Just wondering

["R Tennenbaum"]

Are there any programmers on the list who know Java? Lately I've been
considering the possibility some kind of interactive engine
within/above Xywrite might be able to galvanize the lovely old biddy
and make it useful in some intriguing ways. Specifically, I wonder
whether some sort of Java mega-meta-application might be able to
incorporate Xywrite and do some of the things that many of us would
like to see her do -- multitask, use long filenames, be accessible to
whatever opsys we happen to be using. I don't know much
about Java myself except the demonstrations I've seen, but it seems to
me maybe some kind of "tsr" within Xy, working in concert with a JaXy
"shell" might do some splendid things -- in a multiplatform way.

So for instance, we might be able to access XyWrite through this
uber-app -- which might be constructed in such a way as to be
tailorable to each user's reference: command line at the bottom, maybe,
or with whatever font he or she prefers, etc. The number of editing
windows one could have would be theoretically unconstrained by Xy's
internal or version limitations, since the uber-engine could simply
spawn another session if it deemed necessary. Likewise multitasking
would be automatic: the java machine could pass on each print session
onto either another Xy session or its own internal emulator. Long
filenames could be handled kludgily, but cleanly -- see, for example,
R. Holmgren's lfn handler for Xy-OS/2. Established-but-competing
standards such as PostScript formatting and viewing/previewing engines
could additionally be incorporated: the list is of course long.

Incidentally, it's nice Charles Creesy's plaint earned him an answer.
To eviscerate the poor nag's corpse: it's obvious to everyone here that
it does little good to complain about TTG (likewise I hardly think it
makes sense to still blame IBM seven or eight (?) years later). Still
perhaps some users can be forgiven for running out of patience --
personally I have been reading Ken Frank's posts since around 1992 on
the Compuserve word processing forum -- and I'm sorry to say have come
to expect very little.



Rafe T.
http://www.quicklink.com/~rtenn