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From: rich@pro-exchange.cts.com (Rich Sims)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: WPL for Appleworks?
Message-ID: <8910230920.AA02025@trout.nosc.mil>
Date: 22 Oct 89 15:19:32 GMT
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Comment to message from: mmunz@pro-beagle.cts.com (Mark Munz)

> How well do you know UltraMacros? Obviously not that well..

That's probably true.  I've read all the advertisements, the product reviews,
etc, and talked to a number of people who use the product (all of whom are
enthusiastic about it, by the way), and on the basis of that information,
decided not to purchase it.  As nearly as I can tell, UltraMacros does not
=add= anything to the inherent capabilities of AppleWorks, but is purely a
"keystroke recorder and playback" utility.  If that's not true, then someone
at BB is seriously missing a bet by not informing the public as to it's
true capabilities.  A keystroke recorder doesn't come anywhere near to
qualifying as a "programming language" in my opinion, let alone "something
better"...

> Tell me what you think Ultra can't do that WPL can..

(That's my cue to ask how well _you_ know AppleWriter and WPL, but I won't!)

OK, let's try a very simple task that can be related to by a large number
of the readers of this group.  Take a perfectly straightforward text file,
which nearly any word processor can deal with (or a group of them), and swap
them back and forth between a UNIX machine.  On the way, try changing the EOL
character back and forth between C/R and L/F... and do it with AppleWorks and
UltraMacros.  (It's a trivial task with AppleWriter and WPL!)  As a matter of
fact, I feel very generous, so you can buy the Telecom module to do the
transfers and call it part of UltraMacros, if you want... even though that's
also within the capabilities of that "other" program without add-ons!

(Just kidding there, Mark, I'm sure =you= don't have to "buy" that module!)

I started to give you a much longer list, but then ran into the next line...

> Of course, it has to be within the limits of AppleWorks..

That's the main reason it hasn't got anywhere near the power in the first
place.  (See my first response.)  Can you use UltraMacros to do things like
take a "raw" (unformatted) section of text and format it and print it in two
(or more) columns?  AppleWriter and WPL can, of course.  How about numbering
(or renumbering) a group of lines?  Or capturing a BASIC program listing to a
text file and using UltraMacros to produce a "prettified" listing (1 statement
per line, indentation, etc.).

Of course, all of these items are basic text formatting, like you might expect
a =WORD PROCESSOR= to handle, and not the super-exotic functions, like counting
how many times a specific word is used in a document, or other such arcane
capabilities which no self-respecting Apple user would ever need!  :-)

Don't get me wrong... I'm sure UltraMacros is a worthwhile addition for heavy
users of AppleWorks, and AppleWorks itself is a very useful program for a
great many people, but don't try to make it out to be the "ultimate" word
processor (the word processing capability was the subject of the original
message), or to endow either program with capabilities they don't have.  Both
AppleWorks (with or without UltraMacros) and AppleWriter have their own individual capabilities and limitations.  It would be just as erroneous to say
that AppleWriter contained spreadsheet capabilities.

By the way, I don't consider myself to be a "heavy" user of AppleWorks, even
though I first started using the program when it was only available as 3 E-Z
Pieces on an Apple ///, and am now using version 3.0 on my GS.

In all fairness, I should add that it's quite possible that UltraMacros will
do exactly what the original poster needs to do.  The question wasn't very
specific as to any particular capability, but merely asked if there was
anything available for AppleWorks that provided capabilities equivalent to
AppleWriter's WPL.  On that basis, UltraMacros is =NOT= the answer!

As an aside - if you folks out there at BB really want to make the word "Ultra"
mean something in the name of the program, figure out how to "divorce" it from
AppleWorks and make it a stand-alone keystroke recorder/player, available for
use with any program.  That kind of capability is readily available on the two
machines that are usually the object of attack in this group.  I would wager a
substantial (for me) sum of money that a tremendous number of people would find
a product like that to be an extremely worthwhile purchase.  (I suspect it
would also be quite difficult, if not impossible, to implement.)

-Rich Sims-

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