🚀 go-pugleaf

From article <10330136@accuvax.nwu.edu>, by bob@accuvax.nwu.edu (Bob Hablutzel):
> 
> one of the machines strongest points. BUT, IMHO, the editors can't touch
> the MPW editor (including, nea especially, TPU), and MMU and the like are 
>
                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If you really believe this, then either (a.) Apple has made a HECK of a
lot of improvements in the MPW 3.0 editor or (b.) You haven't used
the VMS 5.0 version of the EVE/VAXtpu editor yet.  There are a HUGE number
of improvements and new features.  I use both EVE and MPW editors every
day.  I dearly LOVE the fact that I can do things like cut & past between
files, command lines and the find/search/replace command lines (can't do
it in MPW cause CUT/PASTE is inactive when the dialogs are up).

The other useful function is being able to actually write extentions that 
operate on the text in the (multiple) edit buffers.  If you have some
complicated function you need (prettyprinting, formatting, building if/then
else blocks) you can write it yourself.  This is what I miss the most in
MPW's editor.  The new version of EVE also supports mice and the DECwindows
version will support multiple windows.  I think it's more than an equal
to any editor I've ever seen.  With all the weight Apple is putting behind
OOPS languages, I would think they would have written an extendable editor
for MPW by now.

> What DEC does have, and Apple could and should and would improve their 
> machine if they did, is the best damn documentation I've ever layed my
> eyes on. These people actually believe in (oh no!) _examples_ of what the
> routines do. For complicated routines, you can have several pages of examples
> to should the many different ways the routine can be used. APPLE SHOULD
> BE DOING THIS!!. I don't care if it makes the Apple documentation 6' of 
> shelf, I'm tired of having to use the damned debugger to understand trap
> calls!
> 

DEC's documentation isn't perfect by a longshot...but they DO provide a LOT
more examples, particularly in V5.  This is something I would REALLY like
Apple to do more of.  I to, have occasionally had real problems figuring out
how some of the toolbox calls are supposed to work.  If one picture is worth
a thousand words, one sample program is worth a thousand lines of explanation.

I REALLY appreciate the effort Apple has gone to in their sending out sample
code for the Macintosh.  It has helped me on many occasions.  I only wish they
would come out with samples to cover use of sound and appletalk.

The biggest problem I have with Inside Mac is the number of volumes and 
technotes I have to go through to find what I'm looking for.  With Inside
Mac up to five volumes it causes problems.  You have to scan all 5 books
when you want the answer to a question like "is there a call that does..."
or to find the most recent doc on a call.

This would be where CD's would come in handy...I would guess that each of those
smaller inside Mac volumes costs between $5 & $15 to print plus mailing.  A
CD could hold EVERY DOCUMENT APPLE HAS with room leftover and would cost about
$4 per copy (perhaps less) to master in quantity.  I understand there are 
other expenses (like paying people to write the manuals) but they would be
the same regardless of how the manuals are distributed.  If Apple would use
CD's they could easily afford to send out ALL NEW documentation every few
months.  Then people wouldn't have to wade through 5 volumes and 200 technotes
to find what they want.

Not to mention...they would probably sell a lot of CD drives...



> 
>>The best way to get TONS of software for a new computer is for the 
>>Manufactureer to put together a really GREAT development system, then GIVE
>>IT AWAY!
> 
> I wouldn't consider either the VAX or the Mac to be 'new', nor would I consider
> DEC 'giving away' anything.

I wasn't speaking of the VAX or Mac in particular here...I was talking about
any new computer (ie: the NEXT and those machines still on the drawing board)


Please send flames, comments, job offers (really) and any money that's
burning a hole in your pocket to....

Greg Corson
19141 Summers Drive
South Bend, IN 46637
(219) 277-5306 
{pur-ee,rutgers,uunet}!iuvax!ndmath!milo