984 lines
50 KiB
Plaintext
984 lines
50 KiB
Plaintext
From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:00 1996
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Subject: FAQPROGS.TXT contents
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Copyright (c) 1993-1996 by Timo Salmi
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All rights reserved
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FAQPROGS.TXT Frequently (and not so frequently) asked questions
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relating to programs with answers. Comments and corrections are
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solicited.
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....................................................................
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Prof. Timo Salmi Co-moderator of news:comp.archives.msdos.announce
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Moderating at ftp:// & http://garbo.uwasa.fi archives 193.166.120.5
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Department of Accounting and Business Finance ; University of Vaasa
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ts@uwasa.fi http://uwasa.fi/~ts BBS 961-3170972; FIN-65101, Finland
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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1) How do I capture text from the screen to a file?
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2) How do I redirect the output from the screen to the printer?
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3) How can I direct all output to a file instead of the printer?
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4) Where can I get VT102 emulation codes?
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5) Problems with Procomm or Telix VT102 emulation.
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6) Is there a program to convert Pascal to C?
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7) I need a bigger cursor for my laptop.
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8) Where to find a source code for detecting which CPU my PC has?
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9) Can anyone recommend me a good linear programming package?
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10) Where can I find sources for Unix Zmodem?
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11) Where can I find sources for Unix arc, lharc, zip, and zoo?
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12) How to delete non-empty directories fast?
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13) I can't run this file I got with a .zip (.arc etc) extension.
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14) What is the best archiver?
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15) What is the best text editor?
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16) Am I safe against viruses if download files from FTP sites?
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17) Where can I find a program to expand the keyboard buffer?
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18) How to make z-modem transfer between a Unix mainframe and my PC?
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19) Where can I find Unix-like utilities for my MS-DOS PC?
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20) How can I hide files and directories?
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21) Which is better, Procomm Plus or Telix?
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22) How can I restore the original screen when a program muddles it?
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23) Where can I find compress for MS-DOS to handle .Z files?
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24) I found a bug in a shareware program. How should I report it?
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25) Where can I find a program to break a PKZIP encryption password?
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26) Where can I find other good programs that are not on this list?
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:01 1996
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Subject: Capturing text to file from screen
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1. *****
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Q: I want to capture to a file everything that comes on the
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screen. How do I do this?
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A1: There are two sets of programs that are useful here. The first
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set consists of programs which automatically capture to a file
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everything that comes on the screen. Examples of these "scrolling"
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programs are /pc/printer/concpy11.zip (or whatever version is the
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latest) and /pc/printer/script11.zip.
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The second set are the "static" programs which capture a snapshot
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of the screen, or a portion of the screen at the invocation of a hot
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key. Get /pc/screen/snippr26.zip for such a utility. Another is
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/pc/printer/lamneth.zip which redirects the results of pressing the
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PrintScreen key to a file instead of the printer. A third one is
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/pc/printer/scap250.zip. Also worth considering is
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/pc/screen/vprint51.zip. Please note that these programs only work
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for the text mode. They won't capture graphics output. (The same
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also goes for the next Q&As).
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+------------------------------------------+
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! To get these and other programs given as !
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! /dir/subdir/name !
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! see the instructions in PD2ANS.TXT !
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+------------------------------------------+
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A2: How to find MS-DOS files on garbo.uwasa.fi: If you are looking
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for a particular program at garbo.uwasa.fi you should start by
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getting the following files:
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/pc/INDEX.ZIP
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/pc/INDEXTS.ZIP
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For seeing what is new in the /pc/ts directory, get
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/pc/ts/0news-ts
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For seeing selected news and reviews of files in all MS-DOS (the
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/pc) directories, get the following file full of information
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/pc/pd2/news-pd2
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For a monthly raw list of all the new MS-DOS files, get
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/pc/_files.in
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:02 1996
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Subject: Printing all output from screen
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2. *****
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Q: I want to get printed everything that comes to the screen. How
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can I achieve this?
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A: Simple. First capture the output to a file (see the previous
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Q&A) and then print the file.
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If you need to capture text that has already scrolled off the
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screen use ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/screen/buffit30.zip resident
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screen scrollback utility, which is a handy TSR (Terminate and Stay
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Resident) program anyway. Another, even better screen scrollback
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buffer TSR is ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/screen/scrlit18.zip (or
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whatever is the current version number).
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:03 1996
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Subject: Printer redirection to a file
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3. *****
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Q: How can I direct all output to a file instead of the printer?
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A: There is a good utility called ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/printer/
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lptx.zip exactly for this purpose. It comes in several versions.
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There is another utility ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/printer/
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prn2file.zip which I haven't tested myself, but should be good
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judging from the comments of the others. A third such utility is
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ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/printer/prndi802.zip, but even if it is
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useful, it not very easy to figure out the first time. In general,
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take a look at the /pc/printer directory at garbo.uwasa.fi.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:04 1996
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Subject: VT102 emulation codes
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4. *****
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Q: I need information on VT100 (VT102) emulation codes.
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A: The following packages may have some relevant information. Take
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a look at MsKermit documentation /pc/termprog/mskdo232.zip, MsKermit
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advice and utilities in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tskerm26.zip, and
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Procomm advice in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tspfon29.zip. (A later
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note: mskdo232.zip is no longer available from Garbo for the Kermit
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authors' distribution policy reasons. For Kermit material connect to
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Columbia University Academic Information Systems, New York:
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kermit.columbia.edu)
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:05 1996
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Subject: Procomm or Telix VT102 problems
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5. *****
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Q: I'm experiencing problems in my Procomm (or Telix) VT102
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terminal emulation. What should I do?
