Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!samsung!usc!sdsu!ucselx!polyslo!cosmos.acs.calpoly.edu!tdrinkar From: tdrinkar@cosmos.acs.calpoly.edu (Terrell Drinkard) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Now that the smoke had cleared (Honest Mac/IBM questions) Message-ID: <1990Jan2.190739.704@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU> Date: 2 Jan 90 19:07:39 GMT References: <1284@marlin.NOSC.MIL> <2701@aecom.yu.edu> Sender: news@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (News Guru) Reply-To: tdrinkar@cosmos.acs.calpoly.edu.UUCP (Terrell Drinkard) Organization: Cal Poly State University -- San Luis Obispo Lines: 97 In article <2701@aecom.yu.edu> werner@aecom.yu.edu (Craig Werner) writes: >In article <1284@marlin.NOSC.MIL>, jbjones@marlin.NOSC.MIL (John B. Jones) writes: >> about the Mac interface. With a mac, how do you >> >> 1. Activate something out of sight (in a sub-folder). > Double clicking an object activates its application. I have a >lot of dummy files strewn in sub-folders to accomplish this purpose. >Another way is to double-click an existing real file, and then close it >and continue. It's clumsy, but intuitive (more the former). I apologize to those of us who have followed the entire thread and realize that better answers have been posted, but I couldn't let this slide by again. There are at least two system utilities that accomplish this in a very nice, Macintosh manner. On-Cue uses a pull down menu to select application (with or without attached documents) from anywhere in the system. DiskTools II will allow you to launch applications from anywhere. DiskTop also has a nice pull down menu that is user configurable (like On-Cue) that will launch applications from wherever. BlackBox has the NeXT-like application dock. The list goes on. It is quite easy to do. >> 2. Copy something out of sight to the current or another directory. > You don't. Even worse, if you're in a subdirectory, sorry - >folder, and you switch to another drive, and switch back, it returns >you to root, not from where you started. Again, not exactly right. There are several other system utilites which allow you to return to the last subdirectory you were in, in fact with your last selection highlighted for you already. These are Boomerang, Shortcut, and SFVolInit. There may well be others, I'm not familiar with every Macintosh utility. >> 3. Redirect the output from one program to another as input; example: >> prompt>awk -f fil.awk this | awk -f fix.awk >> that > The clipboard. This is painful. Yeachhhhh..... > In fact most applications don't think in terms of input and >output, they think in terms of "events," some of which might come from >the keyboard... I'm not a unix hacker, and I've never used an awk, so I really can't comment on it. But I don't think Craig is presenting an unbiased view of the machines capabilities here. >> 4. Write batch files(i.e. is there any highlevel, simple programming >> feature in the Mac OS?) > There is MacroMaker in system 6. Before that you had to go out and >buy something (and there are several packages available.) But note that >MacroMaker doesn't remember what you clicked, only WHERE you clicked, so >if someone else uses the Mac and moves an Icon or window, OR you start up >the application in a non-standard way so the desktop is different, the >macro fails and cannot be edited. You either have to restore the former >state, or rerun it through. ALso, macros don't run in background. You >see everything (there's no echo off). And if applications are opened in >the macro, the macro might outrace the Mac, and try to click a menu >before the menus have actually changed. In this case, the macro >mysteriously fails (this is why I try to use keyboard commands in macros >as much as possible, but not all Mac commands in most applications can be >shadowed by the keyboard.) Also, as far as I can tell, you can't transfer >these macros as you would a batch file. > In other words, if you need a yes or no answer, the sane answer >would probably be "No." It's closer to "not really," or "not as you know >them." There is a common one line batch file that I use on Unix. On the >Mac, it takes almost a minute, and 17 mouse clicks, all of which time the >Mac is frozen (although the "dancing" screen displays impress onlookers. As I've remarked before, I've never had any problems with Macro-Maker. But for those who don't like it, there are alternatives - Tempo II, and Quick-Keys spring to mind right away. Seems to me there is at least one other macro-utility available, but the name escapes me. Oh, and it's hard to beat Macro-Maker's price - it is free from Apple. > If you hadn't noticed. I hate the Mac. I use it under protest. Really? I'd have never guessed! :-) Perhaps you should consider investing in a used PDP-11? Or perhaps buy the machine of your choice? I can't imagine a campus where only one kind of machine is available, particularly a Macintosh. >-- > Craig Werner (future MD/PhD, 4.5 years down, 2.5 to go) > werner@aecom.YU.EDU -- Albert Einstein College of Medicine > (1935-14E Eastchester Rd., Bronx NY 10461, 212-931-2517) > "Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died." Never go to a doctor. The medical profession *still* does not understand how athletes foot is transmitted. The only thing I know for sure about a doctor is that he/she will indeed lie to me. Terry - me, I'm just a technodweeb engineer. Disclaimer et la Signaturo: Hell no, I'm not responsible for what I say! If everyone were responsible for what they said, we'd have had a balanced budget in 1984.