[comp.sys.apple2] CD ROM Applications

awillis@pro-angmar.UUCP (Albert Willis) (05/03/90)

In-Reply-To: message from gwyn@smoke.BRL.MIL

There are CD-ROMs for the Apple II that appear as ProDOS volumes. InterChange,
the group of user groups that just put on the National Apple User Group
Conference, have created a CD-ROM for Apple II owners.

Also, Apple's "Phil & Dave's Excellent CD" has an Apple II partition which has
some great stuff for technical people and other agressive end-users.

Unfortunately, not many CD-ROM publishers are using the ISO/High Sierra format
for there CD-ROMs. Even if they did, you would still need an application that
could deal with the data. While an encyclopedia is available in ISO/High
Sierra format, an application that can deal with the index and allow queries
to the data would be needed.


Albert Willis
INET:  pro-angmar!awillis@alphalpha.com          | America Online: BCS Al
UUCP:..!uunet!alphalpha!pro-angmar!awillis       | GEnie: A.Willis

sb@pro-generic.cts.com (Stephen Brown) (05/05/90)

In-Reply-To: message from farrier@Apple.COM

I appreciate the information supplied by Doug Gwyn (gwyn@smoke.BRL.MIL) and
Cary Farrier (farrier@Apple.COM). Let me quote Cary:

>aside from
>being able to read the files on the disk (handled by the FSTs under
>GS/OS), you still need to know what to do with the files, how to search
>the database, etc.
 
Perhaps, really, that is my question. I don't know how files are typically
stored on CD ROMs, ie. whether they are ASCII or DBASE or what. Presumably,
they are in some format which is friendly to most MS-DOS machines. Does this
mean then, that though GS/OS would let me look at the files, there isn't much
I could do with them?  I wouldn't expect that CD's would come with an Apple
IIGS application to do the retreival, so what would I use?  Would I be
competely S.O.L.?

I must admit that I don't (personally) own an Apple CD ROM, but I had been
asked by a school interested in connecting a CD ROM to their GS's, whether it
was worth it, to access available databases such as the Periodical Index,
Brittanica, etc.  I think they TOO would rather not use one of those, er...
cheap MS DOS machines for a general purpose task like this.

The bottom line: Is there a CD ROM retreival application written for the IIGS?
[if not, which technotes cover this stuff?]

Thanks again,  STEPHEN BROWN (Willowdale, Ontario, CANADA)

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