Of Waveform, Magnified at This Time Zooms in 4X and Only Provides 1024X768 Resolution at Zoom; 4010, Not 4014 Resolution)
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ulation with programs such as MacWrite as well as tables for transfer to Macintosh spreadsheet, database, or graphics pro- grams. We have sent text to other computers using MacTerminal but not to the IBM mainframe. MacTerminal provides for file transfer to and using the Xmodem protocol, and from other computers in ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) text (files can be pasted in text to other computers, but only a clipboard -full at a time. Its latest version allows the BACKSPACE key to be programmed to be a DELETE key (a menu selection), a convenience for DEC users. Tekalike (Mesa Graphics) isthe earliest graphics terminal emulator we used on the Macintosh. It emulates the Tektronix 4010, 4012, 4014 and 4016 graphics terminals (a later version we have not yet tested adds VT -100 and VT -640). It also provides the ability to pan and zoom on areas selected by the mouse and to save plots for MacPaint on MacDraw for full 300 dots -per -inch LaserWriter resolution. It was this program that first enabled us to consider the Macintosh as a replacement for graphics terminals. The Macintosh could not only view plots at its 512X342 resolution, but thanks to the pan and zoom, could view parts of plots at full 4014 (4096X3072) resolution, a feature then available only on much more expensive graphics terminals (some other personal computers now have programs for Tektronix 4010/4014 emulation, but the best known to me Start of waveform, magnified at this time zooms in 4X and only provides 1024X768 resolution at zoom; 4010, not 4014 resolution). The plots could also, of course, be printed and stored in on a Macintosh disk for later viewing, avoiding the cost of recreating them. Tekalike also enables emulation of the Tektronix 4662 8 -pen color plotter, Writer printing, either from TekPrint or MacDraw, provides a connecting to low-cost Apple, Hewlett-Packard, and Houston full 300 dots -per -inch, much finer quality than that provided by Instrument plotters for color output (plotting graphics stored on an actual 4014 with attached copier. We captured the following disk, enabling you to have panned and zoomed plots). The wave form plot from Issco's Tellagraf running under CMS on a ability to paste into MacPaint on MacDraw enables you to CISS mainframe (data courtesy of Dr. James Matey of RCA include all sorts of plots from other computers into technical Laboratories), passed it to TekPrint, saved it for MacDraw, reports such as this one, and to edit the plots. where we annotated it, zoomed in with the mouse, saved it again, annotating in MacDraw, naturally, we could annotate more, adding arrows to points of interest, with boxed ex- VersaTerm (Peripherals Computers and Supplies, Inc.) provides planations, etc. text (more complete DEC VT -100 emulation than Tekalike, DG Dasher) and graphics (Tektronix 4014) emulation. It allows the BACKSPACE key to be reprogrammed to be a DELETE Word processors key (a menu selection), a convenience for DEC users. It also The word processors we describe below have the familiar allows the mouse -controlled cursor to transmit appropriate se- Macintosh interface. quences to the remote for either EMA CS or vi editors. It allows whatever appears on the screen to be simultaneously directed Mac Write (Apple Computer, Inc.) was the first word processor into a disk file or to the printer, convenient for capturing long written for the Macintosh (This paragraph was written with passages (text or graphics) from a remote computer. Screens Mac Write). Mac Write is limited in its capabilities, but not in its may be printed at any time. Its Tektronix 4014 emulation ease of use. It appears that Apple concluded they had made a provides simulation of the four sizes of 4014 hardware characters. mistake in providing a comprehensive selection of integrated Remote computer -issued commands to print the Tektronix 4014 software for the Lisa (virtually no one wrote software for the screen do so (on either ImageWriter, the Apple dot-matrix Lisa, since the major functions appeared in the original release of printer, or LaserWriter). It provides file transfer as plain ASCII the Lisa Office System). They did not repeat the mistake with the text, Xmodem and Kermit (the public -domain file transfer pro- Macintosh-features apparently omitted from Apple packages tocol provided on most RCA Laboratories computers). Kermit such as Mac Write, MacPaint, etc. appeared in third -party pack- is available for the Macintosh as a separate public -domain ages. Mac Write permits both mouse -oriented operation and program, but there are obvious advantages to having it built keyboard -oriented operation (COMMAND -b = bold, etc.). into your terminal emulation program. A companion program More keyboard operation could speed things up for accomplished TekPrint (also from Peripherals Computers and Supplies, Inc.) typists oriented toward more traditional word processors. Mac- displays plots saved by VersaTerm and provides panning and Write refuses to let you print farther to the left than the 1 -inch zooming, rotation (vertical or horizonal page), direct printing mark or farther to the right than the 8 -inch mark, even if you are (ImageWriter or LaserWriter), and saving (MacPaint). Laser- printing a horizonal page rather than a vertical one. While it Barton: Using the Macintosh as an engineering workstation 63.