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A: If terminal emulation is your main concern, you should consider
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using MsKermit. Procomm and Telix very good programs which are at
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their best in connections to BBSes (bulletin boards). MsKermit is at
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its best in main frame connections and terminal emulation. (MsKermit
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is better at BBS connections as generally thought, since contrary to
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common belief it can utilize a dialing directory). Get the packages
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ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tspfon29.zip and /pc/ts/tskerm26.zip to
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give more information and utilities for Procomm and MsKermit. The
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packages are available by anonymous ftp, mail server and WWW from
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garbo.uwasa.fi.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:06 1996
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Subject: Pascal to C converters
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6. *****
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Q: I'm looking for a program to convert Turbo Pascal code
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automatically to C. (Mother of all FAQs? :-)
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A: To find utilities for such a specific purpose the very first
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thing to do is to look through file lists. At garbo.uwasa.fi there
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are useful file lists such as /pc/INDEX.ZIP and INDEXTS.ZIP. Here is
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some old information as an example:
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From simibm file list --------------------------------------------
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T2C.ARC Microsoft's Turbo Pascal to C translator
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TPTC17.ARC Turbo Pascal to C translator, 1of4
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TPTC17SC.ARC Turbo Pascal to C - src for translator, 2of4
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TPTC17TC.ARC Turbo Pascal to C - test cases, 3of4
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TPTCINFO.ARC Info on Turbo Pascal to C translator, 4of4
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From files-mm (Micro Maniacs Opus file list) ---------------------
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PTOC.ZIP 79789 Pascal To C Conversion Program.
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TPC.ZIP 26262 Converts TurboPascal to C.
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GLOCKEN.ZIP 112240 01/15/88 Glockenspiel Turbo Pascal to 'C'
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TPTOQC.ZIP 112062 12/01/87 Translate Turbo Pascal to Quick 'C'
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TPAS2MSC.ZIP 111884 12/10/89 MS Convert Turbo Pascal to MS C
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I've seen some positive comments on a P2C, and our system manager
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has installed it on our mainframe with very good results, but I do
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not know where it is publicly available.
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I have seen an ad on a Pascal to C translator in the Shareware
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Magazine, Vol V, No. 6, Nov.-Dec. 1990, p. 52, involving PC-Sig disk
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1321.
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From: raymond@math.berkeley.edu (Raymond Chen)
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Two different Pascal-to-C converters are available from a
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comp.sources.unix archive near you.
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volume10: ptoc/part[01-02] Pascal to C translator
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volume13: pas2c.pch Patches for Pascal-to-C translator
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volume21: p2c/part[01-32] Pascal to C translator
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" p2c/patch1 Fix to incomplete shar files for p2c,
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Patch1
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p2c is by Dave Gillespie. It understands several Pascal dialects
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(HP, partial Turbo, etc) and is very flexible and configurable. It
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has been compiled and used on Sun-3's, so presumably it is fairly
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portable among 32-bit Unix machines.
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The p2c package is also available for ftp from csvax.caltech.edu.
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Note, however, that although it can translate PC dialects of Pascal,
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the converter itself runs under UNIX. (Timo's note, it is also
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available on Garbo.)
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If you have the ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tsfaqn44.zip Frequently
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Asked Questions collection, also take a look at the old
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ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pd2/faquote.zip for more information.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:07 1996
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Subject: Looking for a big cursor for laptops
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7. *****
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Q: I am literally looking for a way to see the cursor on my laptop.
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Is there a utility to make the cursor bigger?
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A: There are several (both TSR and non-TSR) programs around to make
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the cursor big. My ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tsutld22.zip (or
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whatever version number is the most recent) utility collection
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contains the following programs for this.
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ADJCURS.BAT Batch shell for adjusting cursor
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BIGCURS.EXE Make the cursor better visible
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BIGNCURS.EXE NonResident temporary big cursor
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:08 1996
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Subject: Code to detect the CPU type
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8. *****
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Q: Does anyone have a source code for detecting which CPU my PC
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has?
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A: See Tischer, Michael (1990), PC System Programming, An in-depth
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reference for the DOS programmer, Third printing, Abacus, Chapter
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15. Another source is ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/turbopas/ifp1s158.zip
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(or whatever version is current). It contains the InfoPlus source
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code. A third alternative is /pc/turbopas/cpuid_tp.zip. If you are a
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Turbo Pascal programmer, see /pc/ts/tspa*.zip for a tpu with no
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source code available. (In general, if you are interested in Turbo
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Pascal programming, see ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/link/tsfaqp.zip).
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:09 1996
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Subject: Linear Programming MS-DOS Packages
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9. *****
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Q: Can anyone recommend me a good linear programming package?
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A: See the references in the documentation of /pc/ts/tslin34.zip
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(or whatever version number is the latest) linear programming and
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linear goal programming package available by anonymous ftp or mail
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server from garbo.uwasa.fi. There are a couple of references to
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useful papers that compare different commercial LP programs for the
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PC. Also see
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ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/math/faqlp.zip
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Frequently Asked Questions about linear programming
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(A later note: faqlp.zip is no longer available from Garbo, because
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the author does not have the time to bother to keep it up to date
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for our site. Use rtfm.mit.edu instead.)
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If you are looking for a linear programming source code then take
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a look at
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303775 May 1 1991 ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/turbopas/nrpas13.zip
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nrpas13.zip Numerical Recipes Pascal shareware version.
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See the sci.op-research Usenet newsgroup for an interesting, related
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forum.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:10 1996
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Subject: Need Unix Zmodem
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10. *****
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Q: Where can I find sources for Unix Zmodem?
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A: You can find a Unix Zmodem package in the /unix/zmodem directory
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at the anonymous ftp site garbo.uwasa.fi, Vaasa, Finland. The
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instructions for processing this Unix package are in
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ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/ts/0news-u.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:11 1996
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Subject: Unix counterparts for PC archivers
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11. *****
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Q: Where can I find Unix sources for .arj, .arc, .lzh, .zoo, and
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.zip file compression.
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A: You can find Unix arc, UNarj, lharc, LHa, zoo, UNzip, hpack,
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squeeze, and zip packages in the /unix/arcers directory at the
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anonymous ftp site garbo.uwasa.fi.
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Many users have also inquired about the source code for making
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.zip files. A project group Mark Adler, Rich Wales, and Jean-loup
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Gailly have programmed the long awaited Unix zip. It was released
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about at the beginning of October of 1991. Way back the it was
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/unix/goldies/zip10ex.tar.Z, currently /unix/arcers/unzip512.tar.Z.
