News | SheppyWare | Eric Shepherd

Updated Merlin Macros

Sat, 02 May 2015 23:45:03 -0400

Today I’ve updated my Merlin macro sets for both System 6.0 and 6.0.1 and for GS/OS. The updated Merlin System 6 Macros file corrects an error; the GetAuxWindInfo macro was not set up correctly and would result in crashing code. Many thanks to Andrew Roughan, both for pointing this error out to me and for being persistent about it when I kept forgetting to fix it. If you use these macros, you should definitely download the new version.

The GS/OS macros haven’t had any functional changes made. Both macro files have some comment corrections; in particular contact information has been updated — I hadn’t done so since my college days; my old University of California microcomputer lab account hasn’t worked since 1995! Beyond that, you don’t have to update these.

Sweet16 3.0.3 released

Mon, 07 Apr 2014 22:30:12 -0400

I've posted Sweet16 version 3.0.3 for download. The key changes in this release are a new About box—the first portion of Sweet16 to be rewritten as Cocoa code—and the following two key bug fixes:

I fixed a memory leak in full-screen mode that would fairly quickly eat up a lot of free memory the longer you stayed in full-screen mode.
The internal tools used to implement the ability to drag files in and out of the emulator were not built correctly to support Intel Core Duo processors. These are the earliest processors supported by Sweet16, and were not working with this feature. Now they are.

There are other changes, as well, so please review the release notes.

I'm particularly excited about the new About box. Between being much more beautiful and starting my journey to a new Cocoa version of Sweet16, there's a lot to celebrate here!

The text should now be crisper and sharper, and there's the added information, including license information for Sweet16 as well as the libraries it uses, thanks to my testers and others, and acknowledgements to others that need a hat-tip.

The things I learned converting this one simple window to use Cocoa will carry me forward as I work toward migrating more of the project. I hope to begin work on re-implementing the disks window as Cocoa soon, and more will follow.

I love working on this project, and I'm excited to see where I can take it in the future!

Updated info for AsmIIgs formats for MPW

Thu, 02 Jan 2014 15:41:54 -0500

I've updated the page for MPW AsmIIgs Formats with a link to a mirror of MPW, since Apple has removed it from their site. In addition, I've added some more information about specifically which files you need to download and a bit of information about the format of the image file you're downloading.

In addition, I've added information about Kelvin Sherlock's awesome mpw command for Mac OS X, which lets you run MPW commands directly from the Mac OS X terminal, instead of having to use a classic Mac or emulator to do so. This means you don't need my MPW editor plugin at all, of course, since you'd be using a Mac OS X native editor instead.

Hopefully that's helpful!

Crash-on-quit resolved by Sweet16 3.0.2

Tue, 26 Nov 2013 22:20:38 -0500

After a lot of debugging and head-scratching, I've finally tracked down the tricky little error that was causing that strange crash-on-quit in Sweet16. Version 3.0.2 is now available to correct the problem.

In addition, this update adds a "Clear all breakpoints" option to the debugger, as well as improved code signing to make Mac OS X just a little bit happier.

On the interior front, I've updated the project to build with Xcode 5, so I'm ready to continue work on the stuff I'd already been doing toward the next major update. Check out the release notes and/or download Sweet16 3.0.2 now!

Enjoy!

Sweet16 3.0.1 now available

Mon, 12 Aug 2013 22:29:46 -0400

I've released Sweet16 3.0.1. This minor update to Sweet16 fixes a handful of annoying bugs and adds a modest but useful new feature to the debugger. See the release notes for a complete list, but the highlights are:

Fixed: Full-screen mode now works correctly on Macs with Retina displays.
Fixed: arrow keys no longer "stick" down when using certain software that accesses the keyboard at a low level, such as Wolfenstein 3D.
Fixed: bringing Sweet16 to the foreground by clicking on one of its windows now also focuses the clicked window.
Fixed: shutdown-time alerts' buttons now respond correctly when Marinetti is installed.
Added: The debugger now includes a "Break" button, which immediately puts the emulated system into single-stepping mode. This is especially useful for debugging infinite loops and other "hangs."

Sweet16 3.0 released

Wed, 24 Jul 2013 21:03:33 -0400

At KansasFest 2013 today, I released version 3.0 of the Sweet16 emulator for the Apple IIgs computer. This version has a number of improvements, but its primary new feature is support for drag-and-drop of files back and forth between the Apple IIgs (in desktop applications) and the Mac OS X Finder.

