C Programming & Compiler Review Newsletter
Volume 1, Number 6 10 April 1988
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| - C News - |
| |
| International |
| C Programming & Compiler Review |
| Newsletter |
| |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
US Office:
Editor Barry Lynch
Technical Editor Marshall Presnell
Australian Office:
Editor David Nugent
Asst Editor Kevin Bergin
C News is published monthly by the C BBS as its official
newsletter. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication
in C News. Articles should be related to C programming and can be
Tutorials, reviews or articles of interest to the C programming
community. All Operating systems are fairly represented and this
newsletter shows no favoritism to any one in particular. Instruct-
ions on how to submit articles for publication is included on the
last page.
C News is the property of the C BBS and is Copyright 1988 by the
the C BBS. All rights are reserved and distribution is limited to
electronic distribution and personal printed copies. C News cannot
be resold at any profit, by any organization. All material enclosed
within the newsletter is the opinions of the writers and not the
C BBS or it's Sysop.
C News 1-06 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
TABLE OF CONTENTS
=================================================================
1. EDITORIAL
The Heap: messages from the editor.................... 1
2. SHORT SNIPS
Magazine Review's
by Barry Lynch ........................................ 2
3. BOOK REVIEWS
C Chest: And other C Treasures from Dr. Dobb's ............ 5
by Barry Lynch
4. SOFTWARE REVIEWS
Public Domain: .......................................... 6
PRNDOC.ARC, and SED.ARC
by David Nugent
5. Authors Comments on Wildcard Expansion .................. 8
by Bill Mayne
6. NOTES
Article Submission Standards ............................. 10
Address's ............................................... 11
USER Response Form ....................................... 12
7. INDEX ................................................... 13
8. Distribution Points ..................................... 15 C News 1-06 Page 1 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
EDITORIAL
=================================================================
C News: Where it has been and where it is going...
Since the inception of C News, numerous changes have been
made to the format, the distribution and the areas of coverage.
In future issues, a beginners column will be featured as well as
a Questions and Answer column. Both of these columns are in the
development stage and should be ready for Issue 7. (Both of these
columns are the result of the overwhelming requests submitted via
the user response form. C News is growing and we hope to continue
to provide the information that all C programmers find interesting
and useful.
This issue of C News is a little thin compared to some of the
previous, but that is a direct reflection of the lack of contributions
by readers and users. Suffice it to say, that I do not have the time
or the knowledge to write and entire issue of C News myself. However,
I will try harder in the future. With this issue of C news I have
included a file that contains a subject thread that is of interest
to me and to a good portion of the C programmers on the C BBS - UNIX.
This thread contains messages from the developers of Micro-port UNIX
and users on a forum on Compuserve. It is an interesting collection
of thoughts and is good reading.
Starting next month, another column will be featured covering
MS Windows programming. This will eventually branch into OS/2 when
I get a copy of the OS/2 Developers Kit. I cannot promise anything
wonderful, as my windows programming is bare-bones, but it should
pick up in time.
One last thing, the C BBS is in the process of reorganizing and
cataloguing the software available for download/file request. This
should help all users find the software that they are looking for,
and maybe save them some money on phonebills as well. This catalog
will be available on-line and as a hardcopy report for a nominal
fee to cover postage.
Well, one more issue of C news has hit the streets, and I will
continue work on a Data Structure article for C News readers by next
issue. C U...
Barry Lynch
C News 1-06 Page 2 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
SHORT SNIPS
=================================================================
Magazine Reviews:
_________________________________________________________________
Magazine: Computer Language
Publisher: Miller Freeman Publications
Published: Monthly cost $3.50US & $4.50 Canadian
Subject Matter: Computer Languages
Issue: Vol 5 No 3 - March 1988
This issue of Computer Language offered a continuation of the
article by Al Steven's on TSR's. This time the article was
written with MSC 5.0 and QuickC in mind. Other articles in
this issue include: DOS File Organization, and some reviews
of Public Domain software with a UNIX flavor.
_________________________________________________________________
Magazine: Computer Language
Publisher: Miller Freeman Publications
Published: Monthly cost $3.50US & $4.50 Canadian
Subject Matter: Computer Languages
Issue: Vol 5 No 4 - April 1988
Once again, Computer Language has geared an issue towards C, and
this time with some articles covering the subject of Debugging.
