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From: Gavin.Flower@comp.vuw.ac.nz (Gavin Flower)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Editors
Message-ID: <1991Apr04.215442.18905@comp.vuw.ac.nz>
Date: 4 Apr 91 21:54:42 GMT
References: <1991Apr2.103204.29939@cl.cam.ac.uk>
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Organization: Dept. of Comp. Sci., Victoria Uni. of Wellington, New Zealand.
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Good idea!      It seems very sensible and logical for one application to be able to invoke the "current" editor for the user to edit something and then be able to returnto the invoking application.


How about an extension of this idea.  For example it would be nice if !IMPRESSION
could call up a drawing package (eg !DRAW, but could be something else).

One possible method would involve the application checking for a system variable
along the lines of Edit$... or Draw$... (I don't have any Arc documentation here
so I can't refer to examples which might be relevant).  If the variable was there
it would appear as a selectable menu item, otherwise it would be greyed out.
This method would allow the user to select the appropiate editor (etc.) to be
invoked.  If well defined interfaces and file format were defined *and adhered to*
it might well work quite well.  Presumable the key is to associate a file format withthe file type.  The only problem I see here is that "text" files that have
*special characters* might mean different things to different editors.


Another possibility is that the edit (or some such) could be used as a "backend", eg
the application would "talk" to it directly so that the application could act as
a "frontend".  This would allow the application to provide value added features such as security, sophisticated error checking, and a facility such expanding
abbreviations known to the application, possibly invoking a second "backend" such as a databas .  This method would allow the ultimate in customising the user interface. 


                    :-> We are allowed to dream? <-:

-Gavin.

-- 
The main "user" of well brought up, and educated, children is the community
at large.  So if you really believe in "user pays", charge the correct users
- stop overloading parents with financial penalties.
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