ql-users@quanta.org.uk
Wolfgang Uhlig wrote: >> Do yo want to make a string into a sprite on the fly? > Yes, I thought, I wrote that ;-) >> This would be a rather non trivial task! > That's what I was afraid of. > What would be the problem when trying to do this? That I'd like to know, too ;-) Sounds rather trivial to me. Just a matter of effort, but not technically complicated if you use some own font (which could equal the current system font). Mind you that mouse pointer have a max size of only IIRC 64 pixels, though, so not much more than about 10 characters would be possible. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Menu_rext
P Witte wrote: > If everything is still ok, please let me know too. All ok and well. Menu rext V7.65. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Re:Easymenu
Duncan Neithercut wrote: >>By the way have been trying to get QCoCo to work on the Q40 and it >>fails with the message : >> >>LINE 980 SP_GET value out of range >> >>If I continue I get the program but the left hand part of the screen and >>some of the components of the menus are missing. If I give it a theme to >>start with it is better but the display is still not right. Any ideas? > > I dont think its your Q40. It runs on mine & also on my Q60. SMSQ/E 3.03 > Could there be a clash of keywords? Right, one must make sure that the wmanprocs_cde (or however I have named it, I don't 100% remember) is not loaded. Commands are integrated into SMSQ/E and had a slight change of syntax. Marcel
[ql-users] Re: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] £1000 to spend!
Claude Mourier 00 wrote: > Alternative way (rather then writing printer driver obsolete in a > couple of month) : to provide a way to export documents with all > attributes and print then with tools like, saiy, OpenOffice .. The thing Jochen is talking about is not another printer driver but an interface to the Windows printing system, which in turn enables all Windows printers to work. Marcel
[ql-users] Re: [ql-users] £1000 to spend!
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Simon Goodwin mentioned in the last QL Today that there are plenty of > compatible printers out there, as Linux faces a similar problem Either this was not in QL Today or I really have missed something here. > - however, I checked the link to the website he mentions > (_www.linuxprinting.org_ (http://www.linuxprinting.org) ) and cannot > find any information on compatible printers - just details of a > Windows like printer driver written for Linux... (now could this be > converted to the QL??) These drivers are integrated into Ghostscript, which needs Postscript as an input (yes, that old saga). Probably one could write a different frontend for the drivers, but I don't know how difficult that would be (my gut says that I shouldn't touch that task with a 10ft long pole). And even then you still need to a) alter existing applications according to the new interface or b) provide a virtual Epson printer or whatever. > My theory (where are PROGS when you need them) is that the drivers > actually already exist in the main on the QL - in the form of ProWeSs > drivers. ProForma (which really was much ahead of its time) features some drivers but the last one was written ages ago and therefore it will probably have the same problems with current printers. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] New Mode 16 Sprite Collection
Wolfgang Uhlig wrote: >> ...Easyptr only allows 8 character sprite names and 64x48 >> pixel sprites in 4 colour mode) > The last one is not correct. I can load without problems very large > true colour sprites into as well the "old" Easymenu as the "new" > Easymenu (by Marcel). The limit is the size of the sprite in terms of memory (32kb max), not in terms of the occupied area. The EasyMenu source is so difficult to maintain that I'm not sure how easy it is to change that. I guess it's not a nice job to do... Marcel
Re: [ql-users] New Mode 16 Sprite Collection
Roy wood wrote: >>I didn't know there was a 'new' Easymenu (by Marcel) available. >>François Van Emelen >>Wolfgang Uhlig wrote: > Funnily enough nor did I and I sell it. Can some one enlighten me ? I got the sources, got curious and just for fun in a few hours created a version that can sort of handle the new colours and gave it to Wolfgang for testing. It showed some problems I couldn't explain or solve off hand. Due to personal reasons (plus some upcoming exams) I have practically stopped almost all QL related development since then and that's still the state so far. It's also the reason why I might not have been too responsive in regards of e-mail during the last month or so. Marcel
[ql-users] QPC update
Hello everyone. New QPC2 v3.12 + SMSQ/E for QPC v3.05 are as usual available from my page at http://www.kilgus.net/qpc/ QPC2 -=-= 3.12 Small fix in DOS device to make it even more compatible with WIN. SER ports can now be connected to COM ports higher than COM8. New command QPC_WINDOWTITLE to amend the title of the QPC window. Fixed a problem with relative WIN path names. *** Needs at least SMSQ/E V3.05 SMSQ/E -=-=-= 3.05 Corrected QL mode 8 sprite cache handling (JG) Rptr distinguishes better between loose items & appsub menu items (WL) SPP open clears CD inactive count (MK) Fixed 3d border bug (MK) Have fun, Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Sampled Sound System
Timothy Swenson wrote: > I know that I can play sound files on the Q40, but has anyone tried making > original music. Is the SSS set up for turning the Q40 into, say, an > organ? Or would this be fairly difficult? Well, the SSS at least doesn't give you any help in this respect. An application would have to get all the different sounds from somewhere (preferably by frequency pitching of a pre-sampled note), mix several of them together, and supply the end-result to the SSS. Definitely doable but it is a bunch of work. Also latency is an important factor one has to take into account when designing something like this. I guess the Q40 should be fast enough for all this if it's done right. But best to try something similar with existing Linux programs first, like playing a MOD file for starters. Cheers, Marcel
Re: [ql-users] QL scanner
John Taylor wrote: > Dennis Briggs tried to get the Quanta committee interested in his idea for a > QL scanner using a modified printer way back in the early 1990's. > Scanners then were very expensive but as the QL had very poor graphics in > those days it didn't take off. The Nottingham group considered it too but > as it meant destroying an expensive printer, the idea was dropped. > Have you any idea who made yours? Falkenberg sold such a scanner solution. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Quanta
"Phoebus R. Dokos (F??ß?? ?. ?t)" wrote: > True. In any case I was talking about QDOS (Classic) and Minerva. Well, good luck then. Especially with Minerva, considering that there are only a few bytes free space left in the ROM. > Unbelievable as it may seem, there are users that still require full > compatibility with QDOS and SMSQ/e is not an option for them. Yeah, that's ok with me. But do those people want TCP/IP at all? > As far as Peter's choice for compatibility and openess, without getting > back in the same argument, let's say that it is his choice after all and > no one can actually say anything about it :-). Nobody does. I'm just stating the obvious really. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Quanta
Wolfgang Lenerz wrote: > Well I hope you don't - you'd probably off to laze in the sun in > Barbados, and the QL world still needs you... > Ah well, my current plans are to laze in the sun in Miami in April. Because of the QL :-) > (what you mean you actualyl play the lottery?) Nah, I probably get more in return if I invest my money in beer. But my mother does ;-) Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Quanta
"Phoebus R. Dokos (Öïßâïò Ñ. Íôüêïò)" wrote: > In any case, it's a fairly complicated implementation. The only logical > solution would be to support Peter Graf with qlwIP as it already works > fine (although slow due to the round-robin style QL scheduler). A solution that should work with existing SMSQ/E versions has been provided (rescheduling after IRQ). All Peter says to this is "it didn't work under QDOS". Anyway it's not even sure whether his current approach fails under SMSQ/E. According the the mails I've read it hasn't even been tried! So, even if we really needed a new scheduler, which I think we don't, Peter wouldn't be able to use it as he refuses to use any new SMSQ/E version. Catch 22. OK, perhaps somebody could provide QDOS classic with a new scheduler. But then again, I could also win the lottery on Saturday. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Quanta
