Re: Shell Applications for Orca?

[dempson@atlantis.actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

In article <4g7phi$vos@styx.uwa.edu.au>,
Joseph Turner <jturner@tartarus.uwa.edu.au> wrote:
>    hI all, I have a question(actually a few) about ORCA. I noticed that I 
> can run other applications withing orca, that is by simply going to the 
> shell window and running the s165 aplications.

There is an extra level involved here.  The ORCA/Shell is a text-only
environment.  You are also running Prizm, the graphical front-end.
Its Shell window allows you type in shell commands.

I have avoided using Prizm ever since it was released (as
"ORCA/Desktop").  Early versions were very buggy.  Current versions
are probably OK, but I'm used to the text environment, so I don't want
to use it anyway.

I would suggest being careful running S16 applications in this manner.
Prizm is also a debugger, and it may be attempting to load the
application for debugging.  (I wouldn't expect it to do this unless the
program contained debugging information.)

> Then at the top right , some arrows and a foot print appears.

Those are the debugging icons, which are displayed in the application
menu bar.  The footprint is used for single stepping, the arrows
switch back to the Prizm menu bar.

Open up the "Execute Options..." command in the "Run" menu, and see
what your "Debug Mode" is set to.  If it set to "Trace" or "Step",
then change it to "Go".

> Also, no applications that I have tried run perfectly under this
> shell...example SHR2.01 makes the screen look strange, and other
> applications usually make the computer crash into the monitor...

Sounds like Prizm and the application conflicting somehow.  Try
getting out of Prizm and use the text-only shell to launch the
programs (you'll have to edit the "Login" file in the "Shell"
directory and remove the "prizm" command, then quit and re-launch
ORCA/Shell).

If you launch a S16 application from the text shell command line, ORCA
is completely shut down.  I have my IIgs set up to boot straight into
ORCA/Shell (text only) and I launch all my other programs from there.

No problem at all.

I suspect the problem is that Prizm is trying to debug everything you
run, so it is not being shut down when the application is launched.

> I have ORCA2.02.

ORCA what?  C?  Pascal?  In both cases, there is a newer version
(ORCA/C 2.0.3, ORCA/Pascal 2.1).  I don't know if these included a
newer version of Prizm.

> Also, I have seen a few programs written and sent to binaries.apple2
> like an RZ/SZ protocol thingy. Is this for some modem program that
> can be run thru the ORCA shell?

No.  This and several other programs posted recently are for GNO/ME
(usually just called "GNO"), which is another shell (a multitasking
environment, with a UNIX-like kernel and shell).  GNO can run nearly
all ORCA/Shell-compatible EXEs, but programs that require GNO will not
work under ORCA/Shell, as GNO has a lot of additional features.

RZ/SZ is a port of the UNIX RZ and SZ utilities which are used to
"Receive Zmodem" and "Send Zmodem" (via a serial connection, usually
through a modem).  They also support YModem/Batch and XModem.


-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand