Opinions of Claris Works 4.0
Rob & Natalie McNair-Huff
a must-have? Are the improvements worth the upgrade price?
I'm curious to hear people's comments before I write a review of the
program for Mac Net Journal.
My early thoughts after nearly one day using the program: the word
processing improvements are useful, bringing the program close to the
level of MacWrite Pro; the increased number of shortcuts is a nice touch.
I have some questions though. Why can't Claris fully support Drag and
Drop? Why no autosave option? And why no warning in some of the
advertising for the program that the it won't work on some older Macs,
such as the Plus or Powerbook 100?
I look forward to hearing the comments of those who have picked up the
program...
Rob
Rob & Natalie McNair-Huff White Rabbit Publishing
Tacoma, WA USA Writing, editing, and Internet consulting
(206) 752-6402 mch...@WOLFE.net or rmc...@eskimo.com
MacFAQ
> So, what are people's thoughts about Claris Works 4.0? Is it a dog? Is
> it a must-have? Are the improvements worth the upgrade price?
>
> I'm curious to hear people's comments before I write a review of the
> program for Mac Net Journal.
>
> My early thoughts after nearly one day using the program: the word
> processing improvements are useful, bringing the program close to the
> level of MacWrite Pro; the increased number of shortcuts is a nice
> touch.
I've also used the program for one day, and my overall impression is that
the feauture set is greatly increased, but the usability and intuitiveness
have lessened somewhat. I had to hunt for some of the new features that I
knew existed. Defining (and redefining) outline and paragraph styles coule
be a lot more intuitive.
One thing to consider: CW 4 can open documents created in earlier
versions, but can't save documents in earlier versions. If you exchange
documents with other ClarisWorks users, you should all upgrade. Also, the
Windows version is a few months off, and will require Windows 95.
Overall, I think it's a desirable upgrade. There are a number of features
that many people will appreciate (style sheets, reusable database reports,
shaded spreadsheet cells, etc.). The ReadyArt libraries are extremely
cool, and would be even cooler if Claris offered a CD-ROM full of
ReadyArt.
> And why no warning in some of the advertising for the program that the
> it won't work on some older Macs, such as the Plus or Powerbook 100?
The Claris press release stated that 4.0 would require System 7 and a
68020 or higher, and those requirements are listed on the side of the box.
I don't think one can reasonably expect Claris to do more than that.
-- | mac...@aol.com | AOL, Good Times and ZTerm FAQs |
Les Jones | lesj...@usit.net | ftp://usit.net/pub/lesjones/ |
\ \ \ Okra-Kola AM: all the okra and twice the caffeine / / /
Michael Peirce
In article <mchuff-1606...@sea-ts1-p02.wolfe.net> (comp.sys.mac.apps), mch...@WOLFE.net (Rob & Natalie McNair-Huff) writes:
> So, what are people's thoughts about Claris Works 4.0? Is it a dog? Is it
> a must-have? Are the improvements worth the upgrade price?
>
> I'm curious to hear people's comments before I write a review of the
> program for Mac Net Journal.
>
> My early thoughts after nearly one day using the program: the word
> processing improvements are useful, bringing the program close to the
> level of MacWrite Pro; the increased number of shortcuts is a nice touch.
>
> advertising for the program that the it won't work on some older Macs,
> such as the Plus or Powerbook 100?
>
> program...
I like it alot. The word processor is much improved (though there
is still no Spell-as-you-type) and is better is some ways than MacWrite
Pro.
The Draw module has a handy clip-art library feature.
My only complaint is that they don't support two important technologies:
They don't do drag-n-drop editing.
They don't support QuickDraw GX printing dialogs.
There is really no excuse for leaving out these two things. Word
Perfect has had these for what, about a year now? Get with it guys!
--
Michael Peirce mpe...@peircesw.com
Peirce Softare Inc. 719 Hibiscus Place, San Jose California 95117 USA
voice: +1 408 244 6554, fax: +1 408 244 6882
Makers of Peirce Print Tools, Smoothie, DeskPicture, and soon ShareDraw
MATT
mch...@WOLFE.net (Rob & Natalie McNair-Huff) wrote:
> So, what are people's thoughts about Claris Works 4.0? Is it a dog? Is it
> a must-have? Are the improvements worth the upgrade price?
>
> I'm curious to hear people's comments before I write a review of the
> program for Mac Net Journal.
