#Tape Calculator
17 messages in this thread
John,
The update you mentioned in your note has been postponed until October. When
it is released it will be announced on and posted to the forum. 5.0 is so far
in the future that we haven't even started thinking about it yet. 4.2 will be
the next release after 4.1b.
Sincerely, Martine Carlson Technical Support
Martine,
Thanks for your reply.
<< 5.0 is so far in the future that we haven't even started thinking about it
yet. 4.2 will be the next release after 4.1b. >>
I realize you are new to Okna. 5.0 was what Konstantin had been calling the
big, new, Russian programmer-developed DeskTop Set. He had been projecting its
release sometime in 1995.
What is 4.2? Will it be minor changes or a major upgrade? For example, will
windows be sizable?
John
John
Sorry I can't help with the Calculator question. The only Calculator specific
configuration file I can see is CALC.OPT, which appears only to point to where
the .TAP files are stored. I don't know, but I suspect, that Calculator
printing is handled internally to the DTS print engine, probably in a .DLL, and
is not configurable. (The DTS print engine is being rewritten from scratch as
we speak, so this may change in the future, although in all probability
Calculator will not have the necessary hooks to it.)
DTS 5.0 is a floor to ceiling revamp of DTS. It certainly exists in its
entirety inside Konstantin's head, but as he is busy in Moscow putting the
finishing touches to 4.1b, and getting 4.2 up to the plate, 5.0 could
legitimately be described as being so far in the future that they're not
thinking about it yet. That said, 5.0 will almost certainly be out in '95,
post-Chicago (er, Windows '95), and will blow the competition away. (DTS
'95..?) To the best of my knowledge, 5.0 will be OLE 2.x-enabled, 32-bit, and
network/workgroup-enabled.
DTS 4.2 is essentially 4.1b, with incremental enhancements, and most
importantly, is fully network/workgroup-enabled. I suspect 4.2 and 4.1b are
being worked on in tandem, that 4.1b will be out in October, and that 4.2 will
follow in Q1 '95.
Martine is a very nice lady, as are all the Okna staff (well, the female ones).
She answered truthfully and to the best of her abilities, insofar as she is
allowed considering the proprietary information she is privy to. If she can't
answer as well as Konstantin (on the Calculator question), well, she didn't
write the program, but her knowledge of currently shipping DTS modules is
encyclopedic, she is a programmer in her own right, can massage data from any
PIM ever created into DTS, and has a sound knowledge of medieval Europe. In
fact, I believe she is trying to recreate a medieval C language, with calls
like KING_GetCourtJester.<g>
David
David,
My apologies Martine and anyone at Okna who misinterpreted my comment about
Konstantin being able to answer my calculator question without even thinking
about it.
I wasn't comparing Martine's DTS knowledge to Konstantin's — only suggesting
someone who might know the answer without having to invest any time in
research.
I can see, as evidenced by her prompt replies, Martine is professional and
helpful, as has been my experience with all those associated with OKNA. I am
sure she is also a nice lady. However, I'm not sure of the market potential
for her Medieval C language <g>.
Anyway, back to the tape calculator. I asked Konstantin about this a long time
ago when I first experienced the problem (this was also before I realized
changing the printer orientation to landscape "fixed" it). He said, even though
he was also printing to an HP4, that he did not experience the problem. My
discovery this past week of the orientation thing made me think the difference
was in a setting between my DTS and Konstantin's. Unfortunately, the setup
dialog in Tape Calculator provides no page setup options.
Calendar is the only module I use to any extent. I haven't checked this yet
but, I hope to find some setup command in Phone Book or Letters to have an
effect on Tape Calculator's printing. Phone Book was what Konstantin developed
first, so it is logical that a link may be there.
If you have an opportunity to ask Konstantin or learn anything further, please
let me know.
John
Dear John:
I'm glad to hear you were not personally attacking Martine regarding the
Calculator issue because as David pointed out, Martine does her job exceedingly
well. She did pass on the message to me, and as the most "veteran" tech
support staff member, I do not know the answer to this question either. As
Martine noted, we are no longer developing or supporting the Calculator. But, I
will, in any case, ask Konstantin where the Calculator gets its Print Setup
information and post the answer to the forum.
Sincerely, Tracy McKenna Okna Tech Support
John
A very gracious reply. Also, I hadn't realized the Calculator was the first
thing Konstantin did (personally, I don't use it; I like the one in Norton
DeskTop, and keep about 5mb of Norton files on my HD just to support it, as I
actually use PC Tools).
There are two ways to go from here. First, I'm going to delve into Calculator
and see what's in there; if I come up with anything interesting, I'll get back
to you. Second, if you like Calculator, you may consider asking Konstantin if
he would consider selling, giving or licensing it to you. If you have any
programming knowledge, or would like to become a weekend programmer, it might
be any interesting thing to do. Certainly if I liked Calculator, that is
exactly what I would do. (I emphasis that I do not work for Okna, I just
happen to know some of the folk there and am a regular here.)
Either way, if I learn something, I will get back to you.
David
John
A quick update on Calculator. Calculator reuires the following elements to
run:
DTSCUSTOM.DLL, OKNA.DLL and OKNAINTL.DLL must be in the same directory as
TAPECALC.EXE, and WIN.INI must contain a section and line (such as [DeskTop
Set] plus Data=C:\WINDOWS\DESKTOP) pointing to where CALC.OPT is stored and
where LAST.TAP is or will be stored.
