Squeak-dev October 1998

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107 participants
209 discussions

Parser>initPattern:notifying:return: bug?
by Tim Rowledge 06 Oct '98

06 Oct '98

Whilst filing in some code I got a weird little bug. a) somehow the parser decided that the organization string in the file was wrong (odd, since it was freshly generated by filing out a changeset) b) in the process of trying to tell me that 'Nothing more expected', we wnet through SyntaxError class>errorInClass:withCode: which eventually gets t Parser>initPattern:notifying:return: where the instvar 'encoder' is set to 'self' ie the parser. After going via Parser>pattern:inContext:, we come to Parser>notify:at: where #classEncoding is sent to 'encoder'. Since only Encoder understands this message, we get a dNU: notifier. I'm not at all sure at the moment why a) went wrong in the first place, but b) seems a pretty obvious bug. You can't go setting an instvar to some object that doesn't understand a message you're about to send to it.... tim -- Strange OpCodes: EROS: Erase Read-Only Storage Tim Rowledge: rowledge(a)interval.com (w) +1 (650) 842-6110 (w) tim(a)sumeru.stanford.edu (h) <http://sumeru.stanford.edu/tim>

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Re: Squeak 2.2 Sound and MIDI Features
by Maloney 05 Oct '98

05 Oct '98

Jim Menard <jimm(a)io.com> wrote: > How about doing what the Roland D-50 introduced commercially (I've > forgotten the correct name): play a sample at the beginning of a note then > use a simpler, repetitive waveform for the rest of the note. It's the > complex wave in the first 100 to 300 ms that the ear uses to identify the > instrument. LoopedSampledSound supports precisely this functionality. The hard part is that a one-cycle loop sounds static and dead, since it has none of the little fluctuations of pitch, timbre, and loudness that characterize a real musical instrument. Some of the "life" can be put back in (we hope) via pitch and loudness envelopes, perhaps with some randomness, and some of the timbral dynamics might be added via a variable lowpass filter or by using FM wave distortion techniques. There are lots of things to try, which makes it fun! Of course, the major synth vendors have been working on this very problem for at least a decade, but they tend to keep the details of their best ideas to themselves for some reason... :-> I don't expect to find a trick that the synth manufactures have missed, but I'll be happy if we re-discover some known techniques that give us good quality sounds in Squeak. And you never know where the ability to explore sound synthesis in a dynamic environment like Squeak may lead... -- John

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Various things Squeaky
by Daniel Vainsencher 05 Oct '98

05 Oct '98

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Squeak 2.2 Sound and MIDI Features
by Maloney 05 Oct '98

05 Oct '98

Squeak 2.2 has several features that may interest the musically inclined. 1. The score player can now output MIDI on Macs and Win95/NT. To access this feature, open a MIDI file from the file list. It will start playing via the internal sound. Pause and rewind, then use the menu that pops up on the "<>" button to set the desired MIDI port. Mac users may need to turn off AppleTalk to use the desired port, especially on Powerbooks that have only a single serial port. Mac users also need a MIDI adapter, which by default is assumed to provide a 1 MHz clock. (If you don't have such an adapter plugged in, don't try this. Without the external clock signal, the first attempt to output to the port will cause Squeak to hang forever.) 2. There is now support for having Squeak generate music from sampled sounds, the way a sampling synthesizer does. It supports multi-sampling: storing recordings of a given instrument playing different pitches at different dynamic levels, and choosing an appropriate recording based on the pitch and loudness of the note to be played. Squeak has a mechanism for building such sampled instruments by reading in a collection of AIFF files. However, it does not come with any sample sets. Such sample libraries are available on CD-ROM in a number of formats from a number of vendors (see www.harmonycentral.com for some pointers). We have been using a commercial Macintosh program called TransferStation to convert sample disks in Akai format into collections AIFF files readable by Squeak. As a test, we imported an entire orchestra and played standard MIDI files of various symphonic works with good results. However, sampled sounds are quite bulky, so our "reduced size" orchestra still consumes about 35 MBytes. (But when I recently learned that some Hollywood composers use sampler setups with a gigabyte of RAM to simulate a full orchestra, 35 Mbytes didn't sound so bad.) 3. Squeak now has a rudimentary sound editor called WaveEditor. You can use the RecordingControlsMorph to record a note and use the "Show" button to open a WaveEditor on the sound you just recorded. You can then trim the ends, set up some loop points, and save the sound as a sampled instrument. With patience, you could even build your own multi-sampled instrument library this way, although you would probably want to implement some additional features to streamline your work (such as scaling a set of recorded notes to the same sound level) . Future Work We're going to keep working to improve Squeak's sound synthesis. In particular, we hope to find a better compromise between memory space and quality, either by finding ways to get good quality sound with shorter sample loops or by using the FM algorithm on wavetables taken from sampled sounds. We're also planning to improve Squeak's MIDI capabilities. In particular, we plan to add image-level support for MIDI input, including the ability to filter and re-map controller data, and we plan to enhance the ScorePlayer and PianoRoll score viewer. Of course, the serious MIDI musician and Squeaker should check out Stephen Pope's Siren system: ftp://ftp.create.ucsb.edu/pub/Smalltalk/Siren which has support for the Opcode MIDI System (OMS), MIDI scheduling, and MIDI controller filtering built right into the VM, as well as an advanced set of score manipulation and viewing tools. Happy Squeak music-making! -- John