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I should imagine the best bet would be to have an ETH_USE command to point to > the deivce to talk to (IP address for ethernet) and this would then operate > as a directory device.To open a printer you would use something akin to > > ETH_CONNECT "1.0.0.127" (point to printer device) > ETH_USE "par" You're mixing different things. First of all, Ethernet is just what it says: Ethernet (OSI Layer 1 and 2). An Ethernet driver does not need to know a thing about TCP. On top of the Ethernet driver usually runs a TCP/IP stack (OSI 3 and 4). Hopefully one can just use one of the stacks in development on top of the Ethernet driver. If you have all this you can already use applications on top of that (OSI 5 and up), i.e. e-mail, ftp, browser etc. To access the data e.g. on a Windows machine you need the SMB protocol. Considering how the Linux community is struggling to have decent SMB support I don't see this happening for the QL. To access Linux boxes usually NFS is used. I have heard that the protocol is a pain in the behind, too. There are different protocols to access printers/print servers on the net, most notably again the SMB protocol. Others are LPD, IPP or if you're lucky an easier Peer-To-Peer protocol. Only the latter might be supported without too much of a hassle. On top of of that printers either speak Postscript or their own language. So you have the same problem there that you have with local printers. So, after all this, what can realistically be done with an Ethernet port? With a TCP/IP stack one can connect to a Cable/DSL router (NOT directly to a modem, I don't see PPPoE and the like happening for the QL, either) and use the applications available to do e-mail for example. Also two or more SMSQ/E machines can be connected and somehow talk to each other. Either using self-made applications, even in SBasic, or using something like an adapted SERNet. This shouldn't be too hard to do once the transport layers work. What I don't really see to happen (but everybody is invited to prove me wrong): access to Windows/Linux file shares or printers. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] CST Thor
Tony Firshman wrote: > When memory became short (often in the pre-Gold Card days) you could > see him using the 32k screen area as a working space! Actually there was a bug in exactly this code that more often than not crashed the machine in this situation. I have only fixed it a few months ago while reviewing my new background colour implementation... Marcel
Re: [ql-users] CST Thor
Bill Waugh wrote: >> Does anyone remember what was originally intended to occupy the >> 32768-65535 space? Was that all meant to be available for ROM > expansion? >> Or was some of it intended for some other use? > Second screen ? Nah, far off. That's at 160kb ($28000). Marcel
Re: [ql-users] CST Thor
Tony Firshman wrote: >>48K. > yes, 48k - and not just superbasic - the whole O/S. > This was the great thing about the QL. Yes, amazing. But still you've always needed more than that to gain a really usable system. Space for WIN driver, FLP driver, maybe RAM disc, the whole extended environment and of course TK2! This puts the seemingly massive current SMSQ/E for QPC in perspective (currently at 287kb. However, last version for QPC1 was 191kb big! A lot has happened since then... the 3 included screen driver alone take up a whole lot of space). Marcel
Re: [ql-users] CST Thor
Tarquin Mills wrote: >> "In true Sinclair style it was marketed long before it was ready, >> resulting in initial shipments needing an extra ROM 'dongle' out the >> back because they couldn't fit SuperBASIC into (I think) 32K." >> >> 48K. > no 32K, 48K=32K ROMs+16K Kludge later 48K ROMs Hm, right, sorry for the confusion. I always thought that they added a 16kb rom to bring the total up to 64kb and later managed to change the code to fit into 48kb. I didn't think anyone would even try to squeeze the whole of QDOS/SuperBasic into 32kb... Marcel
Re: [ql-users] CST Thor
Witchy wrote: > I found this list after googling for David Oliver and CST, who hopefully > some of you will remember produced the Thor range of machines. Having got my > paws on what I think used to be a working Thor WF2 (before someone removed > the hard drive) the other week I'm trying to find any info I can on both the > machine and CST themselves for my museum - URL is in my sig. Nice page you have there. Just allow me a few comments to the QL section: "and the multitasking wasn't really 'multi' because background tasks were paused." Not true. All tasks have always worked in parallel. With the advent of the "pointer environment" tasks could get stopped if they wanted to do something on the screen while their window was buried, but that's it. "In true Sinclair style it was marketed long before it was ready, resulting in initial shipments needing an extra ROM 'dongle' out the back because they couldn't fit SuperBASIC into (I think) 32K." 48K. "and a database who's name escapes me for now." Archive. "Even to this day there are fans of the QL producing extra software for it, there's an enhanced OS called Medusa, " You probably mean "Minerva" here, never heard of Medusa before (QL related, that is). The most advanced offspring (like Minerva not based on actual QDOS code but rewritten) that is still being developed even today (I know that because I did most of the recent developments ;-) ) is called SMSQ/E by the way. It runs on multiple platforms and even still on enhanced QLs (with 68000 or 68020 extension board). Unfortunately I can't give you any info on the Thor, though. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] MyDoom worm
TonyTebby wrote: > All [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Mimail.R) worm mails that I am getting are coming from > 212.194.21.158 = f02m-10-158.d1.club-internet.fr (with all sorts of spoofed > addresses) and not from Marcel. I just noticed that something faked my address because I got (genuine) returned mail that some mail with the worm was not deliverable. But it has stopped now, so hopefully this was it. > My dog Mozart ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) is also being bombarded with Mimail-F > worm e-mails telling him that his PayPal account is about to expire. Poor dog. On the other hand, don't dogs like (the original) Spam? ;-) Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Serial cable
Davide Santachiara wrote: > After a small investigation I have found out that the cable that I > would like to interface to QPC2 via PC i/o port is a serial one so > things should be much easier than using a parallel port. Good, because parallel wouldn't be possible with QPC (and would be hard to do in general anyway, the port wasn't really designed to be bi-directional. This functionality was later added but is hardly exploitable from a user's - or even programmer's - point of view). > The cable is meant to be connected to a serial port of a printer so I > suspect that there are some wires that should be exchanged in order to > connect it to a serial PC port. > > Any hint on that? I suspect you simply need a null-modem cable (TX/RX swapped, RTS/CTS swapped and DTR/DSR swapped). Marcel
[ql-users] MyDoom worm
Somebody in the US is having the new "MyDoom" worm which is spreading itself under my very private e-Mail address. I'd pretty much appreciate it if that stopped. What I know: - lives in North Dakota - has DSL access through the "SRT communications" provider - has a 3Com OfficeConnect 810 DSL router - is probably a QPC users, has downloaded the QPC1 demo in June 2002 and visited my web page again only 7 days ago - uses Windows 2000 and Internet Explorer 6 As I don't have the time to hack the router that's all I know so far. Hopefully somebody now thinks "huh, that's me" and can stop it. Must have had some e-mail contact with me once, because the address is not public, but finding out which one it was in over 20.000 mails proved to be not that easy. Thanks for your time, Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Athlon 1,8GHz + Pentium 3 GHz + XP + QPC
Arnould Nazarian wrote: > My PC is so much under load because of this very basic application that > it reacts worse than my QL in 1984: it was a pain to type this text. Hm, that's not really normal, an old 486 could easily handle this load (I use a Pentium 233 as an internet router and its CPU is pretty much bored even when the DSL line is full in use). Probably a driver problem. Or things like failed auto negotiation on the ethernet line. > Thanks to Marcel QPC works great everywhere. Thank you Marcel. Hehe, thanks a lot. Glad that it works for you. Because QPC of course sometimes has to wrestle with driver problems, too. Most cases of failing QPCs can be traced down to a messed up Windows installation. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] qpc qpac2 buttunbar again
Michael Grunditz wrote: > At all resolutions above 800x600 the buttun bar appears in the middle > of the screen , why ?? Your button frame is probably configured to 800 width plus an origin. Set the origin to 0. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] SINCLAIR QL's 20th birthday today! Congratulations...
