Xref: utzoo comp.sys.mac.programmer:18447 comp.sys.mac.system:1884
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!apple!ftanaka
From: ftanaka@Apple.COM (Forrest Tanaka)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer,comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: Will 7.x remove 32k limit in TextEdit?, or: Where oh where has my CoreEdit gone?
Message-ID: <45875@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 22 Oct 90 05:10:00 GMT
References: <1990Oct19.190541.2475@midway.uchicago.edu>
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA
Lines: 62

gft_robert@gsbacd.uchicago.edu writes:

>I heard a while back about an Apple replacement for TextEdit called -- I think
>-- "CoreEdit", or some such.  It would have, I think, removed the 32k barrier
>on text in TextEdit.

    I don't have the complete story on CoreEdit, but as I understand it, it was
an old, old text engine that was intended to run on top of System Software and
be available to anyone who wanted to use it as a basis for a basic word
processor.  But it proved to be too buggy or unwieldy or both.  It wasn't long
before the idea died altogether.  I also heard that the guts of CoreEdit were
used in early versions of MacWrite.

>                                                             Are we going to
>see anything like this in 7.x?

    You definitely won't find it in 7.0, as you probably know.  Personally,
I'd be pretty surprised if there was anything like this in 7.anything.

>OK, but everyone KNOWS that TextEdit is used for far more than dialog boxes:
>it's used as a primary text processing scheme in many apps.

    Yes, that's true, but that doesn't necessarily mean that this is a good
thing.

>                                                             And I think it's
>really a bit much for each developer to be asked to 'roll their own'; in fact,
>if it's easy enough for each developer to do it alone, why can't Apple do it
>and put it in System Software?

    I agree that it's a bit much to ask of most developers.  That's one reason
that the TextEdit hooks were put in: so that developers who needed just a bit
more power could add the power without needing to write their own text engine.
But the TextEdit hook mechanism hasn't worked as well as most developers
needed, and it certainly didn't solve the 32K limit.  And it would make sense
for Apple to do this, if not in System Software, then at least in a library or
maybe some MacApp object library.

>Don't mean to sound flamey, and I know that Apple System Software folk have
>their hands full, but after numerous years of the 32k limit, you'd think that'd
>be fixed by now. :->

    Yes, you'd think.  But as usual, it's a matter of limited resources.  I
know a few people at Apple who'd agree with every point you make, and I can
surely guess that there're a lot more.  So, I don't know what to tell you
besides, don't lose all hope.  At least some Apple engineers understand your
frustration and others, and I would guess that they'll eventually get something
together, but it might take a while.

>============================================================================
>= gft_robert@gsbacd.uchicago.edu * generic disclaimer: * "It's more fun to =
>=            		         * all my opinions are *  compute"         =
>=                                * mine                *  -Kraftwerk       =
>============================================================================


-- 
Forrest Tanaka                     Graphics/Toolbox Developer Technical Support
Apple Computer, Inc.                                          ftanaka@apple.com

In a decent computer language, a non-programmer could look at elegantly-written
                          code and see the beauty.