Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!mcnc!ecsgate!ecsvax!dlugose
From: dlugose@uncecs.edu (Dan Dlugose)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hypercard
Subject: Re: Running "HyperCard" on a PC
Message-ID: <1990Sep5.164339.1036@uncecs.edu>
Date: 5 Sep 90 16:43:39 GMT
References: <1609@luth.sm.luth.se> <115@atux01.UUCP> <1990Sep5.143306.28559@caen.engin.umich.edu>
Organization: UNC Educational Computing Service
Lines: 35

In article <1990Sep5.143306.28559@caen.engin.umich.edu> jfmjfm@caen.engin.umich.edu (John Mansfield) writes:
>In article <115@atux01.UUCP> jlc@atux01.UUCP (Jim Collymore) writes:
>>
>>Look into a new application called:  Toolbook
>>THis came out about the same time Windows 3.0 did, and I believe it allows you
>>to convert HyperCard stacks and run them on MS-Dos with Windows 3.0.
     Although the scripting language "OpenScript" is almost identical
to "HyperTalk" (it seems stolen!), there us not YET a released
program for converting stacks to books
  
>I am very interested in this ToolBook product but am curious to know
>if there are the equivalent of XCMDs for it.  I need to be able to
>format disks and copy files from within the Stack/Book.

   ToolBook can call seperately compiled files called DLLs with the
call linkDLL.  Indeed, any Windows 3.0 program can do this.  After
the DLL is linked, you can call its procedures and functions.  This
is discussed in documentation for ToolBook and more fully in Microsoft
Windows Software Developer's Kit documentation.
   There is also the Windows DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) facility
with which you can ask other applications for values, or tell them
to set values or execute functions, etc.  For example, you can ask
Excel to put the contents of Toolbook field 1 into cell R3 C3,
perform macro x, and then report back the value of cel R4 C4.  If it
turns out from an error code that Excel is not running, you can fire
it up with document x.
   So in some respects Windows/Toolbook is ahead of HyperCard 2.0,
but on the other hand, the Windows platform is very expensive and
slow, so if PC owners ever get sold on GUIs like this, they'll
appreciate Macs more!
-- 
Dan Dlugose
Internet: dlugose@uncecs.edu
UNC Educational Computing Service
Box 12035, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2035