david@jc3b21.UUCP (David Quarles) (03/09/90)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= TITLE: Hypercard 2.0 varies card size, adds text buttons AUTHOR: Raines Cohen PUBLICATION: MacWEEK DATE: 6 March 1990 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Cupertino, Calif. -- Prototype copies of HyperCard 2.0 and Apple documents reviewed last week offer a preview of an update long awaited by stack developers. The new version, expected to debut at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in May, will bring: A NEW FILE FORMAT. HyperCard 2.0 can open stacks in the original format, but they can be modified only if converted via a new menu command. The new format will also be compatible with the forthcoming HyperCard for the Apple ][GS. IMPROVED WINDOWING. Version 2.0 supports a variety of card styles in sizes up to 1,280 by 1,280 pixels. Unlike Silicon Beach Software Inc.'s SuperCard, however, HyperCard still requires that all cards in a stack be the same size. Users can view cards larger than the HyperCard 2.0 window by dragging a selection rectangle around a special floating window. ENHANCED TEXT EDITING. HyperCard 2.0 supports field text in multiple fonts and multiple styles. Since the new version is compatible with standard Apple text-handling routines, separate international releases of HyperCard will no longer be required. IMPROVED HYPERTEXT SUPPORT. Because text in fields can be grouped and new language functions help stacks determine what word, phrase or line the user clicked, any text can be a button. Clicking on a name, for example, could bring up a card with a picture and biographical background. SEARCH SOPHISTICATION. A new set of commands will allow complex, multiple-step searches and reports. EXPANDED REPORTING. Printing is much easier and more flexible. Multiple report formats can be saved in a stack. BACKGROUND SUPPORT. HyperCard 2.0 can execute scripts, carry out searches and do other tasks in the background under MultiFinder. ADDED GRAPHICS CAPABILITIES. Several new visual effects and graphics commands are available, and can be used at all times, even when the Mac is in eight-bit color mode. An icon editor is built in. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= IN ADDITION, STACK DEVELOPERS CAN LOOK FORWARD TO A NUMBER OF LANGUAGE ENHANCEMENTS, INCLUDING: (emphasis added) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= INCREMENTAL COMPILATION. An incremental compiler compiles scripts on initial execution. This will speed up certain language, but not screen or disk I/O. Compiled HyperTalk scripts are saved only in memory. NON-MODAL SCRIPT EDITOR. Multiple scripts can be open and edited at a time. INTEGRATED DEBUGGING. An integrated symbolic debugger -- with windows for variable, scripts and messages -- supports such functions as script tracing, setting breakpoints and stepping. EXTERNALS SUPPORT. External commands can now easily maintain their own windows and menus, and HyperCard calls on externals only when needed. This ability could be used to support such enhancements as display of color PICTs and custom palettes. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= There 'tis. I Hope you found it informative. =-=-= Email: david@jc3b21.UUCP -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Dave =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= EOT
bmug@garnet.berkeley.edu (BMUG) (03/23/90)
In article <859@jc3b21.UUCP> david@jc3b21.UUCP (David Quarles) writes: >(a rehash of Raines Cohen's MacWEEK article about HyperCard 2.0) Don't believe everything you read in MacWEEK; I've heard on good authority that the details of HyperCard 2.0 reported there were based on a version that was several months old, and that the release version will be much more interesting than the article would lead one to believe... Sorry, Raines :-). John Heckendorn /\ BMUG ARPA: bmug@garnet.berkeley.EDU A__A 1442A Walnut St., #62 BITNET: bmug@ucbgarne |()| Berkeley, CA 94709 Phone: (415) 549-2684 | |