Mac-2-Dos V1.0 Release Notes

			August 18, 1989

Thanks for purchasing Mac-2-Dos.  These notes include corrections and
additions to the Mac-2-Dos User's Guide, in no particular order.


		    PACKAGE B SOFTWARE INSTALLATION

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LOAD THE MAC-2-DOS DEVICE DRIVER IN ORDER TO USE
MAC-2-DOS.  The driver (called "macfloppy.device") is only for using the
Mac drive with AmigaDOS.  The Mac-2-Dos program DOES NOT use this
driver.  You can start using Mac-2-Dos immediately, and then, at a later
time, you can install the Mac-2-Dos driver so that you can use the Mac
drive as an AmigaDOS device.


			NO InstallM2D 

The User's Guide states that a special installation program called
InstallM2D can be found in the Mac-2-Dos Workbench window, and that by
simply clicking on this icon you can install Mac-2-Dos and its special
AmigaDOS driver.  This is not true.  If you have clicked on the icon,
you already know that it displays a message telling you that InstallM2D
does not exist.  So much for great plans.

In reality, if you plan to use your Mac-2-Dos Mac drive as an AmigaDOS
drive, you MUST install the driver manually, as described in the User's
Guide.  This involves copying the AmigaDOS Mac driver from the Mac-2-Dos
window into the DEVS: directory, adding a new device to the Mountlist
file (also in the DEVS: directory) and adding a MOUNT command to your
startup-sequence (in the S: directory), as explained in Appendix A.

The manual software installation described in the User's Guide has other
errors:
	(1) The device name can be anything you wish.  It does not have
            to be MF0:.  For example, DF3: or XXY: will work just as
	    well.
	(2) The Mountlist flags parameter is ignored by the driver.
	(3) The driver ALWAYS performs an autoconfiguration and
	    ignores the unit number you provide.

Be sure to include MOUNT=1 to force the driver to start immediately.


			AUTOMATIC CONFIGURATION

Mac-2-Dos (the program) looks for the Mac-2-Dos interface and Mac disk
drive automatically when you start it.  The interface and drive respond to
control signals sent out by the Amiga.  If the program does not detect the
proper response, it warns you with this message:

		Can't find Mac disk drive...quitting

This message means that the Mac-2-Dos interface board and/or the Mac drive
is not responding to commands from the Amiga.  Make sure that the
interface is properly attached to the last Amiga disk drive or the disk
port on the Amiga. 

Be sure to read the hardware installation section of the manual (page 3)
and pay particular attention to the warning regarding power.  Power MUST
be turned off before attaching the Mac-2-Dos interface and the Mac drive
to your Amiga.  If all of your floppy disk drives suddenly become unusable
even after you remove Mac-2-Dos, you have probably damaged one of the 8520
CIA chips.  The 8520 CIA is especially prone to damage from connecting the
interface while the power is turned on.  


		PRINTING AMIGA FILES ON A MACINTOSH

The Mac-2-Dos User's Guide states that to print a document or a PostScript
file on the Mac, all you need to do is click on the name of the file and
select Print from the File Menu.  While this is true, it leaves out one
very important fact:  there must be some application program on the Mac
which can print your document.  When you select the file for printing, the
Finder program on the Mac looks at the file type and creator codes which
Mac-2-Dos assigned to the file at the time of the transfer to the Mac
disk.  The creator code MUST specify a Mac program which can handle
printing, such as Microsoft Word or MacWrite.  And that program must be
available on the Mac.  If both of these conditions are not met, you may
have problems printing the document.

If you plan to make Mac disks on your Amiga and take them to a Mac at
another location, be sure you know ahead of time what print program is
available on that particular Mac so that you can select the proper file
type and creator codes for the document BEFORE you transfer it to the Mac
disk.  That will make things go more smoothly when you try to print the
document on the Mac.


		WORD PERFECT DOCUMENT CONVERSION

If you plan to convert Word Perfect documents from the Mac to the Amiga
you will need a special conversion utility program to convert the Mac
document into a Version 4.1 document on the Amiga.  (This conversion is
NOT needed to go the other way.)  This conversion program, cleverly called
FC (for File Converter), is available directly from Word Perfect Corp. 
Contact Mike Hendirksen, at 800-321-3204 for more details.


