🚀 go-pugleaf

AN700018@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU (Marilyn H. Fetterman) writes:

> You mention that Watcom GML had a problem with alternative font
definition.  Was this only with the Beta you tested?  Does this mean one
could only print using courier?  

I tested Watcom GML versions 3.32 and 3.33.  Almost all of the
functionality of mainframe Script exists side-by-side with GML, with the
exception of font definitions.  The developer at Watcom felt that
end-users are normally unaware of the .bf, .pf, .df, and .ph commands, so
he didn't add their functions to the PC version.  However, there is an :SF
(set font) GML tag in the PC version and not in the mainframe version,
which controls font selection.  So the answer is no, you don't have to use
courier.  I have printed lots of documents in the scalable, proportional
PCL typefaces (Times Roman, Helvetica) built into the HP LaserJet.  
Watcom GML also support PostScript output, but I have never tried it.

> Personally, I have always liked Waterloo Script.  It was the first
program I learned when I started using the mainframe as a student here at
Brown in 1978.  The problem with Script is that today, most people get
their first taste of computing on PCs (or Macs) and are accustomed to
really easy, minimal learn things, that use a mouse. It's not an issue of
which word processing program is the most powerful but which is the
easiest.

Very, very true.  Script itself is a text programming language, not just a
text processor.  It is easy to customize.  Macros, or their GML
equivalents, can be object-oriented, and programmed for different output
devices and applications.  For simple memos and such, Script is overkill. 
But we used it to process multi-volume documentation sets, where each
volume had 500+ pages.  There was also a master index automatically built
for the set, and hooks for online help.  When CA pushed MS-Word for these
applications, productivity ground to a halt (but they didn't care).  The
best replacement program I can see these days is FrameMaker, because it
has some underlying structure to it.  
Jon Kessler
jskessler@aol.com