Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tellab5!toth
From: toth@tellab5.tellabs.com (Joseph G. Toth Jr.)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: Hyperc more questions...
Summary: Answers and observations
	 Docs, Docs, who's got the Docs??
Message-ID: <2274@tellab5.tellabs.com>
Date: 21 Mar 90 14:05:26 GMT
References: <9678@wpi.wpi.edu>
Organization: Tellabs, Inc. Lisle, IL
Lines: 79

In article <9678@wpi.wpi.edu>, greyelf@wpi.wpi.edu (Michael J Pender) writes:
> Well by this point I've spent a LOT of time playing with hyperc, and still
> have some questions.

So, have I; on bothe points.

> How do I fetch a random number for making games?

Write your own..  I have.  However there is a problem with HyperC in
regards to generating random numbers;  most good algorithms(sp) for
integer random number generation require more than 16 bit accuracy
and HyperC's treatment of 'long' is not twice the size of 'int' - they
made 'long' (2 bytes) equal to 'int' (2 bytes).  I have had problems
with this since I have yet to figure out how to pass a parameter of the
type 'LONG' (from the 'fp' definitions) through a procedural call.
   (ie. LONG *proc_name(parm)
        LONG parm;
        {
	   code();
        } 
    errors occur on either use of LONG )	
I always get some kind of error, of course this might be due to the
method used to create a 4 byte integer '#typedef char LONG[4]'.

Maybe the documentation provides some description of how this could
be accomplished.
NOTE: While most advanced C compliers implement 'long' as twice the 
   size of the 'int' variable, the K&R standard does not require it,
   from 'A Book on C' by Al Kelley and Ira Pohl.

> How do we create a system file that can be executed independent of the
> shell?

There is an object file 's.o' that is the first file to be included into
the links when performing a compile to netive code.  Somebody would have
to write a new one fo these that sets up all initial values for variables
used by the HyperC compiled/linked executable.  Also the 'exit()' code
would have to be re-coded to perform a ProDOS 'bye' operationi (there
might be better operations to avoid having a program started from the
basic environment exiting all the way to the crummy ProDOS selector - not
as important if you use one of the many shells/program launchers)..

> Is there a nice clean way to scan the keyboard or a string for 
> decimal numbers, hex numbers, etc.?  like sscanf("%d %c", a,b);

There is an '<int_var> = atoi(<string_ptr>);' operation. but a good scan
function would have to be written by somebody.

> How do I access the printer?

I haven't figured out how to do this from the code yet (No Docs again).
But i did write a small program that reads a file and prints it to the
screen (called it 'cat', like unix), and then do 'print #1 cat <filename>'
where the '1' is the slot number ( type the '#' or the system hangs ).

> I haven't got my computer set up right now, but when I do I'll
> upload a few commands I wrote for the c system.

Maybe there ought to be a new newsgroup for HyperC under apple2 so that
interest in 'C' on a ][ c/e (excuse the nomenclature) could grow.

> Oh, and how is memory allocated under C?  If I patched Daemon into C,
> we might really have something...

If you are refering to the use of the alloc(<byte_count>) or free(<mem_ptr>),
but it probably takes all memory between the top address of the program and
the value in HIMEM and uses that as the free space.

> ---
> Michael J Pender Jr  Box 1942 c/o W.P.I.   W.O.S. is not dead.
> greyelf@wpi.bitnet   100 Institute Rd.     ...its time to get started,
> greyelf@wpi.wpi.edu  Worcester, Ma 01609   there is much to be done.
> If my next computer isn't a IIgs, it won't be an apple... Me.


-- 
------------------------------------------------+---------------------
Maybe I shouldn't have done it, sarcasm is so   | Joseph G. Toth Jr.
seldom understood.  Don't FLAME on me, please.  | uunet!tellab5!toth