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For installing it, see /unix/arcers/unzmake.inf. For a pointer to
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the Info-ZIP project and their address see /pc/pd2/author35.zip.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:12 1996
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Subject: Deleting entire subdirectories
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12. *****
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Q: I need to delete a directory which has files (and perhaps
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subdirectories) in it. How can I delete without having to go trough
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them individually.
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A: It can be done, but note that if you are not VERY CAREFUL you
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may inadvertently do much harm to your files by deleting more than
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you intended!
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There is a utility by Norm Patriquin /pc/dirutil/pdel44.zip,
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which can be used to delete non-empty directories. Another utility,
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which is handy for many other purposes as well, is sweep.com with
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the /pc/pcmagvol collections.
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Other utilities which you can use for this purpose include
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TDEL.EXE from ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tsutle22.zip, and
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ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/dirutil/deldir11.zip. I use TDEL.EXE myself
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a lot.
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One frequent solution is using the Unix like rm command for
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MS-DOS. Different renditions of rm can are common in the collections
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in our /pc/unix directory.
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If you blunder, and delete more files that you intended, then
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undelete utilities like the one in PcTools or MS-DOS 5.0 (and later)
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can save you. (The usual disclaimer applies).
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:13 1996
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Subject: Arced, Zipped etc files
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13. *****
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Q: What is this file with this .zip (.arc, .arj, .lzh, .pak, .rar,
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.sdn, .uc2, .zoo etc) extension? What am I supposed to do to it?
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Q2: I can't run this file I got with a .zip extension.
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A: This is a PC newcomer's question, but that is perfectly all
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right. One has to start from somewhere. These files with a .zip
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(.arc, .arj, .lzh, .pak, .rar, .sdn, .uc2, .zoo etc) extension are
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compressed collections of files, often called archives. You are not
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supposed to run a compressed entity. You are supposed to unpack it
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first to extract the files from within the package. For this you
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need the relevant (un)packing program. You can find them in the
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/pc/arcers (some in /pc/goldies, some in /pc/unix) directory at the
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anonymous ftp site garbo.uwasa.fi, its mirrors, or at practically
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any fine bulletin board. (After you have gotten them, they are very
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easy to process, since most often these utilities are
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self-extracting). At the time of writing this we have e.g.
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arc602.exe .arc SEA's .arc packing/unpacking system.
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arce40g.zip .arc Buerg's extraction, also for SEA's new .arc
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pk361.exe .arc This packed and unpacked .arc files fast
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arj250a.exe .arj Robert Jung's .arj archiver
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gzip124.zip .(g)z GNU gzip compress, don't confuse with (pk)zip
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ha098.zip .ha Harri Hirvola's slow but efficient archiver
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hpack78.zip .hpk HPACK Multi-System Archiver
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lha255b.exe .lzh LHa for .lzh compression
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pak251.exe .pak NoGate's for pak, arc, sdn, zip, files
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rar155.exe .rar RAR, Russian archiver by E.Roshal
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sqz1083e.exe .sqz SQUEEZE from Sweden.
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uc2pro.exe .uc2 UltraCompressor II archiver pro from AIP-NL
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ue.exe .uc2 UltraExpander II: free expander for UC2 archives
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pkz204g.exe .zip PKWare's PKZIP/PKUNZIP 2.04G
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unz512x.exe .zip Info-ZIP group's 2.04G compatible extractor
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zoo210.exe .zoo Zoo packing facility from Rahul Dhesi
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Always use the latest version. For example we have been getting many
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false alarms of allegedly corrupt .zip packages just because users
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have been applying out of date PKUNZIP versions.
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Once you are well familiar with unpacking and packing, there is
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an excellent shell for running these utilities. It is called SHEZ
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and is in version ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcutil/shez109.zip at the
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time I revised this item.
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Another advanced feature once you get the hang of this, is that
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(most of) these are available in the Unix environment, as well. See
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the /unix/arcers directory at garbo.uwasa.fi archives for the Unix
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versions. E.g. you can find zoo210.tar.Z in there, etc. See
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/pc/unix/0news-u for more on the Unix versions.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:14 1996
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Subject: Archiver comparisons
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14. *****
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Q: What is the best archiver?
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A: Some netters have made accurate measurements of the packing /
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unpacking times, and the size of the archives produced. I won't try
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to repeat those interesting experiments, but express some subjective
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views instead. If you want to know more, the Usenet newsgroup
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comp.compression is the one to read. Also see material like
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ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/act-27.zip for the comparisons.
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If you are a heavy user, there is no choice. You'll need all the
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archivers. (A good shell like shez will make life much easier for
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you then).
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Let's start from Zoo. Personally, I found the old Zoo 2.01
|
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prohibitively difficult to use beyond simple unpacking. Its
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compression ratio was week. But it has been available for Unix and
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MS-DOS for a long time, from the same author for both the platforms,
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and this has made it the obvious choice for example for the
|
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distribution binary postings in comp.binaries.ibm.pc despite what
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used to be a poor ratio.
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The introduction of Zoo version 2.10 changed the situation quite
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a lot for the better. Its compression is at good par with the other
|
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methods, but it is still slow, and the commands are complicated, but
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there is a good self-documentation to alleviate that. Furthermore,
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there are problems with the file datestamping on Unix. I have
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discussed potential further Zoo updates with the author Rahul Dhesi,
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and he confirmed long ago that he was working on these aspects. One
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has to be realistic though, since the last time around the updating
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took over one year. Rahul is a busy man. It seems to be the same
|
|
with this promised update, also. Nothing whatsoever since.
|
|
PKWare's PKZIP has become fairly dominating in bulletin boards
|
|
and many FTP sites. For example it is the only method we currently
|
|
accept in the uploads to our Garbo MS-DOS FTP archives. PKZIP makes
|
|
reasonably tight packages, but is slow in making them on old PCs.
|
|
With a 386 or 486 this does not matter any more. Personally, as an
|
|
MS-DOS FTP site moderator, I like the possibility of keeping the
|
|
date stamp of .zip archives in line with the date stamp of the
|
|
latest file within the package. With zipped archives this is very
|
|
easy. The attractiveness of zipping in archive maintenance in much
|
|
increased by Zip being available also for the Unix environment
|
|
courtesy of the Info-ZIP programming group. The support for the Unix
|
|
zip is unrivalled by the other archivers.
