From: raney@teal.csn.org (Scott Raney)
Subject: Re: Hypercard/Hypertext type app?
Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc.
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 03:05:39 GMT

ben@bailey.UUCP (Ben Bailey) writes:

>Does anyone know of a X based application simular to Hypercard (Mac),
>or (in general terms) hypertext?

>I would appreciate hearing of any, particularly commercial based
>products.

Check out our product MetaCard.  It uses a HyperTalk compatible
language for scripting, but has a Motif interface.  It is currently in
late Beta for the 1.2 release.  I've attached a marketing blurb that
contains addresses where you can anonymously FTP a save-disabled
distribution.  Email to info@metacard.com if you have any questions.
  Scott

>Thanks,
>Ben
>--
>Ben Bailey                 ben@bailey.uucp -- bailey!ben@uunet.uu.net
>12210 Shady Forest Dr.     ben@bailey.tscs.com
>Riverview, Fl. 33569       -- The main thing is to keep the main
>813-677-5021                  thing the main thing.  Mainly. 

METACARD 1.2
Fact Sheet

Description

MetaCard Corporation has developed a whole new approach to developing
GUI applications and hypermedia documents on UNIX/X11 workstations.
Rather than expensive and complex application development environments
that require extensive programming with a third generation language,
MetaCard offers the ability to create and modify applications using
interactive tools and a simple scripting language.

MetaCard can also be used to prepare on-line help and training
packages.  The multiple-card metaphor and hypertext-linking capability
makes it natural for producing on-line reference manuals.  As an
example, the complete documentation for the MetaCard environment
itself is available on-line in MetaCard stacks.

Benefits

Through the use of reusable software components that reside in
MetaCard "stacks," this rapid application development environment
allows even inexperienced computer users to develop applications in a
fraction of the time required by other development tools.

The interface layout tools are all WYSIWYG and will feel familiar to
anyone who has used a drawing or painting program.  Building an
aesthetically pleasing and functional interface requires none of the
esoteric knowledge of attribute and callback names required by other
Motif based development systems.

Another benefit of the MetaCard environment is true application
portability.  Applications developed on any platform can be run on any
other supported platform without recompiling or other preprocessing.

Since MetaCard engines are freely distributable (the Home stack is the
licensed unit), no special licensing arrangements or royalties are
necessary to take advantage of this portability or distribute
applications built with MetaCard.  This flexibility will make
multiplatform UNIX environments much more convenient for developers
and users alike.

Key Features

* Easy to use yet powerful interactive GUI development
  environment, with an integral interpreted scripting language.

* Motif interface supports construction of Motif compatible
  applications including support for all button and field styles,
  pulldown and popup menus, and all forms of dialogs.

* Text editing tools that support multiple typefaces, sizes and
  colors, subscript and superscript, automatic scrolling, search, sort,
  and hypertext links.

* A complete set of full 24 bit color image editing/painting tools
  support creation and editing of images, icons, cursors, brush shapes,
  and fill patterns.

* Sophisticated color image management system allows display of full
  color images and icons on 4 bit VGA and even monochrome screens.

* Visual effects and double-buffered object manipulation and animation
  are available on all platforms, no special hardware or software is
  required.

* Object architecture, scripting language, and external procedure call
  interface are source compatible with Claris Corporation's HyperCard.

Power

MetaCard is far from an end-user only "toy" development environment,
however.  For an example of the power of the tools provided, one has
to look no further than the MetaCard development environment, which
itself is written in MetaCard.  Not only does this demonstrate
MetaCard's capabilities, it also provides a benefit unavailable in any
other development system on any other platform: complete control over
the development environment.

Any dialog, any menu, any error message, and all documentation can be
enhanced, extended, or even replaced by any licensed MetaCard user.
Why live within the static environments supported by other Motif and
hypertext environments when you can have complete control with
MetaCard?

A 'C' based extension capability allows MetaCard to be used to develop
computationally intensive or hardware dependent applications.  'C'
functions can be called directly from MetaCard with no relinking or
other processing required.  MetaCard also supports conventional
interprocess communication using UNIX's standard I/O functions.

Architecture

Like other most other GUI based application development environments,
MetaCard is founded on the concepts of resources and event handlers.
The resources are the descriptions of the look of the interface
including the sizes, positions, colors and other attributes of the
buttons, text fields, and other controls.

Unlike most other X11 based development environments, however,
MetaCard objects are not constructed in the application code.
Instead, they are read directly out of the editable resource files,
called stacks.  So instead of hard-coding the application appearance
or forcing users to deal with complex and easily corrupted text based
resources (such as .Xdefaults) for customization, a
direct-manipulation interface is always available.

Event handling is also greatly simplified in MetaCard.  Instead of
writing "callback" routines in a third generation language which
require that the application be recompiled and relinked after every
change, an interpreted scripting language is provided.  Whenever
events occur, messages are sent to handlers written in this MetaTalk
language.

The MetaTalk language is as powerful as a third generation language,
but is syntactically much less intimidating.  The langauge supports
all common programming techniques such as if- then-else, repeat
statements, and local and global variables.  MetaCard subroutines and
function handlers support variable length argument lists, recursion
and a flexible message passing architecture.

Errors that occur during script execution cause the MetaCard engine to
stop processing, and to point out the exact line and position where
the error occurred in a script editing window.  After fixing the
problem, the script can be rerun immediately: no recompiling or
relinking is necessary. This design not only drastically reduces the
time spent prototyping an interface, but also reduces the time spent
testing and debugging it.

Platforms

MetaCard 1.2 is supported on nine popular UNIX/X11 platforms: SPARC,
Sun3, DECstation, HP-9000/300, HP-9000/700, Data General AViiON, IBM
RS/6000, and SCO ODT.

MetaCard makes very small demands on system resources.  The engine is
averages around 700K on all platforms, with most stacks ranging in
size from 20K to 500K and a total disk space requirement of less than
2MB.  No special display, networking, or other hardware is required.

Single user licenses of MetaCard are $495 and can be used on any
platform.  Site licenses are available from $2,500 for ten users up to
$15,000 for 250 users.  Educational users will receive a 50% percent
discount.  Upgrades to MetaCard engines will be free to licensed users
within the 1.X series of releases.

Unlimited technical support is free via electronic mail to all
licensed users.  Non-toll-free telephone support is provided during
normal business hours (MDT) for a limited time only.

For more information, or to receive a free save-disabled but
licensable copy of MetaCard, email to info@metacard.com or call 303-
447-3936.  If you have anonymous FTP access to the Internet, you can
download the current engines, documentation, and an unlicensed Home
stack from ftp.metacard.com (128.138.213.21), directory MetaCard.
Commercial users can get MetaCard from ftp.uu.net directory
vendor/MetaCard or world.std.com (192.74.137.5), directory
pub/Metacard.  If you don't have an anonymous ftp access, you can also
download MetaCard from The World using kermit or xmodem from the
~ftp/pub/MetaCard directory.  Sign up by calling 617-739-0202 (voice)
or via modem by dialing 617-739-9753 (7 bits even parity) and logging
in as new.

MetaCard is a trademark of MetaCard Corporation, other trademarks are
the property of their respective owners.
-- 
***********************************************************************
* Scott Raney  303-447-3936            Remember: the better you look, *
* raney@metacard.com                   the more you'll see -- Lidia   *
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Newsgroups: comp.windows.x.apps