From: Charlie.Mingo@p4218.f421.n109.z1.FidoNet.Org (Charlie Mingo)
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Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps
Subject: Advice about buying apps and IAC
Message-ID: <674046650.1@blkcat.FidoNet>
Date: 11 May 91 17:08:13 EST

chris@cfa.harvard.edu (Chris Smith) writes:

CS>I'm thinking about unloading some reasonable bucks to buy a 1) good
CS>word processor and 2) a good spreadsheet.  MS Word 4.0 and MS Excel
CS>3.0 seem the logical choice (especially at University discounts),
CS>but...
CS>
CS>In the May '91 issue of MacUser (pg 239), M. Swaine discussed the
CS>benefits of interapplication communication (IAC) under System 7, and
CS>noted that Microsoft's implementation of IAC (object linking and
CS>embedding or OLE) is different from Apple's IAC (Publish and
CS>Subscribe).  Sooooo...
CS>
CS>Now I'm worried.  If I go with a Word+Excel combo, will any of my
CS>other programs (graphics programs, drawing programs, etc.) "talk" to
CS>them?  (I'm looking forward to exporting my spreadsheet numbers to a
CS>capable scientific graphics package like KaleidaGraph or Igor without
CS>continually cutting and pasting.)  Or should I go the Claris route
CS>(true Apple IAC Publish and Subscribe), with MacWrite II (upgraded to
CS>Pro when available) and the as-yet-unavailable Claris spreadsheet?

     Well, it's may not be as simple as that.  My understanding is that IAC simply creates a mechanism which *permits* apps to comminicate, but the actual comm protocols are not defined.  In other words, you've got to have some other protocol *on top of* IAC to accomplish anything.

     In light of this, it may not be as easy as one might have hoped to get apps from different manufacturers to cooperate.  Excel 3.0 (which I just received) supports something called "Dynamic Data Exchange" (DDE), which is described in the manual as if it could link with any application.  (Since I don't have System 7 yet, I can't verify this.)

     In all probability, only apps from the same manufacturer will work reliably together; and only if you have System 7-friendly versions, as well (for example, I don't think MS Word 4 supports DDE, as it's over two years old; it does support something called "warm links" with Excel, however).

     I'd vote for getting Excel 3 now, and waiting for a System 7-friendly version of Word 4 (the upgrade fees are usually more than the cost of the academic version).  The Claris apps undoubedly will also work together (but not with MS or any other apps); however, since neither Macwrite II Pro nor the Claris-spreadsheet exist as yet, I think MS more reliably offers a useful suite of applications.

     Also, you may wish to consider features other than IAC in selecting a WP/spreadsheet combo:  Word and Excel are powerful and widely-used apps, but some find them intimidating and confusingly-designed.  

     I hope this was somewhat helpful.


PS:  Do you work at the same place as Cliff Stoll?  Do you know him?

 * Origin: mingo@well.sf.ca.us  mingo@cup.portal.com (1:109/421.4218)