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Re: New version of MorphicWrappers
by Daniel Vainsencher 05 Oct '98

05 Oct '98

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Re: The real truth about the Smalltalk Balloon
by Randal Schwartz 05 Oct '98

05 Oct '98

>>>>> "Dan" == Dan Ingalls <DanI(a)wdi.disney.com> writes: Dan> My favorite book from youth was The Mysterious Island, by Jules Dan> Verne. Available from "Project Gutenberg" with many mirrors, including <URL:ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/.21/gutenberg/etext98/milnd10.zip>. -- Name: Randal L. Schwartz / Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095 Keywords: Perl training, UNIX[tm] consulting, video production, skiing, flying Email: <merlyn(a)stonehenge.com> Snail: (Call) PGP-Key: (finger merlyn(a)teleport.com) Web: <A HREF="http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/">My Home Page!</A> Quote: "I'm telling you, if I could have five lines in my .sig, I would!" -- me

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VM 2.0 crash
by sqrmax＠cvtci.com.ar 05 Oct '98

05 Oct '98

Hi. Here is the dump file of 5 vm crashes. The first 4 of them are crashes of the standard VM, the fifth is a Jitter crash. Of the first four, the first two are similar. I thought that maybe I had corrupted my image and so it had crashed. So I reloaded it, filed in the changes and it crashed again executing the same thing. Then I thought that maybe some kind of magic was happening due to the way I was doing things, so I chose another one and the VM crashed again twice. So I thought that maybe it was a VM problem, tried Jitter and the image crashed again. Dumps follow. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sun Oct 04 18:23:16 1998 Current byte code: 240 Primitive index: 84 Stack dump follows: 31513188 MorphicWrapper>objectPerform:with:event: 31513112 MorphicWrapper>objectPerform:args:event: 31513264 [] in MenuMorph>invokeItem: 31512312 Cursor>showWhile: 31511712 MenuMorph>invokeItem: 31505628 [] in MenuItemMorph>mouseUp: 31505476 UndefinedObject>ifNil: 31496436 MenuItemMorph>mouseUp: 31496272 HandMorph>handleMouseUp: 31496056 HandMorph>handleEvent: 31495904 HandMorph>processEvents 31495980 [] in WorldMorph>doOneCycle 31495816 SequenceableCollection>do: 31495740 WorldMorph>doOneCycle 31495664 MorphWorldController>controlActivity 31309900 MorphWorldController>controlLoop 31309824 Controller>startUp 31309736 Controller>controlToNextLevel 31309660 Controller>controlActivity 31309584 MouseMenuController>controlActivity 31309508 StandardSystemController>controlActivity 30014420 Controller>controlLoop 30014164 Controller>startUp 30014240 [] in ControlManager>activeController: 30014316 [] in BlockContext>newProcess --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sun Oct 04 18:30:05 1998 Current byte code: 240 Primitive index: 84 Stack dump follows: 26366328 MorphicWrapper>objectPerform:with:event: 26366252 MorphicWrapper>objectPerform:args:event: 26366404 [] in MenuMorph>invokeItem: 26365452 Cursor>showWhile: 26364852 MenuMorph>invokeItem: 26360300 [] in MenuItemMorph>mouseUp: 26360148 UndefinedObject>ifNil: 26351188 MenuItemMorph>mouseUp: 26351024 HandMorph>handleMouseUp: 26350808 HandMorph>handleEvent: 26350656 HandMorph>processEvents 26350732 [] in WorldMorph>doOneCycle 26350568 SequenceableCollection>do: 26350492 WorldMorph>doOneCycle 26350416 MorphWorldController>controlActivity 22639144 MorphWorldController>controlLoop 22639068 Controller>startUp 22638980 Controller>controlToNextLevel 22638904 Controller>controlActivity 22638828 MouseMenuController>controlActivity 22638752 StandardSystemController>controlActivity 22637700 Controller>controlLoop 22637444 Controller>startUp 22637520 [] in ControlManager>activeController: 22637596 [] in BlockContext>newProcess --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sun Oct 04 19:08:27 1998 Current byte code: 240 Primitive index: 84 Stack dump follows: 26242960 XYPlotterMorph>handPerform:args:event: 26243112 [] in MenuMorph>invokeItem: 26242160 Cursor>showWhile: 26241560 MenuMorph>invokeItem: 26237008 [] in MenuItemMorph>mouseUp: 26236856 UndefinedObject>ifNil: 26227896 MenuItemMorph>mouseUp: 26227732 HandMorph>handleMouseUp: 26227516 HandMorph>handleEvent: 26227364 HandMorph>processEvents 26227440 [] in WorldMorph>doOneCycle 26227276 SequenceableCollection>do: 26227200 WorldMorph>doOneCycle 26227124 MorphWorldController>controlActivity 22633112 MorphWorldController>controlLoop 22633036 Controller>startUp 22632948 Controller>controlToNextLevel 22632872 Controller>controlActivity 22632796 MouseMenuController>controlActivity 22632720 StandardSystemController>controlActivity 22631668 Controller>controlLoop 22631412 Controller>startUp 22631488 [] in ControlManager>activeController: 22631564 [] in BlockContext>newProcess --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sun Oct 04 19:17:37 1998 Current byte code: 240 Primitive index: 84 Stack dump follows: 26399808 XYPlotterMorph>handPerform:args:event: 26399960 [] in MenuMorph>invokeItem: 26399008 Cursor>showWhile: 26398408 MenuMorph>invokeItem: 26393856 [] in MenuItemMorph>mouseUp: 26393704 UndefinedObject>ifNil: 26384744 MenuItemMorph>mouseUp: 26384580 HandMorph>handleMouseUp: 26384364 HandMorph>handleEvent: 26384212 HandMorph>processEvents 26384288 [] in WorldMorph>doOneCycle 26384124 SequenceableCollection>do: 26384048 WorldMorph>doOneCycle 26383972 MorphWorldController>controlActivity 22539308 MorphWorldController>controlLoop 22539232 Controller>startUp 22539144 Controller>controlToNextLevel 22539068 Controller>controlActivity 22538992 MouseMenuController>controlActivity 22538916 StandardSystemController>controlActivity 22537864 Controller>controlLoop 22537608 Controller>startUp 22537684 [] in ControlManager>activeController: 22537760 [] in BlockContext>newProcess --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sun Oct 04 19:41:46 1998 Current byte code: -1 Primitive index: 84 Stack dump follows: Note that the last dump has nothing, the Jitter VM only wrote blank lines. Further investigation started from the fact that the last methods finally use #perform:withArguments:. The problem seems to be that when #perform:withArguments: is sent aSelector and in this faulty case aSmallInteger, the VM crashes. Is this already fixed in 2.2? If you need more information, how can I provide it to you? Andres.

