jln@eecs.nwu.edu (John Norstad) (06/10/88)
I've been following the FullWrite discussion on comp.sys.mac, and would like to thank all of the contributors for their interesting observations. I too have found MS Word buggy, clumsy, and frustrating, and looked forward to the official release of FullWrite with great anticipation. I've been using it for a few weeks now. Here's some more or less random first impressions of version 1.0. The user interface is GREAT. The icon bar/panel/sidebar way of doing things is very elegant and powerful, and most of the other features are also very nicely implemented. This is one of the most well designed programs I've seen on the Mac. I'm a firm believer in reading manuals from cover to cover when I start using a new program, so I worked through the learning guide the day my copy of FullWrite arrived. Since then I've only had to look things up on very rare occasions. I've used FullWrite on my 1 meg SE at home, on my 2.5 meg SE at work, and briefly on a Mac II. On my 1 meg SE I use FullWrite with no INITs other than Vaccine and a startup sound INIT, no debugger, no RAM cache, and of course SoloFinder. It is usable, but it runs low on memory very quickly. For example, with a five page single column document with two sidebars, one picture, and a few footnotes, I was unable to check spelling because of insufficient memory. The manual claims that 25-30 pages per chapter of single column text will fit on a 1 meg machine, but I haven't tested this. It seems clear that sidebars, pictures, multiple columns and other fancy features use up memory quickly. On my SEs FullWrite can be slow. It sometimes can't keep up with my fast typing, which is very annoying. This seems to be a problem mostly inside panels, with multiple columns, and in other fancy situations. For simple single column document text like this I don't notice any speed problems. FullWrite is very pleasant on a Mac II with lots of memory (>= 2 megs). I've noticed one oddity with footnotes. When a column break or page break is inserted, footnotes are placed at the very bottom of the column or page, with lots of blank space between the end of the text and the footnotes. At a chapter break and the end of the document, however, the footnotes are placed immediately following the text, not at the bottom of the column or page. Is this a feature or a bug? It seems strange to me. I recall that someone reported a problem with the Save As format "text only with line breaks". Most lines are improperly indented one or more columns. I've noticed this problem too. In addition, if automatic hyphenation is enabled, and if FullWrite decides to hyphenate (which it often does), the hyphenations are removed when the text is saved in this format. For example, if line 12 ends with "foot-" and line 13 starts with "notes are placed", when you save the file line 12 will end with "footnotes" and line 13 will start with "are placed". This screws up the right margin. These bugs are annoying, because I'd very much like to use FullWrite to prepare network mail, postings like this one, and other files destined for uploading and consumption on a mainframe or mini. In the case of this posting I'm using FullWrite anyway, with hyphenation disabled, but I'll have to use an editor to get rid of the extra leading blanks on lines before I post it. Yuk! I'd like to be able to enable and disable automatic hyphenation on a document- by-document basis, but I don't think this is possible. The option is global, selected in the Preferences dialog. The only time I've seen FullWrite crash was while trying to work with an outline in a two column document. The document was only a single page long, and I was using the full recommended FullWrite memory partition under MultiFinder on a 2.5 meg SE, so I'm sure it wasn't a memory problem. I haven't been able to reproduce the problems, but it happened several times in different sessions and different situations. I used to think outlining was for wimps, but I've been using it in FullWrite quite a bit lately. It's especially nice as a quick way to get numbered paragraphs and bullet lists. No messing with rulers - just select the text, pick Make Outline from the Edit menu, and then pick Itemize and Format from the Outline menu. Except for the crashes with double columns noted above, I've had no problems with outlining, and I find FullWrite's facilities for outlining very natural. Other people have complained about it in their postings, and I wonder why. I've never used any other outliners, however, so I can't compare FullWrite with anything else. I also haven't attempted outlines that span chapters, although the manual says this is possible. Sizing sidebars is very clumsy, as many people have already noted. This is my only major complaint about sidebars. I'd especially like to see an option to automatically adjust the bottom of the sidebar to fit whatever is placed inside the sidebar. Then I could edit sidebar text, making it shorter or longer, without having to manually resize it each time. The ability to resize sidebars directly in the WYSIWYG display would also be enormously useful. I don't object to FullWrite's draw module at all - I think it's convenient, if not as powerful as separate drawing applications. It should cost next to nothing in terms of memory if it's segmented properly. I had one problem with printing. I was preparing for a talk on FullWrite, and tried to print all the sample documents. When I printed the Tutorial Sample Doc (the one pager with the funky picture of a space station), the text printed on our LaserWriter, but not the picture! I was using my 2.5 meg SE with MultiFinder and background printing. I tried both a