Dilwyn Jones wrote: >> Cheers, Marcel > Well, our lives would be that much worse without all the work you've > done on QPC, Window Manager, colour drivers etc etc. Thanks. > Just one thing, Marcel, if you were only 4 at the time, how and when > did you get into QLs? (Late starter!). I started using computers with my father's ZX81, probably in 1985/86. Around 86/87, when I was 7, he finally bought himself a QL and I inherited the ZX81. I think I wasn't allowed to use it at first but later used it often enough so that he got fed up with me and bought me my very own. That was probably around 88/89, with me being 8 or 9 at most. > he got his QL at 4, mastered SuperBASIC before 5, pure machine code by > 6. ;-)) Not quite ;-) Actually I used to be a basic-only programmer for quite some time. In 1990 I did many things with EasyPtr, like the obligatory address manager (which still works. Even more amazing, the 14+ years old microdrives it is on still work! Should make backups of all this stuff soon) or a poker game that could be played against the QL (designing all 36 card sprites was a pain but my brother helped me a bit). The first assembler source file I could find (and has a valid timestamp) is from early 1992 (i.e. I was 12/13). The first major project I did was in late 1992, a tool to record/replay 8 channel digital data (using the eprom burner as an interface, I think the intention was to record/play sound) including an oscilloscope, all running under the PE in QPAC2 look. But it never got 100% finished. Ah well, fond memories indeed. By the way, if anybody is waiting for an e-mail from me, I'm getting to that... Marcel
Re: [ql-users] SINCLAIR QL's 20th birthday today! Congratulations...
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > On January 12th 1984 (exactly 12 days earlier than Steve Jobs lauched the > Apple Macintosh) Sir Clive Sinclair presented the QL professional computer > to the world in a hollywood-style event at the Intercontinental Hotel, Hyde > Park Corner, London. Today, 20 years later we (the QL-community) congratulate > to the QL's 20th birthday and celebrate! > > Do you remember? Actually no, I was 4 at that time ;-) > I remember well as the QL changed my life in many aspects. Summarized I mean > it changed it in very positive way. I would say that without the QL and its > technology I would not be at the business position I am today... My live certainly would be different. For the better or the worse I can't tell ;-) Cheers, Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Fw: http://dilwynjones.topcities.com Over Limit!
Dilwyn Jones wrote: > TopCities have disabled my QL documentation web page for the month, it > seems the monthly bandwidth got exceeded. I hope this is because of > how much material I uploaded, as it hasn't had that much download use > yet! Page works fine here. By the way, who is "Martin Head"? I find his QPC manuals quite impressive (and actually I didn't know they even existed). Is this North America exception true for them, too? Are they otherwise freely distributable? Marcel
Re: [ql-users] WM.RPTRT again
Christopher Cave wrote: > I have been watching this exchange with trepidation since I have > been using wm_rptrt surrounded by many thousands of lines of > C68 code WITH NO PROBLEM. I was under the impression that > Jonathan Hudson had sorted this call out some time ago. Actually I think it was Jim and I that stumbled across this almost 2 years ago. And I, too, thought it has officially been fixed since then. > On a slightly different tack, what is the state of play on > implementing new WMAN vectors for use in C68. At the moment, C68 calls > to QMENU enjoy 3-d buttons etc. etc. but homegrown windows do not yet. Well, you don't really need any new vectors to enjoy the new colours, it's just a matter of the colour values in the menu definition (my modified Qascade for example is a C68 application, too). Marcel
[ql-users] Page update
Hi all, just a quick note that I have updated my pages at www.kilgus.net with a new "SMSQ/E" section that includes various new stuff that is not directly related to QPC, like my WMAN theme, various updated applications and a Windows program that converts PNG images to SMSQ/E sprites (most new sprites in SMSQ/E and the JMS collection have been converted using this program after being created with Photoshop as it also handles the alpha channel correctly). Well, enjoy. Also as starting tomorrow I will have some visitors around I will probably not be able to respond to e-mail for a few days. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] SMSQ/E Version 3.04
John Sadler wrote: > Suggest you put a comment in the Installation Section of the readme.txt to > the affect that if the display is less than 16 bit then it cannot run in a > window. Well, this is not true, it can run in a window even in 256 colours mode. But only when using the QL colour (4 colours) mode, GD2 65536 colour mode of course doesn't work under a 256 colours desktop (which is also true for Aurora colour mode, usually applications only have 240 colours for themselves in a 256 colour mode). Marcel
Re: [ql-users] SMSQ/E Version 3.04
John Sadler wrote: >>In what colour depth does your normal desktop run? > 256 colours Both 8 bit and 16 bit SMSQ/E display modes need at least a 16 bit Windows screen for display. So it has no choice other than to switch to fullscreen mode. The current version is no different from all older ones in this respect. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] SMSQ/E Version 3.04
John Sadler wrote: > Thank you for letting me know. No I did not. You do not have to on a JS ROM, > so why the change? It only works without this command when using the Altkey system which was part of TK2 and has been replaced by the Hotkey System 2 over 10 years ago. > Also on the QPC demo on my machine I cannot get it to run in a window. Well, why not? What does it do? In what colour depth does your normal desktop run? Marcel
Re: [ql-users] SMSQ/E Version 3.04
P Witte wrote: > The default keystrokes have (by mistake, I think) been set to ALT+s and > ALT+S. For some reason this does not automatically get updated to your > preference when using MenuConfig/Update; you have to do it manually. Wasn't that just for the stuffer buffer keys? Anyway, that's actually a bug in MenuConfig. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] SMSQ/E Version 3.04
Myself wrote: > Wasn't that just for the stuffer buffer keys? Anyway, that's actually a > bug in MenuConfig. Or rather WAS a bug, current version of MenuConfig is 3.36. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] SMSQ/E Version 3.04
John Sadler wrote: > On the demo & SMSQ/E gold ALT enter does not give you the last command. > Is this an error or has this useful facilty been removed? Did you type "HOT_GO" first? Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Little endian
Fabrizio Diversi wrote: > I need some advice : i am trying to read a DOS fat formatted disk from > smsq(q60), in particular a compact flash card . The question is : does the > little endian to big endian conversion regard only the byte order or also the > bit order ? Endianess only concerns the byte order. I've never encountered anything that hat a reverse bit order. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] No Virus Now - Maybe
Tony Firshman wrote: >>Well, the Trojans are harmless. The horse (with the Greeks inside) is the real >>trouble maker. > I think Helen was the _real_ troublemaker (8-)# Of course, that's implied in the gender. ;-) Marcel
Re: [ql-users] No Virus Now - Maybe
derek stewart wrote: > Had 3 worms, and a handful of Trojans. No horses though. Well, the Trojans are harmless. The horse (with the Greeks inside) is the real trouble maker. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Microdrives for Q40
Fabrizio Diversi wrote: > Btw, does anyone know why i have to perform a "DEL_DEFB" command > after having swapped (hot) the md , before to see the right content? The driver doesn't see that the drive has changed and thus returns the contents of the slave blocks. Perhaps you can label it as removable through the WIN_REMV command. Anyway, am now away for a few days without email access (yes, I still survive that!). Cheers, Marcel
Re: [ql-users] looking for a disassembler...