|
|
PKWare almost blew it with its version 2 release. They advertized
|
|
version 2 on PC magazines for almost a year without it being
|
|
available, making it one of the best know cases of shareware
|
|
vaporware. On top of that the first 2 version, called 2.04C turned
|
|
out with far too many prohibitive bugs to be acceptable as a
|
|
compression method. For example Garbo archives refused to adopt
|
|
2.04C. PKWare then produced updates in rapid succession, naming them
|
|
versions 2.04E and 2.04G. The current 2.04G release has done very
|
|
well indeed, even if its advanced features occasionally cause some
|
|
consternation.
|
|
The Japanese lharc is tight (comparable to, and often better than
|
|
PKZIP 1.10 was) and it is available for Unix, as well. But both
|
|
MS-DOS and Unix lharc totally lack user support (but who needs it
|
|
anyway for these facilities). The author is not even reachable. You
|
|
may experience difficulties with the path names when using lharc.
|
|
Since versions beyond 2.0 LHarc has been called LHa, and it is even
|
|
tighter than before. Lha can make self-extracting packages with very
|
|
little overhead, and is dominant among the compression archivers in
|
|
that respect.
|
|
What about the old ARC method? PKWare's pkpak (originally called
|
|
pkarc) is fast in making archives, but its compression is not very
|
|
strong. But I still like it for some purposes because of its concise
|
|
one-line format of file comments, which I prefer to the multi-line
|
|
format used by pkzip and zoo.
|
|
SEA's arc is available both for MS-DOS and Unix (from different
|
|
authors). But it has lost its former popularity and goodwill
|
|
(unfairly or not) among many users. First with the lawsuit with
|
|
PKWare (the author of pkarc aka pkpak, and pkzip), and subsequently
|
|
with its product development policy, which has left very much to be
|
|
desired, and caused some frustrated postings in the Usenet news. It
|
|
seems that SEA missed out on its golden opportunity to be the
|
|
dominant archiver. Now it is but vanishing from the scene. I have
|
|
seen postings referring to a new incompatible commercial version ARC
|
|
7.0, which is not to be distributed through bulletin boards and ftp
|
|
sites at all. I really fail to understand SEA's self-defeating
|
|
policies. SEAs new .arc is cannot be handled with the old versions,
|
|
but I have been told that /pc/arcers/arce*.zip can be used for
|
|
extraction.
|
|
NoGate's Pak (as far as I know) is not available for Unix, only
|
|
for MS-DOS. But it can handle .arc, .pak, .sdn, and .zip formats,
|
|
and is the only one having this "multiple" property.
|
|
Last, but certainly not least let's consider ARJ by Robert Jung.
|
|
ARJ, in version 2.50a at the time of last updating this item, is
|
|
turning out to be the most serious alternative to PKZIP. ARJ's
|
|
ability to span an archive on multiple disks is considered one of
|
|
its strong points. The author used to be active on the Usenet news,
|
|
and ARJ has thus good support. The lack of a proper Unix version is
|
|
however a major weakness. There only is unarj241.tar.Z. Some users
|
|
also complain about the switches being quite complicated to master.
|
|
You can, of course, alleviate that problem by using a shell like
|
|
SHEZ.
|
|
There are also some other, tight methods like hpack, ha and sqz,
|
|
but mostly they have only a marginal following.
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:15 1996
|
|
Subject: The best ascii text editor
|
|
|
|
15. *****
|
|
Q: What is the best text editor?
|
|
|
|
A: These are difficult questions, especially since almost every
|
|
user is more or less biased in favor of the program he/she is best
|
|
familiar with. In the case of text editors these personal views
|
|
easily flare up into what is appropriately termed as "editor wars".
|
|
But also objectively speaking there is a good rationale for
|
|
defending the editor one is used to. Almost each editor involves a
|
|
great number of predefined (or customizable) key combinations, which
|
|
at first are difficult to learn, but very natural after one has
|
|
gotten used to them after extended exposure. This means, that
|
|
changing over to another editor (even a considerably better one)
|
|
will involve a high cost of learning. This explains the ardent
|
|
defensive positions users tend to take, if they feel that their
|
|
hard-learned habits come under threat when someone else puts down
|
|
their favorite editor (let alone insists on changing over to their
|
|
own editor choice). This is how most editor wars break out.
|
|
Once these cautionary words being said, let me tell you about my
|
|
own text editor choices. I would prefer to use only a single editor
|
|
to make life easier for me. This is has not been possible since I
|
|
have needed editors for several operating systems. These systems
|
|
have been MS-DOS, Unix, VAX/VMS, and at an earlier stage Sinclair QL
|
|
QDOS.
|
|
Since I write quite a lot of programs in Turbo Pascal, this has
|
|
dictated my choice of the MS-DOS text editor to editors with
|
|
WordStar like commands. At one early stage I even used Turbo Pascal
|
|
3.02A as my text editor besides as my compiler. Hence the obvious
|
|
choice for me has been ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/goldies/qedit3c.zip
|
|
SemWare's QEdit Advanced shareware editor later renamed to The
|
|
SemWare Editor Junior ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/editor/tsejr4.zip. It
|
|
has very similar commands to Turbo Pascal's integrated editor. There
|
|
are just two features missing in QEdit which I would like to have.
|
|
One is the lack of markers to return easily to a spot. The other is
|
|
that I would dearly like to have the possibility of right-adjusted
|
|
text. These aside, Qedit has many nice features including
|
|
configurability, small size (an important consideration for
|
|
laptops), and useful macro programming (not very easy, though). I
|
|
also like and need its potential to copy and move columns besides
|
|
just rows. I won't make the error of saying here that there aren't
|
|
better text editors, but I can recommend this editor as one good
|
|
choice. Incidentally, I've written a few macros for QEdit myself.
|
|
They are available as ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tsqed18.zip from
|
|
Garbo anonymous ftp archives.
|
|
SemWare has made a new editor based on QEdit. It is called The
|
|
SemWare Editor. I have had it since its prerelease version. By the
|
|
updating of this item it is in version 2.5. It has an advanced macro
|
|
language setting right the few inadequacies of QEdit. TSE is the
|
|
editor I use the most (including writing this). A demo version is
|
|
available as ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/demo/tsetd2.zip. I have written
|
|
a number of macros for TSE in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tstse16.zip
|
|
(for version 2.0) and ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tstse17.zip (for
|
|
version 2.5).
