knowles@inmet (10/18/89)
Is there anything that does for Appleworks what WPL does for Applewriter? I miss WPL, so sometimes go back to use it. Thanks for any info. Dick Knowles knowles@inmet.inmet.com Intermetrics, Inc. uunet!inmet!knowles Cambridge, Ma.
bird@cbnewsd.ATT.COM (j.l.walters) (10/19/89)
From article <30000005@inmet>, by knowles@inmet: > > Is there anything that does for Appleworks what WPL does > for Applewriter? I miss WPL, so sometimes go back to use it. The TimeOut series from Beagle Brothers has more capabilities than WPL. In particular you should look at Ultramacros - ESPECIALLY the version that works with Appleworks 3.0. It is really great! Some examples: 1. Store the present or all files on the desktop as text files - with or without tabs, etc. 2. Delete all leading spaces from a file (An option allow deleting of any specified initial character in addition to any subsequent spaces. 3. Delete all trailing blanks from a file 4. Convert paragraphs that consist of individual lines that are delimited by RETURN into Appleworks style paragraphs. 5. Convert BBS catalogs from word processor to data base files. 6. Test up to 5 adjacent data base catagories for being identical. If it/they are the duplicate is optionally marked or deleted. I think you get the idea. Ultramacros is a true programming language for Appleworks files. Keep in mind that it works in the word processor, data base and spreadsheet. Finally, Beagle maintains a free BBS where you can see what problems/solutions others have encountered. -- Joe Walters att!ihlpf!bird IHP 1F-240 (312) 713-5356
mmunz@pro-beagle.cts.com (Mark Munz) (10/20/89)
Network Comment: to #11878 by inmet!knowles@uunet.uu.net -> -> Is there anything that does for Appleworks what WPL does -> for Applewriter? I miss WPL, so sometimes go back to use it. -> Thanks for any info. -> There's something better, it's called UltraMacros :-)
rich@pro-exchange.cts.com (Rich Sims) (10/20/89)
Comment to message from: att!cbnewsd!bird@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (j.l.walters)
> The TimeOut series from Beagle Brothers has more capabilities than WPL
Get serious! The TimeOut series is excellent software, but comparing it to
the capabilities of AppleWriter and WPL (if you =use= WPL's power) is
laughable, at best. Of course, there's also the little point that WPL came
*with* AppleWriter, not as a separately purchased add-on, but that doesn't
have much do to with the capabilities of either.
-Rich Sims-
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INET: rich@pro-exchange.cts.commmunz@pro-beagle.cts.com (Mark Munz) (10/22/89)
Network Comment: to #11938 by rich@pro-exchange.cts.com >> The TimeOut series from Beagle Brothers has more capabilities than WPL > >Get serious! The TimeOut series is excellent software, but comparing it to >the capabilities of AppleWriter and WPL (if you =use= WPL's power) is >laughable, at best. Of course, there's also the little point that WPL came >*with* AppleWriter, not as a separately purchased add-on, but that doesn't >have much do to with the capabilities of either. > >-Rich Sims- How well do you know UltraMacros? Obviously not that well.. Ultra can do all sorts of things.. There are people that create special reports with it, that run educational LaserDiscs with it, use the the modem, print out forms, etc.. Tell me what you think Ultra can't do that WPL can.. Of course, it has to be within the limits of AppleWorks.. While it is true that WPL came with AppleWriter, AppleWriter is no longer supported by Apple or Claris... and you can get Ultra 3.0 for $29.95 with coupon in the AW3.0 box. Mark Munz Beagle Bros
rich@pro-exchange.cts.com (Rich Sims) (10/22/89)
Comment to message from: mmunz@pro-beagle.cts.com (Mark Munz) > How well do you know UltraMacros? Obviously not that well.. That's probably true. I've read all the advertisements, the product reviews, etc, and talked to a number of people who use the product (all of whom are enthusiastic about it, by the way), and on the basis of that information, decided not to purchase it. As nearly as I can tell, UltraMacros does not =add= anything to the inherent capabilities of AppleWorks, but is purely a "keystroke recorder and playback" utility. If that's not true, then someone at BB is seriously missing a bet by not informing the public as to it's true capabilities. A keystroke recorder doesn't come anywhere near to qualifying as a "programming language" in my opinion, let alone "something better"... > Tell me what you think Ultra can't do that WPL can.. (That's my cue to ask how well _you_ know AppleWriter and WPL, but I won't!) OK, let's try a very simple task that can be related to by a large number of the readers of this group. Take a perfectly straightforward text file, which nearly any word processor can deal with (or a group of them), and swap them back and forth between a UNIX machine. On the way, try changing the EOL character back and forth between C/R and L/F... and do it with AppleWorks and UltraMacros. (It's a trivial task with AppleWriter and WPL!) As a matter of fact, I feel very generous, so you can buy the Telecom module to do the transfers and call it part of UltraMacros, if you want... even though that's also within the capabilities of that "other" program without add-ons! (Just kidding there, Mark, I'm sure =you= don't have to "buy" that module!) I started to give you a much longer list, but then ran into the next line... > Of course, it has to be within the limits of AppleWorks.. That's the main reason it hasn't got anywhere near the power in the first place. (See my first response.) Can you use UltraMacros to do things like take a "raw" (unformatted) section of text and format it and print it in two (or more) columns? AppleWriter and WPL can, of course. How about numbering (or renumbering) a group of lines? Or capturing a BASIC program listing to a text file and using UltraMacros to produce a "prettified" listing (1 statement per line, indentation, etc.). Of course, all of these items are basic text formatting, like you might expect a =WORD PROCESSOR= to handle, and not the super-exotic functions, like counting how many times a specific word is used in a document, or other such arcane capabilities