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From: boris@world.std.com (Boris Levitin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc,comp.sys.mac.wanted
Subject: Re: Auto-save INIT? (Or, Saviour DA)
Message-ID: <1990Nov4.052453.12328@world.std.com>
Date: 4 Nov 90 05:24:53 GMT
References: <10807.27243b38@amherst.bitnet> <4908@graphite16.UUCP>
Organization: The World @ Software Tool & Die
Lines: 54

tang@motcid.UUCP (Sam D. Tang) writes:

>ksbolduan@amherst.bitnet writes:

>:I just picked up the Saviour DA from the sumex archives. Supposedly it
>:automatically save whatever you're working on at regular intervals.
>:Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work with my SE/30 and System 6.0.4. It seems
>:incredibly archaic (circa 1986!) and maybe it doesn't like Multifinder or any
>:of the myriad of inits that I'm using.

>:Are there any other programs, preferably INITs or CDEVs which will do auto-save
>:after a given length of time or number of characters typed? It would seem to be
>:quite a simple INIT to write, and would help many who have recently switched
>:from IBM WordPerfect to the Mac where the feature is implemented.

>:E-mail repsonses to me and I'll summarize for the net.

>:Kevin Bolduan
>:KSBOLDUAN@AMHERST

>There are some problems with this approach BUT you can always put a cmd-S 
>into a QuicKeys' "periodic" QuickTimer to save every so often for most 
>applications.  The CDEV allows for startup, recurring (at intervals starting 
>at 1 minute), and shutdown macros.  Other macros could toggle this periodic 
>saving on and off by pulling up the control panel and clicking a few times.  

>Also, not only IBM software has auto-save capabilities.  I don't see it 
>that often but I have seen it.  One problem is that the user is probably the 
>best judge when it comes to deciding when/how often to checkpoint his work.  
>It usually takes only one or two bad experiences to become a conscientious 
>backer-upper.  After that stage it's a matter of hitting two keys at the right
>time.  Simple.  You also don't have to sit through a useless save, or, more 
>importantly, a save that permatizes a very bad change you didn't get a chance 
>to undo.

There's a supported commercial DA called Shadow.  When first released,
it supposedly had a few incompatibilities... check for its current status.
At first I was inclined to use autosavers on the Mac, because that was
one feature of the otherwise horrid IBM CMS mainframe operating system I 
valued, but I don't use it nowadays because on the average SCSI HD the save
takes too long with many documents (I don't want it kicking in while I'm
writing down a thought which might flee while a two-minute save is executing)
and because on a Mac the autosave alters the original file, not a temporary
one like under CMS or Unix, and I don't sometimes want to keep the changes I 
made.

Boris Levitin
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