|
|
In the VAX/VMS environment I earlier used its EDT editor, which
|
|
is well suited to MsKermit terminal emulation with the PC keypad
|
|
layout. But when we acquired a Unix Sun 4 to our computer centre as
|
|
our main computer, I simply had no other viable choice than to learn
|
|
to use MicroEmacs. Along with many other former EDT users I still
|
|
intensely hate MicroEmacs (even if I am now fully conversant with
|
|
it). But as MicroEmacs is available for VAX/VMS I have dumped the
|
|
EDT editor in order to get by with fewer text editors. I even
|
|
occasionally use MicroEmacs on my PC for special tasks (e.g. very
|
|
long lines) which QEdit cannot handle. The point I want to make here
|
|
is that the portability of MicroEmacs has been important enough for
|
|
me to overcome my aversion of its user interface, even if I still
|
|
feel it is overly complicated to use. The VAX/VMS environment is no
|
|
longer relevant, however, since I have long since stopped using
|
|
other main frames than those running on Unix.
|
|
And what I have written here is typical of editor discussions.
|
|
Even if I've tried to be analytical, in retrospect this text much
|
|
more emotional than my average text.
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:16 1996
|
|
Subject: Are FTP sites safe from viruses
|
|
|
|
16. *****
|
|
Q: Am I safe against viruses if download files from FTP sites?
|
|
|
|
A: I'll give some information on this from an FTP moderator's point
|
|
of view. The official stand is the following directly from one of
|
|
our public documents:
|
|
No liability is accepted for the consequences of using,
|
|
or the inability to use, any of these files. No
|
|
absolute guarantees are given that these programs are
|
|
clean from nasties, although none have been in
|
|
evidence. Please duly observe shareware rules wherever
|
|
indicated.
|
|
But remember that there are no absolute guarantees _whatever_ your
|
|
sources are. There have even been cases of contaminated commercial
|
|
products. So the safety factor will never be a 100 per cent whether
|
|
you keep on downloading from ftp sites or not. At worst you can even
|
|
catch a virus if you buy a new machine (this has been known to
|
|
happen). On the other hand, the scare should not be exaggerated.
|
|
It is certainly a good idea to employ two or three good virus
|
|
testers / protectors such as McAfee's /pc/virus/scn-229e.zip and
|
|
/pc/virus/fp-221.zip by Fridrik Skulason (or whatever are the
|
|
current version numbers). There are others too in our /pc/virus
|
|
directory. I have one small additional trick up in my sleeve. Put my
|
|
dtetimal.exe in your autoexec.bat. If dtetimal gets contaminated, it
|
|
will loudly inform you of the fact. Dtetimal is part of my
|
|
/pc/ts/tsutil41.zip (or whatever version number is current) package
|
|
at garbo.uwasa.fi archives. Also use /pc/sysutil/chksum.zip to
|
|
always check at least your io.sys, msdos.sys, and command.com at
|
|
boot time. You then have a better chance of being alerted if you use
|
|
these measures.
|
|
There is a good batch scanz.bat in /pc/ts/tsbat47.zip (or
|
|
whatever version number is the current) to automate the virus
|
|
checking of zipped (.zip) archives.
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:17 1996
|
|
Subject: Expanding the keyboard buffer
|
|
|
|
17. *****
|
|
Q: Where can I find a program to expand the keyboard buffer?
|
|
|
|
A: To find utilities for this and other specific purposes the very
|
|
first thing to do is to look through file lists. At garbo.uwasa.fi
|
|
there are several useful file lists such as /pc/INDEX.ZIP, and
|
|
/pc/INDEXTS.ZIP. Here is some information on garbo.uwasa.fi files.
|
|
/pc/keyboard/256.zip 256 key typeahead buffer
|
|
/pc/keyboard/buf128.arc Keyboard buffer of 128 characters
|
|
/pc/keyboard/buf160_5.zip Expand the keyboard buffer to 160 chars
|
|
/pc/keyboard/fastbf26.zip Keyboard enhancer
|
|
/pc/keyboard/kbuf_ma.zip Increases keyboard buffer
|
|
/pc/keyboard/keybbuff.zip Type-ahead keyboard buffer 16-512 bytes
|
|
/pc/keyboard/keybuf10.zip Resizable keyboard buffer
|
|
/pc/keyboard/skbdinst.arc SUPERKBD v2.41; (repeat rate, buffer,...
|
|
/pc/keyboard/typeahd.zip A 256 bytes typeahead buffer
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:18 1996
|
|
Subject: Problems in Zmodem file transfers
|
|
|
|
18. *****
|
|
Q: How to make Zmodem transfer between a Unix mainframe and my PC?
|
|
|
|
A: You naturally need the Zmodem programs both for your PC and your
|
|
Unix host. If you don't have them, the PC Zmodem transfer program
|
|
can be found as
|
|
112016 Jun 7 1995 ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/termutil/gsz0607.zip
|
|
gsz0607.zip X/Y/ZMODEM driver with graphic file xfer display
|
|
(or whatever is the current version). For the Unix end of things get
|
|
ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/zmodem/rzsz3_36.zip. The /unix/zmodem/
|
|
rzszmake.inf file explains how to install the Unix facilities.
|
|
Unpacking the PC facilities is standard knowledge, so no more about
|
|
that.
|
|
To the the transfers going at the PC end of things you'll find
|
|
some additional, useful the information in /pc/termutil/
|
|
zdoc0814.zip, /pc/ts/tskerm26.zip (zset.cmd in particular), and also
|
|
/pc/ts/tspfon29.zip (pcpqa.txt in there). These latter two packages
|
|
concern primarily MsKermit and Procomm, but the Zmodem ideas in them
|
|
are general.
|
|
1) To send an ascii file from your PC to your Unix host you might
|
|
use at your Unix end just
|
|
rz
|
|
and then at your PC
|
|
gsz port 1 est 0 9600 sz -r -a FileName
|
|
This would send the file from your PC at 9600 bauds through port 1
|
|
using crash recovery and ascii file transfer.
