Re: Global Subroutines II

[ML Solla d012362c@xxxxxxxx]

On Sat, 4 Nov 1995 TBaehr@xxxxxxxx wrote:

> Here's the second and last installment of Global routines in XyWrite. There
> are plenty of other routines, and careful study will be rewarded. I've run
> out of gas (and time) for now.

First - thanks for taking the time to post this stuff. When I
undertook to bend xydos to my own peculiar purposes, it was only
by unraveling you alls work that I was able to discover the new
xpl tools. Thanks also for describing the process - when my head
began to swim at the task of reading a bowl of spaghetti - I
suspected it was many bowls of spaghetti.

I believe that if the tools were adequately described, more
people would take advantage of the power beneath the word
processor.

Next - this relates to your contest and the thread related to the
next revision of XyWin - and the short shrift given to TTG in
the latest issue of PC magazine.

The fastest times reported among the bevy of modern word
processors was the DOS version of WordPerfect. Nota Bene and
XyWin were relagated to a side bar on niche products.
WordPerfect fast? On what planet?

It seems that the evolution of "modern" word processors has very
little to do with productivity and much to do with fancy
interfaces and formatting.

I'd like to see the type of cost/benefit analysis suggested
earlier applied to each revision of a piece of software. A
contest comes to mind.

In the latest version of ...., the feature I can't do without is
....
In the earlier version of ...., the abandoned feature I can't
give up is ...

EG: I have no use for the windows version of XyWrite because it
won't let me modify the interface to the extent formerly
possible.

EG2: I can't go back to a DOS version of XyWrite because I need
to be able to send faxes thru the Windows operating system.

As a personal bottom line, I believe that any degradation of
speed or configurability for the sake of operating system or
user interface is intolerable. An "upgrade" has to result in
more (fill in the blank) or its just not worth it.