Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uunet!wang!bu-tyng!three!cory
From: cory@three.MV.COM (Cory Kempf)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: AppleEvents Confusion...
Message-ID: <402@three.MV.COM>
Date: 5 Aug 90 17:01:56 GMT
References: <395@three.MV.COM> <9496@goofy.Apple.COM>
Organization: The Enigami Co. Nashua, NH.
Lines: 45

chewy@apple.com (Paul Snively) writes:

> I write:
>> Anyway, say I am building an application.  To reasonably enable 
>> voice control and "Agents", I need to have all of the controlable
>> units accessable via Appleevents.  How does this hypothetical 
>> Agent know which events do what?

>I'm not sure where the concept of "agents" enters into this.  You don't 
>have to attempt to implement agents in order to take advantage of 
>AppleEvents.

No, *I* don't.  But it is pretty easy to see that Apple is trying to
design the low level support into the system for voice activation and
agents via the Apple Event mechanism.  Assume that some company decides
to impliment a voice powered macro system that uses Apple Events to
cause the other applications (word processors, etc) to perform the actions
that the user desires.  I would like to be able to design my application
today in such that this hypothetical Agent can manipulate my application.

I don't expect that the Agent will be able to understand all of the messages
that each application uses internally.  The result would be an increadibly
huge application (e.g. the space required to store all of the events that
it would have to generate, as well as the code to know when to generate it.)

I can see one of three results: The Agent supports only the Major Players (e.g.
Adobe, Aldus, Microsoft, Informix, etc.) events, which would leave smaller 
companies (e.g. the two that I work for) out in the cold, or somebody has to
come up with (and Apple would need to promote) a scheme for a user to 
painlessly inform the agent what messages to send to the Application.  (perhaps
a set of User Interface Events corresponding to the things the user sees on
the screen? Hmmm, expect a strawman) The third is that the Agent can only 
access about 30% of the applications' functionality: that covered by existing 
standard events at the time of the products release (actually, development).

Personally, I see the addition of Apple Events as one of the most significant
additions to System 7.  I also see it as one of the biggest headaches that I
will have to face in designing my software in the next year.  If it is handled
properly, it will be a big win.  I want to be able to cash is on it.

+C
-- 
Cory Kempf				I do speak for the company (sometimes).
The Enigami Co.							603 883 2474
email: cory@three.mv.com, harvard!zinn!three!cory