|
|
2) To go the other way, for example to send a ascii file from
|
|
your Unix host to your PC you would first write at your Unix host
|
|
sz FileName
|
|
and then at your PC
|
|
gsz port 1 est 0 9600 rz -y -a r:\
|
|
This would send the file from your Unix host using ascii transfer,
|
|
overwriting, and directory r:\ as the destination.
|
|
3) To send a binary file with crash recovery from Unix to PC use
|
|
sz FileName
|
|
gsz port 1 est 0 9600 rz -r r:\
|
|
It is very difficult to give advice that is generally applicable
|
|
because there are so many alternatives. One has to rely heavily on
|
|
experimentation on each different configuration. Prepare a
|
|
systematical test pattern to go through the all the potential
|
|
parities, 7/8 bits, and server parameters (if you are running
|
|
through a server). Such a structured approach has most often (but
|
|
not always) solved these problems.
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:19 1996
|
|
Subject: Unix-like utilities for MS-DOS
|
|
|
|
19. *****
|
|
Q: Where can I find Unix-like utilities for my MS-DOS PC?
|
|
|
|
A: There are often questions asking for Unix-like utilities for
|
|
MS-DOS, perhaps since many users have a Unix background and would
|
|
like to use familiar commands. And some of these commands are
|
|
useful for MS-DOS even if one hasn't used Unix. In fact they can
|
|
serve as a gentle introduction to Unix. We have for example the
|
|
following packages at garbo.uwasa.fi archives in directory /pc/unix:
|
|
danix201.zip
|
|
dantools.zip
|
|
picnix3a.zip
|
|
picnix3b.zip
|
|
picnix3up.zip
|
|
uznix120.zip
|
|
Furthermore there is a large uxutl23*.zip in the /pc/unix
|
|
directory. The danix201.zip (or whatever is the latest version
|
|
number) collection by Dan Schikore is yet another, originally dated
|
|
12-Nov-90. It is a nice set and includes for example man, head, and
|
|
tail, which have been sought by many users. The well-known picnix
|
|
utilities are by Peter Heitman, and date back to 1988. Then there
|
|
is the Dosnix dosnx22a.zip from G. Vrooman. The oldest collection we
|
|
have is the also useful dantools.zip by Daniel Norton dating back to
|
|
1987. Take a look at /pc/INDEX.ZIP for the full list.
|
|
Also note that the file contents of the /pc/unix packages at
|
|
Garbo are available as /pc/unix/0unix.zip. So if you are looking for
|
|
a single MS-DOS counterpart for a Unix utility, start by taking a
|
|
look at that list.
|
|
If you are a Unix person, you might also be interested in the
|
|
collection of Bourne shell scripts in the /unix/ts directory.
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:20 1996
|
|
Subject: Hiding files and directories
|
|
|
|
20. *****
|
|
Q: How can I hide files and directories?
|
|
|
|
A: Each MS-DOS file has a set of attributes: read-only, archive,
|
|
system, and hidden. You can hide both files and directories by
|
|
turning on their hidden attribute. The usual MS-DOS attrib command
|
|
(before MS-DOS 5.0) can only change the read-only and archive
|
|
attributes, so you'll need a program that can change all the
|
|
attributes.
|
|
Some users have suggested naming a directory as ascii 255, but
|
|
this is non-solution, since the directory will show as blank by the
|
|
usual dir command.
|
|
A file, or a directory that has the hidden attribute set, does
|
|
not show in a directory listing by (the pre-5.0) MS-DOS dir command.
|
|
Notice, however, that there are many utilities which will show also
|
|
the hidden files. This means that these methods are good for
|
|
elementary hiding only.
|
|
For more advanced protection you need different tools. One
|
|
possibility is encrypting files. There are many encrypting
|
|
facilities around including my crypter.exe in the
|
|
ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tsfcom24.zip file utilities collection.
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:21 1996
|
|
Subject: Comparison of telecomm progs
|
|
|
|
21. *****
|
|
|
|
Q: Which is better, Procomm Plus or Telix?
|
|
|
|
A: Procomm 1.1A vs Telix 3.12
|
|
--------------------------
|
|
Both are excellent telecommunications programs. I won't try to
|
|
answer in any absolute terms, but tell some of my subjective
|
|
observations, since I have used both quite a lot. I am first
|
|
speaking of Procomm+ version 1.1A and Telix 3.12 (on Procomm Plus
|
|
2.0 later).
|
|
Procomm+ is a fully commercial program while Telix is shareware.
|
|
(There is an earlier shareware Procomm [version 2.4.3]. Both the
|
|
shareware programs are available from garbo.uwasa.fi archives
|
|
/pc/termprog directory. The shareware Procomm is not in the same
|
|
league with Procomm+ and Telix. A later note: the shareware Procomm
|
|
is not available from Garbo because of its excessive distribution
|
|
limitations).
|
|
Procomm+ comes with a manual, and there is literature on Procomm+
|
|
while Telix documents come as a file in the shareware distribution.
|
|
I have tried the user support of both, with slightly discouraging
|
|
results. In the case of Procomm+ I asked about the possibility of a
|
|
two-way translation table, but the response was a polite no without
|
|
any useful suggestions. In the case of Telix, I returned a faulty
|
|
shareware disk, and had no reaction at all. Didn't even get the disk
|
|
back. (This happened with version 3.12 with the previous owner Exis
|
|
Inc. Telix has since been sold to deltaComm Development, and I have
|
|
no experience on contacting the latter.) On the other hand, both are
|
|
such good products that I haven't really needed the support.
|
|
Procomm+ and Telix both have a useful command language. Procomm's
|
|
is annoyingly sluggish since it is interpreter while Telix sports a
|
|
C-like Salt compiler. Procomm's aspect command language is easier to
|
|
use, while Telix's Salt command language is really powerful.
|
|
Procomm+ command files can be invoked from a menu. In Telix this
|
|
very convenient option is missing.
|
|
Under difficult conditions with a slow machine plus a fast modem
|
|
Telix behaves much better. I've even noted circumstances where Telix
|
|
is the only working choice of the two, because Procomm+ cannot
|
|
always cope with the load.