>
So far I like it. It seems to be a bit faster and I really like the whole
library system of using clip art. I starting using this system with
Impact and fell in love with the ease of use. Now if I can just figure
out how to get both programs to load both sets of libraries without having
to search them out each time. I have yet to acclimatize myself to the
unique style system (Word 6 I was used to but it got a little on the
complex side) I was a strong proponent of CW not jumping to add every
little feature and become part of the feature bloat that so defined what,
IMHO, was wrong with most top end word processors these days. I said this
because I still use a Plus at work and was happy that I could still run at
least one up to date piece of software on it. Well, since CW 4.0 won't
run on a Plus regardless, I too would like to see those little things like
drag and drop. I have not used the other modules yet so I cannot comment.
--
MATThew A. White
Director of Education &
Coach of Champion Duckpin Bowling Team
Baltimore Museum of Industry
adol...@clark.net
Eric Cronin
> shaded spreadsheet cells, etc.). The ReadyArt libraries are extremely
> cool, and would be even cooler if Claris offered a CD-ROM full of
> ReadyArt.
One thing I found about the ReadyArt is that it isn't compatible with the
ClarisArt libraries used by ClarisDraw and I think Impact now. This is
stupid, because I now need to keep nearly twice as many librarys sitting
around, and if somethings in ClarisArt, I have to launch ClarisDriw, copy
it, and go back to ClarisWorks and paste it. The two paletes are
identical, so why they decided to change the file format eludes me
completly.
Eric
Tim Streater
1) If it can't do proper dragon-drop (I assume this is confirmed?) does it
at least have the poor man's dragon-drop of 2.1 - you highlight text, move
the mouse pointer, hold down option-apple, and click.
2) Does it do auto-save/backup like MacWrite Pro - in the background?
3) Does it handle scrolling/screen rewrites of text better than MacWrite Pro?
4) Can it still do horizontal/vertical splitting of the window?
5) Are the Style sheets at least as good as MacWrite Pro?
--
Tim.
Eric Cronin
t.c.st...@dante.org.uk (Tim Streater) wrote:
> I have some questions about the Word Processor:
>
> 1) If it can't do proper dragon-drop (I assume this is confirmed?) does it
> at least have the poor man's dragon-drop of 2.1 - you highlight text, move
> the mouse pointer, hold down option-apple, and click.
Yes
>
> 2) Does it do auto-save/backup like MacWrite Pro - in the background?
No
>
> 3) Does it handle scrolling/screen rewrites of text better than MacWrite Pro?
I haven't used MacWrite Pro so I can't say
>
> 4) Can it still do horizontal/vertical splitting of the window?
Yes
>
> 5) Are the Style sheets at least as good as MacWrite Pro?
See answer to 3
Eric
>
> --
> Tim.
William Lorenzo Moss IV
>So, what are people's thoughts about Claris Works 4.0? Is it a dog? Is it
>a must-have? Are the improvements worth the upgrade price?
>I'm curious to hear people's comments before I write a review of the
>program for Mac Net Journal.
I am a new user of ClarisWorks. I almost bought version 3.x. Previously
I used Symantic Greatworks 2.0, but I have kept my eye on ClarisWorks
since 2.1 came out.
I really like the word processing environment. After toying around with
it for about a week I am of the firm conclusion that it can adequately
replace Word 5.x that most of the secretaries and people in this office
use on a daily basis. I've got to talk with someone today about this
since they are planning on submitting purchase orders for Microsoft
Office for everyone here (most machines are LCII's).
The database environment is much improved from what I recall experimenting
with previous versions. I know a LOT of Filemaker Pro tricks and was
surprised to find a number of improvements over Filemaker Pro in many areas.
There is no support for buttons (though the program wide shortcuts and
macro tools seem to mostly make up for this) and one can not link to
other databases and the lack of AppleEvents for individual database ojects
and actions are all expected shortcomings. The tight integration with the
word processing and spreadsheet module, the cleaner method of defining
things such as pre-made lists, checkboxes, and radio buttons, and the
new "List" view are areas that this program shines over Filemaker Pro.
In my experiments with ClarisWorks before I'd never used the communications
environment (most people didn't have a modem or didn't configure ClarisWorks
to handle it right). After getting the program and playing with the
communications environment I am more than slightly impressed. I expected
comm toolbox compatability and it is very adequate in this regard. I love
the way you can split a window and be looking at the scrollback buffer
while simultaneously looking at new information coming into the window.