Matter of fact it is safe to say that this issue is dedicated to
that subject, no less then three articles are presented. The
first deals with The Discipline of Debugging a sort of primer to
get you started. The second article is a review of features in
languages that aid in debugging, and the third is an article on
developing your own Debugger in C, with source.
One other article of interest in this issue covers "wierd C bugs"
as they put it, and is quite informative. All in all, this issue
is quite useful and the staff of Computer Language have begun to
produce more C related articles than in the past. CL is now one
of my regular journals every month.
C News 1-06 Page 3 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
SHORT SNIPS
=================================================================
Magazine Reviews:
_________________________________________________________________
Magazine: Dr. Dobb's Journal of Software Tools
Publisher: M&T Publishing
Published: Monthly cost $2.95US & $3.95 Canadian
Subject Matter: Programming Languages
Issue: Vol 137 Mar 88
Dr. Dobb's has long been recognized as an invaluable source of
information for programmers in general. This issue is no exception
with articles on Object oriented design, Binary Trees, Huge Arrays,
and EGA Fonts. Also included in this issue is a review of
Codeview, and graphic symbolic debugger available with the Micro-
soft family of computer languages.
_________________________________________________________________
Magazine: Dr. Dobb's Journal of Software Tools
Publisher: M&T Publishing
Published: Monthly cost $2.95US & $3.95 Canadian
Subject Matter: Programming Languages
Issue: Vol 138 Apr 88
This issue of Dr. Dobb's highlights an Artificial Intelligence
Langauge called AAL. Several other articles on the subject of
AI are included. Also included in Alan Hobub's monthly "C Chest"
column is an article on Printf and how it works, and how it can
be spruced up.
C News 1-06 Page 4 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
SHORT SNIPS
=================================================================
Magazine Reviews:
_________________________________________________________________
Magazine: Micro/Systems Journal
Publisher: M&T Publishing
Published: Monthly cost $3.95US & $4.95 Canadian
Subject Matter: Programming Languages
Issue: April 1988
This particular issue of Micro Systems Journal is geared towards
C and therefore is must reading for us C junkies. Articles on
Debugging, Dos Functions, and a comparison of TurboC vs QuickC are
presented. There are also some reviews of the Periscope line of
hardware debuggers, that have been considered the best in the field
for quite awhile. Micro Systems Journal does not always cover
languages in depth, but occasionally an interesting issue such
as this one becomes available.
C News 1-06 Page 5 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
BOOK REVIEWS
=================================================================
_________________________________________________________________
C Chest: and other C Treasures from Dr. Dobb's Journal
Author: Allen Hobub
Publisher: M&T Books, Redwood, CA 1987
Cost: $23.95 (US$)
Being an avid Dr. Dobb's fan I noticed the advertisements for this
book in issues of Dr. Dobb's for quite some time now. Today, when
I was in the bookstore, I saw a copy on the shelf and opened it to
browse the contents. This is what I found: Articles on, Pipes,
Wild-Card Expansion, Sorting, Command-Line processing, Queues and
Bit maps, MS-DOS directories, the UNIX Make utility, Curses and
much more.
This book is informative from my quick browse this afternoon and
source is included with all chapters. The book is well written
and covers alot of ground, but all topics are explained clearly
and the source is well commented. This book is a compilation of
the C Chest column from Dr. Dobb's from March 1985 to July 1987.
C News 1-06 Page 6 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE REVIEWS:
=================================================================
_________________________________________________________________
Filename: PRNDOC.ARC
When I first downloaded this file, it had been posted as a C
source code formatter, which I thought a great idea, since it
could standardize the formatting of all my C source ...
But this was not to be. While the incorrect posting did cause a
few minutes of heartburn, it turned out to be a neat little print
formatting utility for paginating documents; even allows
inserting a left margin and is sensitive to double sided
printing. Not bad.
The program is provided with little documentation, but is
completely prompt driven as easy to follow. It's quite a clever
formatter that can take raw ASCII text and turn it into something
quite presentable. No special .xx controls or tagging required.