Jerome Grimbert wrote: > May be I could use the parallel-printer port to print (have to look how > to send a caractere to that interface... hopefully it's simple. That should be pretty simple, yes. > Or using a serial port (if I connect a serial printer to it). If you leave out all handshaking and the receiving stuff it's pretty manageable but still more work than parallel. > But I'm afraid I'm not going to code a character generator for > debugging purpose(no, no return to the zx81 era, thanks). Actually I have done some simple but complete value/string printing routines for a QL mode display just recently to debug the SGC/QubIDE startup problems. Just in case you're interested despite the zx81 era ;-) Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Sbasic and slicing
Dilwyn Jones wrote: > Patience my boy! Marcel The Miracle Maker will crack this one > eventually! No, not really ;-) Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Virtual Screens
John Sadler wrote: > It would seem to be an advantage in pointer programs to be able to > create a virtual screen area, which one uses all the normal printing > and graphics routines and copies back the appropiate section to the > window everytime something is changed or the size of the window is > changed. So > > open #3 virtual_screen > print #3 "hellow World > copy virtual_screen window > etc. > Has anybody done any work on this? I suppose this is in order to have an application still working although it is buried? In that case there were extensions to the PE that redirected the CON calls to the save area instead of the screen and a job updated the windows from the save area. To my knowledge they are not compatible to current SMSQ/E versions. Certainly not with anything high colour. With SMSQ/E and applications running on it being much cleaner than the orignal QDOS this sort of background drawing doesn't seem to be out of question. But even I am not prepared to do this task at the time. I still know too little about all the internal workings and implications some changes might have. The exact thing you mentioned might be achieveable by a little tweaking in the channel definition block of a window. There too I am however not 100% sure about all implications this would have. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Sbasic and slicing
François Van Emelen wrote: > Question: Why doesn't P1 return the same error as P2? 4 TO 5 -> result has size 2 4 TO 4 -> result has size 1 4 TO 3 -> result has size 0 4 TO 2 -> result has size -1 -> impossible -> error Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Running Programs under GD2
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > The problem with writing these programs is if you want to change the > screen colour depth and resolution to fit your application (why > should QWord use the standard QL colours on QPC2 when it can switch > into high colour mode). What it should do is write "Must be run in high colour mode", with probably a button that offers to switch the screen for the user. > If the user then puts QWord to sleep or switches to another task, > the screen is corrupted which is a pain - for example, the button > frame is still drawn at the original resolution and does not notice > that some of the buttons now appear OFF-screen (because QWord has > changed the screen resolution). Actually buttons off screen are just killed. Also why does it change the screen resolution? There is absolutely no need unless the current resolution is too small. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Running Programs under GD2
Arnould Nazarian wrote: > OK, but it is preferrable that the programmer does not forget to > call that code everytime it is needed. Actually the code is called by Windows whenever it's needed. In pseudo-SBasic a Hello World app would look somewhat like this: REMark Simple hello world application Invalidate QUIT : DEFine PROCedure Paint CLS PRINT "Hello world" END DEFine The "Invalidate" tells Windows that some area is dirty and needs to be repainted. As a reaction Windows calls the Paint procedure. Furthermore this procedure is called everytime the window is brought to the top after it was buried. If only a part is shown Windows makes sure that only this part is actually repainted. In practise current Windows application development is so high level that most programers don't need to be aware of this underlying mechanism. All components like list boxes, buttons, edit lines, scroll bars etc know how to repaint themselves, it's no concern to the programmer. BTW: If anybody is waiting for some private mail from me, I'm coming to that. Currently I'm dead tired. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Running Programs under GD2
Arnould Nazarian wrote: > At this occasion Marcel even told us that in the Windows world it is up > to the applications to redraw screens. This is basically the case on all systems other than SMSQ/E. > I do'nt know anything about programming Windows, but I remember very > correctly that I was surprised about the way Windows needs the > programmer to add unproductive code to their programs. Well, why should Windows save 2 Megabyte of screen memory for a simple editor if the few bytes of the text plus a few bytes of a routine that draws the text on screen can do just fine, too? Anyway, it's not unproductive code. You just write your code in a way that it can not only draw your stuff once (i.e. the initial drawing) but every time this is needed. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] filters again
Arnould Nazarian wrote: > If > ex filter_bas,input_file1,input_file2,output_file > does not work, > but > c1=fop_in(input_file1) > c2=fop_in(input_file2) > ex filter_bas,#c1,#c2,output_file > close#c1:close#c2 > does work, > then I have the tendency to think that (please remark my precautions) > there is a bug, not a feature. How should the EX know in case of a file name whether it's meant for input or for output? Marcel
[ql-users] Byfleet meeting photos
As usual Tony again did some photos of the current QL meeting, this time in Byfleet. The pictures can be seen on his page under http://www.firshman.co.uk/byfleet-2003/ Cheers, Marcel
[ql-users] New SMSQ/E for QPC
The current version of SMSQ/E (3.04) is now finally available for QPC, too. The URL is as usual http://www.kilgus.net/qpc/ 3.02 fixed a decade old problem that only recently caused more noticeable havoc because of the fast memory scheme. The problem some people experienced once in a while was that all of the free memory suddenly seemed to have disappeared. 3.03 mainly introduces fixes/changes that QPC had incorporated for years to the other platforms. Also it fixes the WM_BLOCK, PARNAM$ and PARSTR$ commands. The screen aspect ratio (used by graphics commands like LINE, CIRCLE etc.) is now an internal variable and can thus be changed on runtime. Currently you can experiment with that for example by using POKE_F PEEK_L(!;$C4) + $14A, ratio (POKE_F is part of turbo toolkit) With ratio = 1 pixels are assumed to be square, which is the case with PC resolutions on PC displays (not valid for 1280x1024). 3.04 is again a minor bugfix. When using the new window move routines (enabled for example using "WM_MOVEMODE 2") an application that doesn't use the standard arrow sprite lost its special sprite after the move. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Bugs
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > This occurs in SMSQ/E v3.01 on the Q60 and in v3.01 1/2 (?) with QPC2. Yes, I have seen the problem now and a new version will be up soon. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Bugs
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > The last of these is the old way. The new ways cause the window sprite to > become the default arrow. This occurs in Q60 and in QPC2. Ah, now I get what you meant here. As my usual applications all use the standard arrow anyway I didn't notice. New SMSQ/E for QPC will be available soon (probably this evening). Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Bugs
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > SMSQ/E can be configured to allow a window move by > > a. Window > b. Outline > c. Sprite > > The last of these is the old way. The new ways cause the window sprite to > become the default arrow. This occurs in Q60 and in QPC2. Can you further specify/clarify this (version number, program, some way to reproduce it etc.)? I mean, I and many others use the "window" move feature every day without problems. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Pictures from the QL Show in Italy!
