Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!decwrl!ucbvax!pro-beagle.cts.com!mmunz
From: mmunz@pro-beagle.cts.com (Mark Munz)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: Exchanging between different computers
Message-ID: <22843.chatter.infoapple@pro-beagle>
Date: 1 Sep 90 16:20:26 GMT
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 30

In-Reply-To: message from mattd@Apple.COM


>1)  They translate files from one physical file system to another.  This will
>be done by FSTs under GS/OS when you copy a file between two different file
>systems.
>
>2)  They translate file *formats*.  You may not have noticed, but in AFE you
>can put in two disks of the same file system and AFE will give you a "Mac to
>Mac" or "ProDOS to ProDOS" or "MS-DOS to MS-DOS" menu.

Ah... but Remember, there are programs (such as MacWrite II) which will
import a "raw copy" of an AppleWorks file int MWII w/ most formatting. 

And Claris (Apple) was trying to promote this technology (XTND) as a 
standard for all Mac applications..  Thus if we could just read PRODOS 
disks on the Macintosh, we wouldn't have to go through AFE at all (once
the standard is adopted).

>AFE has modular translators.  These translators contain code to translate
>items from one file format to another.  For example, Microsoft ships the
>"Works-to-Works" translator with Microsoft Works - it translates AppleWorks
>(classic) files into Microsoft Works files, retaining all the formatting in
>the word processor (for example).

Here's a question.. why is it that Microsoft's "Works-to-Works" (which,
btw.. still only does AW 2.x format) is about 10000 times faster than
Apple's Text converter??

Mark Munz