April 2016 - Oberon - mailman3.inf.ethz.ch

Re (2): Essential facility missing.
by peter＠easthope.ca 18 Apr '16

18 Apr '16

From: eas lab <lab.eas(a)gmail.com>, Fri, 15 Apr 2016 21:35:27 -0800 > No! Sorry but I've lost the question you are answering. > This clown gmail system that I'm forced to use ... According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmail the service supports POP3. Assuning that is correct, can you use the mail panel in NO? Do the Topics help? Regards, ... Lyall E. -- 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 12 Tel +1 360 639 0202 http://easthope.ca/Peter.html Bcc: peter at easthope. ca

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Re (2): Trying to understand vertical scrolling
by Andreas Pirklbauer 18 Apr '16

18 Apr '16

It should be noted that Experimental Oberon (https://github.com/andreaspirklbauer/Oberon-experimental) is only the first of a series of experiments to explore potential future enhancements of the Oberon system that are currently under development, for example to make it available on touch display devices. Experimental Oberon (or at least some of its sub variants) is built in such a way that it should be agnostic of the underlying specific version of Oberon. I.e. it should be easy to make it available on top of *any* of the various variants of the Oberon system currently out there (although it has only been tested on top of Original Oberon). In addition, it makes the discussion of the difference in scrolling behaviour (e.g., between ET and Edit) mute, as scrolling is simply is not a problem in Experimental Oberon. -------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Douglas G. Danforth" <danforth at greenwoodfarm.com>Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2016 02:26:52 -0700 > There has been too much tinkering with Oberon. > Too many flavors and versions. Agreed, but ... > I would much prefer to see a site dedicated to the use of Oberon > (vanilla flavored). Which vanilla? California, Classic, Double, French? =8~) I prefer NO vanilla. Not "no vanilla" of course. I'm partial to vanilla too. Bugs exist and bug fixing isn't tinkering. And there are still sharp corners to smooth. The differing scrolling behaviours of Edit and ET for example. Introductory documentation should mention only ET and not Edit. No sense in trying to teach module extension before a Text larger than a viewer can be read. Also, new hardware appears. Touchscreens weren't ubiquitous in Ceres days. The work of Andreas is likely to be helpful or essential to a touchscreen interface. Bravo Andreas! Regards, ... Lyall E. -- 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 12 Tel +1 360 639 0202 http://easthope.ca/Peter.html Bcc: peter at easthope. ca

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paint.mod attached
by scrutinizer 18 Apr '16

18 Apr '16

paint.mod attached let me know if you need some sample .pict files > Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2016 21:26:47 +0100 > From: Tomas Kral <thomas.kral(a)email.cz> > To: oberon(a)lists.inf.ethz.ch > Subject: [Oberon] Oberon Paint.Mod > > Hi, > > I am curious about drawing programs for Oberon system as I am reading > PO.Applications chapter, describing Draw.Tool implementation. > > I have also seen a Clown picture at > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberon_%28operating_system%29 > > It shows Paint.Tool commands apparently coming from a Paint.Mod > > Paint.Mod does not seem part of Oberon System, I am just curious where > it originates? > > Cheers Tom >

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Re: [Oberon] C program deoberon.c for converting Oberon .Mod files to plain ASCII .Mod.txt files.
by peter＠easthope.ca 18 Apr '16

18 Apr '16

From: Srinivas Nayak <sinu.nayak2001(a)gmail.com> Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2016 23:35:00 +0530 > Here is an updated C program deoberon.c ... > Notes : > OS EndOfLine > Unix 10 > DOS 13,10 > Mac 13,10 > Oberon 13 To my knowledge, Mac should also be 13 rather than 13,10. Regards, ... Lyall E. -- 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 12 Tel +1 360 639 0202 http://easthope.ca/Peter.html Bcc: peter at easthope. ca

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C program deoberon.c for converting Oberon .Mod files to plain ASCII .Mod.txt files.
by Srinivas Nayak 17 Apr '16

