.au (David G. White) writes:

   of a 'sun-mouse' init - ie an init that makes the window that is under the
   mouse the currently active window.  Well it seems that not only has no-one

You would have to get really, _really_, REALLY down and dirty to pull
something like that off. And all for something which I don't even see
the value of - I run MWM instead of TWM just because I loke a fixed focus.

   So I don't supppose there is a community-minded programmer out there who
   wants to help us out ? ;-} please please please ?  :-) with sugar ? :)

There is a shareware editor (called Alpha) that supported that mode
of operation last I checked. However, that's only for the editor,
it doesn't affect other applications.

- --
[e-mail]; Jon W{tte, the Diplomat - NOT!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Michael A. Kelly)
Organization: University of Oregon Computer and Information Sciences Dept.
Date: Fri, 27 Mar 1992 23:21:00 GMT

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jon W{tte) writes:
>@coombs.anu.edu.au (David G. White) writes:
>
>   of a 'sun-mouse' init - ie an init that makes the window that is under the
>   mouse the currently active window.  Well it seems that not only has no-one
>
>You would have to get really, _really_, REALLY down and dirty to pull
>something like that off. And all for something which I don't even see
>the value of - I run MWM instead of TWM just because I loke a fixed focus.

I'm probably just being naive, but this seems like a relatively simple task.
Just keep track of the mouse position (with GetMouse, probably) and post a
mousedown in the title bar (or some other harmless region) of the window
it's over when it moves from one window to another.  That's probably not the
best way to do it.  You could probably also force the window's application to
come to the front without posting a mousedown, especially with system 7.

Am I missing something?  I almost felt compelled to write the init when I saw
the original post, but I'm just too busy....

Mike.
- --
_____________________________________________________________________________
Michael A. Kelly                                         University of Oregon
[e-mail]                             Computer Science Department
_____________________________________________________________________________

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Matthias Ulrich Neeracher)
Date: 27 Mar 92 17:46:15 GMT
Organization: Integrated Systems Laboratory, ETH, Zurich

In article <dave.701660585@coombs> [e-mail] (David G. White) writes:
>You might have seen my post in c.m.s.system asking about the availabilty
>of a 'sun-mouse' init - ie an init that makes the window that is under the
>mouse the currently active window.  Well it seems that not only has no-one
>seen one of these babies but quitte a few people want one too.
>
>So I don't supppose there is a community-minded programmer out there who
>wants to help us out ? ;-} please please please ?  :-) with sugar ? :)

I thought about doing such a thing. It might be possible to do by patching
FrontWindow to return the window the cursor is in.

I see three main problems:

1) Nobody wants it so badly that they want to risk the eternal wrath of the
window manager

2) It's almost impossible to separate usages of FrontWindow where the front
window should be returned and usages where the mouse window should.

3) What about modal dialogs ?

Summary: Not for the weak of heart.

Matthias

- -----
Matthias Neeracher                                   [e-mail]
 "You must have picked up that copy of Scarlett instead of Inside Mac
  when you tried to find the right call..." -- Keith Rollin

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Rhys Hollow)
Organization: University of Western Australia
Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1992 08:08:43 GMT

[e-mail] (Matthias Ulrich Neeracher) writes:

>In article <dave.701660585@coombs> [e-mail] (David G. White) writes:
>>You might have seen my post in c.m.s.system asking about the availabilty
>>of a 'sun-mouse' init - ie an init that makes the window that is under the
>>mouse the currently active window.  Well it seems that not only has no-one
>>seen one of these babies but quitte a few people want one too.
>>
>>So I don't supppose there is a community-minded programmer out there who
>>wants to help us out ? ;-} please please please ?  :-) with sugar ? :)

>I thought about doing such a thing. It might be possible to do by patching
>FrontWindow to return the window the cursor is in.


WHY?  Why do such a horrible thing?  Have you thought of the
consequences?  What happens when you want to select a menu?  You move
the mouse to the menu bar and... oops, the mouse moved over a different
window, bringing a different window to the front, even a different
application, thus either changing the menus completely, or losing the
window you wanted to do the menu command on.  I HATE SUN MOUSES!

Someone put them on the amiga, thinking it was a great idea.  The Amiga
would have had the same problem as the mac, but it had a separate mouse
button you had to press to bring up the menubar.  So as long as you
pressed the menu button while you were over the appropriate window,
everything was ok, but if you didn't, the same thing happened.  The sun
mouse brought a different window/application to the front, and you had
to start all over again.

I think what I'm saying is that while sun mice are allright on suns
because they have pop-up menus, they would be a disaster on a mac.
(At least this is what I assume they have on a sun, I haven't used a
sun, so I'm not entirely sure)

Rhys (raving again...)
- --
Rhys Hollow ([e-mail]) "ee'er by gum he's a bad'un!" -DangerMouse.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Matthias Ulrich Neeracher)
Organization: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, CH
Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1992 18:25:50 GMT

[e-mail] (Michael A. Kelly) writes:

>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jon W{tte) writes:
>>@coombs.anu.edu.au (David G. White) writes:
>>
>>   of a 'sun-mouse' init - ie an init that makes the window that is under the
>>   mouse the currently active window.  Well it seems that not only has no-one
>>
>>You would have to get really, _really_, REALLY down and dirty to pull
>>something like that off. And all for something which I don't even see
>>the value of - I run MWM instead of TWM just because I loke a fixed focus.
>
>I'm probably just being naive, but this seems like a relatively simple task.
>Just keep track of the mouse position (with GetMouse, probably) and post a
>mousedown in the title bar (or some other harmless region) of the window
>it's over when it moves from one window to another.

