Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!husc6!uwvax!oddjob!ncar!ames!oliveb!amiga!cbmvax!andy
From: andy@cbmvax.UUCP (Andy Finkel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: How 'Bout HyperCard!
Message-ID: <3768@cbmvax.UUCP>
Date: 13 May 88 16:37:16 GMT
References: <15372@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> <31411@linus.UUCP> <956@sandino.quintus.UUCP>
Reply-To: andy@cbmvax.UUCP (Andy Finkel)
Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA
Lines: 32

In article <956@sandino.quintus.UUCP> pds@quintus.UUCP (Peter Schachte) writes:
>In article <31411@linus.UUCP>, sdl@linus.UUCP (Steven D. Litvintchouk) writes:
>then cutting or copying it).  It's also probably better in terms of
>memory usage and performance:  setting the selection only requires
>setting a pointer, rather than copying a (potentially huge) chunk of
>memory).

The current Amiga clipboard.device supports this functionality...
its called posting.  Basically, an application says to the clipboard.device,
"Hey, I got a couple megs of data for you.  Call me if anyone asks for it."
No data changes hands unless its actually requested, and its not
kept in an intermediate place like the clipboard.device itself.

>
>Ok, my big reservation about clipboards:  they really NEED to be
>object-oriented.  When I select (or copy/cut) a spreadsheet, or
>animation, or picture, or chunk of a wysiwyg document, it needs
>to carry along with it information about how to manipulate it, or AT
>LEAST how to display it.  The only general way to do this that I know
>of is with code.  The code needs to be encapsulated with the data.

The way we do it is via IFF...all data sent to/from the clipboard.device
must be IFF, which *is* self-identifying.
-- 
andy finkel		{ihnp4|seismo|allegra}!cbmvax!andy 
Commodore-Amiga, Inc.

"C combines the power of assembly language with the flexibility of
 assembly language."
		
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I disclaim all responsibilities, all shapes, all sizes, all colors.