Info-Mac Digest V6 #113

[Info-Mac]

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From: [email protected] ("Lance Nakata, Jon Pugh, Bill Lipa")
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.digest
Subject: Info-Mac Digest V6 #113
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Date: 19 Dec 88 07:34:31 GMT
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Info-Mac Digest Sun, 18 Dec 88 Volume 6 : Issue 113

Today's Topics:
Adobe Screen Fonts
Conceits... Urgent...
Converter.hqx
JoliWrite V2.0
nVIR Patching of Resources
PF keys on a VT100.
Randomizer
SCSI-Parker1.1.hqx
SFScrollinit.hqx
Stevie vi clone for Macintosh.
Switching systems on a hard disk
System 6.0.2 Change History
Usenet Mac Digest V4 #134
Usenet Mac Digest V4 #135


The Info-Mac archives are available (via anonymous FTP) in the
directory at SUMEX-2060.Stanford.Edu.

Please send articles and binaries to [email protected].
Send administrative mail to [email protected].

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Date: Sun, 18 Dec 88 22:56:24 EST
From: [email protected] (Mike)
Subject: Adobe Screen Fonts

I've gotten a number of screen fonts from Adobe's forum on CompuServe.
For those who don't know, CompuServe is a commercial (i.e., for $$)
communications service. You call in through various ways, TeleNet, TymeNet,
or CompuServe's own network, and you're connected to a number of services. I
won't describe them all, so as to avoid being an advertisement for them. One
of the more useful services is user groups. People place messages for public
view, similar to INFO-MAC, so that anyone can comment. Also, they keep
collections of files (similar to INFO-MAC's archives) for users to download.
The user groups are often tied to vendors, which is an advantage for their
customers, but can't be duplicated here, because of the non-commercial nature
of this network. The disadvantage is cost, which can be high, but scales
directly with use.

For those interested and with Compu$erve accounts its just GO ADOBE. They've
got screen fonts in both Mac and IBM formats, and alot of other info on
PostScript, Illustrator, etc. They have screen fonts for just about all of
their fonts, with a few exceptions. The exceptions are for fonts like Lucida,
because Bigelow and Holmes (the licensor) doesn't allow it. I personally
can't see their point, because I'm not terribly sure of the impact of someone
with only an Imagewriter using their fonts without a license will have on the
DTP market, but that's their privelege. I've heard you can order a disk for
$50 and get screen fonts for (just about) everything that they distribute, but
haven't done that myself.

I've been using the screen fonts from Adobe for some time now, though not with
Expressionist. I've been happy with them on several fronts: (1) they're
better looking than Apple's (Times is spaced out more a little more, giving it
an improved appearance, in my humble opinion. Also, Symbol has much improved
line spacing and so doesn't mess things up AS MUCH as Apple's version), (2)
they've got the style fonts included (i.e., the TRUE bold, and italic and bold
italic versions), and (3) in some cases, more sizes (e.g., Times includes 5
and 7 point sizes, which is important if you like to sub/superscript more than
one level.).

There are a few cavaets though (aren't there ALWAYS?):

Point (1) means that some of your older documents might get mussed up alot,
especially if you used many spaces and tabs to push text around to place it
where you want it. This happens very rarely if you do it CORRECTLY, i.e.,
with hanging indents, etc. But then some folks don't seem to have the time or
the inclination, therefore those folks may be in for a bit of work on old,
heavily formatted documents.

Point (2) has impact on several areas, some good, some bad. First the bad
news. All the style fonts, in their various sizes take up alot more disk
space. Those users without a great deal of free disk space could be in
trouble if they like alot of different fonts. Suitcase or Font/DA Juggler can
be a BIG help here. Also, when you go to install these new fonts, you MUST
remove the old Times font before you put in the new one. You can't just add
the style fonts, and get it right. The old font number bugaboo will bite you,
and you'll give up the disk space without having the benefits.

One other point of bad news. Apple insists on "updating" the screen fonts
when it releases system updates. This means that your collection of high
quality screen fonts will be selectively corrupted by Apple's ideas of a good
screen font. Thus you'll have to reinstall the fonts, after you've used
Installer to update your system.

FLAME ON

The whole idea of Installer was to avoid this sort of thing, so why Apple
insists on this, I'll never understand. I suppose having an option to "update"
the screen fonts would confuse the user. Apple seems insistent on insulating
the user from the technology of the computer by not giving them any choice, or
ever telling them anything about what is going on under the hood. Steve Jobs
strikes again (from beyond the grave, so to speak).