17 Apr '16

Dear Friends, Here is an updated C program deoberon.c for converting Oberon .Mod files to Plain ASCII .Mod.txt files. The resulted file can be opened using Geany on Linux. Also this file can be opened using Edit.Open on Oberon. [rename again .Mod.txt to .Mod] This program can also convert .Mod files created by TextDocs.NewDoc. This program is used as follows: # gcc deoberon.c # ./a.out Displays.Display.Mod to generate Displays.Display.Mod.txt Or # find . -name '*.Mod' -exec ./a.out "{}" \; to generate .Mod.txt for each .Mod files present in current directory. ================= deoberon.c ================= #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <string.h> /* A program to convert an Oberon text file to an ASCII text file. An Oberon text file consists of a variable-sized header followed by the ASCII representation of the text. The header contains attribute information like fonts and colors. Notes : OS EndOfLine Unix 10 DOS 13,10 Mac 13,10 Oberon 13 */ int Eof = 0; int skipTail = 0; int RdCh(FILE* src) { int byte; byte = fgetc(src); if(feof(src)) { Eof = 1; } return byte; } void SkipHeader(FILE* src) { int word[4]; int skip; RdCh(src); RdCh(src); /* skip 2 bytes */ /* read a long word in little endian format */ word[0] = RdCh(src); word[1] = RdCh(src); word[2] = RdCh(src); word[3] = RdCh(src); //printf("word[0] = %x\n", word[0]); //printf("word[1] = %x\n", word[1]); //printf("word[2] = %x\n", word[2]); //printf("word[3] = %x\n", word[3]); if(word[0] == 'T' && word[1] == 'e' && word[2] == 'x' && word[3] == 't') //if it is "TextDocs.NewDoc" { for (skip=96; skip > 0; skip--) RdCh(src); //skip 60 more bytes RdCh(src); RdCh(src); /* skip 2 bytes */ /* read a long word in little endian format */ word[0] = RdCh(src); word[1] = RdCh(src); word[2] = RdCh(src); word[3] = RdCh(src); printf("This is a TextDocs file\n"); } /* seek to start of ascii text */ skip = (word[3]<<24) + (word[2]<<16) + (word[1]<<8) + (word[0]) - 6; printf("Header skip = %d bytes\n", skip); for (; skip > 0; skip--) RdCh(src); } int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { FILE *src, *dst; int c; char dst_file_name[50]; if(argc != 2) { printf("Usage: ./a.out <file name>\n"); printf("This will generate <file name>.txt\n"); exit(0); } src = fopen(argv[1], "r"); if (src == NULL) { printf("Error opening file %s\n", argv[1]); exit(0); } strcpy(dst_file_name, argv[1]); strcat(dst_file_name, ".txt"); dst = fopen(dst_file_name, "w"); if (dst == NULL) { printf("Error creating file %s\n", dst_file_name); fclose(src); exit(0); } printf("Source file %s\n", argv[1]); SkipHeader(src); c = RdCh(src); while (Eof != 1) { if ( c == 13 ) { c = 13; fputc(c, dst); } else if ( c == '\t' ) { fputc(' ', dst); fputc(' ', dst); fputc(' ', dst); fputc(' ', dst); } else if ( iscntrl(c) ) { fputc(' ', dst); } else { if(c == 219) { skipTail = 1; } if(skipTail != 1) { fputc(c, dst); } } c = RdCh(src); } fclose(src); fclose(dst); printf("Generated file %s\n", dst_file_name); return 0; } ================= With thanks and best regards, Yours sincerely, Srinivas Nayak Home: http://www.mathmeth.com/sn/ Blog: http://srinivas-nayak.blogspot.in/

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Re: [Oberon] Global font change on OLR
by peter＠easthope.ca 17 Apr '16