Just straight ASCII text.
Source provided: Unfortunately not.
_________________________________________________________________
Filename: SED.ARC
At last SOME of the power of Unix is available on the PC.
SED is a PC/MS-DOS implementation of the Unix stream editor.
This is a VERY powerful utility used in Xenix/Unix scripts (like
MS-DOS batch files, only tones more clever) to edit files FROM
THE COMMAND LINE. It is a utility which cannot be appreciated
until you play with it.
SED scripts can be developed to do amazing things with text and
program source files. One sample script provided does most of
the hacking required to transfer a pascal source file into C.
All possible with a general purpose utility and an intelligent
script.
Of course SED is best applied repetitively, and is excellent for
changing occurrences of a particular variable or function name for
a complete group of files. While it may only be used
occasionally from the command line, it can be used regularly to
update and manipulate text files regularly.
If you prefer to avoid technical utilities, you'd better avoid
this one two. Power unfortunately has a trade-off - complexity -
C News 1-06 Page 7 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE REVIEWS:
=================================================================
_________________________________________________________________
Filename: SED.ARC Continued:
and this utility is no exception. It uses Unix-style regular
expression and 'magic' syntax and is, as far as I can determine,
completely Unix/Xenix compatible. For those of you like me - who
swap between the two - this is very handy.
Source provided: All but the main() function. Damned if I know
why it was omitted. Comes with the command parse and editor
functions, which is 'just about' complete.
Compiler: Standard K & R. No porting required and can be
compiled under small models ok. You'll have to write your own
main() [Just to freopen stdin/stdout for file redirection and
open the command script].
C News 1-06 Page 8 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
AUTHORS COMMENT: ON "FILENAME WILDCARD EXPANSION IN MSC"
=================================================================
Before some perceptive reader of my article "Filename Wildcard
Expansion in Microsoft C" in issue 4 of CNEWS accuses me of advocating
reinventing the wheel, I should admit that the article and the
programs it contained were written several months ago, before the
release of MSC 5.0. The part telling how to compile and link under
5.0 was a last minute addition.
I have since learned that MSC 5.0 provides library functions to expand
wildcards which perform the same function as my "findentr()" and
"findnext()". They are called "dos_findfirst()" and "dos_findnext()",
respectively. Even the arguments are the same, except that the order
of arguments expected by "dos_findfirst()" is different. The
structure used to communicate with dos, called "find_t" is compatible
with my "DTA_STRUCT". "DTA_STRUCT" looks a little more complicated
because it goes a little further and declares bit fields which are
useful in splitting up the date and time fields. Since the actual
structures are the same you could use casts and refer to DTA_STRUCT
fields while using the library functions instead of those shown in the
article. The declaration of the new library functions and "find_t"
structure is in <dos.h>.
It is actually not surprising that the two versions of the C functions
and the structures are so similar, both are simply interfaces to the
same underlying DOS functions. No doubt there are many other versions
around as well.
For those who have MSC 5.0, I see no advantage in using "findentr()"
and the other functions in the article over the ones Microsoft
provides. Quite the contrary, I would hope that the library versions
are written in assembly language or at least highly optimized for
tighter object code. The code shown may still be useful to readers
who have MSC 4.0 or earlier, or who have other compilers and can make
the slight changes which would be needed to port the functions. It
also provides some insight into the inner workings or DOS for those
who may not have been familiar with them.
There is one other thing I should have pointed out in the article.
There is nothing particularly original about the utility "FF" which I
used to illustrate the use of the functions and of recursion. As is
obvious to anyone who collects public domain software, there are many
other similar programs available in the public domain, such as
"WHEREIS". The Norton Utilities and many other commercial packages
also include such programs.
My real motivation for writing FF, besides as an exercise, was to have
a version which was easier to interrupt than the Norton version and to
provide additional selection criteria, primarily selection by date.
C News 1-06 Page 9 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
AUTHORS COMMENT: ON "FILENAME WILDCARD EXPANSION IN MSC"
=================================================================
(I am always creating files and forgetting not only where I put them
but what I named them, so I find it handy to search for files created
on a given date, normally the current date.) The code presented in
the article was actually produced by stripping out most of the
functions which were my original reason for writing the program.
