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Rainbow EchoMail Digest                         Aug 28, 1990

In this issue:
  RE: CACHEPROGRAM              (3 messages)
  COLORS ONRAINBOW              (2 messages)
  MS-WORD
  RE: COLORS ONRAINBOW
  RAINBOWCOLORS


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------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date:     08-26-90 (07:09)
To:       FRANK MALLORY
Subject:  RE: CACHEPROGRAM
From:     DON MARQUART


 >  PR> supplies or supports your program.  On the other hand, a company that
 >  PR> goes out of business without a successor or assignee, is 'dead' and
 >  PR> thus any contract with it dies.
 >
 > So if the owner of the RainboWorks clock program is dead, and there is no
 > successor, there should be no legal problem making it available here.

If your really concerned I could maybe dig out his home phone number and
you could contact his wife for approval providing of course she hasn't
moved in all this time.

 >  Question: wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that the party to whom the
 > hardware was conveyed has the right to avail himself of a copy of the
 > software offered by another party?

Technically, the true ownership of the software is determined by
posession of the "original" distribution disk and license.  Legally you
should get by with just the original disk to prove ownership.

Later...


- --- ConfMail V4.00
 * Origin: Club Micro * CompuMatch (303)973-8578 (1:104/888)
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Date:     08-25-90 (22:28)
To:       GEORGE THEALL
Subject:  COLORS ONRAINBOW
From:     FRANK MALLORY

 GT> From: genrad!rxf@husc6.harvard.edu  ( Ruben D. Fagundo ) Organization:
 GT> GenRad
 GT>
 GT> Does anyone know how to program the colors on the rainbow.  I have
 GT> written a few small programs, that would look better with some color,
 GT> but I have no idea how this is done.   I have tried some of the pc's
 GT> color routines, with no success.  I have also looked at the vt240's
 GT> manual to see if it's a matter of a an ansi escape sequence, but I
 GT> couldn't find anything appropriate.  If I could just get a hold of the
 GT> source to something like desk or scram, I think I could figure this
 GT> out. Has anyone written any small, C programs that use the Rb's colors?

You need the VT241 (not 240) Programmer Reference Manual.
Alternatively,you  will find the sequences in the Terminals & Printers
Handbook, Appendix C,  ReGIS Writing Controls Summary and Screen
Controls Summary tables.

That's all I know about it; I have never programmed in color (unless you
count a blue funk).

 GT> I have already asked this question with no response, so I thought I'd
 GT> try it again.  Any help would be appreciated.

The Rainbow messages seem to be flowing thru Fidonet a lot better now.


- --- msged 1.99L MSC
 * Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Md. - 301-622-2247 (1:109/417)
------------------------------
Date:     08-26-90 (19:06)
To:       ALL
Subject:  MS-WORD
From:     FRANK MALLORY

Has anyone out there tried running Microsoft WORD on the Rainbow?


- --- msged 1.99L MSC
 * Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Md. - 301-622-2247 (1:109/417)
------------------------------
Date:     08-26-90 (13:40)
To:       GEORGE THEALL
Subject:  COLORS ONRAINBOW
From:     ED RIDPATH

In text mode the Rainbow only has one color.  To access color, you must
shift to graphics mode, then you have to form the letters yourself.  The
tech. ref. has complete source to do this, but it is quite a pain, and
IMHO not worth it.

Ed

- --- msged 1.999.9
 * Origin: Keep It Simple - Aiken, SC (803) 648-0283 (1:360/11.101)
------------------------------
Date:     08-26-90 (19:42)
To:       DON MARQUART
Subject:  RE: CACHEPROGRAM
From:     FRANK MALLORY

 DM> If your really concerned I could maybe dig out his home phone number
 DM> and you could contact his wife for approval providing of course she
 DM> hasn't moved in all this time.

I don't think it's worth bothering her about.  Only one person expressed
an  interest in the RBW program, and nobody at all has downloaded it
since I made  it available here.  I'll simply wait another week, then
remove it as being of  limited interest.


- --- msged 1.99L MSC
 * Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Md. - 301-622-2247 (1:109/417)
------------------------------
Date:     08-26-90 (20:59)
To:       FRANK MALLORY
Subject:  RE: CACHEPROGRAM
From:     CARL HOUSEMAN

re: This particular software item was furnished as an adjunct to a
     hardware item (viz., clock).  Withtout the software, the hardware
     has no value, and vice versa.

 Now this is sounding more and more like the VMS license controversy
recently reported by DR.  Do you still get your copy, Frank?  DEC is now
starting to treat VMS licenses as something that travels with the CPU
*board* and cannot be transferred to a replacement board if one should
acquire one outside of DEC's provisions.  Thus an upgrade of a 6310 to a
6410 done by the customer requires the complete re-purchase of a VMS
license for the 6410.

 As for the clock board, and the way I treat most similar software (e.g.
hard disk formatting programs sent along with HD controllers, etc.) is
that the software DOES travel with the hardware.  In most cases - and
especially in the RB clock situation (any one of them) - the software is
useless to someone without the hardware, as you stated.  Therefore
posting the software would hardly seem to a case for legal action,
unless that software could be used with some (competitor's) hardware.

 Didn't SS distribute an updated CLIKCLOK program through the BBS
network?


- --- Opus-CBCS 1.12
 * Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Md - 301-622-2247
------------------------------
Date:     08-26-90 (21:08)
To:       FRANK MALLORY
Subject:  RE: COLORS ONRAINBOW
From:     CARL HOUSEMAN

Just a note - the VT-240 programmer's manual won't do a Rainbow owner
much good unless he's running Rainbow REGIS.


- --- Opus-CBCS 1.12
 * Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Md - 301-622-2247
------------------------------
Date:     08-27-90 (07:51)
To:       GEORGE THEALL
Subject:  RAINBOWCOLORS
From:     PAUL OLSON


If you are talking about changing the colors of the text on the standard
'bow alphanumeric screen, there is no way to do it.  The color graphics
option has its own memory and separate processor.  The only way to
program in color is to address the graphics processor, passing
information to it through the graphics interface.  For characters, the
processor will create simple line characters, and that's not what most
folks want.  You might be able to get it to scroll properly, but you
will have to control the scan lines.  There are a few good interfaces
for Turbo Pascal out on the BBS's, one by a guy named Ken Nist.  I have
used his routines when working on my fractal programs.  You could try
converting his code.  It is mostly in-line assembly, so I'd think all
you'd have to do is to convert the Pascal portions to C.  I believe the
name of the program is RBGRAPH.ARC, or something along those lines.  It
has been a long time since I looked for TPascal interfaces, because once
I found Nist's I didn't need to look anymore.  If you need any more
help, let me know.
As Always,
Paul

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