Contest winners

[TBaehr@xxxxxxxx]

OK, gang, here they are:

I have 4 winners, all for different reasons.  1. Harry
Binswanger submitted XyBasic, a stand-alone programming language
that compiles to XPL in Xy III+. It's bizarre and it's wonderful
-- a language you have to learn in order to write in a language
you don't want to learn. I cut my teeth on Basic (bought or
borrowed programs and took them apart and rewrote them), so
there's a nostalgia factor here. If nothing else, Harry gets it
for sheer energy and ambition. XPL is an interpreted language,
and having yet another language that compiles into an interpreted
language is -- well -- bizarre and twisted. But I say that as a
compliment given how bizarre and twisted my own programming can
be! Harry has managed to impose order on a programming system
that makes "spaghetti code" look, in comparison, like the most
structured code in the universe.
2. Annie Fisher has a way to block-mark a bunch of text and then,
with single keystrokes, perform any of a series of operations on
it -- copy, delete, etc.
 It's like the ancient and venerable SuperScripsit for Radio
Shack's Trash-80 computers. Elegant.
3. Charles Herold submitted a way to call up a directory and
then, with single keystrokes, operate on the items in the list --
copy, open, delete, etc. This is in some ways what the file
manager in Xy4/XyWin shoulda been.
4. Wolfgang Bechstein has devised a way to save the information
about open files and restore them when you re-enter XyWrite.
Years ago, I sold a similar arrangement through Xyquest's
third-party program and then incorporated many of the ideas into
Xy4/XyWin when I was working for the company. I like Wolfie's
particular implementation and might have done it his way if it
had occurred to me.

Well. This was satisfying, and I really enjoyed reading the entries. The
"prize," as I mentioned before, is an enhanced
menu/dialog/command override system that I just mailed to Nathan
and which should be available by FTP sometime soon. The winners
get free tech support and any major upgrade I may come up with in
the coming year. Anybody else can download the files and play
with them (or even use them), but support will consist only of whatever
I post generically in this group by way of serious bug fixes.
For you winners: If you don't want to download, send me your
mailing address and I'll mail you a diskette. My address is
TBaehr@xxxxxxxx.  For anyone else who can't or doesn't choose to
downoad: Send me a blank 3.5-inch diskette
(double or high density is OK but high is preferrred) and SASE
with 50 cents postage and I'll put the stuff on your disk. If
you're really lazy, send me a request and $5.00 and I'll send you
a high-density 3.5" disk. What you'll get is the equivalent of
unsupported shareware. If you like what you get, you can send
any amount you like. Any amount from $15 up gets you
registered-user status and tech support and upgrades. Some of
you may object to this, but nobody's forcing you to play the
game. If you don't like it, consider me flamed and save yourself
the hassle. But also consider that, whether you personally find
them useful or not, the enhancements I've written are major
extensions to XyWrite's power and constitute a significant upgrade.
 (A detail you may have overlooked: The enhancements are Xy4DOS
*only*. The stuff won't work with III+ or Xy/Win.)

Be aware that the stuff I am making available is mostly your already-existing
Xy4/DOS menus and dialog boxes, with significant modifications.
You are still subject to your software license agreement with
Technology Group -- like you can't redistribute the stuff for
free or for money, etc. I can't emphasize this too much. Don't
muck with either TTG or me.

My mailing address for those who want to send diskettes:
Tim Baehr
P.O. Box 1345
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 USA

-- 'Free' if downloaded from group
-- SASE + diskette + 50 cents' postage (or appropriately more for
overseas)
-- $5 if I supply diskette
-- $15 for full registration, tech support, upgrades

Thanks to all of you who responded -- this has been a real blast!

Tim