🚀 go-pugleaf

Archive-name: msdos-programmer-faq/part4
Last-modified: 26 June 1993


(continued from part 3)         (no warranty on the code or information)

If the posting date is more than six weeks in the past, see instructions
in part 4 of this list for how to get an updated copy.

Copyright (C) 1993  Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems.  All rights reserved.


section A. Downloads
====================

QA01. What are Simtel, garbo, and wustl?

    (rev: 13 Jun 1993) These are three of the most popular archive
    sites, with a few bazillion files available for downloading by ftp.
    (For email access, see next Q.)  Everything is free for downloading,
    though many of the files are shareware and you're expected to send a
    payment directly to the authors if you use them regularly.

    In comp.archives.msdos.d, Samuel Ko posts a two-part "Useful
    MSDOS Programs at SIMTEL20 and Garbo"; it's downloadable as
        pd1:<msdos.info>useful27.zip at Simtel
        /pc/filelist/useful27.zip at garbo
        /pub/usenet/news.answers/msdos-archives/part* at rtfm.mit.edu.
    For rtfm.mit.edu instructions, see "Where are FAQ lists archived?"
    in section C, "More information".

    A few words about file names and versions:  Many files at the
    archive sites are updated from time to time.  I have verified the
    filenames in this FAQ list as follows:

        garbo: from /pc/INDEX as of 10 Jun 1993
        Simtel: from pd1:<msdos.filedocs>simibm.zip as of 1 Jun 1993
        rtfm.mit.edu: via ftp access on 10 Apr 1993

    If you can't find a file given in these articles as mumble12.zip,
    perhaps there's a newer version; try mumble13.zip or mumble14.zip,
    or mumble*.zip if your ftp program supports wildcards (most do so).
    Please let me know of any out-of-date file names in these FAQs and
    I'll gladly update them.

    I have tried to list both garbo and Simtel directory and file names
    for every file mentioned for downloading.  If you see a listing for
    only one of them, it means that I couldn't find the file at the
    other site, or that the other site's catalog shows an old version.

    Also remember that caps and lower case filenames are not inter-
    changeable at most archive sites, though they are at Simtel.

    1) Simtel = wsmr-simtel20.army.mil [192.88.110.20]

    is located in New Mexico, USA.  For instructions, see these monthly
    articles in comp.archives.msdos.announce:

        SIMTEL20 archives info for Internet FTP users
        How to find files in the SIMTEL20 msdos collection
        How to order SIMTEL20 files via e-mail
        How to upload files to SIMTEL20

    These are downloadable from Simtel as pd1:<msdos.starter>simtel20.inf
    and pd1:<msdos.filedocs>aaaread.me, mailserv.inf, and upload.inf.
    If you have no ftp access, you can get these files (and anything
    else) by email; see the next Q.

    If Simtel is busy, you might try the mirror site oak.oakland.edu,
    which is operated by the University of Rochester (Michigan).  Both
    are maintained by Keith Petersen (w8sdz@TACOM-EMH1.Army.Mil or
    w8sdz@Vela.ACS.Oakland.Edu), so oak will probably be updated faster
    than any other mirror.  At Oak, the directories /pub/msdos/*
    correspond to Simtel's pd1:<msdos.*>, so the starter files mentioned
    above are downloadable as /pub/msdos/starter/simtel20.inf and
    /pub/msdos/filedocs/aaaread.me, mailserv.inf, and upload.inf.

    2) garbo = garbo.uwasa.fi [128.214.87.1]

    is located at the University of Vaasa in Finland and maintained by
    Timo Salmi (ts@uwasa.fi).  garbo and Simtel contain many of the same
    files, but there are many differences too.  Among them:  the
    directory structures differ greatly, and case is significant in
    directory and file names at garbo.

    3) wustl = wuarchive.wustl.edu [128.252.135.4]

    mirrors both garbo (in /mirrors4/garbo.uwasa.fi) and Simtel (in
    /mirrors/msdos).  As with any mirror site, it may lag by a day or
    two, so you may not want to try it on the same day you see an upload
    notice posted.

    4) others

    A comprehensive list of MS-DOS archive sites is downloadable as
    /pc/pd2/moder25.zip at garbo.

    For archie.au via Telnet (different from the Archie file-finding
    mail servers):  Oceanian users should try archie.au first.  Paul
    Brooks has written to say that it "mirrors garbo and simtel-20 (in
    /micros/pc/simtel-20, /micros/pc/garbo) as well as many other
    archives.  Telnetting to 'archie.au' and logging on as 'archie' (no
    password) will access the Oceanic ARCHIE server." Email Craig Warren
    (ccw@archie.au) for instructions if needed.