|
|
Admittedly, Telix has fewer file transfer protocols than
|
|
Procomm+, BUT this is more than amply compensated by the fact that
|
|
Telix has an inbuilt Zmodem protocol. Neither has a sliding Kermit.
|
|
The translation tables of both programs cause headaches to users
|
|
needing some 8-bit characters as we Finns do. Procomm+ does not have
|
|
an outgoing translation table at all. Telix does, but it gets
|
|
tangled in ansi graphics when A with double dots is translated.
|
|
Personally, I prefer Procomm's concise call logging to Telix's
|
|
fuller but incoherent call logging.
|
|
This is very subjective but of the two the "feel" of the user
|
|
interface in Telix is more user friendly than that of Procomm+. In
|
|
particular, Telix has an automatic starting of downloads.
|
|
Procomm+ has a superior host mode compared to Telix. Yes, I know
|
|
that there are external host modes for Telix, such as host44.zip,
|
|
but I've never managed to make it work even in a selftest. (The host
|
|
that comes with the new Telix 3.21 version seems ok, though).
|
|
Incidentally, the host mode of shareware Procomm is better left
|
|
alone. They frequently crash the machine. Another thing is that
|
|
Procomm+ host mode shell to dos option also does this.
|
|
If you use Procomm or Procomm+ you might be interested in more
|
|
information given in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tspfon29.zip.
|
|
At the moment I have settled to Telix for calling to BBSes, to
|
|
Procomm+ when I need the host mode (and MsKermit when I connect
|
|
remotely to garbo.uwasa.fi, because MsKermit has clearly the best
|
|
VT102 emulation of the three).
|
|
Epilogue: At the time I last revised this item. Telix had been
|
|
sold to deltaComm development, and version 3.20 just been released.
|
|
It is a minor improvement, but worth taking a look at. Be warned,
|
|
however, that it employs nagware tactics by having registration
|
|
reminders at both ends.
|
|
----------------
|
|
Procomm Plus 2.0
|
|
----------------
|
|
At the time I wrote this, Procomm Plus version 2.0 had just been
|
|
released. (Telix 3.15 arrived when I wrote this, but it's just a
|
|
minor bug fix). Commercial Procomm 2.0 is mostly at par with
|
|
shareware Telix 3.12. Much of Procomm 2.0's improvements seem to
|
|
have directly been adapted from Telix, but there is a touch of
|
|
TeleMate as well. The aspect language compiler is the foremost
|
|
example of emulating Telix strengths. But the old Procomm+ .asp
|
|
files are not compilable without changes! Procomm 2.0 now has an
|
|
inbuilt Z-modem with autodownload. This is a feature that was sorely
|
|
missing earlier. Procomm 2.0 has long kermit packets which is an
|
|
improvement over Telix. The installation phase of Procomm 2.0 is
|
|
impressive. Full points for that.
|
|
The really frustrating feature of Procomm 2.0 is the problems
|
|
with non-US (at least the Finnish) keyboard, which renders much of
|
|
it inoperable, if not useless. And there is still no outgoing
|
|
translation table.
|
|
Over all, my first impressions on the Procomm Plus 2.0 update are
|
|
far from enthusiastic. On the other hand what might make Procomm
|
|
Plus 2.0 worth its while is its host mode. It seem more flexibility
|
|
than before, and can be considered a mini-BBS. This is a feature
|
|
that Telix practically lacks. But I have had problems with 2.0 file
|
|
transfers over a direct connection, which I didn't have with 1.1A.
|
|
Interestingly, the outward appearance of Procomm Plus 2.0 has
|
|
reverted back to the Procomm shareware days.
|
|
--------
|
|
TeleMate
|
|
--------
|
|
There are other very good telecommunication and terminal
|
|
emulation programs besides Procomm+, Telix, and MsKermit. One of
|
|
them is TeleMate (/pc/termprog/tm412-?.zip, where ? = 1,2,3,4). It's
|
|
speciality is that the file transfers can take place in the
|
|
background, which, for example, allows you to use TeleMate's useful
|
|
screen editor while the transfer is taking place. Another nice
|
|
feature is TeleMate's quote function. On the other hand TeleMate's
|
|
dialog box based user interface takes some getting used to, and in
|
|
this respect I feel that Procomm+ and Telix have a clear advantage
|
|
over TeleMate. Also TeleMate's online help screen is not very
|
|
coherent, and there is some inconvenience in figuring out how to
|
|
load the translation tables on a regular basis. Shareware is a nice
|
|
concept. I was able to try TeleMate out for a period with a clear
|
|
conscience before making my decision of not adopting.
|
|
We also have Boyan at garbo.uwasa.fi. I have just taken a very
|
|
brief look at it, but I know that some users like it.
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:22 1996
|
|
Subject: Restoring the screen
|
|
|
|
22. *****
|
|
Q: How can I restore the original screen when a program muddles it?
|
|
|
|
A: Many (screen oriented) programs do not restore the original
|
|
screen after having been run. They either leave their own last
|
|
layout on the screen, or, in many cases some kind of a shareware
|
|
advertisement (nagware :-), or something else what you'd rather not
|
|
remain on your screen after you exit the program. If you normally
|
|
use a 25*80 text mode, and you are running a program named, say foo,
|
|
which does not restore the screen, make the following batch (I have
|
|
ramdisk on r:)
|
|
pushscr r:\tmpscr.$$$ /o
|
|
foo %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
|
|
popscr r:\tmpscr.$$$
|
|
del r:\tmpscr.$$$ > nul
|
|
The utilities pushscr.exe and popscr.exe are part of the
|
|
ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tsutld22.zip package (or whatever version
|
|
number is the latest). If the foo program also changes the video
|
|
mode, and doesn't change it back, you'll need reset.exe prior
|
|
popscr. It is available in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tsutil42.zip.
|
|
Alternatively you can use the MS-DOS mode command to restore the
|
|
correct video mode.