			SAVE/LOAD OPTIONS

Use Save Options from the Project Menu to preserve your preferred options
and conversion choices.  If you make temporary options changes and then
wish to return to your original options choices, select the Load Options
item from the Project Menu.  If you wish to force Mac-2-Dos to restore the
original default options, simply delete the options file, which is stored
in the S: directory under the name M2D.OPT.  The options file has no icon.


		   INCLUDING/EXCLUDING FILES

Before including/excluding by name or all be sure that the COPY arrow
points in the right direction.  If not, click on a file name on the side
you plan to copy FROM to set the copy arrow in the proper direction.


			MAC DESKTOP FILE

When Mac-2-Dos formats a Mac disk, it initializes the directory structure,
but it does not create a desktop file for the Mac.  However, when you load
the disk into a Mac, the Mac will create the disktop file and store it on
the disk.  Note that on both the Mac and the Amiga the desktop file is
invisible.


			PROTECTED MAC DISKS

Mac-2-Dos works only with standard Mac floppy disk formats.  It does not
work with special disk formats or with disks having special
copy-protection formats.


			AMIGA ICON FILES

Mac-2-Dos can copy Amiga icon files (files ending in .info) to the Mac,
but they WILL NOT work as icons on the Mac.  So there really is no
reason to copy them across.


			HARDWARE TIMER B

Mac-2-Dos uses CIAB Timer B to generate precise timing signals.  It
verifies that the timer is not already in use before using it.  However,
if the timer is already in use, Mac-2-Dos cannot function properly.  If
Mac-2-Dos needs the timer (based on characteristics of the Mac drive) it
determines that fact when it first starts running, and immediately
allocates the timer.  Mac-2-Dos cannot use the timer if it is already in
use by another program.  If Mac-2-Dos reports a failure to allocate Timer
B, Terminate other programs to free the timer, and try running Mac-2-Dos
again.


			FILE INFO/RENAME FILE

The Rename File menu item described in the manual does not exist.  We
combined the Rename File menu item with the File Info menu item, and made
it possible to change more than the file name.  You can also examine and
change the file's protection status (protected files cannot be deleted or
overwritten).  For Mac files, you can also examine and change the file
type and creator codes.  This makes it possible to change these codes on
an existing file without having to transfer the file again.

The File Info menu item applies to only a single file - the first file you
have "selected".  If you have selected none, the request is ignored.  If
you have selected more than one file, only the first file from the list is
displayed.

Note that the date displayed by File Info is the date of last
modification. The file date and size fields cannot be changed.

If you rename an Amiga file, you must rename the Amiga icon file
separately.  The rename function DOES NOT automatically rename the icon
file.  The icon file has the same name with the characters ".info" added.


			MacBinary CONVERSION

The MacBinary conversion option is useful only where Mac program or data
files originated on some other computer or where you wish to transfer a
Mac program to another Mac via your Amiga.  We have used MacBinary to
provide a Mac program, ResEdit, to you on the Mac-2-Dos master disk.  You
may find MacBinary useful for downloading Mac programs onto your Amiga and
then transferring them to a Mac disk.

We have transferred graphic images from the IBM PC to the Mac via the
Amiga.  First we used a PC program called HIJAAK (Inset Systems,
Brookfield, CT) to capture a PC screen image and save it in Mac
(MacBinary) format.  Then, using our Amiga program Dos-2-Dos, we
transferred the image from a PC disk to the Amiga.  Then using the
Mac-2-Dos MacBinary conversion, we transferred the image onto a Mac disk
into MacPaint format, where we displayed it on a Mac.  Pretty neat!


				RESEDIT

ResEdit (Resource Editor) is a public domain utility program for the Mac
which we found to be very useful while developing Mac-2-Dos.  And
since Mac-2-Dos provides a neat way to store Mac programs on an Amiga
disk, we decided to provide it to you as part of the Mac-2-Dos package. 
To use ResEdit, simply transfer it to a Mac disk using the MacBinary
conversion option.  ResEdit has no icon on the Amiga, but carries its own
icon with it to the Mac.


