Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!noao!ncar!tank!gargoyle!igloo!ddsw1!corpane!sparks
From: sparks@corpane.UUCP (John Sparks)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Call for Device Independant Output, file format and user-interface standards on the Amiga
Keywords: standards user-interface output graphics
Message-ID: <1866@corpane.UUCP>
Date: 29 May 90 17:02:50 GMT
References: <1990May26.065525.1415@watserv1.waterloo.edu>
Organization: Corpane Industries, Inc., Louisville Ky
Lines: 54

pdbeam@watserv1.waterloo.edu (T.C.) writes:

>Standards
>-------------------------------------------------------

>      I've recently purchased an Amiga 2000 and I've owned an
>Atari ST for four years.  I am still blown away by Amiga
>hardware (wow!  you mean some machines have more than ONE
>expansion slot?) and Amiga graphics (except for interlace
>mode which really sucks) but there are still some things I
>had on my Atari that I miss on my Amiga:  device-independent
>output, standardized (and IBM compatible) file formats, and a
>consistent user-interface across programs.  I believe these


>      Device independent output means that whatever image I
>create on the screen will print out in the MAXIMUM resolution
>of my printer.  Compare the output of any non-postscript
>Amiga DTP to the output of any non-postscript Atari GEM DTP
>on the same device and you'll see what I mean.  (Come on, not
>all of us can afford laser printers!).  It also means that
>the object graphics I create in Easy Draw or Calamus Draw or
>CAD3D or Word-Up or WordFlair or VIP (spreadsheet) or Touch-
>Up will print out in maximum resolution.  What's more, all of


>      The ST also has standard file formats for raster and
>object images and fonts.  This means that virtually any image
>(even a full 8x11 page of text) can be created in one program
>and loaded into another.  Because these formats also exist on
>the IBM I can do stuff at home and take it in for use on the
>PCs at work.  I can have line-art in my word-processor files

Where have you been? The Amiga has all this and has always had it.

Printer support is not dependent on the programs, they OS talks to
you printer thru a device driver with a generic printer device that all
programs can talk to. Like a translator. Just use preferences to tell
the OS which printer you want to use, the resolution of the printer
(makes it resolution independent, which is what you meant anyway, not
device independent).

The Amiga has very standard file formats, known as IFF (interchange file format)for animation, sound, and graphics files. Draw something in one program and
load it into another, and all that. Sheesh! IBM doesn't do that. But some
programs on the IBM can read in Amiga file formates, notabley Deluxe Paint on
the IBM. And I can use and convert several IBM formats into GIF files which
I can convert into IFF files on my Amiga. Heck I even think the ST uses IFF
doesn't it? 


-- 
John Sparks  | D.I.S.K. 24hrs 2400bps. Accessable via Starlink (Louisville KY)
sparks@corpane.UUCP |                                     | PH: (502) 968-DISK
A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of. - Ogden Nash