QA02. I have no ftp access.  How can I get files from the archives?

    (rev: 14 June 1993) First, be _sure_ that you have no ftp access
    before trying email methods.  (Ask your sysadmin, or a knowledgeable
    user at your site.)  ftp is better for you because it's faster, and
    it uses less net resources too.

    When using an email server, make sure the Reply-to path in your
    message is valid.  If it's not, you'll get no reply from the server.
    Do wait a few days before assuming you're not going to get a
    response; some servers have long pending queues.  After a suitable
    wait, get your sysadmin's help to correct your reply-to, and send
    your message again.

    Occasionally a machine goes down for an extended period, which may
    prevent a timely reply to your message.  If you're sure your message
    bears a good reply path and you haven't got a reply in a week or so,
    you might send your message again, once.  Don't post it as an
    article in a newsgroup.

    For files from Simtel, see "How to order SIMTEL20 files via e-mail",
    posted monthly in comp.archives.msdos.announce; or send email
    containing only the word "help" to listserv@vm1.nodak.edu.  For
    instructions on using garbo's email server, send a request to
    Timo Salmi at ts@uwasa.fi.

    The DEC Western Research Labs server will get files from any ftp
    site by ftp and then email them to you.  Send email containing
    "help" to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com.

QA03. Can I get archives on CD-ROM?

    (rev: 24 May 1993) Copies of the SIMTEL20 MS-DOS, Macintosh and
    Unix-C collections (also of wuarchive, cica, and others) are
    available from Walnut Creek CDROM, 1547 Palos Verdes, Suite 260,
    Walnut Creek, CA 94596-2228, telephone (800) 786-9907 or +1 510
    674-0783, or FAX +1 510 674-0821, or email rab@cdrom.com.

    For a catalog of disks available, send email to info@cdrom.com, or
    ftp the catalog as /cdrom/catalog from cdrom.com.

QA04. Where do I find program <mumble>?

    (rev: 2 Feb 1993) There are several newsgroups to help;
    comp.binaries.ibm.pc.wanted is generally the best place to ask your
    question.  Please review the guidelines in "What other newsgroups
    should I know about?" in section 1, "General questions".

    Download and check the indexes from Simtel and garbo (see next Q).
    Unless what you're looking for is commercial software, there's a
    good chance it will be at one or both of those sites.

    The Archie servers maintain directories of many (not all) ftp sites
    worldwide.  You can Telnet to a server or client to search for
    files, or perform a search by email.  See the Anonymous FTP List,
    posted periodically in news.answers and other groups, for a list of
    Archie servers.

QA05. How can I check Simtel or garbo before I post a request for a
      program?

    (rev: 2 Feb 1993) Simtel and garbo have indexes of their contents,
    which you can download and then search off line.

    garbo's index file, /pc/INDEX, is an annotated list, frequently
    updated, of the MS-DOS files there; to save download time, get the
    packed form /pc/INDEX.ZIP.  The news file /pc/pd2/news-pd2 contains
    selected news on all MS-DOS directories at garbo.

    Simtel's index files, in pd1:<msdos.filedocs>, are updated several
    times a month.  SIMLIST.ZIP contains a list in text format.  But you
    may prefer the file SIMIBM.ZIP, which is comma-delimited for easy
    use with any of these search facilities:

    - Two downloadable search programs are SIMTEL35.ARC and
      SIMDIR22.ZIP.  Of the two, I find I use SIMDIR much more often.

    - dBASE III or IV users can load the index from SIMLIST.ZIP using
      instructions in SIMIBM.INF and SIMIBM.DB3.

    - PC-FILE users should get SIMIBM.HDR, which tells how to use
      SIMIBM.IBM.

QA06. How do I download and decode a program I found?

    (rev: 16 Mar 1993) See the "starter kit" in comp.binaries.ibm.pc,
    usually posted on the first and 15th of every month.  Most binaries
    are posted and sent through email in 'uuencode' format.  The starter
    kit contains a uudecode program to turn this file back into binary.

    If you can't wait (if?, bwaa-haa-haa), you can get the starter kit
    via ftp or email from rtfm.mit.edu, in the directory
    /pub/usenet/comp.binaries.ibm.pc as files
        v21inf02:_s.k,_C_S_s_K_v1.9.1_(p_01_01)
        v21inf04:_b.m,_B_s_G_t_B_V1.3_(p_01_01)
    For general instructions on rtfm.mit.edu, see "Where are FAQ lists
    archived?" in section C, "More information".

    If you're using Kermit, remember to set file type binary before
    issuing the send command.  By the way, the uuencoded file is bigger
    than the binary, so you'll save connect time if you can uudecode it
    and then download the binary file.

