From: Apgar@Apple.com (Gar)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.announce
Subject: Apple Ships Translation Manager
Date: 24 Jan 1993 18:40:36 -0600
Organization: Apple
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu
Follup-To: comp.sys.mac.misc


	 [ this press release was trimmed by the moderator ]


  MOVED OVER PR NEWSWIRE AT 11:30 AM, EST, MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 1993.
 
 
Contact:		   Cindy McCaffrey
			 Apple Computer, Inc.
			    (408) 974-1578
 
 
	Apple Ships Translation Manager Software to Developers
 
 
Macintosh Easy Open Simplifies Opening Files from Other Programs, Platforms
 
CUPERTINO, California -- January 4, 1993 --

Apple Computer, Inc. today announced the immediate availability of the
Macintosh (Easy Open Developer's Kit, an extension to System 7 and a
translation manager application programming interface (API) that
provides Apple developers with the ability to enhance their applications
or translation systems to open and convert documents on Macintosh
personal computers, regardless of the availability of the applications
that created the files.

Designed to simplify access to information from a variety of
applications and across computing platforms, Macintosh Easy Open
makes opening and converting documents as easy as any other basic
Macintosh task.  Once incorporated into third-party applications or
file translation systems, Macintosh Easy Open provides users with
options for accessing and manipulating documents quickly and easily.
Apple developers and their customers will appreciate that their
applications require no modifications to take advantage of most
Macintosh Easy Open features.

"Macintosh Easy Open is a powerful tool for getting to information
regardless of where it came from," said Charlie Oppenheimer, director
of marketing for Apple's Macintosh Software Architecture division.

Macintosh Easy Open provides users with a number of ways to access
Macintosh and non-Macintosh files.  For example, when a user double-clicks
on a document that normally couldn't be opened because the application
that created it is unavailable, Macintosh Easy Open intercedes and
searches for applications and file translation systems that are capable
of opening the document, and lists them for the user.  Once the user
selects an alternate application, Macintosh Easy Open transparently
manages the conversion of the document using the application's internal
translation capabilities or by using specialized translation software.

"DataViz has adapted its entire MacLinkPlus library of file translators,
so Macintosh Easy Open will always offer users an application to open
"foreign" documents whether they came from a Macintosh or a personal
computer," said Dick Fontana, president of DataViz, Inc.

By incorporating a standard API, Macintosh Easy Open provides Apple
developers with unique translation-management services.  These
services can be integrated into their applications or translation
systems to provide transparent data conversion whenever opening,
copying, pasting, or publishing data from one format to another.
While Macintosh Easy Open does not perform any data translation
itself, it effectively manages access to third-party translation
systems and applications, which perform the actual translation.

The Macintosh Easy Open extension also features added descriptive
information about documents, including non-Macintosh files, and color
icons in the Open and Save windows, making it easier for users  to
determine document types at the Finder level.

The Macintosh Easy Open Document Converter, which comes with Macintosh
Easy Open, is a system utility that works with third-party translators
to allow users to convert a document from one file format to another,
without opening the document.  With this feature, files can be converted
easily and quickly by simply dragging file icons to the Document Converter
icon.
 
 
			     Availability

The Macintosh Easy Open 1.0 DeveloperUs Kit is available to developers
for $150 U.S. by contacting the Apple Programmers & Developers Association
(APDA), Apple's mail-order  service for developers, at

		 1-800-282-2732 in the United States,
or
		      1-800-637-0029 in Canada.

From other international locations call

			   1-716-871-6555,

or contact the country APDA representative.

APDA may be contacted electronically through the following addresses:
 
			   AppleLink: APDA
			 America Online: APDA
			CompuServe: 76666,2405
		  Internet: APDA@applelink.apple.com