I really wish Zterm, SitComm, and NCSA Telnet adopted this split pane
user interface. The communication module is not at all integrated into
the other modules so I kind of puzzle why it was included at all in
this program (other than traditionally works programs have had a
communications module). I do like being able to use similar macros that
I use over the whole ClarisWorks program and I also like being able to
run two modems without running two different communications programs
like Zterm makes you do. None of these are listed as new features of
the communications module so I assume everyone has been using these for
a while, but as a new user I was impressed by them.
I do have a few frustrations about the package though...
No drag and drop. In a program that is as tightly integrated as this one
I am continually frustrated by expected to be able to just drag something
from one place to another. It's very frustrating not being able to do
that.
No support for saving mail merge files to disk instead of printing. I
am working on automating the creation of some web pages and I would
really LOVE to be able to merge the data from my database into premade
pages in the word processing module and saving the result to disk. There
is no support for saving mail merge files to disk (though otherwise the
idea would work great).
No support for AppleGuide. This is probably because they want their help
system to be compatible with the Windows version of the program, but I
have a hard time accepting this. If Claris goes to the trouble of
re-writing their manuals for the Windows version of ClarisWorks then it
should take the effort to optimize their help system for each platform.
As a new user (and one that will have to support many new users if I
can get the people here to adopt ClarisWorks over Microsoft Office)
I really long for the help system to show me how to do things step by
step. The automated assistants are nice, but I'd like to be able to
see more of what is going on.
Very limited Apple Event support. The lack of support in ClarisWorks 3.0
is why I did not purchase it then. The limited support now will be
very useful to me, but I do wish that there was more of the program that
was accesible via AppleEvents. It isn't recordable with Applescript and
most of the program's functionality is hidden from the AE scripter. It
is frustrating. I'd love to see more accesibility to internals, recordability,
and frontier support. What they've given me is definitely something to work
with, but I want more. Honestly if ClarisWorks supported the Word Services
Apple Event Suite it would be very easy to sell this program to my office
workers over Microsoft Office since it would allow them to do things like
check spelling in Eudora (something they have been wanting to do for a while).
Quickdraw GX support. Because the program has such modest RAM requirements
Quickdraw GX is much more of an option now than if I'm running Word, Excel
and Filemaker all at once. I don't use Quickdraw GX because there are
few programs that support it, but Clarisworks would be a VERY nice program
to see support it. In this one program alone, it would make
for the defficiency of GX aware word processors, paint programs, draw
programs, databases, and communications programs. This program alone would
end the arguement "I don't want to upgrade to Quickdraw GX because there
isn't a usable ____ application that supports it." It would do wonders
for raising the acceptance of ClarisWorks among users of Quickdraw GX and
it would raise the acceptance rate of QuickDraw GX itself.
Because Claris is a subsidiary of Apple I was surprised that most of the
failings of ClarisWorks have to do with technology that Apple wants
developers to adopt and wants to evangelize system wide. I realize that
Claris is trying to come up with a package that is feature comparable
with their Windows version, but not developing these features is m
bringing down the functionality of the Mac rather than raising it.
If anyone at Claris is reading this, please consider putting some effort
into developing a ClarisWorks for System 7.5 add-on package that would
make use of the features mentioned here without compromising the
Windows cross platform compatability. None of these changes effects
the ClarisWorks file format, and they would add significant benefit
to the Mac users of the program. It would support the adoption of
core MacOS technologies that Apple is trying to propagandize and it
would make Mac users very happy. :-)
--
William Moss Disclaimer: I speak for myself.
wMoss
--
Robert Cassidy
Scarlet) wrote:
> I've pushed my department into standardizing on ClarisWorks for general
> document stuff, on both Macs and PC's. It's been working well.
>
> I bought the CW 4.0 upgrade and looked at it. I'm sending it right back
> for a refund. It simply CANNOT be used in a work group - because it
> CANNOT save files in CW 3 format. I'm really frustrated. This is another
> case of Apple (and their subsidiary) failing to think at all about the
> real market. We do a fair amount of e-mail and other exchange of files.
> If someone gets CW 4.0, that person is out of the loop.
>
> Worst of all, in a couple of months (if not already) we probably won't be
> able to buy CW 3.0 for new Mac users in the group. So it will be
> IMPOSSIBLE for us to stay with ClarisWorks. Claris is saying, "You CANNOT
> rely on us for business use." Guess what we'll have to buy instead...
