Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!teak!greely From: greely@teak.cis.ohio-state.edu (J Greely) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hypercard Subject: Re: HyperCard bug <- No, it's a feature. Message-ID: <7459@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> Date: 1 Mar 88 01:00:26 GMT References: <1149@cpocd2.UUCP> <7500@apple.Apple.Com> Sender: news@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu Organization: Giant Robots 'r' us Lines: 48 Keywords: HyperCard HyperTalk bug read file newline This discussion recalls to mind the question, "When is there going to be a HyperCard book that tells you *everything* about how to _program_ HC?" We've had Goodman's book, a weighty tome that was purchased because there was nothing else on the market. It is oversized, incomplete, and *very* poorly arranged (partially a function of its sheer volume). Has anyone actually needed anything before page 341? Most of the first half of the book is aimed at computer illiterates who don't know how to point and click, and is concerned with such *vital* information as how to use MacPaint-style tools. I'm not saying that there aren't people who don't need this, but most of them will be frightened away by the size of this thing (You mean, I've got to read *all that* to understand HyperCard? Forget it!), and those who aren't will get turned off long before they get to the section on HyperTalk. Am I the only one who felt cheated by purchasing a book that was effectively half-blank? Moving on, we have a *new* book (which I haven't been able to find yet), which is described as roughly equivalent to Goodman's, but slightly more useful. Then there's Apple's entry, available only from APDA. It has information on XCMDs and XFCNs, but costs more (counting the membership) than the others, and which I've yet to hear anything really good about. Is there, or will there be, a *real* book on HC? Written for someone who knows the Mac, knows how to program, and couldn't care less about learning to double-click? Accurate? Complete (unlike Goodman's)? That is not a mindless rehash of the help stack? (which, by the way, is almost useless. It has all this information about HyperTalk, in a reasonable format, while the editor is a modal dialog box. Useless!) I suppose it is to be expected that the machine-that-needs-no- manual is incapable of producing a good one. I've been using the Mac since it was released, and the only manuals I've ever needed were for language products, for which you needed implementation information. HyperCard is extremely easy to use, very well designed, and (potentially) quite powerful. Why can't we have a manual that's the same way? -=- -j, greely@satcom3.cis.ohio-state.edu The Ohio State University, somewhere in Ohio. (Just look for the bars, you'll find it) "Sir Francis Drake circumsized the world with a 100-foot clipper."