Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hoptoad!tim
From: tim@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Maroney)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Sound (Also file system)
Message-ID: <7788@hoptoad.uucp>
Date: 28 Jun 89 19:33:08 GMT
References: <23252@santra.UUCP>
Reply-To: tim@hoptoad.UUCP (Tim Maroney)
Organization: Eclectic Software, San Francisco
Lines: 66

In article <23252@santra.UUCP> jmunkki@kampi.hut.fi (Juri Munkki) writes:
>
>I just read the new and revised technote 19 and I must say that I no longer
>believe that Apple is serious about sound support in their products.
>
>>The Sound Driver is no longer supported.  There have always been, and
>>still are, bugs in the glue code for StartSound.
>>The Sound Driver may not be present in future System Software releases,
>>or future hardware may not be able to support it.  The Sound Manager is
>>the applications interface to the sound hardware.

So what's wrong with the Sound Manager?  Granted, it's irritating that
Apple sometimes redefines the way parts of the OS work, but you have to
understand that the early Mac OS was a bit of a rush job that wasn't
expected to last this long.  Replacing particularly messy bits like
the Sound Driver and Print Manager is necessary to prolonging the
useful life of the OS.

>The interim chapter basically says that you can't use the sound
>manager for anything else besides producing a beep sound... At least
>I don't find the functions it offers to be of any use to me. Playing
>the beep is simple, but anything beyond this is close to impossible.

I don't get it.  What interim chapter?  Is there something wrong with the
Sound Manager chapter in Inside Mac volume V?  Have I missed something?
My copy of Tech Note #19 makes frequent reference to "the Sound Manager
described in Inside Mac volume V".  And you can do a lot more than beep!
Nor is it difficult -- what could be easier than SndPlay?

>I think the sound manager should be scrapped along with the sound driver
>and something better should be offered. If you intend to keep on changing
>the rules, you might offer something truly good. I thought Apple had all
>the necessary r&d money to develop something that makes sense. Give me
>ASC documentation and I'll write something better.

What specifically is the problem with the Sound Manager?  How would
you improve it?

>Another thing:	if the new and rewritten system 7.0 is any larger than the
>		current system 6.0, I think it is flawed. It is possible to
>		make the system smaller by leaving out kludges. The first
>		thing that comes to mind is MFS support.

Eh?  The file system has been in the ROM since the Mac Plus days.  In
fact, the new B-Tree Manager in System 7.0 is mostly a matter of
documenting hooks that have always been in HFS, not adding any new
code.  I don't see how you could leave out MFS support, since it's in
ROM -- and obviously, there are a lot of single-sided floppies out
there that you can't break!

System 7.0 will be larger.  That's one reason it will require two
megabytes.  It has a lot of new managers and reimplemented managers,
yet it must preserve backward compatibility.  Fortunately, RAM prices
will be quite low by first quarter 1990, which is when I expect System
7.0 to be released to the public.

>I wonder what company will be the new innovator when Apple is gone.

Do you really think a company with a quarter of a billion dollars cash
in the bank is just going to go away because you have some unspecified
complaints with the Sound Manager?
-- 
Tim Maroney, Mac Software Consultant, sun!hoptoad!tim, tim@toad.com
Postal: 424 Tehama, SF CA 94103; Phone: (415) 495-2934

A good flame strengthens its points; it does not stand in lieu of them.