>
> BLAST!
Uh, didn't Microsoft just pull exactly this same stunt going from Word
5-6? To make matters worse, MS recommends that 030's stay with 5 and 040's
and PMacs go to 6! Claris has done something, which I agree they should be
admonished for, that it seems users will have to cope with. I would expect
that Claris has a CW 4-3 XTND translator available in the 3-4 upgrade (I
don't know, but it would be expected) that would allow 3 and 4 users to
work together.
I don't see it as a huge problem due to the fact that hopefully the next
version of CW will be OpenDoc based and OpenDoc has an entirely different
file structure than CW (convert 'em all again).
Bottom line, Claris isn't pulling anything that MS 'we're king of business
software' hasn't pulled already.
--
Bob Cassidy
UC Irvine
Michael Wise
(Robert Cassidy) wrote:
> > I bought the CW 4.0 upgrade and looked at it. I'm sending it right back
> > for a refund. It simply CANNOT be used in a work group - because it
> > CANNOT save files in CW 3 format.
> Uh, didn't Microsoft just pull exactly this same stunt going from Word
> 5-6?
Nope. From the get-go Microsoft had out a Word 6 filter (free of charge)
for Word 5.x users to read documentes created by both the Mac and Windows
versions of Word 6.
Rich Scarlet
document stuff, on both Macs and PC's. It's been working well.
I bought the CW 4.0 upgrade and looked at it. I'm sending it right back
for a refund. It simply CANNOT be used in a work group - because it
CANNOT save files in CW 3 format. I'm really frustrated. This is another
case of Apple (and their subsidiary) failing to think at all about the
real market. We do a fair amount of e-mail and other exchange of files.
If someone gets CW 4.0, that person is out of the loop.
By coming out with an upgrade that can't work with the installed base,
they're waving a flag that says, "We think small - we're not for serious
use." Sure, with an upgrade it's common for files from the new version to
be unreadable on the earlier version, but there simply MUST be an option
in the new version to save in an earlier format. Not Claris. Turkeys!
Worst of all, in a couple of months (if not already) we probably won't be
able to buy CW 3.0 for new Mac users in the group. So it will be
IMPOSSIBLE for us to stay with ClarisWorks. Claris is saying, "You CANNOT
rely on us for business use." Guess what we'll have to buy instead...
BLAST!
--
Rich Scarlet rsca...@world.std.com
Carl Raupe
IMPOSSIBLE for us to stay with ClarisWorks. Claris is saying, "You CANNOT
rely on us for business use." Guess what we'll have to buy instead...
Be patient. If you read the Claris press release announcing CW 4.0 they
acknowledge that you cannot save in 3.0 format, but that a CW 4.0 for windows
will be forthcoming this fall.
Rich Scarlet
that I could easily understand that CW 3 wouldn't read CW 4 documents,
and it's understandable that CW 4 needs higher horsepower hardware to run.
The new, terrible thing here is that there is NO WAY for a CW 4 user to
exchange files with a CW 3 user. Microsoft has consistently provided ways
to either save in the old format, or to read the new format with the old
program.
Think about it. I have a group with a few dozen CW 3 users, half of them
on PC's. A new hire joins and gets a Mac. What the devil are we to do
with him/her? Say, "Be patient - don't do any work with the rest of us
until we all upgrade to 4.0 in a few months?" It's just impossible.
--
Rich Scarlet rsca...@world.std.com
T&B Brodhurst-Hill Pty Ltd
Tom
--- t.c.st...@dante.org.uk (Tim Streater) wrote:
>I have some questions about the Word Processor:
>
>1) If it can't do proper dragon-drop (I assume this is confirmed?) does it
>at least have the poor man's dragon-drop of 2.1 - you highlight text, move
>the mouse pointer, hold down option-apple, and click.
command-option-click will still move the current selection - obviously not as neat as drag and
drop. You can drag and drop paragraphs which have been formatted with an outline style, and
drag any compatible file (eg PICT, clipping, TEXT, CW) from the Finder into a CW document.
>
>2) Does it do auto-save/backup like MacWrite Pro - in the background?
>
I haven't come across an auto-save.
>3) Does it handle scrolling/screen rewrites of text better than MacWrite Pro?
I haven't seen a problem or I don't understand.