17 Apr '16

From: Chris Burrows <chris(a)cfbsoftware.com, Sun, 3 Apr 2016 08:45:20 +0930, > ... how to change the > screen resolution not the font size. Is that correct? If you just changed > the default system font size only the text would be modified. Pictures etc. > would still be small. Considered previously by Andreas Pirklbauer. >From andreas_pirklbauer at yahoo.com Sun Jan 24 22:41:50 2016 > Correct - one can indeed change the ?font size? > using Edit.ChangeFont. However, the ?line space? > of a text line is fixed in Original Oberon (to 12 pixels). Andreas also made the track width adjustable; correct? A new release of PC Native O. with bug fixes and some of Andreas' refinements would be splendid. Regards, ... Lyall E. -- 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 12 Tel +1 360 639 0202 http://easthope.ca/Peter.html Bcc: peter at easthope. ca

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Building a minimal Oberon
by Srinivas Nayak 17 Apr '16

17 Apr '16

Dear All, I was trying to build a minimal Oberon. Idea was, minimal Oberon will work only with - IDE Disk - VGA display - serial US keyboard - serial mouse - Aos file system Here is how I did it. Prepared the build system on Vbox. - Installed Native Oberon Alpha using Oberon0.Dsk. - Installed Source1.zip, Build.zip and SourceB.zip on top of it. Followed the below commands: This compiles the necessary modules. Compiler.Compile \s.Obj Kernel.Mod Disks.Mod PCI.Mod ATADisks.Mod OFS.Mod Files.Mod Modules.Mod OFSDiskVolumes.Mod OFSCacheVolumes.Mod OFSAosFiles.Mod OFSBoot.Mod Objects.Mod VGA.Display.Mod V24.Mod Input.Mod Fonts.Mod Viewers.Mod Reals.Mod Texts.Mod Oberon.Mod MenuViewers.Mod TextFrames.Mod System.Mod Bitmaps.Mod Out.Mod Pictures.Mod Centronics.Mod Printer.Mod Edit.Mod ~ The last 6 modules are just for Edit application to work. This creates the Native.Bin which is the kernel image needed for booting. BootLinker.Link Native.Bin \refs \integrate 1000H Kernel Disks PCI ATADisks OFS Files Modules OFSDiskVolumes OFSCacheVolumes OFSAosFiles OFSBoot ~ Created a .vdi file using Vbox. On this new virtual disk, minimal Oberon will be installed. Attached this .vdi file to a Linux guest on Vbox. Used "cfdisk -z /mnt/sdb" to create a bootable partition of type 6. Cfdisk writes MBR code and creates partition table implicitly. In Gparted, one has to create partition table explicitly. Once the new virtual disk gets prepared, attached it to Native Oberon guest. The following commands prepare it further. Partitions.Show~ Partitions.ChangeType IDE1#01 6 76 ~ Partitions.Unsafe Partitions.Format ^ (select IDE1#01 partition) FileSystem.Mount DST AosFS ^ (select IDE1#01 partition) System.Directory DST:*.* ~ Format implicitly writes OBL.Bin (found on build system) to PBR of the partition. Also implicitly writes Native.Bin to reserved area for boot image. Rather than simple copying, zipped and unzipped the rest necessary modules to the new virtual disk. System.DeleteFiles System.zip ~ ZipTool.Add \9 System.zip Objects.Obj VGA.Display.Obj V24.Obj Input.Obj Fonts.Obj Viewers.Obj Reals.Obj Texts.Obj Oberon.Obj MenuViewers.Obj TextFrames.Obj System.Obj Bitmaps.Obj Out.Obj Pictures.Obj Centronics.Obj Printer.Obj Edit.Obj Default.Pal Oberon10.Scn.Fnt Oberon10i.Scn.Fnt Oberon10b.Scn.Fnt Oberon.Text System.Tool ~ ZipTool.ExtractAll \o \p DST: System.zip ~ Default.Pal is needed for a colorful Oberon. Now boot parameter needs to be written to new virtual disk. There is a bug somewhere in NO. I had to write (to new virtual disk) boot parameter for VESA first and then for VGA. Otherwise it doesn't boot. Config.Mode VESA 2.0: 800*600*8 Config.BootPartition menu ~ Config.Mode VGA 16-color:640*480*4 Config.BootPartition menu ~ Config.BootPartition implicitly looks for a mount point DST, which is here the new virtual disk. Unmounted the new virtual disk. Shutdown Native Oberon guest, the build system. FileSystem.Unmount DST System.Quit Now the new .vdi file can be used as a bootable disk containing minimal Oberon. This booted up a minimal Oberon on Vbox. Hope this helps others who need a minimal Oberon for OS study. Kindly let me know if we can still minimize it. With thanks and best regards, Yours sincerely, Srinivas Nayak Home: http://www.mathmeth.com/sn/ Blog: http://srinivas-nayak.blogspot.in/