QA07. Where is UUDECODE?

    You can find it at Simtel and garbo, but it's easier to take it from
    the "starter kit" mentioned in the preceding Q.

    If you're logged in at a Unix site, there's almost certainly a
    uudecode there:  just type "uudecode" followed by a space and the
    file name.  The binary file is 25% smaller than the uuencoded file,
    so you'll save connect time if you can uudecode it on the Unix host
    and then download the binary file.  Remember: set file type binary.

QA08. Why do I get errors when extracting from a ZIP file I downloaded?

    (rev: 5 Apr 1993) There are many possible causes, but two of them
    probably account for 95% of all problems.

    1) File transmission:  You must tell the archive site to transfer
    .ZIP files in binary mode.  Depending on your software, you may also
    need to set your local software to receive files in binary mode.

    2) Unzipping program:  Make sure you aren't using an obsolete
    version.  In <9303290853.kp28285@tacom-emh1.army.mil> on 29 Mar
    1993, Keith Petersen, Simtel administrator, wrote:  "SIMTEL20 has
    standardized on the Info-ZIP group's ZIP and UNZIP because they are
    freely distributable and they have no restrictions on exporting.
    The latest version of Info-ZIP's ZIP and UNZIP can always be found
    in directory PD1:<MSDOS.ZIP> and will always have the name
    'Info-ZIP' in the description to make them easy to locate."  PKUNZIP
    version 1.10 may not unzip newer stuff from archive sites because
    site administrators have now embraced version 2.04.  Also see
    "What's the current version of UNZIP?" in section B, "Vendors and
    products".

section B. Vendors and products
===============================

QB01. How can I contact Borland?

    (rev: 18 Apr 1993)  Borland has set up these email addresses.
    However, none of them is for technical support such as help with
    finding your own programming errors and explaining compiler
    messages.

    - bp7-info@borland.com will reply to any message with 17K of info on
      Borland Pascal with Objects 7.0 and Turbo Pascal 7.0.

    - customer-support@borland.com is for questions about prices and
      features of products, replacing bad or missing disks, info on
      upgrades, etc.  They do not accept emailed credit-card numbers.

    - bugs@borland.com will take "a well-documented bug report" and send
      an automated response, but will not give you a workaround or a
      scheduled fix date or even confirm that it is or is not considered
      a bug.  "The purpose of bugs@borland.com is to improve future
      products sooner, not as a substitute for tech support channels."

    Tech support is provided through Compuserve (GO BOR), by voice phone
    at +1 408 438 5300, by FAX at (800) 822-4269 in U.S. (use Touch-Tone
    voice phone), on a BBS at +1 408 439 9096, and by mail at

        Technical Support Department
        Borland International
        P.O. Box 660001
        Scotts Valley CA 95067-0001, USA.

    You'll need to give your product's name, version, and serial number.

    Borland's TechFax documents are also available for download:
        pd1:<msdos.turbo-c>bchelp10.zip from Simltel
        /pc/turbopas/bchelp10.zip from garbo.
    These documents are detailed answers to common questions about Turbo
    C and Borland C products, and aggregate about four times the size of
    this file.

QB02. How can I contact Microsoft?

    (rev: 18 Apr 1993) Individual employees of Microsoft (not MicroSoft,
    please!) post here sometimes.  Their addresses all take the form
    person@microsoft.com.  However, Microsoft as a company does not
    provide product support through the Internet, as far as I'm aware.
    Technical support through your modem is available on Compuserve (GO
    MICROSOFT) or via Microsoft's BBS at +1 206 936-6735 in the U.S., or
    +1 416 507-3022 in Canada.

    If you want to place an order or get general pre-sales information,
    call the appropriate sales and service number:

        U.S. end-user sales                   (800) 426-9400
        U.S. corporate/gov't/reseller/
                 educational sales            (800) 227-4679
        Canadian sales                        (800) 568-3503
        International sales                  +1 206 936-8661

    For tech support you must make an ordinary long-distance phone call.
    Microsoft has separate incoming phone numbers for many products.
    Since it's your nickel, first check your documentation to see if a
    phone number is listed.  Here are phone numbers (as of 1 June 1992)
    for a few products of most interest to the readers of this group:

        C/C++               (206) 635-7007
        MASM                (206) 646-5109
        DOS Upgrade Users   (206) 646-5104 (for 90 days after first call)
        Windows Users       (206) 637-6098

    If you can't find the direct number any other way, call the "master"
    numbers below or the sales numbers a few paragraphs above.  You'll
    get the "voice mail phone tree from h-ll" but you'll eventually get
    to the right department.  They don't provide technical assistance,
    but a voice menu will help you find the current phone number for the
    department you need.