FF.ARC, which was included in the CNEWS archive contains the full
version. If you want to use FF for anything other than learning some
programming tricks, try the version in FF.ARC.
C News 1-06 Page 10 10 Apr 1988
================================================================
ARTICLE SUBMISSION STANDARDS AND ADDRESSES
================================================================
As I have repeatedly stated in this newsletter and previous
issues, I would like to see user-submitted articles, reviews or
questions. Listed below are the standards that should be
followed to make my job easier as an editor.
- Articles should be submitted in a ASCII non-formatted
file.
- If the article include code fragments as examples. Then
you can include the entire source file if you like for
inclusion with the newsletter.
- Book or magazine reviews should follow the same format,
that is outlined in this issue. The publisher, author,
title, and ISBN number are a must.
- Compiler/and or product reviews, should include the
version number and manufacture. If possible, reviews
should include a sample program with benchmarks.
If you have any questions you can contact me at the
address's included on the next page.
C News 1-06 Page 11 10 Apr 1988
================================================================
ADDRESSES
================================================================
The C BBS is located at:
C BBS
% BCL Limited
P.O. Box 9162
McLean VA, 22102
or you can send netmail to:
1:109/713
C News 1-06 Page 12 10 Apr 1988
================================================================
USER RESPONSE FORM:
================================================================
This form will be included as a regular feature in all future
issues of C NEWS.
What did you think of the content of this Issue? _____________
_______________________________________________________________
What improvements can you think of that would make C News a
better tool for the C Community?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
What is your favorite section or sections? ___________________
_______________________________________________________________
What don't you like about C News? ____________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Additional Comments: _________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
C News 1-06 Page 13 10 Apr 1988
================================================================
INDEX
================================================================
Subject: Issue:
Articles:
Additional Comments of Filename Wild.. 6
Filename Wildcard Expansion in MSC 4
Integrated Environment: TC & QC 5
Talking with a Fossil 5
TurboC and Interrupts: A few Questions 2
Book Reviews:
C Chest: and other treasures. 6
C Database Development 1
C Programming Guide 1
C Programming Language 1
C Programmer's Guide to Serial Communications 3
C Programmer's Library 1
C Primer Plus 1
C the Complete Reference 2
Crafting C Tools for the IBM PC 2
Learning to Program in C 1
Microsoft C Programming on the IBM PC 1
MS-DOS Developer's Guide 4
Programming in Windows 3
Reliable Data Structures in C 1
TurboC: Memory Resident Utilities 5
TurboC Programmer's Reference Book 2
Compilers:
QuickC 1
Software Reviews:
Bplus11.arc 3
C_Dates.arc 4
Cdate.arc 4
Casm.arc 3
C-subr.arc 4
Docu.arc 3
Jcl-src.arc 4
Mscpopup.arc 3
Ndmake41.arc 4
Nuc-subr.arc 3
Prndoc.arc 6
Sed.arc 6
C News 1-06 Page 14 10 Apr 1988
================================================================
INDEX
================================================================
Subject: Issue:
Software Reviews Cont:
Shift_c.arc 4
Sysact11.arc 4
Tp_to_qc.arc 3
Xenixarc.arc 4
C News 1-06 Page 15 10 Apr 1988
================================================================
DISTRIBUTION POINTS
================================================================
Board Name Number Net/Node Sysop
United States
C BBS (703) 998-8377 1:109/713 Barry Lynch
Alexandria, VA
Jaz C-Scape (904) 724-1377 1:112/1027 Tom Evans
Jacksonville, FL
Links.BBS (916) 343-4422 1:119/13 Tom Baughman
Chico, CA
Eastern C Board (201) 247-6748 1:107/335 Todd Lehr
Rutgers1 (201) 932-4066 1:107/320 Michael Keyles
Rutgers, NJ
PTC Net (206) 757-4248 1:138/4 Arlen Fletcher
Washington, State
Canada
Another BBS System (416) 465-7752 1:148/208 Mark Bowman
Toronto, Canada
Europe
Fido_N1_1 31-8350-37156 2:500/1 Henk Wevers
The Netherlands
Australia
Alpha-Centuri BBS 011-61-3-874-3559 3:632/348 David Nugent
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| - C News - |
| |
| International |
| C Programming & Compiler Review |
| Newsletter |
| |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
US Office:
Editor Barry Lynch
Technical Editor Marshall Presnell
Australian Office:
Editor David Nugent
Asst Editor Kevin Bergin
C News is published monthly by the C BBS as its official
newsletter. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication
in C News. Articles should be related to C programming and can be
Tutorials, reviews or articles of interest to the C programming
community. All Operating systems are fairly represented and this
newsletter shows no favoritism to any one in particular. Instruct-
ions on how to submit articles for publication is included on the
last page.
