[comp.object] How to get info about OOATool

wgh@ubbpc.UUCP (William G. Hutchison) (05/22/91)

 Does anybody have a direct e-mail address for Peter Coad at
Object International (or maybe he reads this newsgroup)?

 I have a perplexing problem.  Several months ago I bought
(and read!) Coad's Object Oriented Analysis, 2nd ed.  
This book describes a graphical analysis and diagramming technique
of Coad's called OOA.  There is a coupon in the back of the book
for ordering a program called OOATool that supports this diagramming
technique.  I started seeking info about OOATool more than 2
months ago.

 I do not have the usual problems:  I have snail-mail address and
voice and fax phone numbers for Object International.  My problem
is that I cannot hook up with anybody at Object International who
understands what OOATool does!!

 My question is quite simple:  can OOATool produce graphical output?
By that I mean "can I print the pretty diagrams to an HP LaserJet
or to a PostScript printer, or to an Epson :-)".  I also would like to
be able to dump the diagrams into some format like GIF or TIF or PCX
or PBM or something to be able to incorporate them into other programs.

 Would you believe that I can't find anybody at Object International
who understands the question?  I can't communicate with Coad directly
because my faxes to him get intercepted by an employee who gives me
obvious contradictory, wrong replies.  I have a fax from this person
which says "OOATool cannot produce graphical output" and also a phone
conversation in which she said "of course OOATool can produce graphical
output".

 So how can I communicate with somebody at Object International who can
understand my question and give me a reliable answer?
-- 
Bill Hutchison, DP Consultant	psuvax1!burdvax!ubbpc!wgh (work)
Unisys UNIX Portation Center	uunet!eidolon!wgh (home)
P.O. Box 500, M.S. B121         "At the moment I feel more like arguing than
Blue Bell, PA 19424		being good" Raymond Smullyan _The Tao is Silent_

markw@wc.novell.com (Mark Wittenberg) (05/23/91)

(Sorry to post this, but my mailer couldn't deliver it.  Maybe others are
interested too).

In comp.object you write:

> My question is quite simple:  can OOATool produce graphical output?
>By that I mean "can I print the pretty diagrams to an HP LaserJet
>or to a PostScript printer, or to an Epson :-)".  I also would like to
>be able to dump the diagrams into some format like GIF or TIF or PCX
>or PBM or something to be able to incorporate them into other programs.

I don't know how to reach Coad personally, but I bought the demo ($50, now
$95) version, and it can produce graphical output (at least to PS printers;
I haven't tried anything else).  It can't save in any foreign formats,
but you can copy to the clipboard: MacDraw sees a collection of objects,
just like you'd want.

It's not the fastest program in the world, and I'm not thrilled with the
user interface, but it works.  Well worth $50, but I'm thinking long and
hard about the $1000 price tag for the full version; I'm planning to see
just how far I can get with the small one.

Mark Wittenberg
---
Mark Wittenberg			Voice:		(415) 975-4512
Novell, Inc.			Internet:	markw@wc.novell.com
1340 Treat Blvd. Suite 500	UUCP:		ucbvax!mtxinu!kinetics!markw
Walnut Creek, CA 94596		AppleLink:	NOVELL.WCENG
				FAX:		(415) 938-2562

wgh@ubbpc.UUCP (William G. Hutchison) (06/05/91)

In article <markw.674955726@wc.novell.com>, markw@wc.novell.com (Mark Wittenberg) writes:
> In comp.object you write:
> 
> > My question is quite simple:  can OOATool produce graphical output?
> 
> I don't know how to reach Coad personally, but I bought the demo ($50, now
> $95) version, and it can produce graphical output (at least to PS printers;
> I haven't tried anything else).  It can't save in any foreign formats,
> but you can copy to the clipboard: [ ... ]


 Thank God, a straight answer!

I have been faxing and phoning Object International for months (literally)
now and I have yet to find ANYBODY there who knows enough about Object
International's product OOATool to give me a simple yes or no to the above
question.

 How do they hope to get away with selling a program with so little
functionality?
-- 
Bill Hutchison, DP Consultant	psuvax1!burdvax!ubbpc!wgh (work)
Unisys UNIX Portation Center	uunet!eidolon!wgh (home)
P.O. Box 500, M.S. B121         "At the moment I feel more like arguing than
Blue Bell, PA 19424		being good" Raymond Smullyan _The Tao is Silent_

wgh@ubbpc.UUCP (William G. Hutchison) (06/05/91)

In article <822@ubbpc.UUCP>, wgh@ubbpc.UUCP (William G. Hutchison) writes:
> In article <markw.674955726@wc.novell.com>, markw@wc.novell.com (Mark Wittenberg) writes:
> > In comp.object you write:
> > 
> > > My question is quite simple:  can OOATool produce graphical output?
> > 
> > I don't know how to reach Coad personally, but I bought the demo ($50, now
> > $95) version, and it can produce graphical output (at least to PS printers;
> 
>  Thank God, a straight answer!


 It turns out that Peter Coad of Object International did respond to me 
last week: I was on vacation and just received the answer.

 His answer:

 OOATool can produce PostScript output, that is how they make the diagrams
in the book _Object Oriented Analysis, 2nd ed._

 It can produce HP LaserJet output under Windows 3.0.

 It can not presently produce .PCX, .BMP, or TIFF format files (but
Windows 3.0 has utilities available and shareware for cutting and pasting
to other programs which can produce .PCX).

 Phew!

 Thanks to Mr. Coad
-- 
Bill Hutchison, DP Consultant	psuvax1!burdvax!ubbpc!wgh (work)
Unisys UNIX Portation Center	uunet!eidolon!wgh (home)
P.O. Box 500, M.S. B121         "At the moment I feel more like arguing than
Blue Bell, PA 19424		being good" Raymond Smullyan _The Tao is Silent_