TAPECALC.EXE is clearly the program itself, and LAST.TAP is the last session,
if saved. CALC.OPT contains the interface elements established by
File/Setup…, etc. DTSCUSTOM.DLL appears to contain only the pointing finger,
insofar as it relates to Calculator, although that is duplicated in
TAPECALC.EXE. OKNA.DLL contains a great variety of elements, such as the
dialog boxes used by Calculator to say that printing has been started, is being
abandoned, etc., (these dialog boxes are used by all the modules) plus 'string
tables' (although none seem to relate to Calculator), and the hammer icon.
OKNAINTL.DLL seems to related only to Calendar, dates and names of days.
That's a long way of saying, I don't think there is a print configuration
option for Calculator. Your memory of speaking to Konstantin is probably
correct: that what is printed is simply a text dump, and that the configuration
has to be done at the printer. For what it's worth, my HP Series II with
Windows Printing System prints correctly in portrait orientation.
I remember Konstantin commenting publicly some time ago that the frustration
with developing and supporting Calculator is that HP puts out top of the line
calculator products for $50 RRP. For 'advanced' number crunchers, that's
obviously the way to go; for infrequent 1+1=?-types, Windows' Calculator is
probably satisfactory. But then there are users like yourself or myself, who
require more than one but less than the other. I'm sorry you've got stuck in
the middle; personally (and I hope I don't hurt any feelings) I never liked
DTS' Calculator. I thought it was a little guady looking and a little
inflexible. I think Norton's product is much better, and fulfills my needs
exactly.
I'm sorry I can't be of more help on this. If you have any programming
ability, I hope you will seriously consider my previous suggestion of
'acquiring' Calculator, although I honestly have no idea how such a suggestion
would be received (I'm married to an attorney, so I assume everything is
negotiable, particularly if it no longer has 'value' to the owner).
Good luck, and perhaps more info will be forthcoming from Konstantin, either
when one of the Okna folk speak to him, or when he returns.
David
David,
KING_GetCourtJester is the easy part. It's just a simple message passing
routine through the castle servants (all you programmers can stop groaning
now). It's the AUTHOR_GetObscureReferenceBooks that's killing me… 🙂
Martine
Martine
<<AUTHOR_GetObscureReferenceBooks>>
Success = SpeakToMother
If Author = Success Then
Maybe
Goto Yay
Else
MaybeNot
Goto Lame
(That's the WordBasic version. Here's the WPWin, er, PerfectScript version:)
Assign(Success; SpeakToMother)
If(Author=Success)
Maybe
Go Yay
Else
MaybeNot
Go Lame
EndIf
Success *does* equal True, so we're on our way to the Yay routine. We'll have
to see what happens, though, as Mother equals NotOptimistic.
Luckily you're a programmer, so you'll get this. But will anyone else..?<g>
David
Dear David:
NOT ME! I'll pass it on to Martine 🙂
Tracy
Dear Tracy
<<NOT ME! I'll pass it on to Martine :-)>>
Thanks! (One day I'll figure out which account number goes with which
OknaPerson; I notice the name Patrick Tiffany, for example, attached to a
number of support messages, which seems a bit of a mystery, as to the best of
my knowledge he is not an OknaPerson per se, although he did edit and updated
the penultimate user's manual. But I do like a good mystery. Question is, is
this a good mystery..? Don't worry; I'm not sure I know what I'm talking
about, either.<g>)
David
David,
>>Question is, is this a good mystery..?
Heh, heh, heh! I'm still sneakin' around here, David. :>
Patrick
Patrick
<<Heh, heh, heh! I'm still sneakin' around here, David. :> >>
So, what are you doing these days?
David
David,
>> So, what are you doing these days? <<
Same ol' same ol' — a little work, a little school, a little more work, a
little more school, and a little whoopy every now and then to maintain my
perspective. :>
So how's the work coming on that WinWord macro? Looks like you're a pretty
busy fellow, yourself!
Cheers,
Patrick
10-Oct-1994, 18:38:59, via Windows NavCIS TE 1.25
Patrick
<<…a little whoopy every now and then to maintain my perspective. :> >>
I try very hard to maintain 20-20 perspective.<g>
<<So how's the work coming on that WinWord macro?>>
It's in the library. As you may have seen from comments on the forum, it seems
to do its job quite nicely, too.
<<Looks like you're a pretty busy fellow, yourself!>>
Pat — can I call you Pat? — I'm going nuts trying to finish a script. I
can't believe I'm writing macros for a product I don't actually use (WinWord)
when I should be working on my real work. I guess I either enjoy
procrastinating, or I'm due for a career changer; problem is, I'm a very good
writer, and I'm a very good programmer for a writer, and as a programmer I'd be
a very good writer, but as a programmer alone, I'd probably leave a lot to be
desired. Perhaps I should stay with my original career, but actually work at
it from time to time.
David
Dear David:
Patrick is still reading and helping on this forum – in fact, he was teasing me
about the "asdfjkaldfjlsa" message I left the other day! 🙂
As Patrick used to do a lot of support here, the Okna Account actually has his
name on it. In fact, Mike Bessy keeps asking me to PLEASE change that – I'm
gonna try this weekend.
Thanks, Tracy McKenna Okna Tech Support
Dear Tracy
Thanks for the clarification on Patrick. Sometimes I'm not entirely sure who
I'm writing to, for example writing to Martine on Patrick's account and getting
a reply from you. Very confusining for we simple folk.<g>
David