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From: ranjit@grad1.cis.upenn.edu (Ranjit Bhatnagar)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Voice Mail on Amiga
Message-ID: <15070@netnews.upenn.edu>
Date: 4 Oct 89 03:10:56 GMT
References: <688@orange6.qtp.ufl.edu> <KIM.89Oct2022514@watsup.waterloo.edu> <1989Oct2.132314.12313@rpi.edu> <KIM.89Oct3020058@watsup.waterloo.edu> <4481@wpi.wpi.edu>
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>> When did you last see a graphics/mouse-based interface for a Unix
>> workstation?  
>   About 12 hours ago. (Sorry, I couldn't resist... and you did ask....)

Never mind all that!  What we really need to know is - how do we make
the Amiga as much fun as the NeXT?  The topic under discussion: VoiceMail.

It would be nice to have an IFF standard for multimedia documents:
documents which can include formatted text, sound, pictures, anims,
and such.  Does there exist something like this already?  I'm thinking
along the lines of:

	FORM MULM
	  LAYO - layout chunk specifies how all the following chunks
		 fit together on the page
	  then some ILBMs, FTXTs, ANIMs, ICONs, SMUS, etc.
	  LAYO - layout for the next page (or unit, or whatever)
	  ...more chunks...

You were afraid I was going to post a message which didn't mention
AREXX, weren't you?  Never fear.  Imagine a document like this:

	FORM MULM "voicemail message"
	  REXX "control"
	     /* 'self' is predefined as a reference to this FORM */
	     do forever
	       event = WaitForEvent(gadget)
	       if event.type == gadgdown && 
		  event.gadget.label == "Play VoiceMail"
		  then PlaySample(self.mulm.smpl."VoiceMail_Contents")
	       if event.type == byebye then break
	     ...etc...
	     end
	  TEXT "text of the message"
	     (text of mail message goes here)
	  ICON "Play VoiceMail"
	     (icon for PLAY goes here)
	  SMPL "VoiceMail_Contents"
	     (sampled voice goes here)
	  LAYO
	     specifies that the icon "Play VoiceMail" is located 
	     after end of text

The idea is that the program that reads MULtiMedia files will display
the file as specified by the LAYO chunks, and certain items, such
as ICONs, will be sensitive to mouse clicks.  The REXX script waits
for such events, occupying no CPU time and little memory if nothing
happens.  A number of variables are predefined for the script, which
give the script pointers to every object in the MULM package.  In
addition, the MULM reader provides a set of functions on these objects
that the REXX script can invoke, such as PlaySample, ANIMate,
and so on.

Comments on this idea would be appreciated.  It's VoiceMail and then
some.

	 - ranjit

	 MAIL
	  HEAD
	   FROM "ranjit@grad1.cis.upenn.edu"
	   NAME "Ranjit Bhatnagar"
	   ORGN "University of Pennsylvania"
	   SUBJ "Re: VoiceMail on Amiga?"
	   ...
	  CONT
	   ...


	   
"Trespassers w"   ranjit@eniac.seas.upenn.edu	mailrus!eecae!netnews!eniac!...
	   "Such a brute that even his shadow breaks things." (Lorca)