No, that's not what the original poster wants. You probably never use Unix
window systems: They distingish between *front* window and *active* window.
So, you'd have to write an INIT that makes an application interpret keystrokes
for the window the mouse points to (which is *not* necessarily the front
window).

Matthias

- -----
Matthias Neeracher                                      [e-mail]
  "And that's why I am going to turn this world upside down, and make
   of it a fire so *bright* that someone real will notice"
                                -- Vernor Vinge, _Tatja Grimm's World_

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Ari Halberstadt)
Date: 30 Mar 92 19:29:01 GMT
Organization: Eclectic Associates, Inc.

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Rhys Hollow) writes:
>[e-mail] (Matthias Ulrich Neeracher) writes:
>>In article <dave.701660585@coombs> [e-mail] (David G. White) writes:
>>>an init that makes the window that is under the
>>>mouse the currently active window.
>>I thought about doing such a thing. It might be possible to do by patching
>>FrontWindow to return the window the cursor is in.
>What happens when you want to select a menu?  You move
>the mouse to the menu bar and... oops, the mouse moved over a different
>window, bringing a different window to the front, even a different
>application, thus either changing the menus completely, or losing the
>window you wanted to do the menu command on.
>...
>I think what I'm saying is that while sun mice are allright on suns
>because they have pop-up menus, they would be a disaster on a mac.
>(At least this is what I assume they have on a sun, I haven't used a
>sun, so I'm not entirely sure)

You could make a monster extension which supports popup menus as well. But
with a one buttoned mouse I think the conclusion is correct that it wouldn't
be very user friendly. Even convincing the Window Manager to support
floating windows from within an application requires bypassing much of
the Window Manager, and the default WDEF makes it even harder since it insists
on unhiliting the drag bar when the window isn't front most. Doing this
from a system extension, and being compatible with all apps, sounds rather
difficult.
- --
Ari Halberstadt       [e-mail]             #include <std/disclaimer.h>
Ramsgate (n.) All institutional buildings must, by law, contain at least twenty
ramsgates. These are doors that open the opposite way to the one you expect.
    -- D. Adams & J. Lloyd "The Meaning of Liff", p75.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Matthias Ulrich Neeracher)
Organization: Integrated Systems Laboratory, ETH, Zurich
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1992 17:53:44 GMT

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Rhys Hollow) writes:
>[e-mail] (Matthias Ulrich Neeracher) writes:
>
>>In article <dave.701660585@coombs> [e-mail] (David G. White) writes:
>>>You might have seen my post in c.m.s.system asking about the availabilty
>>>of a 'sun-mouse' init - ie an init that makes the window that is under the
>>>mouse the currently active window.  Well it seems that not only has no-one
>>>seen one of these babies but quitte a few people want one too.
>>>
>>>So I don't supppose there is a community-minded programmer out there who
>>>wants to help us out ? ;-} please please please ?  :-) with sugar ? :)
>
>>I thought about doing such a thing. It might be possible to do by patching
>>FrontWindow to return the window the cursor is in.
>
>WHY?  Why do such a horrible thing?  Have you thought of the
>consequences?

Yes.

>What happens when you want to select a menu?  You move
>the mouse to the menu bar and... oops, the mouse moved over a different
>window, bringing a different window to the front, even a different
>application, thus either changing the menus completely, or losing the
>window you wanted to do the menu command on.

No. By moving the mouse, *no window would be brought to the front*. All that
would happen is that FrontWindow would *pretend* a different window was in
front. And it would do this only in response to a keyDown event. I agree that
this is in practice impossible to implement on the *OS* side, but applications
could do this.

>I HATE SUN MOUSES!

The only application on my Mac that I would want to behave in an Unix way is
MacLayers.

>I think what I'm saying is that while sun mice are allright on suns
>because they have pop-up menus, they would be a disaster on a mac.
>(At least this is what I assume they have on a sun, I haven't used a
>sun, so I'm not entirely sure)

The normal ones have popup menus. OpenWindows Suns have button stacks, which is
a visually quite unpleasant implementation of popup menus.

Matthias

- -----
Matthias Neeracher                                      [e-mail]
  "And that's why I am going to turn this world upside down, and make
   of it a fire so *bright* that someone real will notice"
                                -- Vernor Vinge, _Tatja Grimm's World_

---------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Thomas Lawrence)
Subject: filename from pathnumber
Date: 29 Mar 92 23:03:08 GMT
Organization: University of Wisconsin, Madison -- Computer Sciences Dept.