C News is the property of the C BBS and is Copyright 1988 by the
the C BBS. All rights are reserved and distribution is limited to
electronic distribution and personal printed copies. C News cannot
be resold at any profit, by any organization. All material enclosed
within the newsletter is the opinions of the writers and not the
C BBS or it's Sysop.
C News 1-06 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
TABLE OF CONTENTS
=================================================================
1. EDITORIAL
The Heap: messages from the editor.................... 1
2. SHORT SNIPS
Magazine Review's
by Barry Lynch ........................................ 2
3. BOOK REVIEWS
C Chest: And other C Treasures from Dr. Dobb's ............ 5
by Barry Lynch
4. SOFTWARE REVIEWS
Public Domain: .......................................... 6
PRNDOC.ARC, and SED.ARC
by David Nugent
5. Authors Comments on Wildcard Expansion .................. 8
by Bill Mayne
6. NOTES
Article Submission Standards ............................. 10
Address's ............................................... 11
USER Response Form ....................................... 12
7. INDEX ................................................... 13
8. Distribution Points ..................................... 15 C News 1-06 Page 1 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
EDITORIAL
=================================================================
C News: Where it has been and where it is going...
Since the inception of C News, numerous changes have been
made to the format, the distribution and the areas of coverage.
In future issues, a beginners column will be featured as well as
a Questions and Answer column. Both of these columns are in the
development stage and should be ready for Issue 7. (Both of these
columns are the result of the overwhelming requests submitted via
the user response form. C News is growing and we hope to continue
to provide the information that all C programmers find interesting
and useful.
This issue of C News is a little thin compared to some of the
previous, but that is a direct reflection of the lack of contributions
by readers and users. Suffice it to say, that I do not have the time
or the knowledge to write and entire issue of C News myself. However,
I will try harder in the future. With this issue of C news I have
included a file that contains a subject thread that is of interest
to me and to a good portion of the C programmers on the C BBS - UNIX.
This thread contains messages from the developers of Micro-port UNIX
and users on a forum on Compuserve. It is an interesting collection
of thoughts and is good reading.
Starting next month, another column will be featured covering
MS Windows programming. This will eventually branch into OS/2 when
I get a copy of the OS/2 Developers Kit. I cannot promise anything
wonderful, as my windows programming is bare-bones, but it should
pick up in time.
One last thing, the C BBS is in the process of reorganizing and
cataloguing the software available for download/file request. This
should help all users find the software that they are looking for,
and maybe save them some money on phonebills as well. This catalog
will be available on-line and as a hardcopy report for a nominal
fee to cover postage.
Well, one more issue of C news has hit the streets, and I will
continue work on a Data Structure article for C News readers by next
issue. C U...
Barry Lynch
C News 1-06 Page 2 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
SHORT SNIPS
=================================================================
Magazine Reviews:
_________________________________________________________________
Magazine: Computer Language
Publisher: Miller Freeman Publications
Published: Monthly cost $3.50US & $4.50 Canadian
Subject Matter: Computer Languages
Issue: Vol 5 No 3 - March 1988
This issue of Computer Language offered a continuation of the
article by Al Steven's on TSR's. This time the article was
written with MSC 5.0 and QuickC in mind. Other articles in
this issue include: DOS File Organization, and some reviews
of Public Domain software with a UNIX flavor.