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Oberon System V5 TRAP facility
by thomas.kral＠email.cz 17 Apr '16

17 Apr '16

Hi, I have managed to trigger a TRAP condition for the first time on FPGA Oberon V5. I am curious to see some verbatim of the cause, as I read in the books there should be a small view displayed with call stack sequence. Can this functionality be enabled somehow, as I currently only see a TRAP in system log viewer? Many thanks Tomas

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My understanding of NO boot mechanics.
by Srinivas Nayak 17 Apr '16

17 Apr '16

Dear All, Here is my understanding of NO boot method. Oberon Kernel module and some other necessary modules are packed into ram.bin. While formatting Oberon0.Dsk, ram.bin is placed into sectors beginning from 0. Oberon0.Dsk has NatFS and contains Oberon0.zip and System.zip. When PC reboots, BIOS checks boot device list and order from CMOS. BIOS then loads sector 0 (MBR) of first boot device and executes it. When floppy is first boot device, Oberon0.Dsk (floppy disk) boots, ram.bin is loaded (from sector 0) and Kernel executes. Kernel creates RamFS (RAM:) and puts into RAM: all files unzipped from Oberon0.zip. This way floppy starts Oberon. Now Oberon will be installed on harddisk. We select a disk driver to access disk. The disk should have partition table, one primary partition and the partition flagged active/bootable. Normally cfdisk creates partition table (with -z option), primary partition and flag partition as active/bootable. cfdisk implicitly writes a MBR code (sector 0 of disk) to disk. [BIOS loads MBR code and executes it. This MBR code detects active partition and loads PBR code (sector 0 of partition) to RAM. This MBR code written by cfdisk can't load OS from extended partitions. For loading OS from extended partitions generally bootloaders such as grub or lilo is used. They write their own MBR code to disk. For such MBR code, active flag is irrelevant. Such a MBR code can load second stage loader or OS (loading PBR) even from extended partitions. If we wish to use bootloaders like grub or lilo, simply a partition (primary or extended) if available on disk is enough.] While formatting disk parttion (as AosFS), Partitions.Format implicitly write OBL.Bin to sector 0 (PBR) to 4 of the partition. OBL.Bin file (present in Oberon0.zip), at the time of Oberon installation, is available in RamFS (RAM:). Now files from System.zip are unzipped and copied to disk partition. After installation, when system reboots, MBR will load OBL.Bin (present at PBR). And then, OBL.Bin searches for Kernel module to execute it. This way disk starts Oberon. Kindly correct me, if I am wrong. With thanks and best regards, Yours sincerely, Srinivas Nayak Home: http://www.mathmeth.com/sn/ Blog: http://srinivas-nayak.blogspot.in/

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OWIDTH and OHEIGHT for OLR
by peter＠easthope.ca 17 Apr '16

17 Apr '16

>From PeterMatthias at web.de Sun Apr 3 22:43:18 2016 > Environment variables work as they should. > > You have to export them before they are used for child processes: > > $export OWIDTH=800 OHEIGHT=600 > $./oberon I had missed OWIDTH and OHEIGHT. A mention in http://www.wikidot.com/ , including offsets, would definitely help some of us. I'll have another try at using OLR as a primary working environment. Has anyone tried olr in an ARM Linux app in Android? Thanks! ... Lyall E. -- 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 12 Tel +1 360 639 0202 http://easthope.ca/Peter.html Bcc: peter at easthope. ca

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