SMSQ - Jochen Merz wrote: > ... and he will fix the links as soon he's back. Pretty tired - but it > was a very good show. > > Thanks a lot again for organising it, Davide!!! I absolutely second this. Exceptionally well attended and very professionally done. Geoff, I think you'd have enjoyed this one. There was an extensive part with a talk/presentation (using a beamer) about all news in the scene and future activities (like Nasta's presentation of the boards he is developing). Granted, I didn't understand a word because it was all in Italian (except Nasta's comments which Davide translated), but still it did sound impressive ;-) Marcel
Re: [ql-users] wm.rptrt
P Witte wrote: > Also, can others confirm that the DATA directive in Qmac 1.06 doesnt work? It works. You probably also have to include the line filetype 1 > If so, can this be fixed? Is 1.06 the current version? Probably. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Re:smsqe 3.03
Tony Firshman wrote: > If it is possible it would be great to configure the mailing list server > to reject 'binary' messages. I second that, binaries are a no-no for this list anyway. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Re:smsqe 3.03
Duncan Neithercut wrote: > I dont suppose it was intentional Definitely not. > Aurora, Supergoldcard 2.49 & Qubide 2.01. After approx 1.5hrs > initial conclusion is that it works OK in mode 4 including window > move but crashes immediately on boot if the initial colour depth is > set to 256 instead of QL. Yes, fortunately the version didn't include my GD2 aurora driver. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Re SMSQ & Gwass
Jerome Grimbert wrote: > It might just be me, but wasn't there also an issue with expression > evaluation ? (respecting without parentheses the +/- and * > precedences in complexe line) That was true but George has already addressed this problem. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] More Q-Word news
Dilwyn Jones wrote: >> (How did Dilwyn put it? Ah yes... "A brain the size of a planet that >> lad!") > Err, I think I was quoting Tony Tebby originally IIRC. In any case I feel flattered but you're all wrong. Though it's obvious to me that my brain is still getting bigger. Simple prove: I'm gaining weight. It just seems that my head is already full so the additional mass has to grow in my belly. What? What do you mean with "No, that's just fat"? Can't be! It's all this Ay-Cue stuff, I swear! Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Re SMSQ & Gwass
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > OK. The "remaining programs" are altered by including code for GWASS as well > as the code for Qmac. The choice of which to use is done by the parameter of > the appropriate "IF" type instruction which is common to both assemblers. If > macros are needed the choice is between the directory "mac" and the directory > "mac1". The second directory contains the same macros as the first but in a form > suitable for GWASS. Well, I'm not talking about the macros, that's no problem at all. At one point the users chooses which assembler to use and then can install the appropriate files into the mac directory (no IF etc within the code, please). But I talk about the actual lines (instances) when macros are used. Didn't you say at one time that they all had to be changed? Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Re SMSQ & Gwass
John Sadler wrote: > Yes but is it available? Yes. > I cannot find it on the web. Did you ever find the PE on the web? It's available like every other PE update before. I suppose it could also be distributed on other ways now, but that's not up to me to decide. > Finally what happens if I run one of your new versions of your > programs with the old wman? Depends on the program. Proper programs should show "PE too old". Others might just show funny windows or crash at worst, depending on what new functionality they use. > If it just displays the old colours then it is backwards compatible? No, can't be. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] error lines
Dilwyn Jones wrote: > I haven't looked yet, but I suspect the Rich Mellor SuperBASIC > Reference Guide might have insights on this. I can't find any > reference to it in Jan Jnoes's book, though. Oh, here there is one: "WHEN used in the non-implemented WHEN construct" ;-) Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Re SMSQ & Gwass
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Most, or a lot, of SMSQ/E can be assembled either by GWASS or by Qmac without > any change. For the remainder it is possible to alter the source code > slightly so that it too could be assembled either by GWASS and by Qmac. The choice > of > assembler would be governed by a simple switch. Hm? I thought all macro instantiations had to be changed in a way incompatible to QMAC? Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Re SMSQ & Gwass
John Sadler wrote: > I do not get the impression that the new versions of Marcel Kilgus > programs will run on older machines. Of course they do. Wolfgang put together a new PE that provides compatibility with the new facilities. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] error lines
Dilwyn Jones wrote: > Well, it wasn't the error tables I wanted. It was which statement in a > line of basic caused the error. Launchpad's accessory programs are > written in compiled BASIC and there are some multi-statement lines > causing me problems. The variables I mentioned probably don't work in compiled programs. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] error lines
Dilwyn Jones wrote: > $C8 is described in my book as "number of watched WHEN variables" Those area of the BV are pretty OS specific. keys_sbasic is the file you're looking for (although I'm usually nice enough to look them up ;) EVERY programmer should have the keys directory of the SMSQ/E distribution if not the whole sources). Marcel
Re: [ql-users] QPAC"
Christopher Cave wrote: > This is under QPC2 v3.03, SMSQ/E v2.99, QPCA2 v1.38 & JOBS > v1.02. > > Any bright ideas? Should I have upgraded QPAC2 sometime? Yes. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] QLwIP, Ethernet, USB, Q60 successor
Roy wood wrote: > There were one or two teething problems when the code changed to > incorporate the faster memory but there were in the original code > and just shown up by the new code. (That is right isn't it Marcel?). If you're referring to the RECHP problem you're right, I suspect the problem existed since the first versions of QDOS but only with fast memory came to full effect. 3.03 will finally fix it (like 3.00 fixes a nasty PE bug that has already bothered me over a decade ago!). Other programs just had to be slightly adapted to the new memory situation. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] error lines
Dilwyn Jones wrote: > It's probably stored in the basic variables area somewhere, though I > can't seem to find it. On SMSQ/E sb_erno equ$c2 ; longerror number sb_eline equ$c6 ; worderror line sb_estmt equ$c8 ; byteerror statement On Minerva it's probably bv_erstm ds.b 1 (that equals $C1 I think) I don't think anything like this exists on QDOS. HTH, Marcel
Re: [ql-users] QLwIP, Ethernet, USB, Q60 successor
Forwarded answer from Peter to my last mail, posted with his agreement. I leave it at that. --- Marcel wrote: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >> Of course not. It's not Jochen who actually suggested that NO Qx0 user > >> uses the new SMSQ/E. If that was the case, we could really have saved > >> a lot of time. Obviously this assertion is, to speak plainly, rubbish. > > So read _exactly_ what I wrote, before using nice words. > >Been there, done that. OK, you wrote "AFAIKS" (what does the "S" stand >for?), which implies that you just don't know anybody who upgraded. >But was that what you wanted to say? Sorry I misspelled. AFAICS=As far as I can see. I wanted to say that through the "only by reseller" route (the only way for an ordinary user who can not build SMSQ from source himself) not even a single Q60 user had updated to your new version in about one and a half year. I think this is correct. > > Forget this idea. I never sold nor trusted Q60 SMSQ/E versions after > > Tony Tebby. > >Pitty. The new versions do wonder for disc access speed. Which is about the only little thing that would be of some interest for me, although I heard it was an Atari fastram style workaround rather than a clean removal of slaveing, and caused other bugs. (I can't judge that.) However it is not worth accepting your license (for me, IMHO). Peter
