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From: lrm3@ellis.uchicago.edu (Lawrence Reed Miller)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Multitasking =/=> Background printing, copying, etc.?
Message-ID: <1991May25.004737.21427@midway.uchicago.edu>
Date: 25 May 91 00:47:37 GMT
References: <1441@mephisto.edu>
Sender: news@midway.uchicago.edu (NewsMistress)
Organization: University of Chicago
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In article <1441@mephisto.edu> ashwin@cc.gatech.edu (Ashwin Ram) writes:
[beginning deleted]
>Can someone explain why this doesn't happen under system 7?  Have I
>configured my upgrade wrong, or is there some reason that printing, copying
>and formatting are different from all other types of tasks?  (Seems weird if
>that is so... regular multitasking machines (e.g., Unix machines) run these
>as standard processes that respond to standard job control operations.)

Printing does background under System 7, if you are using a LaserWriter.  If
you are using another printer, I think it depends on the manufacturer to
provide a printer driver that backgrounds correctly.  What kind of printer are
you using?

Copying files also works in the background.  However, you can't use the Finder
while the copying is going on.  I think that this is to aviod possible
conflicts (i.e. user starts copying file into folder, folder is dragged into
trash & trash is emptied before copying is completed, etc.).  If you are
running MS Word, for instance, and start a copy going, you can switch from the
Finder to Word and keep on typing while the copying goes on in the background.
Perhaps someone from Apple knows why the Finder is disabled during copies?

Floppy formatting requires a lot of processor interrupts to work, so from what
I have heard, if you allowed background disk initialization, the forground
proccess would be _very_ slow and jerky.  The IIfx has a coprocessor to handle
the floppy, so it probably could initialize in the background.  Unfortunately,
this is not implemented in System 7.  Maybe in System 8 ... :^)

Hope this helps,
Lawrence Miller