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:23 1996
|
|
Subject: MS-DOS compress for .Z files, MS-DOS uude/encode, etc
|
|
|
|
23. *****
|
|
Q: Where can I find compress for MS-DOS to handle .Z files?
|
|
Q2: Is there a tar for MS-DOS?
|
|
|
|
A: Unix has compress, uncompress and zcat programs to pack or
|
|
unpack files which are given the .Z extension. These files can also
|
|
be handled under MS-DOS using for example /pc/unix/comp430d.zip,
|
|
which is available from anonymous FTP sites like garbo.uwasa.fi,
|
|
etc. You can also use /pc/unix/gzip124.zip, which is more general
|
|
and can handle .Z and .(g)z files.
|
|
There is one useful trick if you uncompress on MS-DOS such text
|
|
files that have been made on Unix with compress. Unix and MS-DOS
|
|
have different eolns (end of lines). You can extract a Unix
|
|
compressed text file as follows
|
|
comp430d -d -c YourZFile | unix2pc > YourOutputFile
|
|
where unix2pc.exe is taken from /pc/ts/tsfilt22.zip (or whatever is
|
|
the current version number).
|
|
While we are at it let's look at two similar questions of MS-DOS
|
|
counterparts for Unix file handling. Uuencoding and uudecoding is a
|
|
common method to handle files so that they can be sent as ordinary
|
|
ascii email. There are several utilities for uu(en/de)coding files
|
|
on a PC. See our /pc/decode directory. One that I can recommend is
|
|
uuexe540.zip (or whichever version is current), which has an option
|
|
to use formats like the one employed in the comp.binaries.ibm.pc
|
|
binary postings.
|
|
Yet another often queried counterpart for Unix is tar for MS-DOS.
|
|
See our directory /pc/unix for tar extractor utilities such as
|
|
tar4dos.zoo, extar10.zip (or whatever version number is current),
|
|
ltarv3.zip or tar320f-.zip. If you have a *.tar.Z file, you'll first
|
|
have to uncompress it and then untar it. On MS-DOS this requires a
|
|
bit of juggling with the file names, since MS-DOS can handle only one
|
|
point (.) in a file name.
|
|
(Since I have been asked: On VAX/VMS the extension TAR-Z is often
|
|
used, but unlike Unix tar.Z that is a local rather than a generic
|
|
convention.)
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:24 1996
|
|
Subject: Reporting shareware bugs
|
|
|
|
24. *****
|
|
Q: I found a bug in a shareware or a PD program. How should I
|
|
report it?
|
|
|
|
A: This is not actually a Frequently Asked Question, but I would
|
|
like to put forward some personal views on this. Starting with my
|
|
own programs, all sensible feedback is welcome whether it is emailed
|
|
or posted.
|
|
Some of the colleagues on the net may have a slightly different
|
|
views on reporting the bugs publicly, and I respect also that view,
|
|
even if I don't personally see anything basically wrong with it as
|
|
long as the feedback is not malicious or outright incorrect.
|
|
The first thing to do when you note a bug (or a truly problematic
|
|
feature), and want to report it, is to recheck your facts. Is it an
|
|
error you have made, or a simple case of RTFM (you haven't read the
|
|
documentation properly)? If the bug is still there, then by all
|
|
means go ahead and report. The second thing to do before reporting
|
|
to a major shareware author is objectively asking yourself are you
|
|
just trying to solicit extra support, or are you honestly reporting
|
|
a bug for the author's benefit.
|
|
Let me tell you about my own method of giving feedback. When
|
|
reporting bugs I have had very varying responses from shareware
|
|
authors. Some are very responsive, some never answer. The method I
|
|
use (if I feel I have something useful to report) is roughly the
|
|
following. If I can find out the email address of the author I send
|
|
an email report. If I cannot find the email address I leave things
|
|
be (I'm frankly too busy to go through the extra trouble of ordinary
|
|
paper mail). If I get a confirmation of the receipt (or have at
|
|
sometime had useful exchanges with the author), then ok. If I don't
|
|
get any reaction (or haven't had any previously), I let things lie,
|
|
but if I ever have further feedback, I won't send it. Instead I send
|
|
an enquiry telling that I have this bug report, and ask the author
|
|
if s/he is interested about getting my bug report. If I still get no
|
|
response, I won't bother send that author any feedback ever again.
|
|
Incidentally, I have compiled a list of the addresses of MS-DOS
|
|
PD & SW authors reachable on or from Internet. This list is
|
|
available as ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pd2/author35.zip.
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:25 1996
|
|
Subject: Breaking PKZIP encryption
|
|
|
|
25. *****
|
|
Q: Where can I find a program to break a PKZIP encryption password?
|
|
(I zipped a few files awhile ago and password protected the zipped
|
|
file. The problem is, I forgot the password. Does anyone know of a
|
|
utility that can get me past the password?)
|
|
|
|
This is a recurring question especially in the comp.compression
|
|
newsgroup on Usenet. The credibility of this FAQ is low. It is not
|
|
highly likely that this error of forgetting the zip file password
|
|
really occurs as often as this question. The blunt response is "Why
|
|
would one, in the first place, want to use a security feature that
|
|
can be easily broken?" Yes, brute force programs can be found on the
|
|
net for that purpose, because the encryption used in PKZIP is not
|
|
very strong. In particular, if the password that has been used is
|
|
relatively short it can be broken. If someone points you to the
|
|
exact location of such a utility, that is no problem for me. But
|
|
please allow me not to divulge myself information which contains
|
|
advice involving cracking.
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:26 1996
|
|
Subject: Additional good utilities
|
|
|
|
26. *****
|
|
Q: Where can I find other good programs that are not on this list?
|
|
|
|
A: I have listed a number of useful MS-DOS programs into
|
|
ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pd2/bestp43a.zip
|
|
bestp43a.zip Timo's choice of 43 best MS-DOS SW and PD packages
|
|
As for Usenet newsgroups. When you are looking for a particular
|
|
shareware, freeware or public domain MS-DOS program, use
|
|
news:comp.binaries.ibm.pc.wanted to pose your query. If you are
|
|
looking for a fully commercial program, post your question to
|
|
news:comp.os.msdos.apps. Futhermore, there are some excellent search
|
|
engines on the net if you have WWW. You'll find some of them from my
|
|
list of HTTP links http://uwasa.fi/~ts/http/
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|