Re: [ql-users] defragment
Dilwyn Jones wrote: > The two programs running in the background are DirectCD and AVG > anti-virus. Anti-virus programs are always a source of trouble and sometimes big slow-downs. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] QLwIP, Ethernet, USB, Q60 successor
Forwarded answer from Peter to my last mail, posted with his agreement. I leave it at that. --- Marcel wrote: >But if I asked for the Qx0 schematics (the equivalent of my software >in the hardware world), would you give them to me? Yes of course, as soon as my turnover breaks even with my expenses, and I have actually worked for free, not for loss. Before that point I would probably hold them back, because commercial competition could (theoretically) cause me direct loss. When I write software I have no expenses, so this can not happen. I will, for example happily give QLwIP away free and open, when it has reached the necessary maturity. > > BTW it would have been possible to place Q60 SMSQ/E under the GPL > > without affecting the commercial status of QPC at all. > >Would only have worked for the very first version. As soon as I want >to integrate one simple fix somebody else did to the GPL version I >would be in trouble. I don't think so. QPC is separated from SMSQ/E anyway. And the problem of GPLed templates can be overcome by accompanying the GPL with an appropriate definition of linking. So, if you liked it, QPC could even use all of a GPLed Q60 SMSQ/E (68060 emulation? ;-) and remain commercial. > > You make money from QL work. I don't. > >As a matter of fact I have 4 digit EUR expenses for my QL meeting >travels. My QPC earnings reduce that to, hm, pretty much the same 4 >digit value... If it is so, then keeping things commercial makes no sense at all. BTW your enormous amount of QL travelling seems more like a hobby, than commercial costs :-) Peter
Re: [ql-users] QLwIP, Ethernet, USB, Q60 successor
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> Of course not. It's not Jochen who actually suggested that NO Qx0 user >> uses the new SMSQ/E. If that was the case, we could really have saved >> a lot of time. Obviously this assertion is, to speak plainly, rubbish. > So read _exactly_ what I wrote, before using nice words. Been there, done that. OK, you wrote "AFAIKS" (what does the "S" stand for?), which implies that you just don't know anybody who upgraded. But was that what you wanted to say? > Forget this idea. I never sold nor trusted Q60 SMSQ/E versions after > Tony Tebby. Pitty. The new versions do wonder for disc access speed. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] QLwIP, Ethernet, USB, Q60 successor
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> Well, Peter sells hardware, of course he wouldn't mind the software >> being totally free. > > I never asked for SMSQ/E to be free of charge for me, or to indirectly > reduce overall Q60 costs, as you seem to allude. In no way I wanted to imply that you are a cheapskate or anything. I meant that a completely open (or free as in freedom as you say) software would of course be preferable to you. That's ok, I can understand that. But if I asked for the Qx0 schematics (the equivalent of my software in the hardware world), would you give them to me? > BTW it would have been possible to place Q60 SMSQ/E under the GPL > without affecting the commercial status of QPC at all. Would only have worked for the very first version. As soon as I want to integrate one simple fix somebody else did to the GPL version I would be in trouble. > You make money from QL work. I don't. As a matter of fact I have 4 digit EUR expenses for my QL meeting travels. My QPC earnings reduce that to, hm, pretty much the same 4 digit value... Marcel
Re: [ql-users] QLwIP, Ethernet, USB, Q60 successor
Jerome Grimbert wrote: > Oh, excuse-me, but I'm only using (and developping it too) on Q40. > I won't call that a waste! Of course not. It's not Jochen who actually suggested that NO Qx0 user uses the new SMSQ/E. If that was the case, we could really have saved a lot of time. Obviously this assertion is, to speak plainly, rubbish. I like the idea that Peter has so much trust in Wolfgang and me that he sells his machines with an OS that he has never actually tried himself. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] QLwIP, Ethernet, USB, Q60 successor
"Phoebus R. Dokos (F??ß?? ?. ?t)" wrote: > That is not possible under any legal agreement. It's other one or the > other especially for GPL style licenses as the premise is so different > that it is impossible to do so. I can release my software under any number of licences I chose to do. I can release it under the GPL and yet keep my own source changes for me. Or sell closed source binaries to others. It only gets more complicated once I want to integrate things people have done to my GPL version into my other one. As long as I'm the only one I can do whatever I want. > And to be honest, especially you I do not believe that you are motivated > by $$$ but by genuine appreciation of the platform. Yes, if I was motivated by $$$ I would have left the scene several years ago, I'd have to sell at least 1 QPC per hour to really make it commercially viable for me. But writing computer software is my only income and therefore I must somehow justify any time I spend on something. > Well I agree that Free beer is nice but having something *really* open > source and free does not exclude the possibility of making money out of > it! (See for example Linux distros) Bad example, I know none that actually makes any money out of the end-user business. Look at RedHat, they got rid of it by releasing their stuff into the Fedora project. And I think you will have trouble finding a better example. > Now just for the heck of it... isn't it so much nicer when we > disagree in a civilised manner??? :-D I think it might be hard to find any argument from me that wasn't civilised ;-) > I do believe that at one point we will have to "... have to aah" "He must have died while typing it" Marcel
Re: [ql-users] QLwIP, Ethernet, USB, Q60 successor
"Phoebus R. Dokos (Öïßâïò Ñ. Íôüêïò)" wrote: > My personal plans for SMSQ/E concern my (unfished yet) multilingual > keyboard driver, greek language module (ready needs to be tested with the > latest SMSQ/E), an independent driver for the Aurora for 16 colours and to > help Daniele Terdina with adapting the SMSQ/E for the GC to his QemuLator > according to his specs. Of these I plan to submit to the source tree > everything but the driver which I will make available as a hack to anyone > that wants it as I plan on using the code elsewhere and I want it GPLd > which clashes with the SMSQ/E license. Nobody is stopping anybody from releasing a piece of code under 2 licenses. > But it is my personal choice after all as much as it was Marcel's choice > for example to release the Aurora driver as a "pay-per-view" (hehe nice > term isn't it?). QPC earnings have for a while cross-financed my other developments from which all platforms (especially the Qx0) profited. Now they are effectively down to 0, it has been on the market for over 8 years, everybody who wanted it has it by now. You could see this Aurora thing just as a rather desperate attempt to raise some funds to justify my further involvement into the SMSQ/E development. I demand 15 EUR per Aurora driver, which I think is a moderate price considered the time spent on it (by the way, much of the work went into the part that actually got back into the open SMSQ/E source tree. You'll be grateful once you actually do the 16 colour driver, you won't have to invent that wheel again). Only this week I spent a whole day fixing SMSQ/E for SGC (the "QubIDE" problem which in the end wasn't related to QubIDE at all) although it was not my code that was at fault. In fact it was just luck that it ran most of the time at all. In conclusion, free beer is nice, as long as you're not the publican. At this point I'd like to thank the one person who actually gave a donation. This just to clear things up regarding my motivation. I personally would like to give everything away for free, but that doesn't pay my bills. > As for Wolfgang's comments I would respectfully disagree. As I said > earlier it's anyone's choice how much they value their principles. > Maybe Peter (and I do not speak for him rest assured) doesn't want > to waiver from his principles and he thinks that the license is of > the utmost importance. Well, Peter sells hardware, of course he wouldn't mind the software being totally free. I sell software, I wouldn't mind getting the hardware for free, but that usually doesn't happen either ;-) I think this pretty much sums it up. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Bugs
