Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!burl!codas!uflorida!gatech!bloom-beacon!athena.mit.edu!cthulhu
From: cthulhu@athena.mit.edu (Jim Reich)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Call for new IFF format
Keywords: IFF text
Message-ID: <2886@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>
Date: 10 Feb 88 18:50:20 GMT
Sender: daemon@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU
Reply-To: cthulhu@athena.mit.edu (Jim Reich)
Lines: 26

In article <8802100718.AA23834@jade.berkeley.edu> FVEST@AUDUCVAX.BITNET writes:
>
>A word processing IFF file standard read/write could be added to new
>releases of existing software to maintain upward and cross-system
>compatibility.  New software would hopefully follow the standard.

I believe there is already at least one IFF text format -- I think it's called
FORM (I'm not real sure about this -- just seem to remember seeing it sometime)
and it handles formatted text with multiple fonts, etc.  Why does no
one support it?  I don't know.  I have yet to hear of anyone using it.
The only real reasons I can see are:
	<1> Nobody ever put out much of a support library for it
   	     (perhaps if someone did, developers would start using it -- free
	      code is always a good incentive...)
	<2> It's more than some programs need -- WordPerfect doesn't need
	      color and fonts, and I suppose they might not want to waste
	      memory...
	<3> It's less than other programs need -- I don't think it supports
	      text overlayed/wrapped around graphics like ProWrite.

Aren't standards great!  Has anyone actually used this?  It would be really
nice if there was at least an IFF text cut and paste to the clipboard...
but no one uses that either...

							-- Jim