🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <Bx1tJz.8v3@news.cso.uiuc.edu> jeffo@uiuc.edu (J.B. Nicholson-Owens)  
writes:
> Eric Bloom writes:
> > With Image Agent users can simply drag and drop non-native
> > image files directly into graphic applications, such as
> > PasteUp, Diagram, Concurrence, and have the images instantly
> > appear. Image Agent transparently performs the image version
> > as if it were part of the actual application in use.  
> 
> I don't understand the advantage of this app.  Isn't this the point of 3.0's  
> filters?  To be able to load different formats of visual data into a picture  
> viewer or editor that can only read, say, TIFF?  Or likewise for sound,  
> multimedia, whatever?
> 
> If so, is this just a set of filters that can be placed somewhere (like in  
> /LocalLibrary, perhaps) and somehow become available for picture load  
> instructions in programs?
> -- 
> -- Jeff (jeffo@uiuc.edu)
> -- NeXTmail welcome

First, Image Agent is not an application. It is, in fact, the first commercial  
package of which we are aware to allow users to begin taking advantage of  
NeXTSTEP 3.0's filter services.

Image Agent's filters are, in fact, the input routines used by our Pixel  
Magician product. As such, they are very stable, having been on the market for  
approximately a year now. They are also geared specifically towards NeXTSTEP's  
advantages and limitations - the filters understand and retain alpha channel  
and DPI information and decode paletted information.

Finally, although most users will simply use these image filters to enhance the  
existing capabilities/interface of other applications, the knowledgeable  
programmer or developer can, in fact, exercise more direct control over them.  
As mentioned in our manual, well-written apps will dynamically change their  
Open panels after Image Agent is installed. A sophisticated application could  
go further, changing menu items, pop-up lists, and other interface items  
depending upon the filters available. Filter services are a brand new field - I  
feel we have yet to scratch the surface in terms of their eventual capabilities  
and uses. Consult your NeXTSTEP 3.0 manual for more ideas.

Sincerely,
-ccwf
Charles C. Fu
System Administrator
Bacchus, Inc.