>
>4) Can it still do horizontal/vertical splitting of the window?
Yep.
>
>5) Are the Style sheets at least as good as MacWrite Pro?
Best darn style implementation I've seen on any program. Numerated outlines auto number
without reapplying, styles can apply to characters, paragraphs, outlines, cells, draw objects
- amazing!
>
>--
>Tim.
Tom
David Myers
: Think about it. I have a group with a few dozen CW 3 users, half of them
: on PC's. A new hire joins and gets a Mac. What the devil are we to do
: with him/her? Say, "Be patient - don't do any work with the rest of us
: until we all upgrade to 4.0 in a few months?" It's just impossible.
Umm, why don't you just buy a copy of 4.0 to get the license, but install
3.0 instead? I'm sure Claris won't mind the maneuver. Unless there's
some kind of network copy protecting in CW3, like PageMaker has...
________________________________________
David C. Myers
dcm...@access.digex.net
Rob & Natalie McNair-Huff
your text as a Claris Works 1.0 document, then take the file to a
computer running 3.0 and have it translated to 3.0. It's a pain, but it
works. Unfortunately, I don't see an easy solution for
database/spreadsheet/drawing documents...
Rob & Natalie McNair-Huff White Rabbit Publishing
mch...@WOLFE.net Writing, editing, and Internet consulting
rmc...@eskimo.com Tacoma, WA USA
(206) 752-6402
David Catmull
(William Lorenzo Moss IV) wrote:
[snip]
> I do have a few frustrations about the package though...
> No drag and drop. In a program that is as tightly integrated as this one
> I am continually frustrated by expected to be able to just drag something
> from one place to another. It's very frustrating not being able to do
> that.
This was one of the main things I was hoping for. From my experience, it's
not really complicated to support drag and drop, and it's so convenient to
use. This is a disappointment.
[snip]
> Quickdraw GX support.
I remember seeing a drawing program at the MacWorld Expo (I don't remember
the name) which derived nearly all of its features directly from QuickDraw
GX features, and they were some pretty cool features indeed. If
ClarisWorks had that it would be amazing. The problem, however, is
compatibility with the Windows version, though I suspect that for a lot of
users (myself included) this is not an issue at all.
I'm still running CW 2.1v4. I didn't upgrade to 3.0 because I didn't need
any of the new features. I had a hard time understanding why the called it
3.0 instead of 2.5, even if it did have new icons ;). 4.0 finally supports
stuff like Japanese text (which I've been waiting for), but since it
doesn't have drag and drop or (according to what I've read here) very
extensive AppleScript support I'm not that excited. Style sheets are
good... I don't know. Maybe I'll just wait until I get a Power Mac and
need a native version of CW.
Despite all of the above, I still would like to add that I am a happy
ClarisWorks user, even if it is an old version :)
David Catmull
d...@pixar.com
Ed Wilts
> The new, terrible thing here is that there is NO WAY for a CW 4 user to
> exchange files with a CW 3 user. Microsoft has consistently provided ways
> to either save in the old format, or to read the new format with the old
> program.
How about saving the file in RTF format and then having the CW 3 user read the
file? You can also save in MS Word 4.0 format and then load that. What about
MacWrite 5.0 format?
It looks to me like you have several choices. None may be perfect, and I agree
that it would be nice to save in CW 3 format, but I can't agree that there is
NO WAY to exchange files.
--
Ed Wilts, BC Systems, 4000 Seymour Place, Victoria, B.C., Canada, V8X 4S8
EWi...@Galaxy.Gov.BC.CA Office: (604) 389-3430 Fax: (604) 389-3412
Disclaimer: The opinions and statements contained in this posting are the sole
responsibility of the author and have not in any way been reviewed or approved
by my employer or any network service.
Dan E. Nolen III
drop. i.e. I can drop text from the Finder or from Tex-Edit plus (and
other D&D applications) into CW 4.0, but can't go the other way around.
Inexplicable!
Re: GX Support. I'd like to see GX Typography in something more
mainstream like CW. The trade-off there is RAM consumption.
Cheesy help application, btw. Why doesn't Apple's subsidiary support
Apple technologies (like Apple Guide)? *sigh* At least the CEO isn't
evil. :-)
Dan Nolen
blac...@bga.com
--
Dan Nolen - Macintosh Consultant - Austin, TX - blac...@bga.com
"If vegetarians eat vegetables, what do humanitarians eat?"