LaserWriter and LaserWriter II, and both of them failed to print the picture. I have over 4 megs of free disk space. I turned background printing off and this solved the problem. I've since attempted to reproduce this bug without success - it prints properly today under identical conditions! A real mystery, and I'm not at all sure it was FullWrite's fault. Many people have remarked that FullWrite's style sheets are not as powerful as MS Word's. This is true, and I'd also like to see better style sheets. I'd also like more control over page breaks. I used to use MS Word's "keep paragraph on page" option, and I miss this feature in FullWrite. You can use sidebars for this, but it's not as easy. I also miss MS Word's "chained" styles. I'm using FullWrite with the new System 6.0 release, and I've only noticed one minor problem. I have MacroMaker enabled, which adds a tape recorder icon to the menu bar. I'm also using MultiFinder. When I have FullWrite's outlining view selected, FullWrite's extra Outline menu appears, and the menu bar on an SE is completely full. Everything fits, but just barely. The small FullWrite icon at the far right side of the menu bar is positioned farther to the right than usual. The problem is trying to do a MultiFinder switch by clicking on the small FullWrite icon. I have to click on the very left edge of the icon to get it to work. If I click on the center or right edge of the icon nothing happens. FullWrite DOES NOT properly implement intelligent cut and paste! For example, if you double click on a word and delete it you end up with two blanks instead of one. This is inexcusable in any Mac word processor. I'm quite surprised, since in other respects FullWrite seems to follow Apple's human interface guidelines quite religiously. FullWrite doesn't even attempt to do equations. Most of the people I know with serious math typesetting needs are using some variety of TEX, and most of them would very much like to see good WYSIWYG math typesetting in a general- purpose word processor. Despite all these complaints, I must agree with the rave reviews FullWrite has been receiving from many of the net reviewers. I trashed my copy of MS Word after only a few hours in FullWrite! I'm more than willing to live with the inconveniences mentioned above in exchange for FullWrite's amazing power and elegance. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ John Norstad Bitnet: JLN@NUACC Academic Computing and Network Services Internet: JLN@NUACC.ACNS.NWU.EDU Northwestern University ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
chuq@plaid.Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (06/10/88)
>I had one problem with printing. I was preparing for a talk on FullWrite, and >tried to print all the sample documents. When I printed the Tutorial Sample >Doc (the one pager with the funky picture of a space station), the text >printed on our LaserWriter, but not the picture! I was using my 2.5 meg SE >with MultiFinder and background printing. I tried both a LaserWriter and >LaserWriter II, and both of them failed to print the picture. I have over 4 >megs of free disk space. I turned background printing off and this solved the >problem. A number of people have reported this on CompuServe. Last I heard, Ashton-Tate was completely mystified, they haven't been able to reproduce it. One related note, though -- A-T has basically said that the whole EPS interface needs to be rethought and cleaned up, and that they don't really understand all of the details surrounding EPS files right now. When FWP mentions EPS files, they really mean Adobe Illustrator files. Other programs that create EPS files, like CricketDraw or Freehand, can have problems. sigh. Expect this whole area to be redone one of these days, I'd guess (I hope! Personally, I like Word's Postscript font implementation. Enhanced for EPS as well, it'd be a real nice feature.) Chuq Von Rospach chuq@sun.COM Delphi: CHUQ Robert A. Heinlein: 1907-1988. He will never truly die as long as we read his words and speak his name. Rest in Peace.
moriarty@tc.fluke.COM (Jeff Meyer) (06/13/88)
In article <10330007@eecs.nwu.edu> jln@eecs.nwu.edu (John Norstad) writes: >I recall that someone reported a problem with the Save As format "text only >with line breaks". Most lines are improperly indented one or more columns. >I've noticed this problem too. In addition, if automatic hyphenation is >enabled, and if FullWrite decides to hyphenate (which it often does), the >hyphenations are removed when the text is saved in this format. For example, >if line 12 ends with "foot-" and line 13 starts with "notes are placed", when >you save the file line 12 will end with "footnotes" and line 13 will start >with "are placed". This screws up the right margin. These bugs are annoying, >because I'd very much like to use FullWrite to prepare network mail, postings >like this one, and other files destined for uploading and consumption on a >mainframe or mini. In the case of this posting I'm using FullWrite anyway, >with hyphenation disabled, but I'll have to use an editor to get rid of the >extra leading blanks on lines before I post it. Yuk! A noted bug, which I assume will be fixed in the next version (I mean, really -- how tough can it be to fix it?). In the meantime, let me recommend McSink DA for getting stuff into the "right format" for Usenet or your local BBS. Lack of skill dictates economy of style. -- Joey Ramone --- Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer INTERNET: moriarty@tc.fluke.COM Manual UUCP: {uw-beaver, sun, microsoft}!fluke!moriarty CREDO: You gotta be Cruel to be Kind... <*> DISCLAIMER: Do what you want with me, but leave my employers alone! <*>