which no self-respecting Apple user would ever need! :-) Don't get me wrong... I'm sure UltraMacros is a worthwhile addition for heavy users of AppleWorks, and AppleWorks itself is a very useful program for a great many people, but don't try to make it out to be the "ultimate" word processor (the word processing capability was the subject of the original message), or to endow either program with capabilities they don't have. Both AppleWorks (with or without UltraMacros) and AppleWriter have their own individual capabilities and limitations. It would be just as erroneous to say that AppleWriter contained spreadsheet capabilities. By the way, I don't consider myself to be a "heavy" user of AppleWorks, even though I first started using the program when it was only available as 3 E-Z Pieces on an Apple ///, and am now using version 3.0 on my GS. In all fairness, I should add that it's quite possible that UltraMacros will do exactly what the original poster needs to do. The question wasn't very specific as to any particular capability, but merely asked if there was anything available for AppleWorks that provided capabilities equivalent to AppleWriter's WPL. On that basis, UltraMacros is =NOT= the answer! As an aside - if you folks out there at BB really want to make the word "Ultra" mean something in the name of the program, figure out how to "divorce" it from AppleWorks and make it a stand-alone keystroke recorder/player, available for use with any program. That kind of capability is readily available on the two machines that are usually the object of attack in this group. I would wager a substantial (for me) sum of money that a tremendous number of people would find a product like that to be an extremely worthwhile purchase. (I suspect it would also be quite difficult, if not impossible, to implement.) -Rich Sims- UUCP: crash!pro-exchange!rich ARPA: crash!pro-exchange!rich@nosc.mil INET: rich@pro-exchange.cts.com
bird@cbnewsd.ATT.COM (j.l.walters) (10/25/89)
From article <8910201318.AA01526@trout.nosc.mil>, by rich@pro-exchange.cts.com (Rich Sims): > >> The TimeOut series from Beagle Brothers has more capabilities than WPL > > Get serious! The TimeOut series is excellent software, but > comparing it to the capabilities of AppleWriter and WPL (if you > =use= WPL's power) is laughable, at best. I don't wnat to start WP Wars here, however, a couple of comments can't hurt :-) If you look at your WPL manual you will see that the commands there were pretty much limited to those commands available from the keyboard. (I know, you couldn't loop from the keyboard.) Looking at Ultramacros you will see that the possibilities are about as limitless as you can get - especially when you note that escapes to assembly language are available. Now, back to my original statement - I said the capabilities of Ultramacros are greater than WPL. PLEASE not that I didn't say there were not things that WPL can do that Ultramacros would find difficult/impossible. 1. I'm mainly thinking of Aplewriter's/WPL's ability to embedd control characters in the text file. 2. Don Lancaster's WPL macro package that printed micro-justified text on a Diablo remains a tour de force to this day. (After showing two things Ultramacros "cannot" do, I fully expect a posting by Mark Munz within the week showing us that neither is true.) -- Joe Walters att!ihlpf!bird IHP 1F-240 (312) 713-5356
mackay@iisat.uucp (Daniel MacKay) (10/30/89)
> From article <8910201318.AA01526@trout.nosc.mil>, by rich@pro-exchange.cts.com (Rich Sims): > > > Now, back to my original statement - I said the capabilities of > Ultramacros are greater than WPL. PLEASE not that I didn't say > there were not things that WPL can do that Ultramacros would find > difficult/impossible. > > 1. I'm mainly thinking of Aplewriter's/WPL's ability to embedd > control characters in the text file. That's a completely trivial use for WPL. How about - an interactive fiction game? I have an interactive fiction game INTERPRETER written in WPL- that's right, you create a file containing the game and its gotos, and this WPL program "executes" the game, showing various pages on the screen, asking questions and jumping around in the story apropo. It includes a game selection menu- you can pick which games on the disk you want to play. Called TELL, so the [P] command is DO TELL :-) - a file sorter? (don't ask how. I won't do it again.) - a document indexer- you give it the doc and a list of words to index, it generates the index? - a menu-driven goal report generator for teachers, that selects from several thousand student goals on a HD, and prints them on a page suitable for progress checks and end-of-term reports? - something I was commissioned to write. - a file stripper that strips out several columns of a wide report and formats them suitably for ingestion by the Appleworks DB? (I built this so I could syphon the INDEX report from the APPLE2-L LISTSERVer into the db) - a program that counts the number of time some string occurs in a file. - a program that changes every other " into `` and '' (or any other of some symbol into two symbols? - rot13? Yeah, the only commands available in WPL that aren't available on the keyboard are the looping commands. But looping, variables, string comparison, and conditional branches, all put together, make not a half bad language! Now, WPL is not without its faults. Programs have to be chopped up into 2K segments. Subroutines cannot be indefinitely nested- only 32 subroutine levels deep. No recursion. String compare and GOTO labels are case-sensitive. Almost no math- just integer addition and subtraction. Screen formatting is machine-dependent. Only three integer variables, (X, Y, & Z) only four string variables (A - D), and they're tiny- 64 bytes. But I'm amazed at the things that are so easy to do with this little language- the symbol counter, for instance, is only four or five lines of code! The interactive fiction game interpreter is less than a hundred. Has anyone heard of/from Lutus in the past five years? -- +---------+ IIS Public Usenet | _ | From the Halifax, Nova Scotia | (_)===| disk of ... mackay@iisat.UUCP | | daniel ...{utai,uunet,watmath}!dalcs!iisat!mackay +---------+ MACKAY@DALAC.BITNET --