46166,07,03/25/93,DONNIE STUHLMAN,MICROFOCUS USERS MF COBOL, We are trying to find fellow Microfocus Cobol users. Anyone who uses MF Cobol and loves it, please give me a call. We need help convincing our management that we need the compilers and tools. Donnie Stuhlman I S A C 708-948-8500 ext 2433 46167,09,03/25/93,WARD CHRISTENSEN,DONNIE STUHLMAN R/MF COBOL, Sorry, not here - but I'm wondering how compatible microfocus cobol is if you were trying to downsize - or do new applications in a familiar environment, etc. I keep wondering what downsizing really means - if it means people doing their own thing with traditional tools like spreadsheets (that used to take mainframe cobol to calculate) or if - more likely - it almost always means SQL, etc. Further then what language is used? And is Microfocus cobol a possibility? Just curious. 46266,24,05/21/93,ANDY SHAPIRO,WARD CHRISTENSEN R/DBIV?, Sounds like fun! Mine's not that fancy, but it works. The main thing was that we're here in DC, writing checks for students 20 at a time, and the commercial version I bought had me inputting the date and check # for each and every one. The one I wrote auto-increments the check # (you can still change it) and carries the date. So when I start it up, if the last entry was a check, I have the appropriate number, plus the date of the last transaction. Nothing really fancy, though -- I wanted to take a UNIX-like approach and keep it small. My one fancy move was to use BROWSE on to clear the checks (used a logical field) and then I have dBXL pump the data out to a DIF file and start SuperCalc4, which reads a macro, pulls in the DIF, and figures running and cleared balances. This would limit me to small files, except that dBXL can swap itself out of memory, which leaves me about 430K of workspace once SC4 loads. My one fancy thing was gonna be making the check/withdrawal fields red and others green, but I decided that was just too much. Total size of everything (excluding the .DBF file) is just 4K. I also learned a little about disk space preservation -- I put all the subr{utines in a PROCEDURE file. I thought the allocation unit problem was CP/M only, but that saved me around 18K of disk space right there. Hmmm. I wonder if I can combine the main .PRG and the procedure file? I'll have to check... 46267,17,05/22/93,ROY LIPSCOMB,ALL VOICE ON THE INTERNET, I just finished listening to a description of what was hesitantly described as an event comparable to Marconi's first transmission of data over the air waves. The event took place yesterday, Friday, on NPR, when the program "Science Friday" was simulcast over the Internet. That is, voice data was digitized and broadcast to whoever happened to be listening with equipment that could convert the data back to voice. What's more, the broadcast took place in real time--and was interactive. A tape of the voice returned to the radio studio sounded better than telephone quality, apart from the fact that there was relatively frequent dropout. Details of the required equipment were not given. A broadcasting "studio" for the Internet has been set up, with plans to broadcast Congressional and other governmental sessions. Six months ago, I asked at a computer club meeting if the Internet could be used as a cheap/free telephone. Nobody there thought it was feasible yet. Do times change, or what! 46366,17,07/19/93,MICHAEL SHARTIAG,ALL/WARD SOME FAX/MODEM DETAILS, I have found a little more out about the class on fax/modems. Class II is an unintelligent mode, where you have to send the modem all details via commands (AT). It has 23 commands. Class 1, is an intelligent mode. It has only 6 command. They are supposed to be 100% cross functional, although I have NOT found this to be true. This particular modem/software combo has the ability to auto- detect the type of calling device and either do faxing or file/data transfer. In order to do this, they have developed a universal tone that all machine srespond to. Older faxes do not recognize this tone: hence causing my modem to try data, then kick out to an alleged voice call. Finally, I have cleared up al of this except fax/modem to same: It works at 9600 both ways, but only 14.k to 14.k in one direction. Also, should handshaking be xon/xoff or hardware ?? I have found each one specified as the 'one necessary' for proper operation. HELP! 46367,14,07/19/93,EDWARD MARSH,MICHAEL SHARTIAG R/MEMORY PRICES UP 53%, The Japs really know what they are doing. Where are the American's? Who is making simms in America? The big execs won't even try to compete. So, the japs figure they can up the price. I really don't blame them. I am sure they paid a heavy price in the to start up. Once they put the American manufactures out of business (due to heavy government subsities from the jap government, and ultra low interest loans), they can name there own price. It's called preditor capitalizm. P.S. I'll bet money there is no way that the companies over in japan pay less for simms- hence the people subsidize electronics also. I would love to see the Jap government panic if we were allowed to sell rice and beef in their markets. 46467,10,09/15/93,MICHAEL SHARTIAG,WARD CHRISTENSEN R/SCSI I & II ETC, Ward, I am no expert on SCSI, but there are a couple of things I do know. First, and probably most important, all devices are block oriented. You never request a track, head, cyclinder. Being at a block level on all devices , transfer of data is really transparent. SCSI -1 I beleive is an 8 bit parallel transfer while SCSI-II is a 16 bit data transfer. I see a number of similiarities between SCSI and IEEE-488 at an operational level ( not speed) 46566,03,01/27/94,WARD CHRISTENSEN,BRUCE KITCHELL R/XMODEM SOFTWARE FOR VAX, Have you checked out a VMS users group? I'd think there would be one, and if XMODEM is feasible on it, it should be in there - been around long enough, heh! 46567,09,01/27/94,BENJAMIN COHEN,MICHAEL SHARTIAG R/RECHARGABLE ALKALINES, I bit and bought some. There's nothing on them to indicate that they are "different", but the charger has a light that goes on when you insert a battery correctly and then goes off when the battery is charged. I haven't reread the docs to see whether you can actually charge an odd number of batteries, but it would seem so from observing operation (all the NiCad chargers I've ever had required charging in pairs, a nuisance if you have an appliance that uses an odd number of batteries). The pair that I charged several weeks ago seems to be going strong, though I don't use the Walkman radio I have very much.