_________________________________________________________________
Magazine: Computer Language
Publisher: Miller Freeman Publications
Published: Monthly cost $3.50US & $4.50 Canadian
Subject Matter: Computer Languages
Issue: Vol 5 No 4 - April 1988
Once again, Computer Language has geared an issue towards C, and
this time with some articles covering the subject of Debugging.
Matter of fact it is safe to say that this issue is dedicated to
that subject, no less then three articles are presented. The
first deals with The Discipline of Debugging a sort of primer to
get you started. The second article is a review of features in
languages that aid in debugging, and the third is an article on
developing your own Debugger in C, with source.
One other article of interest in this issue covers "wierd C bugs"
as they put it, and is quite informative. All in all, this issue
is quite useful and the staff of Computer Language have begun to
produce more C related articles than in the past. CL is now one
of my regular journals every month.
C News 1-06 Page 3 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
SHORT SNIPS
=================================================================
Magazine Reviews:
_________________________________________________________________
Magazine: Dr. Dobb's Journal of Software Tools
Publisher: M&T Publishing
Published: Monthly cost $2.95US & $3.95 Canadian
Subject Matter: Programming Languages
Issue: Vol 137 Mar 88
Dr. Dobb's has long been recognized as an invaluable source of
information for programmers in general. This issue is no exception
with articles on Object oriented design, Binary Trees, Huge Arrays,
and EGA Fonts. Also included in this issue is a review of
Codeview, and graphic symbolic debugger available with the Micro-
soft family of computer languages.
_________________________________________________________________
Magazine: Dr. Dobb's Journal of Software Tools
Publisher: M&T Publishing
Published: Monthly cost $2.95US & $3.95 Canadian
Subject Matter: Programming Languages
Issue: Vol 138 Apr 88
This issue of Dr. Dobb's highlights an Artificial Intelligence
Langauge called AAL. Several other articles on the subject of
AI are included. Also included in Alan Hobub's monthly "C Chest"
column is an article on Printf and how it works, and how it can
be spruced up.
C News 1-06 Page 4 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
SHORT SNIPS
=================================================================
Magazine Reviews:
_________________________________________________________________
Magazine: Micro/Systems Journal
Publisher: M&T Publishing
Published: Monthly cost $3.95US & $4.95 Canadian
Subject Matter: Programming Languages
Issue: April 1988
This particular issue of Micro Systems Journal is geared towards
C and therefore is must reading for us C junkies. Articles on
Debugging, Dos Functions, and a comparison of TurboC vs QuickC are
presented. There are also some reviews of the Periscope line of
hardware debuggers, that have been considered the best in the field
for quite awhile. Micro Systems Journal does not always cover
languages in depth, but occasionally an interesting issue such
as this one becomes available.
C News 1-06 Page 5 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
BOOK REVIEWS
=================================================================
_________________________________________________________________
C Chest: and other C Treasures from Dr. Dobb's Journal
Author: Allen Hobub
Publisher: M&T Books, Redwood, CA 1987
Cost: $23.95 (US$)
Being an avid Dr. Dobb's fan I noticed the advertisements for this
book in issues of Dr. Dobb's for quite some time now. Today, when
I was in the bookstore, I saw a copy on the shelf and opened it to
browse the contents. This is what I found: Articles on, Pipes,
Wild-Card Expansion, Sorting, Command-Line processing, Queues and
Bit maps, MS-DOS directories, the UNIX Make utility, Curses and
much more.
This book is informative from my quick browse this afternoon and
source is included with all chapters. The book is well written
and covers alot of ground, but all topics are explained clearly
and the source is well commented. This book is a compilation of
the C Chest column from Dr. Dobb's from March 1985 to July 1987.
C News 1-06 Page 6 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE REVIEWS:
=================================================================
_________________________________________________________________
Filename: PRNDOC.ARC
When I first downloaded this file, it had been posted as a C
source code formatter, which I thought a great idea, since it
could standardize the formatting of all my C source ...
But this was not to be. While the incorrect posting did cause a
few minutes of heartburn, it turned out to be a neat little print
formatting utility for paginating documents; even allows
inserting a left margin and is sensitive to double sided
printing. Not bad.
The program is provided with little documentation, but is
completely prompt driven as easy to follow. It's quite a clever
formatter that can take raw ASCII text and turn it into something
quite presentable. No special .xx controls or tagging required.