Jerome Grimbert wrote: > I have not yet seen the block operation in C for 24 bits colours... http://www.itimpi.freeserve.co.uk/ql/gd2b.zip iow_blkt ( chanid_t channel, timeout_t timeout, GDSTP_t *, QLRECT_t *rect) > Means I will have to enter "debug/patch kernel" mode before continuing > the high-level application then! If you can supply me with a short enough demo code I might find some time to help. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Bugs
Jerome Grimbert wrote: > Is there any uptodate Web page listing the know/resolved bugs with version > (sort of changes.txt, with pending bugs listed as extra). Normally http://www.kilgus.net/qpc/versionssms.html should be up-to-date (though due to some special circumstances this time it isn't yet. This is also why I haven't yet made any announcement of the new version). There isn't any "pending-bug" list yet. I was thinking about doing a specialised SMSQ/E page for my site that might include one, but haven't yet done this. > I was trying to use iop_wblb with a pattern of 1x1 in mode GD2 24 > bits, with a mask of 6x6 in mode GD2 24 bits and I get a bad > behaviour... or rather nothing! Hm, OK. Just curious, what about alternatively doing a block draw operation? > After experiments, It looks like it's better for the pattern to be > at least 8x, which is rather cumbersome in my case. (I did not found > yet the mimimal y to get that working too in vertical, more > experiments needed I believe) > > Is-this bug known already ? Solved ? No and no. There weren't any changes in the Q40 screen driver (only some changes in SGC code to accommodate Aurora high colour). Apart from that some fixes in memory management, WM_BLOCK, PRT_USE$, PARNAM$, PARSTR$, IOB.EDLIN, and Q40 SER driver. Plus the new stuffer buffer key for IOB.EDLIN. But that was it, I think. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Bugs
Looks like this one got lost. Re-sent. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > 1. SMSQ/E v3.01 on Q40/60 > WM_PAPER, WM_INK etc find the WMAN vector (for the new WM.TRAP3) by using > IOP.PINF which puts it into A1. Unfortunately this is done before getting the > parameters. This means that if a parameter is an "expression", so that its value > is on the arithmetic stack, it will be lost. Did 3.01 still include that code? Oh well, that should have been replaced by my new code by now. As we found that the SER driver of Qxx included bugs that I have fixed (and submitted) 2 years ago we're currently going through a binary compare of our codes anyway, so all this will be addressed. > BTW does anyone know whether the CON linkage is guaranteed to have > such items as the WMAN vector in the same place for each version of > SMSQ/E? Or is a programmer expected to use IOP.PINF or the new > PV_PINF to get this vector? I see no reason to move it, I think it has been there since day one of the PE. But PV_PINF would of course be the official way to get it. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] What printers do people use with their QL??
"Phoebus R. Dokos (F??ß?? ?. ?t)" wrote: > No that PS filter you had at one time :-) On my site, downloads section. Shouldn't be hard to find. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] What printers do people use with their QL??
"Phoebus R. Dokos (Öïßâïò Ñ. Íôüêïò)" wrote: > is the program available from your webpage? I can't seem to find it and I > have lost that copy that you sent me a while ago... What, Ghostscript? No, I wasn't involved in that development. http://home.clara.net/deadletterdrop/qdos/ Marcel
Re: [ql-users] What printers do people use with their QL??
Ups, the previous one went out by accident. That's what you get when you write 4 e-mails simultaneously. Roy wood wrote: > Our problem is not one of connection but of sheer programming because > all of our programs are designed to print directly with their own > drivers and that is not how modern printers have developed. Just making > a connection will not solve much. Marcel, Jochen and I discussed this > QPC2 Printer programme at length while we were together in the US but > this will be of no use to anyone not using QPC2. A similar solution has > to be worked out for other hardware platforms and that will not be an > easy task. My solution regarding postscript would also very much solve the problem for Qxx. SGC is probably too slow or doesn't have enough memory to run Ghostscript. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Bugs
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > 1. SMSQ/E v3.01 on Q40/60 > WM_PAPER, WM_INK etc find the WMAN vector (for the new WM.TRAP3) by using > IOP.PINF which puts it into A1. Unfortunately this is done before getting the > parameters. This means that if a parameter is an "expression", so that its value > is on the arithmetic stack, it will be lost. Did 3.01 still include that code? Oh well, that should have been replaced by my new code by now. As we found that the SER driver of Qxx included bugs that I have fixed (and submitted) 2 years ago we're currently going through a binary compare of our codes anyway, so all this will be addressed. > BTW does anyone know whether the CON linkage is guaranteed to have > such items as the WMAN vector in the same place for each version of > SMSQ/E? Or is a programmer expected to use IOP.PINF or the new > PV_PINF to get this vector? I see no reason to move it, I think it has been there since day one of the PE. But PV_PINF would of course be the official way to get it. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] What printers do people use with their QL??
Roy wood wrote: > All this talk of printers for the QL has been quite interesting and I > would have joined in earlier except that Demon's mail server has been > playing up and some of the messages have been severely delayed. > If anyone wants a laser printer that will work with most QL programs > they should look into the EPSON EPL 6100. This has the ESC/P2 driver > built in which will work with ProWesS and is backwardly compatible with > other EPSON drivers. It is of course only B&W but it should sell at > around 200 pounds. Beware of the EPL 6100L which is a cheaper version > with no ESC/P2 driver. > You could also try the Kyocera FS1010 which has an EPSON emulation built > in but some of the characters are a bit odd. I am sure that a suitable > translation could be done if some one wanted to do it. (One example is > the pound sign comes out as two hearts and a hash symbol from quill. > Quite how one symbol turns into three I have no idea.) > This problem with printing will only get worse because, as mainstream > computers become more and more powerful and sophisticated the need to > build drivers and emulations into printers will decrease and the > manufacturers will save a few pennies by not bothering to put them in. > At the moment there are still some printers available with them in > because some businesses still use DOS based programs but their use is > decreasing rapidly. > Our problem is not one of connection but of sheer programming because > all of our programs are designed to print directly with their own > drivers and that is not how modern printers have developed. Just making > a connection will not solve much. Marcel, Jochen and I discussed this > QPC2 Printer programme at length while we were together in the US but > this will be of no use to anyone not using QPC2. A similar solution has > to be worked out for other hardware platforms and that will not be an > easy task. > By the way Tony - of course a dot matrix is more reliable than an inkjet > or laser printer. This is the same reason that a bicycle does not suffer > from a cracked cylinder head or some such thing. It is just not as > sophisticated and does not have so many moving parts. On the whole, > though, the output is pretty bad in comparison to even the cheapest > inkjet. You can still by new dot matrix EPSON printers with the > emulations intact but they are often more expensive than laser printers > because the manufactures can only sell you a ribbon as a consumable and > there is not a great need for these because they last so long. On a > laser they can sell you drums, fusers, toners and, in HPs case even the > tractor pads wear out and need replacing! Masses more profit there! > Cynical, me? Marcel
Re: [ql-users] What printers do people use with their QL??
