Re: XyWrite (Con't Cf. Msg# 10338

[Robert Holmgren]

Jim:

 nclosed, a sample or test Help frame. The standard that I'm applying to
XyWin is precisely the performance of such a frame in Xy4-DOS, only better. In
other words, a scrollable window, formatting with NoMarkers, pops up as a box
in the center of full-screen text, is called from a U# file, etc. Plus I want
graphic display, which Xy4 doesn't deliver. Fonts of my choosing. I haven't
found anything that comes even close in XyWin (and the factory-issue DLG file
doesn't offer instructive examples). I can't get a K-frame to display ANY
formatting. "?fr" list boxes work only with an 8- or C-frame located in DLG.
About the closest I've been able to come is to load text into an extended
permanent S/G 100-1999 (say, with a 5-frame), then display it via a host
K-frame. But, no formatting is displayed. Ditto with "tx" boxes.

 Look, I'm not trying to beat a dead horse. Nor to beat up on you, TTG's
over-exposed sacrificial lamb. And, I admit, the "excuses" was a bit cruel.
You're the last guy I want to hurt. I see you as an ally. You need sunscreen!
The truth is, the boss ought to expose himself directly and personally to us,
because I seriously doubt that what we say to you (or to any TTG employee here)
is conveyed upward (it seldom has been, let's face it). But, it's a fact: we
ask nicely, we ask nastily, we wait patiently or impatiently -- its all the
same. Nada! An old XyQuest story, long pre-dating TTG: what are presented as
user "features" are in fact facilities invented to meet XyQuest needs, not OUR
needs! If you guys don't need it for your own purposes, the "feature" is
absent: thus, I think it's self-evident that *every* command in XPL grew out
of your Help-system needs, not from some abstract speculation about what we
users might require. (I'm repeating myself.) Similarly, because XyWin opts
for hard-coded Help (XWHELP.HLP), nobody bothered to implement a passably
decent text display mechanism for XyWin's XPL help. Even though it's simply a
matter of translating something (C-frames) which you *already invented* (for
XyDOS)!

 Truth is, NOBODY has ever asked any of us what we want or need! The day
somebody from TTG posts a message asking "What features would you like? Please
be specific|technical! Append extra pages if necessary." That'll be one fine
day, Jim. You know exactly what I mean. It's alien to the whole XyWrite
tradition. The exceptions, like the rare-as-hen's-teeth user revolt over Auto
Replace, prove the rule.

 Well, I take your point about the preemptive requirement of survival. (I
can't resist saying, that it's the Mother-Of-All-Excuses -- but doubtless
sincere, and certainly unanswerable.) So -- bye for now.

*Enclosed File: TSTFRAME.U2