I've checked Inside Macintosh IV and V about this
but I can't find a solution.  I need my program to
open its data fork, even if the user has renamed
the program.  To do this, I figured I could obtain
the (preopened) resource fork path reference
number, recover the file name and directory
number, and FSOpen the data fork.  Unfortunately
I can find no way of recovering the name of a
file from only a path number.  FSGetFInfo requires
a filename and directory number and PBGetFInfo
seems to require the same.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Jamie R. McCarthy)
Organization: Kalamazoo College
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1992 05:30:01 GMT

[e-mail] (Thomas Lawrence) writes:
>I need my program to
>open its data fork, even if the user has renamed
>the program.  To do this, I figured I could obtain
>the (preopened) resource fork path reference
>number, recover the file name and directory
>number, and FSOpen the data fork.  Unfortunately
>I can find no way of recovering the name of a
>file from only a path number.

Immediately after your application launches, you can get its directory
with GetVol (IM4-107).  It returns you a vRefNum that's actually a
directory ID.  It seems like there should be a better way to do this,
but it's worked for me.

Your app's name is available from GetAppParms (IM2-58).  Again, do this
before your first event loop so the user doesn't have a chance to move
or rename you.

You didn't say if you were planning on modifying the data fork, so I'll
put the standard don't-write-to-your-application spiel in just to be
sure:  what if you're on CD-ROM? what if you're on a server and the user
doesn't have write privs? what if your user does a backup-changed-files
every day and thereby ends up storing 365 copies of your app per year?
- --
 Jamie McCarthy     Internet: [e-mail]     AppleLink: j.mccarthy
 PC Adventure:  "You killed a small height-disadvantaged person.
 The body vanishes in a cloud of greasy black smoke."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Glenn Austin)
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 92 14:36:51 PST
Organization: The Pit Lane


In article <[e-mail]> (comp.sys.mac.programmer), [e-mail] (Thomas Lawrence) writes:
> I've checked Inside Macintosh IV and V about this
> but I can't find a solution.  I need my program to
> open its data fork, even if the user has renamed
> the program.  To do this, I figured I could obtain
> the (preopened) resource fork path reference
> number, recover the file name and directory
> number, and FSOpen the data fork.  Unfortunately
> I can find no way of recovering the name of a
> file from only a path number.  FSGetFInfo requires
> a filename and directory number and PBGetFInfo
> seems to require the same.

PBGetFCBInfo is the answer.  Not only can you get the filename, but you
can also get almost all the other particulars about the file...

===============================================================================
| Glenn L. Austin                | "Turn too soon, run out of room.           |
| Macintosh Wizard and           |    Turn too late, much better fate."       |
| Auto Racing Driver             |   -- Jim Russell Racing School Instructors |
| Usenet:  [e-mail] or [e-mail]    |
===============================================================================

---------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steve Berkley)
Subject: Floppy Disk Override Part II
Organization: University of Rochester - Rochester, New York
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 92 16:07:33 GMT

The solution to the floppy problem seemed to be prompting the
user to insert the disk, and using GetOSEvent, which removes
the disk insertion event from the queue before the Finder can
get to it...

The next problem is this:  I want to read 10 sectors for track
on a GCD disk, consistently from track to track.  I know there
must be some way to do this, because there are programs like
Copy II Mac which do this, etc.  The disks I am making images of
have 10 sectors per track...right now, the program is basically
an imaging program for MAC disks, because the .Sony driver is
thinking I am doing GCR disks (whoops- I mean GCR above).  Is
there someone out there, from Apple perhaps, who can tell me
how to do this from Think C 5.0.2??  I know there are is a
SonyEqu.a file that could be tampered with in MacApp, but I
really don't want to dig around in assembly.  A straightforward
approach would be very helpful!!

Thanks in advance-
Steve Berkley
[e-mail]


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: [e-mail] (Steve Christensen)
Date: 1 Apr 92 03:50:52 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA

[e-mail] (Steve Berkley) writes:

>The next problem is this:  I want to read 10 sectors for track
>on a GCR disk, consistently from track to track...
>Is there someone out there, from Apple perhaps, who can tell me
>how to do this from Think C 5.0.2??  I know there are is a
>SonyEqu.a file that could be tampered with in MacApp, but I
>really don't want to dig around in assembly.  A straightforward
>approach would be very helpful!!

This is not a great idea because you have to talk directly to the
Mac's hardware to make it work.  Since the low-level floppy disk
software implementations vary depending on the kind of Mac you're
using, you need to know all the details for the kind(s) of Mac
you intend to support.  In any case, tweaking the .Sony driver's
variables won't get you too far, since it's designed to deal with
only a few specific disk formats (400K GCR, 800K GCR, 720K MFM,
and 1.44M MFM).

That said, are you sure the disks you want to read/write are indeed
encoded in GCR?  The Mac gets from 8-12 sectors per track because
that's what fits on each track.  You could get more sectors if the
sector format was different (smaller).  It sounds more like the
disk is recorded in MFM since those disks tend to have a fixed
number of sectors per track...

steve
- --
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Steve Christensen            Never hit a man with glasses.
  [e-mail]            Hit him with a baseball bat.

---------------------------

End of C.S.M.P. Digest
**********************