Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ukma!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!marvel From: marvel@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Howard P. Marvel) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hypercard Subject: HyperCard Improvements Message-ID: <42120@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> Date: 6 Apr 89 20:10:59 GMT Reply-To: Howard P. Marvel Organization: Ohio State University Computer and Information Science Lines: 41 On the subject of HyperCard improvements, might it be possible to insert a new stack in the inheritance path? Suppose that we call it myHome (or ourHouse for the inveterate TV viewers). The stack could contain XCMDs, XFCNs and functions shared by subsidiary stacks without forcing the author to install these in the Home Stack, a la Focal Point II. Short of this, could one define symbolic resource links in stacks so at least Xcmds, icons, fonts and the like could be shared without having to load them multiple times? Secondly, could the Sound return a number as well as a name? Suppose that I have a script that synchronizes with sounds, but that the sounds are repetitive. I would like to do something like play sound1 put the number of the sound into foo play sound1 if the number of the sound is not foo then My alternative is to load the sound twice under different names, but my stacks are already too large. Finally, can anyone give me a pointer to a calculator that I can include in a stack? I have added the Apple Calculator DA to stacks and have arranged to open it from the stack, but I need to catch the value computed when the calculator is removed from the screen and I need to have a slightly more sophisticated program, one with exponentiation and grouping. It needs to be public domain and source would be awfully nice. I don't want to use a calculator written in Hypertalk, since that would require going to a separate card. I am setting the cantModify to true, so I have to save and restore the state of any work in process whenever I leave for a card. That's a pain and slow, too. Hence the DA request, though a DA converted to an XCMD is obviously preferable. For the exceptionally curious, the reason the DA is attached to the stack is that my HyperCard stacks must run on a two floppy SE setup given the configurations of our student labs. That leaves no room on the System-HyperCard-Home startup diskette. It also makes for Rice Crispies sound (snap-crackle-pop). Thanks for any help.