Apparently-To: john.smith@gravis.com


GUS Programmer's Digest     Sat, 1 Jan 94  4:29          Volume 8: Issue   1  

Today's Topics:
                       Complaints on complaints
                       GUSDK 21.0 Pascal source

Standard Info:
	- Meta-info about the GUS can be found at the end of the Digest.
	- Before you ask a question, please READ THE FAQ.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 31 Dec 93 15:22:31 CST
From: chuth@lonestar.utsa.edu (Cornel H. Huth)
Subject: Re: Complaints on complaints

> Subject: Bad-mouthed Cornel

Love it. I suppose the reason the SDK 2.10 is the way it is is because,
it seems, everyone likes it that way. I don't.

> Please, Cornel, keep the inflammatory rhetoric to a minimum.  Mike

Ah-hahahahahaha! Hey, Phat, you don't like what I have to say? Come on.
You should be able to take it better than that! And does it make you feel
better telling me, a private American citizen, what I should do? Why?

> essentially agreed with your recommendations, so I saw little reason for
> you to verbally abuse him as you have.

You mean "Forte Tech Support"? As for agreeing, that doesn't matter to me.
I don't care if FTS does. There's no reason for state of the SDK.

> As far as I'm concerned, the SDK does a good job at explaining how the GUS
> functions and what its registers do.  That's all that many people need to

And as far as I'm concerned, the SDK falls short, so much so that I felt
like letting FTS know. I've now had three of GUS SDKs in a bit over a year.
It's not what's in them, so much, it's what is not in them.

> start programming the GUS.  Where the SDK falls short is in explaining how
> third-party software can use the patches that the card ships with, and I
> see no reason why this should be so.

Good for you. You and FTS can sleep in the same bed for all I care.
And someone else says:

> [Much moaning and groaning about the new SDK deleted]

Why bring it up if you aren't going to quote it?
>
> I wrote my program, GusDelay, using the old version of the SDK.  There are
> some problems in the currently released version (0.3), but I do not
> attribute these to the SDK.  In fact, I have fixed those problems (even
> using the old SDK) and will release the new and improved version on January
> 4, 1994.  To say that SDK 2.01 "was competely [sic] useless to anyone not

(heh!) Probably took more time to write [sic] than to add an L.

> able to fix the numerous problems themselves" is totally inaccurate.  I was
> able to create GusDelay without fixing any problems in the SDK.

Is there any major software product done using the GUS SDK 2.01? Are game
companies using this for their GUS support? If not, then why not? I don't
want to discount GUSDELAY, but I'm talking major, hard-core software stuff.
Are there any "multi-media" programs based on the SDK 2.01? And, like I
said, it's not what's in there but what is purposely not in there.

> [Much more moaning and groaning deleted]

There you go again. Who started this method of editing? If you don't want to
quote, don't bring it up.

> Did you read the manual?  Here are some names and addresses that I found...

Did you read my "My Impressions" article? If you had you would have seen that
I went straight to the "patch" stuff. My entire article was based on this
section of the manual. As for names/addresses, the follow-up message said:

  Forte Tech Support

Doesn't look like much of an internet e-mail address.

> Addresses and FAX numbers on the cover:

That's all fine and good, but did you read what I wrote? I said name and
e-mail addresses. What good is doing this spiel on the internet and then
not post an e-mail address?

> On page 43, it says (and Cornel would agree :-) )...
> >This chapter is a reference guide for the routines that compromise both the
> >C and Pascal versions of the SDK.

Not at all. You use the SDK for its code. I use the SDK for its documentation.
I couldn't tell you what was on page 43 but I could tell you everything that's
on page 22.

> I think "compromise" should be replaced with "comprise".  That one probably
> made it past the spelling *and* grammar checkers! :-)

Cast your doubts aside. You are correct, on the first count.

> ENTER_CRITICAL).  Some of my problems, however, were due to an apparently
> gross omission.  It seems that none of the Ultra*Handler functions have

Nice to see someone else able to know what's not there, although for a
different reason. Not a single mention of a single change in the entire
SDK. Did someone say "rag-tag fugitive fleet"?

> The new documentation is *MUCH* better than the old documentation.

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. Too bad all the previous problems
are still there. And I mean documenation. If you use FTS code, good luck.

> If that's not good enough for you, what would you like?  Mike's pager number?

Sign it yourself.
Then it looks like a repeat customer wrote:

> Cornel, you talk alot about how horrible the SDK is and how you had to write
> it all over from scratch because you found it to be so useless, but you
> never tell us what wonderful things have you have done to make things
> better.

Didn't you already write something today? As for me making things better,
to use the words of the late Freddie Prinz, "that's not my job". And I
didn't write the SDK over from scratch (seems that your "interpretation" of
what I've written is batting about .000). I wrote my own SDK that makes the
2.01 thing look like something out of a grocery store generic isle. I would
have anyway since the GUS is only 1 of many currently supported cards. However,
I would have been done much much sooner if the SDK had been usable in a real
sense. As it is now, I am, for the most part, already done with the GUS.

I spent four months on mostly GUS code (I anticipated two). About half that
was spent specifically with interpreting patches. And you may buy that shit
from FTS on the SDK not "requiring a focus on the patches". Well, I don't
buy it. I don't have 5.5MB of patches on disk for nothing. Take away the
patches and the GUS is about as useful as a burned-out light bulb.

> have you done that is so difficult/impossible with the old or new SDK?
> Pointing out specific flaws in the SDK is useful, but general whining is
> annoying.  In other words, with all due respect, put up or shut up.

Hey, you don't have to agree with me. With all due respect, what you do with
the GUS and what I do with soundcards in general is about as close as a
cap-gun is to an F-16. I'm not here to educate Forte, or you, or anyone.
If you want to, that's fine. I'm not here complaining about you, or Phat,
or whoever wrote the SDK 2.10 thing. I'm here complaining about the SDK and
FTS's position on what "should" be in there.
---
chh
 Internet: chuth@lonestar.utsa.edu
  Fidonet: 1:387/800.8
      BBS: The 40th Floor;V32b@1(210)684-8065;M-F:5pm-9am,WE:1p-9a CT

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1993 09:46:45 -0500 (EST)
From: elminstr@hudlink.hoboken.nj.us (Jj pierson)
Subject: GUSDK 21.0 Pascal source

I loaded the GUS1.PAS program into Turbo Pascal 6.0 and it won't run.
On the UltraMemAlloc line it gives me an error dealing with the variable 
at the end of the call. (I think it's something like SoundLen[Count]). 
Anybody else have this problem? If so, did you find a solution?
Please try to reply by E-Mail because the site I'm writing this one 
doesn't allow mailing lists for each person because of disk space so I 
can't get the SDK digest in my mail and he hasn't added it to his 
conference listing yet. (I just asked him to add it, but don't know how 
long it will take.)

-----------
elminstr@hudlink.hoboken.nj.us (Jj pierson)

------------------------------

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