I must say again, that I mean internal compression of SAD,
which won't compile the file header.
I'm author of SAD, so I think I am allowed to make the
new version of SAD. SAD has a header, there will be
version 2 ID-byte, so any program will see it.
ad Microsoft:
Not only Word, but many other programs (I use e.g. Corel Draw)
declare new file format versions, when NECESSARY.
This is normal, programs are developed during a long period
and new funcions come each day.
If somebody says "Microsoft did new DOC format '97, and no
program can read it. It was bad," it is stupid.
Microsoft MUST use new format, since it is the first real unicode,
which is internationally necessary.
ANY software can have newer versions of files, which other programs
can read. This is LIFE!
So, there is time for SAD no.2. You need to:
a) upgrade your third party software to cope with SAD 2.
b) convert SAD2 to SAD or DSK to work with it.
Since SAD2 is only SAD version 2, it has the same extension .SAD.
That's legal.
It may (or may not) contain additional information, which
is not applicable to DSK or SAD version 1.
(Do you know SAD version 1 can cope with diskettes which
DSK can't recognize?)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Aley [eili] Keprt - student, programmer (multimedia soft. etc.)
phone: +420-68-538 70 35
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** http://get.to/aley
----------------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: Andrew Collier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no>
Sent: 7. záøí 1999 15:04
Subject: Re: SimCoupe 0.783a - ZIP
> On Tue, 7 Sep 1999, Aley Keprt wrote:
>
> > > Andrew Collier wrote:
> > >
> > > >> Internally packed SAD is still a SAD.
> > > It's a compressed sad -- the user *needs* to know this.
> >
> > Again: Compressed SAD is still a SAD.
>
> Again: Oh no it isn't. the user *needs* to be able to see, at a glance,
> the difference between an uncompressed and a compressed image.
>
> There are programs, current programs such as samdsk and dskman, which the
> user *will need to use* in addition to SimCoupe - they understand .dsk
> files but do not understand compressed .dsk files. The user MUST be aware
> that a file is compressed before trying to feed it to one of these
> programs.
>
> > Microsoft made many versions of their Word and DOC files.
> > If Microsoft named each particular version with a new name,
> > now we would have tens of file extensions.
> > But there is only one extension: DOC.
>
> Yes, and that's a Right Royal Pain if you're trying to read a file and you
> don't have access to the very super-duper latest Microsoft software. It's
> impossible even to determine which version of Word you should be trying to
> interpret (eg. ClarisWorks can read a Word 6 document but not any later
> version; if I'm given a .doc file I don't know if I can read it until I
> try -- if it's a Word97 document then that's wasting MY time.)
>
> Just because Microsoft have implemented a broken standard, doesn't mean we
> all have to.
>
> ...
> > If somebody will want to pack old SAD's to new shorter files,
> > he probably will use a program to do it (:-)). That program can
> > easily distinguish between packed and unpacked SAD, so
> > there will be no "Bad Thing [tm]" as Stuart Brady wrote.
>
> If you use zlib (as I thought had been agreed, was a Good Idea TM) then
> there is NO difference between a compressed SAD saved by the new SimCoupe,
> and a normal SAD saved by the current SimCoupe which is zip-compressed or
> whatever.
>
> .. except that you'd give them different filenames.
>
> > In addition, you can never use new fileformats in old programs.
> > (Again you can't load the lastest DOC files to the older Word.)
>
> Are you saying this is a good thing?
>
> > So you even won't be able to load packed SAD's to older
> > SimCoupe.
>
> But you will! Since you know that a compressed SAD is just a normal SAD
> which has been compressed (natch) there's really nothing to stop you from
> uncompressing the SAD and using it.
>
> > That's reality.
>
> Don't believe it.
>
> Given that some Microsoft programmers made a design error, so what? Either
> make the same error they did, or do things right this time around.
>
> Andrew
>
> --
> -- Andrew Collier ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) -- My other
> -- http://mnemotech.ucam.org -- .sig is a
> -- Part 3 Materials Science, Cambridge -- PDF file
> --
>
>
