Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ub!uhura.cc.rochester.edu!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!o.gp.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!jk3t+ From: jk3t+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jonathan King) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hypercard Subject: Re: Goodman's HC2 book complete? Message-ID: Date: 7 Nov 90 14:59:06 GMT References: <1990Nov7.024109.21329@sics.se> Organization: Psychology, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA Lines: 46 In-Reply-To: <1990Nov7.024109.21329@sics.se> ollef@sics.se (Olle Furberg) writes: > Sorry, for bringing up the book topic again... Don't be. It looks like lots more people are finally getting copies of 2.0 and so the information is timely. > Could someone tell me if Goodman's HC 2.0 book is complete with > respect to HyperTalk? I.e. does it contain descriptions of the whole > HT 2.0 vocabulary? I looked at the Goodman HC2.0 book in the bookstore, but then bought a different book. Here's why: while Goodman's book seems to have improved in the new edition, it still is not (nor does it really pretend to be) a definitive HyperTalk reference. It just doesn't tell you everything you may need to know. The book I *did* buy, however, boldly claims to be a definitive HyperTalk reference, and since one of its co-authors was the guy who designed HyperTalk, the claim is fairly convincing. And this book is much more complete than Goodman, and even much more complete than Apple's own (now outdated) HyperCard Script Language Guide. We're talking 958 pages of information not only on HyperTalk 2.0, but also on HyperTalk 1.2 and the differences between the two, including dozens of obscure bugs in HyperTalk 1.2. The only problems are a bunch of typos in the text, and an index that really doesn't do justice to 900+ pages of content (way too short). > I'm searching for a book which contains a HT reference and also some > descriptions about all new features in HC in general. The book described above (and whose reference is below) is *the* complete commercially available HT reference, and covers some of the new features of HC as they affect scripting. I don't know it that's exactly what you want. Here's the reference: Dan Winkler and Scot Kamins. HyperTalk 2.0: The Book. Bantam, 1990. 958 pp. ISBN 0-553-34737-3 $29.95 in US, $37.95 in Canada, probably ridiculously expensive elsewhere > /Olle jking