"Phoebus R. Dokos (Öïßâïò Ñ. Íôüêïò)" wrote: > I do not know how feasible that could be given the non-full implementation > of the ISA bus on the Qx0 but it is a possibility. Of course three sets of > drivers would be needed. One for the Cardbus adapter, one for the whatever > interface we would be implementing and finally the printer driver on the > program. Is that logical? Without a high-end processor (ie V.5 ColdFire at > a decent ie. > 333 MHz) I do not think so. This project is doomed in any case. As I see the current situation we hardly have the manpower to write a decent "Hello world" application, leave alone something as complex as an USB driver. Far more feasible would be to use an external USB printer server in conjunction with an Ethernet card and a TCP/IP stack (if it ever appears in full. But if that doesn't materialize, how should an USB stack?). This only solves the data transport problem, of course. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] What printers do people use with their QL??
"Phoebus R. Dokos (Öïßâïò Ñ. Íôüêïò)" wrote: > Besides that, in reality EVERY printer can work with the QL with the > following workaround (that has been explained before by Marcel if I > am not mistaken). Yes. But I have given up on the subject. IIRC the only comment to the the German article I wrote about the subject was Geoff who wanted to do an English translation. This appeared and the response was zero, nada. I personally have zero need for SMSQ/E printing functionality anyway. > 1. Produce Postscript output somehow (ie Marcel's filter program) > 2. Instead of sending the output to the PAR port, send it to a file on a > DOS drive If the PAR port is set up correctly this is not necessary. A PAR port can be set up in a way that Ghostscript is automatically fed with the data and printed to any Windows printer. This is not exactly easy to do but once it's done the whole process is completely transparent. > Now this whole problem has got me thinking a tad. It is possible > theoretically to write a similar auto printing utility on the > windows side that can emulate ESC P2 commands (or anything else). Very old idea. QPCPRINT.EXE was supposed to do this. Already did it to some degree, first test versions were available. I did also investigate to use existing HP emulations from the Linux folks, but that didn't really work out either. IIRC the HP printer drivers I had (ProWesS) didn't send normal control codes but graphical data which the emulations couldn't handle. > There are a couple of problems involved: One is to set aside a specific > directory assigned to a dos drive > The second one is to continuously looking for print files and initiate > printing only when one is found and not being written to All not necessary. QPC has already everything integrated to do this, just better (QPCPRINT functionality). Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Bugs
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Another bug is with BORDER. If you have a window with a non-zero > border and have issued one of COLOUR_PAL, COLOUR_24 and > COLOUR_NATIVE you cannot make the border zero with, eg BORDER 0,0. Right, fixed now. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] What printers do people use with their QL??
Dilwyn Jones wrote: > You can have more than one par port too, never tried it but I wonder > if they could be tied to different printers...print to PAR1, PAR2 etc? Of course. Otherwise, what would be the point of multiple ports? Marcel
Re: [ql-users] RFC
P Witte wrote: > In some older programs I use a different scheme, with F10 stuffing the > edited string into the stuffer buffer. Oh well, so you're already doing exactly the same. > Those, and any other existing programs that do something similar, > will find that they get two copies of the keyboard queue contents. > The first copy would hold what iob.edlin thinks is the resultant > string (accessed by Alt+Shift+Space or equivalent) while the second > would hold what your program knows to be the correct version. > Disconcerting, messy and quite unnecessary, methinks. This I don't really understand. Either you use iob.edlin, in this case F10 was useless in the past and now could be filled with some life. Or you don't use iob.edlin, then the change doesn't really concern you. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] RFC
P Witte wrote: > I already use this keystroke in a number of my programs for the purpose (F5 > in Qwirc, FF and others, and F10 in older programs) so in my case Id want to > override, disable or avoid this facility in individual programs. Why? It wouldn't change the behaviour of your program at all. It would just add the additional feature of reacting to F10 within a read-line trap (instead of doing nothing at all). Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Two questions
Michael Grunditz wrote: > Is there any app that shows free memory in a qpac 2 button ? http://www.kilgus.net/soft/freemembt.zip It's however the GD2 version, requires SMSQ/E v3. Can probably dig up the old one on request. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] RFC
Dilwyn Jones wrote: > Used as refresh (screen redraw) by many non-pointer programs (e.g. > Quill, Xchange, some of my older programs). Doesn't really matter. The key would only be effective during the read-line trap (so far it's simply ignored). Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Rogue page
Dilwyn Jones wrote: Nice stuff, Dilwyn. :-) And helpful. Though I know most names and people quite well from e-mail contacts, I usually cannot connect all the names to faces. > Marcel: wonder how old that picture is! I think it's out of my drivers licence, so that must be about 6 years old. :-) I'll be on holidays for a week. Will probably check private mail, but don't expect a long (if any) answer, I hate writing on a cell phone. ;-) Bye, Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Status of QPC1
"Phoebus R. Dokos (Öïßâïò Ñ. Íôüêïò)" wrote: > IIRC QPC1's driver is even faster as it is written in pure x86 > assembly - Correct me if I am wrong Marcel ;-) ). 'key. You're wrong. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Status of QPC1
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Basically a much less impressive version that ran only under DOS and wasn't > a windows application It was written at a time when Windows 3.1 was still state of the art. > Plus a lot of the newer QPC2 features are missing - such as QPC_EXEC, the > DOS device, and high colour support and so on. Originally it was intended to keep the two in sync (the screen driver was even designed with GD2 in mind) but in the end all seemed happy enough with QPC2 and it was not worth the efforts. [90 lines snipped] Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Status of QPC1
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Sorry Marcel - just thought Roy or Jochen might know as they might > be selling it :-)) Roy was at the Irish meeting and Jochen doesn't read the list most of the time... ;-) > not to mention SMSQ/E, which is now no longer commercial. Not entirely true. > QPC1 on a CD with a load of QL freeware would make a very atractive > cover disk for a PC magazine I think. Which PC magazine would run something like that? It would have to be bootable to be of any use. Apart from that, it is something one could talk about. [73 lines snipped] Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Status of QPC1
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Hi Guys, > > I asked this question at the recent Irish QL get together - what is the > status of QPC1? And you think this list might know that better than I do? ;-) > I know it is no longer actively supported and updated Oh well, I did the occasional bug fix when people mentioned one to me. It just looks like everybody is happy with it as it is (or nobody is using it anymore, which I cannot imagine at all ;-) ). > Is it available to buy on its own cheaply? Marcel? Well, I'm open to suggestions. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] qpc 8-bit mode
desin wrote: > is there a way to run PROWES in the 8-bit Aurora mode ? No, unfortunately not, there's no driver for it. Any volunteers? ;-) Marcel
Re: [ql-users] Dual IDE controller needed for Q40 - Will Exchange :-)
"Phoebus R. Dokos (Öïßâïò Ñ. Íôüêïò)" wrote: > I am also trying to find a 2.88 Mb capable controller in order to test my > ED drives with Qx0... That would be great if we could have 3.2 Meg fdds on > Qx0s too... SMSQ/E for Q40 currently does not support ED drives. At least that's how the driver is initialised. Whether the actual code would be capable to do ED drives I don't know. As it shares much code with the GC FLP driver I guess it should. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] List changes required. Was: Irish Show pictuures
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Am I right? Do you need to be sending from a subscibed account to get an > email accepted by the list? Yep, that's right. Marcel