        U.S. end-user product support         (206) 454-2030
        U.S. languages support                (206) 637-7096

    You can also write to Microsoft Product Support, 16011 NE 36th Way,
    Box 97017, Redmond WA 98073-9717, USA.

QB03. What's the current version of UNZIP?

    (rev: 14 June 1993)  As of April 1993, the administrators of garbo
    and Simtel are accepting uploads in the ZIP 2.0 format.  You can use
    the free Info-ZIP versions, or PKZIP 2.04g (not 2.04c or 2.04e).
    Simtel has standardized on the Info-ZIP versions for several
    reasons, as explained in an article posted 29 Mar 1993 in
    comp.archives.msdos.announce.

    The official site for the latest versions of Info-ZIP's Zip and
    unZip programs is quest.jpl.nasa.gov [128.129.75.43] in directory
    /pub.  Also downloadable are these files, in pd1:<msdos.zip> at
    Simtel and /pc/arcers at garbo (source code at garbo in /unix/arcers):

        unz50p1.exe   UnZip 5.0p1 program and documentation
        unz50p1.zip   UnZip 5.0p1 source code
        zip19p1x.zip  Zip 1.9p1 .EXEs and docs (PKZIP 2.04 compatible)
        zip19p1.zip   Zip 1.9p1 source code (PKZIP 2.04 compatible)

    An advantage of the Info-ZIP versions is that are not restricted to
    MS-DOS.  Look at quest.jpl.nasa.gov for versions for all supported
    operating systems.  At Simtel, look in pd8:<misc.unix> and
    pd8:<misc.vaxvms> for unix and VAX/VMS versions; the source code in
    pd8:<misc.unix> also compiles under MS-DOS and VAX/VMS.

    PKZIP and PKUNZIP are shareware products of PKWARE Inc.  The current
    version is 2.04g, which is the third official version after 1.10.
    You can download them from PKWARE's bulletin board, +1 414 354 8670,
    or from garbo as /pc/arcers/pkz204g.exe.  U.S. law forbids U.S.
    archive sites from making them available.

    By the way, if you want to develop your own utilities, you will find
    the ZIP 2.0 data structures described in the downloadable file
    pd1:<msdos.zip>appnote.zip at Simtel.

QB04. What's in Borland Pascal/Turbo Pascal 7.0?

    You can send email to bp7-info@borland.com and get an automatic
    reply of the 17K information file from Borland, or the file is
    downloadable (6k, ZIPped) as /pc/turbopas/bp7-info.zip from
    garbo.uwasa.fi.

QB05. What's in Microsoft Visual C++?

    (new: 24 May 1993)  This is the replacement for Microsoft C/C++
    7.0.  It comes in Standard and Professional versions, as well as an
    upgrade from MSC 7.0.  The Professional upgrade is $139 in U.S. and
    includes all software but less than half the full set of manuals.

    According to Microsoft Sales, (800) 426-9400 in the U.S., the
    Professional edition can develop applications for Windows or good
    ol' DOS and includes the optimizing compiler; the Standard edition's
    compiler lacks the optimization and can't develop Windows
    applications.

QB06. Where is Microsoft C 8.0?

    There won't be an 8.0.  Visual C++ is the upgrade to C/C++ 7.0 (see
    previous Q).

section C. More information
===========================

QC01. Are there any good on-line references for PC hardware components?

    (rev: 18 Apr 1993) I have heard good reports of HELPPC21, which is
    downloadable as
        pd1:<msdos.info>helppc21.zip at Simtel
        /pc/programming/helppc21.zip at garbo.
    There's an info file in the same directory, helppc21.inf.

    This hypertext system contains much information on ports and other
    hardware, as well as some overlap with Ralf Brown's interrupt list
    (see next Q).  It is shareware ($25).

QC02. Are there any good on-line references for PC interrupts?

    (rev: 6 June 1993)  The definitive work is Ralf Brown's interrupt
    list, which is packed with information on documented and
    (officially) undocumented BIOS and DOS interrupts, DOS tables, and
    interrupts hooked by many software packages.

    The interrupt list comes from CS.CMU.EDU [128.2.222.173] in
    /afs/cs/user/ralf/pub (switch there with a *single* command) as
    inter35a.zip, inter35b.zip, and inter35c.zip.  It's downloadable as
        pd1:<msdos.info>inter35*.zip from Simtel
        /pc/programming/inter35*.zip from garbo.
    These versions were uploaded in early June 1993; updates are
    announced every few months in comp.archives.msdos.announce.

