Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!shadooby!ginosko!uunet!munnari.oz.au!csc!ccadfa!usage!basser!metro!ipso!fawlty!johnmac
From: johnmac@fawlty.towers.oz (John MacLean)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: The FST story continues
Keywords: FSTs
Message-ID: <502@fawlty.towers.oz>
Date: 4 Oct 89 05:47:01 GMT
Organization: Tower Technology, Lane Cove, NSW
Lines: 50

In article <4454@internal.Apple.COM> you write:
>In article <404@fawlty.towers.oz> johnmac@fawlty.towers.oz (John MacLean) writes:
>>Why has Apple released a CD-ROM FST and an Appleshare FST but has
>>not provided DOS 3.3, or MAC (MAC should be very simple given the
>>back end of the Appleshare FST could be copied)?
>
>	It's not that simple, because the Appleshare FST knows
>	nothing about the HFS disk structure used on Macintosh
>	volumes. 
>       [lots more deleted ...]
>
>Cary Farrier

I hate to go on about FSTs - the issue has been flogged to death.
At least these discussions have raised awareness of what can (will?) be
done - and thus will increase user demand and hopefully move some
butts.
Anyway the response: Its true that the Appleshare server need not be a Mac,
but Appleshare was designed with the Mac as a server. Thus all the info
passed to and from the Appleshare server (through the Appleshare commands),
maps directly onto stuff relevent at the low level HFS structure.
Thus the Appleshare FST does much of the high level translations that
are necessary to map onto MFS or HFS.
Sure it knows nothing about how all this stuff is physically arranged on
each block of the disk, or even that a disk has blocks.
An FST must map file names and file info between OS's as well as handling
the low level stuff - so perhaps when I said the "back end" I caused
confusion (maybe "front end" is more appropriate?).
Anyway, even the low level stuff is not very complex as the smartport
interface supports reads and writes of 524 byte blocks for the Mac directly,
so all you need is the directory structure and file manipulation.
I remember putting Mac HFS and MFS reads into The Graphic Exchange in
ONE WEEKEND before Applefest at the end of last year; quite a few bugs were
uncovered later, but it shows that things are not as complex as some
will have us believe.
All I want is some FSTs for the real people.

Always the critic ...
John MacLean.
Action is one sure way to silence the critics.
-- 
Internet: johnmac@fawlty.towers.oz.au			  Phone: +61 2 427 2999
UUCP:     uunet!fawlty.towers.oz.au!johnmac		  Fax:   +61 2 427 7072
Snail:    Tower Technology
	  31-33 Sirius Rd, Lane Cove, NSW 2066, Australia.
-- 
Internet: johnmac@fawlty.towers.oz.au			  Phone: +61 2 427 2999
UUCP:     uunet!fawlty.towers.oz.au!johnmac		  Fax:   +61 2 427 7072
Snail:    Tower Technology
	  31-33 Sirius Rd, Lane Cove, NSW 2066, Australia.