In addition, there's initial support for debugging Apple IIgs code running in Sweet16 from a Web browser.

For details, check out the Sweet16 page, read the user guide, or download and try out Sweet16 3.0!

OK-Writer 1.4 released

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:44:20 -0400

I've released OK-Writer 1.4! This is the latest version of my fairly successful word processor designed for kids. It's also popular with people with vision difficulties, thanks to its unique speech features.

This new version adds support for full-screen mode, improves the look-and-feel of the application by adding support for retina displays and improved layout of document window features. I've also replaced the steel grey background in the editor windows with a friendly periwinkle blue, added modernized user interface elements such as the integrated find bar (for more advanced kids), and other improvements.

It's worth noting that OK-Writer 1.4 requires at least Mac OS X 10.6, and as such no longer supports older PowerPC-based Macs, so you should stick with version 1.3 if you have one of those. However, it's now a universal 32-bit/64-bit Intel application.

SideClick version number note

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 22:44:20 -0400

I'd just like to point out that although the released version of SideClick 2.0 displays "2.0b2" in the Get Info window in the Finder, it's really the release version of SideClick 2.0. I just accidentally forgot to fix the version number before releasing it.

So don't panic!

SideClick 2.0 really posted

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 22:17:56 -0400

Turns out the archive I previously posted for SideClick 2.0 was a weird mish-mash of bits of SideClick 2.0 and SideClick 1.0; in fact, the extension itself was, unfortunately, SideClick 1.0. So if you've previously downloaded SideClick 2.0, you should try again to get the real thing. Sorry about that!

Trasher 1.0 released

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 22:13:05 -0400

I've released my first all-new project in years! Trasher is a new extension for the Apple IIgs that adds support for using Command-Delete on your keyboard to delete the selected icons in the Finder.

In addition, if you have SideClick installed, you get "Move to Trash" and "Empty Trash" contextual menu items as appropriate!

The funny story behind Trasher is that I actually started working on this project back in 1994, but was unable at that time to figure out a way to make it work. I finally had the grand epiphany this summer during KansasFest and spend the last few weeks working out the kinks and making it work.

Sweet16 2.3.1 released

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 22:49:57 -0400

I've posted Sweet16 2.3.1, the latest version of the Apple IIgs emulator for Mac OS X.

This version fixes the cosmetic bug in 2.3 that caused the speed display overlay not to stay in the corner of the video window where it belongs when you resized the video window.

Also, support for mouse wheels is improved; the vertical wheel is more reliable, and support for the horizontal wheel has been added. Be sure to install the updated SweetPrinter extension on your emulated IIgs to get the improved wheel support.

Sweet16 2.3 known issues

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:15:48 -0400

During KansasFest, it's been discovered that there's a little cosmetic problem where the system speed overlay doesn't stay in the right place if you resize the Sweet16 video window. I've got a fix for this bug, and expect to release Sweet16 2.3.1 sometime in the next handful of days.

That version will also add support for the horizontal mouse wheel axis, which was intentionally but temporarily left out of Sweet16 2.3.

Also, I will be making available pre-built hard disk images again sometime soon. I used to have these on the site, but they need to be updated somewhat.

SideClick 2.0 released

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:21:36 -0400

SideClick, the contextual menu manager for the Apple IIgs, has been updated to version 2.0. It now supports the right mouse button in addition to control-click for opening the contextual menu. In addition, if the right-click was in the Finder, and on a selection of icons, information about the selected icons is provided to the contextual menu plug-ins.

That means plug-ins can now offer special Finder-specific options. In fact, a sample plug-in is provided that offers a number of handy Finder commands right in the contextual menu, based on the type or types of icons you've selected.

Sweet16 2.3 released

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:16:48 -0400

Today I realeased Sweet16 2.3. The new version offers a number of nice improvements, as well as bug fixes and a rewritten and more accurate sound emulation system. Among the interesting new features are support for the right mouse button and support for using the scroll wheel in desktop applications.

A number of minor user interface improvements have also been made. Sweet16 continues to be freeware, and now requires Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" or newer (and has been tested on OS X 10.7 "Lion"). It continues to work on both Intel and PowerPC Macs.

Another site revamp...

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 02:11:36 -0400

As you may have noticed, I'm working on an updated web site. Now that I've handed over ownership of Syndicomm to Tony Diaz, I can finally re-focus my attention on my own software projects and this web site. Keep your eyes on this space!