    There is a book, {PC Interrupts:  A Programmer's Reference to BIOS,
    DOS, and Third-Party Calls} by Ralf Brown and Jim Kyle
    (Addison-Wesley; ISBN 0-201-57797-6).  This corresponds to INTER26
    with the most important new material from INTER27, so the on-line
    list contains more current information (and more information) than
    the book.

QC03. What and where is "Ralf Brown's interrupt list"?

    See the preceding Q.

QC04. Where can I find lex, yacc, and language grammars?

    The FAQ list of the comp.compilers newsgroup answers this for Basic,
    C, Pascal, and other languages.  See later in this section.

QC05. What's the best book to learn programming?

    Sorry, this FAQ list cannot settle religious arguments.

    Much of the heat over this topic arises because each person believes
    that the book that he or she learned from is the best book.  But my
    observation is that different people have very different experiences
    of the same book.  The only person who can tell you which is the
    best book for learning a given topic is you.

    Your best bet is to go to a fairly well-stocked bookstore when you
    have a couple of hours to spare.  Start at one end of the shelf and
    work your way methodically through every book that looks like it
    might cover what you want to learn.  Look at the tables of contents;
    read a page or two from each book.  Then make your decision.  If
    money is a problem, or if you're not sure of your choice, check out
    your top two or three from your library.

QC06. Where are FAQ lists archived?

    (rev: 27 Apr 1993) Very possibly the FAQ list you want is already at
    your site.  Check the newsgroup news.answers; if your site doesn't
    carry news.answers, check comp.answers, rec.answers, etc., according
    to the top-level name in the FAQ list's "home" newsgroup.  Articles
    are posted to the *.answers groups in a way that should make them
    last until the next versions are posted.  If they expire sooner at
    your site, you might want to lobby your sysadmin to treat the
    moderated *.answers groups as a special case and grant them longer
    expiry times than other groups.

    To ftp the FAQ lists, connect to rtfm.mit.edu, which is operated by
    Jonathan Kamens (jik@gza.com) at MIT.  Change to directory
    /pub/usenet/news.answers.  The name of the file that you want is the
    Archive-name from the top of the article.  For instance, to retrieve
    this article you would get msdos-programmer-faq/part4.

    By email (only if you have no ftp access, please), the server is
    mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu; file names omit the leading "/pub/".  For
    instructions about the mail server, send a message with "help" and
    "index" on different lines.

    Not just FAQ lists, but every article listed in the "List of
    Periodic Informational Postings" (LoPIP) can be obtained by ftp or
    email from rtfm.mit.edu.  If you have an old copy of an
    informational article, look for an "Archive-name" at the beginning;
    rtfm.mit.edu stores it under that name in /pub/usenet/news.answers.
    If the article has no Archive-name, check the first name on the
    Newsgroups line and change to that directory under /pub/usenet.

QC07. Where can I get the latest copy of this FAQ list?

    (rev: 22 Apr 1993)  It is posted to news.answers in such a way that
    it should stick around until the next version has been posted.
    Please check news.answers or comp.answers first, looking for the
    Subject line "comp.os.msdos.programmer FAQ".

    If the article has expired from your site's news.answers, or your
    site doesn't get news.answers, you can retrieve the latest version
    of this list as
        /pub/usenet/news.answers/msdos-programmer-faq/part* via ftp or
            email from rtfm.mit.edu; see previous Q
        pd1:<msdos.info>faqp*.zip from Simtel
        /pc/doc-net/faqp*.zip from garbo.

QC08. How do I use ftp?

    (new: 16 Mar 1993) I have been much impressed with {The Whole
    Internet User's Guide and Catalog} by Ed Krol (O'Reilly &
    Associates, ISBN 1-56592-025-2).  It gives lots of information on
    using ftp, email, Telnet, Archie, etc.  As a new user of ftp
    (January 1993), I found the information made me productive quickly.

    Disclosure:  Though I don't believe it has biased my judgment, you
    should know that O'Reilly sent me a free evaluation copy.

    You may also want to look for the "Beginner's Guide to FTP", posted
    periodically in comp.binaries.ibm.pc.  You can retrieve it from
    rtfm.mit.edu (see "Where are FAQ lists archived?", above), in
    /pub/usenet/comp.binaries.ibm.pc, as (hang on!)
    v21inf05:_b.m,_B_s_G_t_F_V1.7_(p_01_01) .

(end of comp.os.msdos.programmer FAQ)

-- 
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems                    brown@Ncoast.ORG

Can't find FAQ lists?  ftp to 'rtfm.mit.edu' and look in /pub/usenet
(or email me >>> with valid reply-to address <<< for instructions).