FLAME OFF

The good news is that you'll get better spacing on your output as well as
higher readability on the screen. A good test to see the difference (and
check if you've installed them correctly), is to type a phrase with a lower
case "f" and then italicize it. If you get a slanted "f", then it didn't work,
but if you got a nicely curved, readable "f", then you've got the italic
screen font working. The differences are there for the bold, and bold italic,
but they're more subtle. You can forego the style fonts, but if you've got the
space, or if you're picky about appearance, you won't regret it. (The more I
do this sort of thing, the more I find out that the font design-types really
do know about this stuff.)

By the way, the style fonts I've included have been marked with a period at
the beginning of the name, so that they won't appear in the font menu of your
applications (you will be able to see them in the Font/DA mover menus). This
helps reduce the clutter, and also prevents you from selecting the Times
Italic font, and then selecting Italic from the Style menu. If you've
installed the fonts correctly, when you select the Italic style from the menu,
the Mac will switch to the Italic version of the font. This is really what the
LaserWriter does anyway, which explains why italicizing or bolding Symbol
appears onscreen, but then it doesn't print that way. This happens because
there is no Symbol Italic, or Symbol Bold font installed in printer. Now all
we need to do is convince Adobe that bold or italic symbols ARE in fact
useful, and maybe it will change.

Finally, Apple's version of Symbol has an extra size (9 pt) compared to
Adobe's version. This is supposedly because 10, 12, 14, 18, and 24 point
sizes are the standard screen font sizes that Adobe produces (except for Times
and Helvetica, so much for standards). Which leaves one wondering if there is
a way out of this dilemma. If anyone has any experience with the FontSizer
program, which generates screen fonts from a PostScript printer, I'd love to
hear from you. I've heard it is excellent for producing good screen fonts in
larger sizes, but I'm wondering about smaller sizes (e.g., 7, 8, & 9 point).

FLAME ON

All of this would be moot, if Apple had produced a display technology that was
not display dependent. This they actually used to claim, but its only sort
of, kinda display independent. Display PostScript would be a natural, but it
isn't absolutely necessary for this. After all TeX (and LaTeX) have screen
previewers that run on everything from high resolution workstation screens to
TEXT-ONLY terminals. All Apple had to do was make the display appear as close
to the output as possible, not screwup the output based on the display, and
how many screen fonts/sizes the poor user has in the system he's using for
printing.

FLAME OFF

Anyways, the next two mail messages will contain the screen fonts that I've
described for Symbol and Times. If there is interest, I'll upload others.

Michael J. Paisley
[email protected]
[email protected]
PAISLEY%[email protected]

[I'm holding off on posting these fonts until the legality of doing so is
settled. - Bill]

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

Date: Mon, 12 Dec 1988 19:54 EST
From: Pedro Sepulveda J.
Subject: Conceits... Urgent...

Hi Networkers...!

Can anyone helps us to define some terms...?.
Please, these are:

1. Resources INIT and CODE.
2. System file.
3. HyperCard stack.
4. XCMD resource.
5. Master training disks.
6. System folder.
7. Scrapbook and Note Pad files.
8. Desktop.
9. ID for a resource CODE.
10. CODE segments.
11. to "launch" an application.
12. RTS instruction.
13. cdev and rdev files.
14. to "get rid"
15. Finder.
16. Multifinder.


We need explain these terms to Mac's beginners...
It's very urgent...


THANKS IN ADVANCE

P.S.: If you want, reply us directly...

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

Date: Sat, 8 Oct 88 16:00:04 CDT
From: [email protected] (James Meiss)
Subject: Converter.hqx

Converter is a modest desk accessory I wrote to help
me enter my expenses from overseas trips into Dollars
and Sense. At that time D&S didn't support the clipboard, so
I made this little calculator post its result to the event que. I
still find it more useful to use in entering repeated conversions than
the traditional calculator. It works in just about every application,
except Excel, which doesn't activate its "entry" window properly.
The "auto enter" feature is converter's main virtue,though it
also saves the exchange rate in a STR# for next time. You can also
change the number of significant figures by changing the second
STR# resource.
Click on the copywrite notice for a help screen. This is free,
in thanks to all who've posted their programs to the net.


[Archived as DA-CONVERTER.HQX]

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

Date: Sun, 09 Oct 88 15:50:45 HFH
From: JORDA%[email protected]
Subject: JoliWrite V2.0

Date: 09 October 1988, 15:49:56 HFH
From: Michel Jorda JORDA at FRSUN12
To: TONAME TOPHONE INFO-MAC-REQUEST@SUMEX-AIM.
This is V2.0 of JoliWrite, US version, compressed by Stuffit then BinHex.
I will keep the file on my mainframe disk until you can test. Of course I
try to download the file on my mac, all is perfectly ok.
Please test, the tell me how it is. If you can store it on Macserve..
Regards,