Just straight ASCII text.
Source provided: Unfortunately not.
_________________________________________________________________
Filename: SED.ARC
At last SOME of the power of Unix is available on the PC.
SED is a PC/MS-DOS implementation of the Unix stream editor.
This is a VERY powerful utility used in Xenix/Unix scripts (like
MS-DOS batch files, only tones more clever) to edit files FROM
THE COMMAND LINE. It is a utility which cannot be appreciated
until you play with it.
SED scripts can be developed to do amazing things with text and
program source files. One sample script provided does most of
the hacking required to transfer a pascal source file into C.
All possible with a general purpose utility and an intelligent
script.
Of course SED is best applied repetitively, and is excellent for
changing occurrences of a particular variable or function name for
a complete group of files. While it may only be used
occasionally from the command line, it can be used regularly to
update and manipulate text files regularly.
If you prefer to avoid technical utilities, you'd better avoid
this one two. Power unfortunately has a trade-off - complexity -
C News 1-06 Page 7 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE REVIEWS:
=================================================================
_________________________________________________________________
Filename: SED.ARC Continued:
and this utility is no exception. It uses Unix-style regular
expression and 'magic' syntax and is, as far as I can determine,
completely Unix/Xenix compatible. For those of you like me - who
swap between the two - this is very handy.
Source provided: All but the main() function. Damned if I know
why it was omitted. Comes with the command parse and editor
functions, which is 'just about' complete.
Compiler: Standard K & R. No porting required and can be
compiled under small models ok. You'll have to write your own
main() [Just to freopen stdin/stdout for file redirection and
open the command script].
C News 1-06 Page 8 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
AUTHORS COMMENT: ON "FILENAME WILDCARD EXPANSION IN MSC"
=================================================================
Before some perceptive reader of my article "Filename Wildcard
Expansion in Microsoft C" in issue 4 of CNEWS accuses me of advocating
reinventing the wheel, I should admit that the article and the
programs it contained were written several months ago, before the
release of MSC 5.0. The part telling how to compile and link under
5.0 was a last minute addition.
I have since learned that MSC 5.0 provides library functions to expand
wildcards which perform the same function as my "findentr()" and
"findnext()". They are called "dos_findfirst()" and "dos_findnext()",
respectively. Even the arguments are the same, except that the order
of arguments expected by "dos_findfirst()" is different. The
structure used to communicate with dos, called "find_t" is compatible
with my "DTA_STRUCT". "DTA_STRUCT" looks a little more complicated
because it goes a little further and declares bit fields which are
useful in splitting up the date and time fields. Since the actual
structures are the same you could use casts and refer to DTA_STRUCT
fields while using the library functions instead of those shown in the
article. The declaration of the new library functions and "find_t"
structure is in <dos.h>.
It is actually not surprising that the two versions of the C functions
and the structures are so similar, both are simply interfaces to the
same underlying DOS functions. No doubt there are many other versions
around as well.
For those who have MSC 5.0, I see no advantage in using "findentr()"
and the other functions in the article over the ones Microsoft
provides. Quite the contrary, I would hope that the library versions
are written in assembly language or at least highly optimized for
tighter object code. The code shown may still be useful to readers
who have MSC 4.0 or earlier, or who have other compilers and can make
the slight changes which would be needed to port the functions. It
also provides some insight into the inner workings or DOS for those
who may not have been familiar with them.
There is one other thing I should have pointed out in the article.
There is nothing particularly original about the utility "FF" which I
used to illustrate the use of the functions and of recursion. As is
obvious to anyone who collects public domain software, there are many
other similar programs available in the public domain, such as
"WHEREIS". The Norton Utilities and many other commercial packages
also include such programs.
My real motivation for writing FF, besides as an exercise, was to have
a version which was easier to interrupt than the Norton version and to
provide additional selection criteria, primarily selection by date.
C News 1-06 Page 9 10 Apr 1988
=================================================================
AUTHORS COMMENT: ON "FILENAME WILDCARD EXPANSION IN MSC"
=================================================================
(I am always creating files and forgetting not only where I put them
but what I named them, so I find it handy to search for files created
on a given date, normally the current date.) The code presented in
the article was actually produced by stripping out most of the
functions which were my original reason for writing the program.