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The real truth about the Smalltalk Balloon
by Dan Ingalls 05 Oct '98

05 Oct '98

Ralph - Many times I have browsed past your article "About the Smalltalk Balloon" and been tempted to add to the little bit of history that you have there. While your link is entitled "Why a hot-air balloon is the symbol of Smalltalk," you never really answer the question. The time has come to tie up that loose end. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, and The Real Story About the Smalltalk Balloon Everyone in our group wanted to challenge the ivory tower image in Byte's special issue on Pascal, because in fact we were all working intensely to get Smalltalk-80 out the door from Xerox at the time. The cover of that issue depicted the "land of Smalltalk" as a remote island, and that triggered a connection for me out of which was born the fanstasy of liberating Smalltalk from the ivory tower by balloon ascent. Here is the connection... My favorite book from youth was The Mysterious Island, by Jules Verne. It is the story of an engineer, Cyrus Harding, who gets blown far afield in a storm during a balloon surveillance mission in the 1860's. He ends up stranded on an island but, through ingenuity and a bit of luck, he manages to recreate most of the accomplishments and comforts of civilization on his own (with a little help from an amiable orangutan ;-). Cyrus Harding became my childhood standard for resourcefulness and the conviction that anything can be accomplished if you are clever and persistent. The fantasy of a balloon as the vehicle for Smalltalk's release stuck with me from then on. When the opportunity came to design the cover for the Byte issue on Smalltalk, I made the suggestion of the balloon lifting off from the island shown on the Pascal cover, and everyone picked up on it. Robert Tinney executed the wonderful graphic that we know so well, and the rest is history. - Dan P.S. There is a further coincidence in this particular literary allusion: It is revealed at the end of The Mysterious Island that the island is actually the base of operations for a more well-known Verne character, and that character happens also to be the childhood hero of a more well-known figure in the history of Smalltalk.

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Zip decompression in Squeak
by Alejandro F. Reimondo 04 Oct '98

04 Oct '98

I need to decompress zip files in Squeak. Has anyone implemented zip decompression? Ale.

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CodeWarrior Pro4 Project File for Squeak 2.2
by Stephen Pope 04 Oct '98

04 Oct '98

Hello all, I just up-loaded a new CodeWarrior Professional V.4 project file for Squeak 2.2 to the CREATE ftp site, URL ftp://ftp.create.ucsb.edu/pub/Squeak/2.2. It's set up to compile for the G3 processor using the highest level of optimization that works, and uses the jitter "translator.c" VM file. (It can easily be changed to compile for another target processor or to use the "interp.c" VM file.) stp -- Stephen Travis Pope Center for Research in Electronic Art Technology (CREATE) Department of Music, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) stp(a)create.ucsb.edu -- http://www.create.ucsb.edu/~stp/

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