bradn@tekig4.UUCP (Bradford Needham) (06/14/85)
The main problem of writing a MacDraw -> Pic converter is the lack of documentation of the MacDraw file format. Has anybody seen a description of a MacDraw file? I had hoped that "Inside Mac" would describe the formats of data files for all of the Apple programs, but instead it only describes MacPaint format. Does Apple's idea of a "closed system" mean that their file formats will not be available even to developers? Apple should realize that releasing their file formats will help their sales in several ways: People will write programs to convert their own data into, say, MacDraw format, causing more MacDraw sales; others will write programs that process or create MacDraw or MacWrite files, making the Mac more useful and competitive. Look at the number of add-on image digitizers that create MacPaint files -- how many of those products would not exist if Apple hadn't described the MacPaint format? Brad Needham ...tektronix!tekig4!bradn