FF.ARC, which was included in the CNEWS archive contains the full
version. If you want to use FF for anything other than learning some
programming tricks, try the version in FF.ARC.
C News 1-06 Page 10 10 Apr 1988
================================================================
ARTICLE SUBMISSION STANDARDS AND ADDRESSES
================================================================
As I have repeatedly stated in this newsletter and previous
issues, I would like to see user-submitted articles, reviews or
questions. Listed below are the standards that should be
followed to make my job easier as an editor.
- Articles should be submitted in a ASCII non-formatted
file.
- If the article include code fragments as examples. Then
you can include the entire source file if you like for
inclusion with the newsletter.
- Book or magazine reviews should follow the same format,
that is outlined in this issue. The publisher, author,
title, and ISBN number are a must.
- Compiler/and or product reviews, should include the
version number and manufacture. If possible, reviews
should include a sample program with benchmarks.
If you have any questions you can contact me at the
address's included on the next page.
C News 1-06 Page 11 10 Apr 1988
================================================================
ADDRESSES
================================================================
The C BBS is located at:
C BBS
% BCL Limited
P.O. Box 9162
McLean VA, 22102
or you can send netmail to:
1:109/713
C News 1-06 Page 12 10 Apr 1988
================================================================
USER RESPONSE FORM:
================================================================
This form will be included as a regular feature in all future
issues of C NEWS.
What did you think of the content of this Issue? _____________
_______________________________________________________________
What improvements can you think of that would make C News a
better tool for the C Community?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
What is your favorite section or sections? ___________________
_______________________________________________________________
What don't you like about C News? ____________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Additional Comments: _________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
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C News 1-06 Page 13 10 Apr 1988
================================================================
INDEX
================================================================
Subject: Issue:
Articles:
Additional Comments of Filename Wild.. 6
Filename Wildcard Expansion in MSC 4
Integrated Environment: TC & QC 5
Talking with a Fossil 5
TurboC and Interrupts: A few Questions 2
Book Reviews:
C Chest: and other treasures. 6
C Database Development 1
C Programming Guide 1
C Programming Language 1
C Programmer's Guide to Serial Communications 3
C Programmer's Library 1
C Primer Plus 1
C the Complete Reference 2
Crafting C Tools for the IBM PC 2
Learning to Program in C 1
Microsoft C Programming on the IBM PC 1
MS-DOS Developer's Guide 4
Programming in Windows 3
Reliable Data Structures in C 1
TurboC: Memory Resident Utilities 5
TurboC Programmer's Reference Book 2
Compilers:
QuickC 1
Software Reviews:
Bplus11.arc 3
C_Dates.arc 4
Cdate.arc 4
Casm.arc 3
C-subr.arc 4
Docu.arc 3
Jcl-src.arc 4
Mscpopup.arc 3
Ndmake41.arc 4
Nuc-subr.arc 3
Prndoc.arc 6
Sed.arc 6
C News 1-06 Page 14 10 Apr 1988
================================================================
INDEX
================================================================
Subject: Issue:
Software Reviews Cont:
Shift_c.arc 4
Sysact11.arc 4
Tp_to_qc.arc 3
Xenixarc.arc 4
C News 1-06 Page 15 10 Apr 1988
================================================================
DISTRIBUTION POINTS
================================================================
Board Name Number Net/Node Sysop
United States
C BBS (703) 998-8377 1:109/713 Barry Lynch
Alexandria, VA
Jaz C-Scape (904) 724-1377 1:112/1027 Tom Evans
Jacksonville, FL
Links.BBS (916) 343-4422 1:119/13 Tom Baughman
Chico, CA
Eastern C Board (201) 247-6748 1:107/335 Todd Lehr
Rutgers1 (201) 932-4066 1:107/320 Michael Keyles
Rutgers, NJ
PTC Net (206) 757-4248 1:138/4 Arlen Fletcher
Washington, State
Canada
Another BBS System (416) 465-7752 1:148/208 Mark Bowman
Toronto, Canada
Europe
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The Netherlands
Australia
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