Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!bc
From: bc@Apple.COM (bill coderre)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hypercard
Subject: Re: Reading files containing X'00 (growl)
Message-ID: <43234@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 21 Jul 90 12:33:43 GMT
References: <1990Jul17.121924.25050@watserv1.waterloo.edu> <1064.26a73cfd@waikato.ac.nz>
Organization: Apple Consultants Inc.
Lines: 27

(Lawrence D'Oliveiro, Waikato University) writes:
|I think this "feature" of HyperCard (using nulls to terminate strings)
|is a pain in the bum and I would really like to know why St Bill
|(who otherwise truly deserves his sainthood) chose to do things this way.

Would you rather they used P-strings, which could theoretically
contain 00's (except that certain Toolbox routines (such as all the
Text Edit rouitines) would barf), but which restrict text to 255
characters?

What you really want is a binary-oriented I/O construct, something
Hypercard doesn't provide at this point. Sounds like a really useful
XCMD to me.

It's quite true and well-known that Hypercard has many limitations.
When it first came out, nobody knew just what people would use it for,
so the limitations were not as apparent. Now that people are asking
for new features to expand Hypercard, the HC team is adding some of
them. HC2 adds a whole new level of expressiveness to Hypertalk, in
addition to some much-needed features (such as multiple windows and
menus) AND a speed increase to boot.

I suggest that you send a feature request to the team. They might do
it.

bill coderre,
private consultant