Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hoptoad!tim
From: tim@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Maroney)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Communications Toolbox questions
Message-ID: <9125@hoptoad.uucp>
Date: 29 Nov 89 19:56:41 GMT
Organization: Eclectic Software, San Francisco
Lines: 50

I sent these questions to Byron Han at Apple some time ago, and it's
obvious I'm not going to get an answer, so I thought I'd throw them
open to the net.  Any help greatly appreciated.


I've been working with the Comm Toolbox and I wondered if you could
give brief answers to a few questions:

(1)  Is there a way to configure tools "off-line", that is, without an
underlying connection?  The idea would be to save the configuration
string in a session document, but not to start a connection.  For
instance, suppose you want the user to be able to configure one session
document while another connection is open -- this would be pretty
common:  suppose the user sees the number and connection information
for a great new BBS posted on a BBS she calls, and wants to set up to
call the new BBS while still on-line at the old one.  If the
documentation says how to do so, could you point me to the appropriate
place?

(2)  Are you going to make the installation process less painful for
users who have 6.0.x?  This is pretty important for marketing reasons.
Since the installation will be as part of the system installation on
7.0, there's no need for a change there, but I trust you can see what
the problems are with 6.0.x installation.  It should be a file that
can be dragged into the system folder.

(3)  (No need to answer)  Are you aware that the status dialog boxes
for the Modem tool are way ugly?  They need some graphics, better
placement, and less need for the user to keep clicking OK.

(4)  How does one sense a connection drop (carrier loss) on a Modem
connection?

(5)  The "sub-protocols" of file transfer are handled weakly.  The user
should select a mode (such as text, MacBinary, or data) every time she
transfers a file, sending or receiving.  It is certainly not true that
you will always use the same mode or sub-protocol on every file
transfer for a particular session document.  But the only way to do
this seems to be to follow Standard File with a complete file transfer
configuration dialog.  I would prefer to put the mode control/pop-up
in the Standard File box itself.  Is there any way to do this?

Thanks for any help you can give....

Tim Maroney, apple!hoptoad!tim
-- 
Tim Maroney, Mac Software Consultant, sun!hoptoad!tim, tim@toad.com

If you vote for clowns, you have no right to complain that only clowns
make it to the ballot.