jacky@pro-generic.cts.com (Jacky Lee) (07/04/89)
(Sorry I messed up my previous message. Here it goes again...)
The following is a (wanted) list of enhancement for AppleWorks that I have
accumulated over the years. They are things that I've always wanted to see
in AppleWorks for a long time...
==============================================================================
The standard Apple disk formatting routine is extremely noisy. When
formatting 5-1/4" disks, the drive seems to be "grinding" against
something...very unpleasant to the ears! Most public domain software
nowadays has begun to use a "smarter" and much quieter formatting routine
for doing the same job, look at Shrinkit for example. I wish AW3.0 would
somehow incorporate that routine instead. (Let me know if you do.)
==============================================================================
Also, the screen dumping is not really accurate. For example, wherever
there is a MouseText character on screen (like the OA-?) the program would
dump the ASCII image of the character instead of the actual thing.
What if I'm writing an article about AW, am I stuck with an ugly thing
like "@" rather than an Open-Apple symbol? The ImageWriter II is capable of
printing MouseText characters. Hence, AW 3.0 must take advantage of Apple
product's own power.
==============================================================================
As we are on the subject, I'm always puzzled by the reason why Apple (or
Claris for that matter) didn't "dress up" the appearance of AppleWorks???
Look at any powerful IBM programs, pretty as can be with colorful ANSI
screens (...well, colors can be distracting sometimes...). But why not use
more MouseText characters to dress up the screens? For example, why use a
dashy line ("-----") at the bottom of the screen when a solid MouseText
line can be used? The big file folders in the menus can use a few MouseTexts
to fill up the "gaps". And, the top line where it says "File: ...", use the
MouseText FOLDER icon in place of it. That will make AppleWorks more
attractive and even easier to understand for first time users. (Am I right?)
==============================================================================
Also, the status line at the bottom right hand corner of the screen is
suposed to be informative. But it will be even more informative if it is up
to the user's decision to display which type of information with a stroke of
an OA-<key>. For example, the user can select to see how much memory is
left or what time and date it is or what key activates help screens, and so
on...
==============================================================================
Hope my suggestions will appear in future versions of AppleWorks. These
little things can sum up to millions and millions of buckaroos...DO NOT
IGNORE THEM!!!
==============================================================================
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{my pet} |_________________________________________________|mmunz@pro-sol.cts.com (Mark Munz) (07/07/89)
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JerryK@cup.portal.com (Jerry E Kindall) (07/07/89)
The "quiet" formatter used by ShrinkIt and many other recent programs is Jerry Hewett's HyperFORMAT. Unfortunately, it doesn't do any validation on the tracks it writes, so it doesn't catch badly formatted disks. It also requires a 6K memory buffer to do its stuff, which might not be available from within AppleWorks. What's worse is that Glen Bredon posted on GEnie that HyperFORMAT does not align the tracks on the disk properly. This means that accessing a disk formatted with HyperFORMAT can be substantially slower than a disk formatted with Apple's formatter. I'd noticed that before but didn't know what was causing it until I read Mr. Bredon's message. I don't think that noise and speed are a valid reason for abandoning Apple's formatter, which works perfectly well. I don't know if Jerry Hewett is aware of this problem; maybe it can be fixed. /\ Jerry Kindall JerryK@cup.portal.com \/ Death to COBOL GEnie: A2.JERRY ALink: A2 Jerry