I'm linking to ask whether you have any information about using the Threads Package
with THINK C and TCL, and whether there are any special considerations involved in
using threads with or inside methods. Just using them inside a method with a single
instance, with no reference to instance variables, is demonstrably effective, but this
case is logically indistinguishable from conventional code. I suspect that use with
objects might require custom fSwapIn and fCopyContext routines to preserve this,
the handle to the object's instance. In THINK C, this is internally kept in an address
register.
If the default context-saving routines save A0-A4 register states as well as the stack,
this should automatically be preserved. Whether registers are preserved does not
seem to be documented in your otherwise nifty develop article. Logic says some must
be preserved (A5 at least), but have you been prescient enough to save all of them?
--Kirk Kerekes
Thanks for your truly inspiring link! It really makes a difference for me to get
feedback like this. I don't foresee any special problems threading THINK C code. All the
data and address registers are saved. The FPU registers are saved only if you
specifically request that they be saved at InitThreads time, and then only when you
have an FPU. Remember to be careful about segment unloading.
I'm at your service if you need any help with threads. Feel free to contact me by
telephone. My number is (408)974-0355.
--Michael Gough
MISSING SNIPPETS
Am I blind? Issue 6 of develop, page 88, talks about code snippets, but I can't find
them anywhere. Are they inside a stack somewhere, or did they miss getting on the CD?
--Greg Johnson
You are not blind. Snippets did not make it onto that CD, but they've made it onto the
Developer Essentials disc for this issue of develop. They're also available via
AppleLink®, in the Developer Technical Support folder on the Developer Services
Bulletin Board, as well as in the Dev Tech Answers library.
--Caroline Rose
MISSING TRUETYPE INIT
Recently I received Issue 6 of develop . I enjoy reading the articles and would like to
make a comment.
Since Apple is distributing a TrueTypeTM INIT for System 6.0.7, why didn't you put it
on the CD of Issue 6? I hope I can find it in the next issue even though System 7.0 is
now available.
--Tetsuya Ishikawa
I hope we can fulfill other people's wishes as easily as we did yours. The TrueType INIT
for System 6.0.7 is now on the CD in the folder with the System; an oversight kept it
off of the last CD.
As with all old System software, we're providing this INIT so you can test your
software with it (just in case you've got some as-yet-unupgraded users). When
testing with the TrueType INIT, make sure you use it only with System 6.0.7; that's
the only System it's designed to work with.
Happy testing,--Caroline Rose
DISAPPOINTING CD
I must admit to being disappointed with the CD-ROM disc that came with Issue 6: Tech
Notes "stuck" back in 12/90, no Volume VI of Inside Macintosh , just HyperCard®
alone rather than a developer's edition, no System 7.0. Should I expect that my
perception that the disc is out-of-touch, out-of-date, and insufficient will be
permanent? That is, develop is not really meant to be a real developer-support
package for the individual (noncorporate) developer operating on a shoe string?
Thanks for any insight you can give me.
--Pete Roberts
I certainly hope your perception that the disc is out-of-touch, out-of-date, and
insufficient will not be permanent. We collect and press as much as we can, but
because we want subscribers to get develop regularly, we don't hold the presses for
software or documentation that isn't quite ready yet, as was the case last time for
System 7.0 and Inside Macintosh Volume VI. They're both on this issue's disc. The Tech
Notes on Issue 6's disc were actually updated through February 1991. (Well, the stack
version was, anyway; the MacWrite® version wasn't, and we apologize for the
oversight.)
As for the developer edition of HyperCard, Claris Corporation no longer allows us to
distribute it.
We'll continue to do our best to give you the latest, greatest information possible!
--Caroline Rose
WHERE'S LOUELLA?
Congratulations, Caroline, on your new job as Editor-in-Cheek of develop . I hope you
have as much fun at it as Louella had.
Thanks for the riddle at the end of your first editorial. We've been scratching our
heads over it for a while. The closest thing to a guess we can come up with is that you
used either a tablet or some other alternative text entry device. You probably were
able to emulate the mouse as well as the keyboard. Why? Perhaps to demonstrate that
handicapped people can have access to the Macintosh.
A humble suggestion: I've saved all the CD-ROMs that have come with your magazine (
develop the CD, aka develop , the disc, aka Developer Essentials ). How about designing
inserts for the CD cases that some of us keep their CD-ROMs in? Something we could
print on thick paper, cut out, and stick in the plastic boxes to label the contents. Keep
up the good work!
--Lyle D. Gunderson
P.S. I tried to send mail to Louella at pizzuti1@applelink.apple.com, but your system
denied knowing about her. Any help you could give me in addressing e-mail to her
would be very much appreciated.
Thanks for the nice letter. I'm having more fun than I've ever had on a job.
Regarding the answer to my riddle: If you've read this issue's editorial, you know by
now that you were barking up the right tree. Other readers who replied did not think of
access by people with physical limitations.
I hope I've succeeded in doing some consciousness raising here. Your idea about the
insert is a good one. We didn't manage to get it onto this issue's disc, but we'll try for
next time. It sounds as if you're holding on to all the old discs. If so, be careful about
using stuff on them, because we update software and generally attempt to correct the
mistakes of the past with each new disc.
Louella decided that there was after all no job as much fun as being editor of develop,
so she retired to raise flowers in Holland. Just kidding. You can reach her at
louella@applelink.apple.com.
--Caroline Rose
POLES AND FONTS
Two things I'd like to mention after reading Issue 5 (Volume 2, Issue 1):
First, I'm not sure that the answer to the question "What is the difference between
North and West?" is completely correct. To my mind, there are two points on the globe
from which one would be hard pressed to go further West (or East): the North and
South Poles.
Second, may I make a typographic recommendation? Please use Courier for "computer
voice" (program listings and the like). Prestige Elite is ugly and too lightweight. The
Bitstream ® Courier family has a good regular weight and a bold that would be
compatible with your Futura headings.
Oh, and without being too dogmatic, I disagree that a spacious layout is necessarily
more effective or attractive.
--Toby Thain
You're right, we mistakenly left out the South Pole. Those PR folks for the North Pole
do a really good job at making you forget that the other pole exists at all (especially in
December, and that was after all our Winter issue). Thanks for the correction.
I'm not sure I agree that Prestige Elite is ugly, but it does bother me that its hyphen
(what's typed for a minus sign in code) is so narrow and its O (Oh) and 0 (zero) are
not very easily distinguishable. So in this issue we have indeed switched to Bitstream
Courier, which solves these problems and has the right weight.
The beauty of a particular font or layout is surely in the eye of the beholder; I've heard
at least as many positive responses as negative ones to the choices we've made for
develop. We hope that you and others will keep giving us specific feedback so we'll
know what's working and what isn't.
--Caroline Rose
COMMENTS We welcome timely letters to the editors, especially from readers
reacting to articles that we publish in develop . Letters should be addressed to
Caroline Rose (or, if technical develop -related questions, to Dave Johnson) at Apple
Computer, Inc., 20525 Mariani Avenue, M/S 75-2B, Cupertino, CA 95014
(AppleLink: CRose or Johnson.DK). All letters should include name and company name
as well as address and phone number. Letters may be excerpted or edited for clarity
(or to make them look like they say what we wish they did). *