Re: A radical idea: a new XyWrite

[Kari Eveli lexitec@xxxxxxxx]

Carl,

I think this is a good list. Backward compatibility is important.
Unicode support would be great. The end result should be modular in
keeping with best XyWrite practice. You load what you need, discard
superfluous elements, and configure the program to suit your work.


I would like to see an engine with loadable configurable modules for
screen/print modes (the user could program this interface with XY3+, XY4
or even HTML, XML or some other notation plus modify any of the standard
notations to suit special needs). Essentially, the user should be able
to put together custom notations of text elements. This could be used in
many ways, e.g. for printing and typesetting, and text databases and
semantic content formatting (XML). By loading several of these modules,
the user could simultaneously write to disk in different file formats,
perform instant conversions or update databases.


Admittedly, it is a tall order.

Best regards,

Kari Eveli
LEXITEC Book Publishing (Finland)
lexitec@xxxxxxxx

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> Since we're dreaming, here's my wish list:
>
> - Backward compatibility with XyWrite keyboard, personal spelling,
>    hyphenation and settings files (SETTINGS.DFL)
> - Alternatively, a similar system of editable plain-text customization
>    files (e.g., INI files)
> - Full support for v4 XPL (minus the 64KB memory limit, of course!)
> - Full support for U# customization files (e.g., U2)
> - Hooks for modern scripting languages
> - Full support for XyWrite 4 embedded formatting
> - "Compatibility mode" for XyWrite 3 formatting (Xy3 files can be
>    edited, SAved and printed as Xy3 files, without modification)
> - Access to installed Windows fonts and printing services
> - Access to Windows spell-checkers
> - Unicode support
>
> And last but not least:
>
> - Portability: no installation required
>
> Easy, no?