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Path: utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!cognos!roberts
From: roberts@cognos.uucp (Robert Stanley)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Hypercard *NOT* downloadable?
Message-ID: <1386@cognos.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 3-Sep-87 09:54:36 EDT
Article-I.D.: cognos.1386
Posted: Thu Sep  3 09:54:36 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 5-Sep-87 14:33:37 EDT
References: <1680@watcgl.waterloo.edu>
Reply-To: roberts@cognos.UUCP (Robert Stanley)
Distribution: world
Organization: Cognos Inc., Ottawa, Canada
Lines: 44
Summary: On-line docs only go so far

In article <1680@watcgl.waterloo.edu>
	   kdmoen@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Doug Moen) writes:

> The online documentation is more complete than the printed documentation,
> which doesn't document HyperTalk.

This is a true statement, but the on-line documentation for HyperTalk is
fairly limited.  If you examine the scripts in the various stacks that are
on the distribution disks you will find a number of working (presumably?)
examples of HyperTalk features that are not described anywhere in the on-
line docs.  What is more, injudicious cloning elsewhere can produce some
amazing results.  I think it is fair to say that the on-line docs obviate
the need for a manual up to the advanced scripting level.  Also, there is
no description of how (and where) to add resources, although sufficient
information appears in the promotional material to enable you to figure out
how to do this.

If you want to program the beast seriously, you need the book from APDA, or
be prepared to invest significant experimental time (lots of fun, though :-)).

> You can also make printouts of the online documentation.

Yes you can, but does anyone know for sure what font the help system cards
use?  Geneva 12 sort of works on-screen, but a few cards mess up in it.  
The translation to Helvetica on a LaserWriter completely destroys the
formatting between left hand headings and right hand paras.  It seems that
either the text fields weren't explicitly given a font (and my system
defaults everything to Grungible 11), or that the cards specify a font which
I don't have in my system (which is a real possibility).

> I understand that old fashioned printed books documenting hypercard
> will soon be available from third parties, so it really doesn't matter
> if Apple publishes the user manual or not.

I am looking forward to the technical reference from APDA, but by the time
it appears/arrives I may be using it only to verify my experimental results;
just can't stop playing with the thing, and it doesn't even run on my Lisa at
home.  MacWorks 4.0, will you ever really exist?  Or do I have to try do it
all myself, again ;-) ?
-- 
Robert Stanley           Cognos Incorporated     S-mail: P.O. Box 9707
Voice: (613) 738-1440 (Research: there are 2!)           3755 Riverside Drive 
  FAX: (613) 738-0002    Compuserve: 76174,3024          Ottawa, Ontario 
 uucp: decvax!utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!cognos!roberts          CANADA  K1G 3Z4