Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!bellcore!tness7!tness1!sugar!peter
From: peter@sugar.UUCP (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: How 'Bout HyperCard!
Message-ID: <2019@sugar.UUCP>
Date: 18 May 88 13:52:22 GMT
References: <15372@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> <31411@linus.UUCP> <3768@cbmvax.UUCP> <987@sandino.quintus.UUCP>
Organization: Sugar Land UNIX - Houston, TX
Lines: 21

In article <987@sandino.quintus.UUCP>, pds@quintus.UUCP (Peter Schachte) writes:
> IFF data is self-identifying, but that really isn't enough.  In order
> to use this approach, every program must include all the code for
> dealing with all the kinds of data that they expect someone to try to
> paste in.  As the diversity of the Amiga environment increases, this
> will be more and more impractical.

So what's wrong with an "iff.library"? If you're going to do all the work
needed to hack this stuff, why re-invent the wheel? IFF does its job
moderately well, and it's supported on *everything*.

Also: 'every program must include all the code for dealing with all the
kinds of data that they expect someone to try to paste in.' isn't quite
true. They only need to deal with the kinds of data that people will try
to paste in and that is useful to them. Whether or not it can read them,
a text editor isn't going to be able to do anything useful with SMUS files
or ANIMs (for example).
-- 
-- Peter da Silva      `-_-'      ...!hoptoad!academ!uhnix1!sugar!peter
-- "Have you hugged your U wolf today?" ...!bellcore!tness1!sugar!peter
-- Disclaimer: These may be the official opinions of Hackercorp.