BOLDUAN@oregon.uoregon.edu (Karen Bolduan) (02/28/90)
I am a graduate architecture student, presently engaged in creating a stack that will, I hope, eventually be a self-running demonstration of a newly developed energy efficiency design/analysis software package. The stack will most likely be packaged with the software as a separate disk. My problem is this: Is it possible to get this stack to run itself as soon as the disk is inserted into the drive? The stack and application will fill the disk, so there isn't room for a system. Any ideas? Also, if anyone sees any possible problems with distributing HyperCard in this way, I'd appreciate hearing about them. Thank you! R. Sanders University of Oregon Responses to: Bolduan@Oregon.bitnet
bskendig@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Brian Kendig) (03/01/90)
In article <16578@oregon.uoregon.edu> BOLDUAN@oregon.uoregon.edu (Karen Bolduan) writes: >I am a graduate architecture student, presently engaged in creating a stack >that will, I hope, eventually be a self-running demonstration of a newly >developed energy efficiency design/analysis software package. The stack will >most likely be packaged with the software as a separate disk. My problem is >this: >Is it possible to get this stack to run itself as soon as the disk is inserted >into the drive? The stack and application will fill the disk, so there isn't >room for a system. Any ideas? Yes, it's possible, and there are two ways to do it. You don't want to use the first way. It would involve creating a resource that pulls a mean 'n' nasty trick on the Finder by getting it to launch HyperCard with your stack, and having that resource masquerade as something important so that it gets run. Shades of WDEF, anyone? The second way is to either include instructions with the disk, print instructions on the disk's label, or put instructions on the disk so that even the most technologically-illiterate user could figure it out. Difficult, but possible. >Also, if anyone sees any possible problems with distributing HyperCard in this >way, I'd appreciate hearing about them. Thank you! I think it's a problem. Having your machine do all sorts of funky things as soon as you put a disk into it is, at the very least, non-intuitive. At the very most, it's dangerous. Don't try it. Instead, use my Method #2 above to tell the user how to start the program on his own. << Brian >> -- | Brian S. Kendig \ Macintosh | Engineering, | bskendig | | Computer Engineering |\ Thought | USS Enterprise | @phoenix.Princeton.EDU | Princeton University |_\ Police | -= NCC-1701-D =- | @PUCC.BITNET | | Systems Engineering, NASA Space Station Freedom / General Electric WP3 |
mithomas@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (Michael Thomas Niehaus) (03/01/90)
With the original HyperCard, you could do this: Create a disk with
just the System file, HyperCard, the Home stack, and the stack that you
want to run.
When the system starts up, it will open HyperCard and the Home stack.
Now, go into the on openStack handler in the Home stack and have it go
to your stack.
Of course if you want to distribute HyperCard and System on your disks
you need to get in touch with Apple Software Licensing...
-Michael
--
Michael Niehaus UUCP: <backbones>!{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!mithomas
Apple Student Rep ARPA: mithomas@bsu-cs.bsu.edu
Ball State University AppleLink: ST0374 (from UUCP: st0374@applelink.apple.com)nayeri@takahe.cs.umass.edu (Farshad Nayeri) (03/08/90)
With the original HyperCard, you could do this: Create a disk with just the System file, HyperCard, the Home stack, and the stack that you want to run. When the system starts up, it will open HyperCard and the Home stack. Now, go into the on openStack handler in the Home stack and have it go to your stack. As far as I could remember, you have to modify a resource in the System file to tell it that your startup appliaction is not Finder, but HyperCard. I did a stack that had to be standalone once, and to solve this problem, we did things a more tricky way (we were under time pressure.) System will run any file which has the name "Finder" in the same folder. So just rename HyperCard to "Finder" and put it in the same folder as the Home stack and the System file, and reboot. I think that the original hypercard disks worked the way they did because the System was modified. Anyone knows how to tell the system to look for a file different than the finder? -- Farshad Nayeri Graduate Student COINS Department University of Massachusetts
dale@bcm.tmc.edu (Dale A. Samuelsen) (03/08/90)
In article <10850@bsu-cs.bsu.edu> mithomas@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (Michael Thomas Niehaus) writes: > With the original HyperCard, you could do this: Create a disk with > just the System file, HyperCard, the Home stack, and the stack that you > want to run. > > When the system starts up, it will open HyperCard and the Home stack. > Now, go into the on openStack handler in the Home stack and have it go > to your stack. Note that with this method you are distributing a Home stack with your stack. When you do so, you need to be certain that the user of your stack & home stack (who may not be a mac or hypercard guru) knows _NOT_ to copy the home card to his/her hard drive and by so doing, overwrite the home stack there. With that caveat, Michael's idea a good one & will work nicely. Dale A. Samuelsen Baylor College of Medicine dale@bcm.tmc.edu --Any opinions expressed are mine alone and do not necessarily represent those of Baylor College of Medicine.
jpb@umbio.miami.edu (Joe Block) (03/11/90)
In article <NAYERI.90Mar7195728@takahe.cs.umass.edu> Nayeri@cs.umass.edu writes: > Anyone knows how to tell the system to look for a file different than the > finder? Use the Set Startup command in the Finder. JB -- Joe Block jpb@umbio.miami.edu There was a young poet named Dan, whose poetry would never scan, when told this was so, He said, Yes I know, It's because I try to fit every possible sylable into the last line that I can.