			ASCII Undefined Characters

For ASCII conversions in either direction, if Mac-2-Dos finds a character
for which there is no direct conversion to ASCII on the other machine, it
replaces the character with a question mark '?'.


			DON'T LOSE YOUR VALUABLE DATA!

When you transfer Amiga files to a Mac, we recommend formatting a new disk
and using it to transfer the files to the Mac.  You should never write
your Amiga files onto a Mac disk which has other, critical files on it. 
If you do want to transfer Amiga files onto a Mac disk which already has
important files on it, make sure you have that disk backed up, in case of
problems.  While we have tested Mac-2-Dos extensively, you should
understand that this is a new program which contains a virgin
implementation of the Mac filing system.  There may be problems which show
up under adverse conditions.  So to be safe, always use a
freshly-formatted Mac disk and make sure your critical Mac files are safe
on another disk.


			DISPLAY TABS IN TEXT

If you display the contents of a text file using the Display Text option,
Mac-2-Dos interprets tabs in the text every 8 columns.  Note that this is
a display function only, and tabs ARE NOT interpreted during ASCII file
conversion.


			POSTSCRIPT CONVERSIONS

Mac-2-Dos provides a specific PostScript conversion option.  That option
should work fine, at least in most cases.  There may be times, depending
on the situation, where either No Conversion or ASCII conversion may work
better for you.  


				BLOCK SIZE

Mac-2-Dos displays progress in transferring a file by displaying a running
"block" count on the copy status screen.  For the purposes of this status
display, a block consists of 512 bytes.


				MAC FONTS

This version of Mac-2-Dos does not convert fonts from one machine to the
other. We are planning to add this feature to the next release of
Mac-2-Dos.  In the meantime, you can use a public domain Mac font
conversion program with Mac-2-Dos to accomplish transfer of Mac fonts to
the Amiga.  The program is called MacFont, and it is available on Fish
Disk 138.  We have not used this program and cannot verify its usefulness.


			IFF SCREEN RESOLUTION CHOICES

We have added a screen resolution menu item to the Other Options menu
which makes it possible for you to specify whether you want a MacPaint
file converted to 320x200 or 640x400 (interlace) IFF format.  The actual
size of the image is not affected.  It remains 640x720.  But this makes it
possible for you to force the screen mode to the proper resolution for the
paint program you are using.  Some paint programs, such as Graphicraft,
cannot accept hi-res images.  This option applies only to transfers from
MacPaint to IFF.


			"ASK" OPTIONS

The Other Options menu has two "Ask" items which direct Mac-2-Dos to ask
you for the file type and creator codes or default tool name when you
transfer files with the No Conversion option selected.  If you always
transfer the same types of files, you may wish to avoid having to specify
these codes every time you select No Conversion.  If so, change the menu
items to reflect your desires, and then save the options to disk.  These
options apply only to the No Conversion conversion option.  For all other
conversion options, you specify your desired file type, creator and
default tool codes using the Edit Types/Tools menu item.


		MAC DRIVE IGNORES DISK CHANGES

Once in a while you may notice that the Mac drive seems to ignore disk
changes.  This happens if you change the disk in the Mac drive while
Mac-2-Dos is busy doing something else, such as loading the Amiga
directory.  The reason for this is that the drive does not "remember"
that a disk change has occurred.  Drive status is based on current
conditions.  If you manage to remove and load a diskette between status
checks, the drive status will appear to Mac-2-Dos not to have changed.


			NEXT RELEASE FEATURES

While we developed Mac-2-Dos we received many suggestions and requests for
additional features and conversions.  We decided not to delay the product
any longer, so some of the features which you have requested are not in
this version.  However, here is a partial list of enhancements we are
considering for the next release of Mac-2-Dos:

		Color conversions
		View ILBM
		PICT/IFF
		TIFF/IFF
		FONTS
		SMF/SMUS
		HYPERCARD STACKS
		RTF/DCA

Everyone who returns the product registration card to us will be notified
when the next release is available.  Registered users will be able to
upgrade to the new version for a small fee.  Keep in touch.  If we don't
hear from you, you won't hear from us!  We welcome your comments and
suggestions.

Thanks,

George and Betty Chamberlain
Central Coast Software
Co-owners