[comp.sys.apple2] Appleworks 3.0 bugs

prine@ (Ron Prine) (05/31/90)

I have known of a problem with appleworks 3.0 for some time and I have
not seen anyone else talk about it.

Quick hint:  If you want to see this happen, do this.  Make a new
database file with 3 fields.  In each field enter over 68 chars.  make
sure you have more than one record (so you can see how it can really
mess things up).  Now do an OA-M (or copy) of all the records you want
to spell check (or whatever).  Goto the word processer move from clip
board and look at your now useless data.  And don't think that it is
only not showing all the data.  The only way to see all the data again
is goto the database and do a move from the clip board without doing
anything with this data (This is the most handy thing I like about
this integrated software!!!!)  If you want you can now play with this
and see if I am crazy or what.  By the way, I called Claris and Beagle
Bros many times.  Claris told me that I was doing something wrong,
until I found this way to prove it to them.  They even had the gull to
tell me to send them a copy of my database (I think that they could
find another way of giving their paying customers the brush off) 

Software: Appleworks 3.0 (patched) 

Problem: spell check a database file.  

Data file desc:  18 fields, over 70 chars in each field, 600 records

Solutions tried: Since the spell checker is not built into the other
applications I have tried to do the following.  

   I have done a move/copy from the database to the word processer
(this looses lots of data)

   I have tried doing a mail merge (I was desperate!!!) (still looses
lots of data)
 
   The one thing I have done that works is to print to a text file and
load to word processer spell check and print to text file and make
another database, then move back to the other database.

   By the way in printing to a text file I have found that when I used
the use TAB char as a delimiter, the word processor put
CARRAGE-RETURNS in my data every now and then.  This makes the data
useless.  The way around this is to use carrage returns as the
delimiter between fields.  Thus I have found a way to do a spell check
of a file.

I think this just about makes the intergration of Appleworks into a
total flop.   You can't do it unless you totally wreck your data file.

Reasons of bug:  I think it has to do with the magic number 255 ($FF)
or 80 (screen width) 


I am not against Appleworks or Beagle bros.  I may be against Claris
and Apple (I guess you have to treat me right to be my friend!! :-)

I think I have said enough.  Mail me if you have any info.

Ron Prine  (according to Claris I am the first to find this problem,
maybe I am just picky.  How about an upgrade!!!  Oh yea I am working
on a IIc, 3.5 drive, 1 meg, Zip chip)

sb@pro-generic.cts.com (Stephen Brown) (06/04/90)

In-Reply-To: message from prine@

Ron Prine discusses a bug he found in AppleWorks 3.0.

Is there a reasonable address on this network to send bug reports for
AppleWorks 3.0? Claris? Beagle Brothers? Thanks bunches, as I have an annoying
bug to complain about.


UUCP: crash!pro-generic!sb
ARPA: crash!pro-generic!sb@nosc.mil
INET: sb@pro-generic.cts.com