Dennis Henderson
3.0 and I was dissapointed in the D&D support.
Denny
Michael Peirce
In article <3sh7el$8...@aim.tech.iupui.edu> (comp.sys.mac.apps), Dennis Henderson <r00hende> writes:
> Does anyone know if CW 4.0 fully supports drag and Drop. I recently bought ver
> 3.0 and I was dissapointed in the D&D support.
Nope. No full Drag & Drop, nor QuickDraw GX printing support.
Still, the word processor module is much improved - this alone is
worth the upgrade!
Len Goff
Nolen III, blac...@bga.com writes:
>Cheesy help application, btw. Why doesn't Apple's subsidiary support
>Apple technologies (like Apple Guide)? *sigh* At least the CEO isn't
>evil. :-)
Not to mention that the Help app consumes 3.5MB of hard drive!
No Apple Guide because it is a cross platform application?
Len
DrWu240093
support Z modem protocol?
Michael Jay Friedman
Ed Wilts
> Slight change of subject, but does the CW 4.0 communications module
> support Z modem protocol?
Support - YES. I don't know whether it's included.
I've successfully used the Mark/Space and the Pacer ZModem CTB tools and CW 3.0
has no problems with either one.
Bob Clarkson
> Slight change of subject, but does the CW 4.0 communications module
> support Z modem protocol?
>
Nope ... you still need a commercial patch to run Z modem in ClarisWorks.
Seaquest Software (seaq...@netcom.com) was offering its File Transfer
Tools Bundle to ClarisWorks Users Group members for about $20. It includes
Z modem, Y modem and some other stuff.
Bob
--
Think Snow ... that way you won't be disappointed!
Lars Hohmuth
>From: ewi...@vmsmail.gov.bc.ca (Ed Wilts)
>Subject: Re: Opinions of Claris Works 4.0
>Date: 21 Jun 95 21:25:52 PDT
Could anybody please tell me, if CW4 finally has a reasonable table editor, I
am using WriteNow at the moment, because the one in 2.1 shipped with my Mac is
simply useless.
Robert Cassidy
hoh...@cipserv1.physik.uni-ulm.de (Lars Hohmuth) wrote:
Uh, CW's table editor is the spreadsheet module. As someone who likes to
do time value of money calculations in a WP table, I'd say that WriteNow's
editor has been useless from day one. Perhaps you should let us know what
makes a table editor useful ;-)
Peter Kerr
(Robert Cassidy) wrote:
> Perhaps you should let us know what
> makes a table editor useful ;-)
Well, getting a nice looking text format
takes more sweat and tears with CW3 than with Word4.
Still, I haven't had 5 year's experience with CW3 yet ;-)
--
Peter Kerr bodger
School of Music chandler
University of Auckland neo-Luddite
Rickste465
Styles in Documents and Frames:
Spreadsheets:
Basic Style is used to format individual cells with combinations of
font, size, style, alignment, background color, borders, and date, time,
and number formats.
Table Style is used to format a selected range of cells with varying
fonts, font sizes, styles, alignment options, background colors, borders,
and date, time, and number formats.
Rick
ricks...@aol.com
Len Goff
hoh...@cipserv1.physik.uni-ulm.de (Lars Hohmuth) wrote:
> In article <1995Jun21....@venus.gov.bc.ca>
ewi...@vmsmail.gov.bc.ca (Ed Wilts) writes:
> >From: ewi...@vmsmail.gov.bc.ca (Ed Wilts)
> >Subject: Re: Opinions of Claris Works 4.0
> >Date: 21 Jun 95 21:25:52 PDT
>
> Could anybody please tell me, if CW4 finally has a reasonable table editor, I
> am using WriteNow at the moment, because the one in 2.1 shipped with my
Mac is
> simply useless.
>
> Thanks
> lars.h...@physik.uni-ulm.de
I'm still hard pressed to find a better table editor than WordPerfect 3.1
for ease of use and features, with Word 5.1a next, ClarisWorks 4.0, and
lastly, Nisus Writer (useless).
Take your pick!
--
Len Goff
John Thomas Compton
is for the height of a row to automatically size to the largest thing
in the row. This would be particularly nice for cells which have text
wrap turned on. Does CW 4.0 do this?
Also, I have encountered a problem with CW in printing graphics. It
seems that CW maintains plenty of internal precision for graphics
objects, but when stuff is printed out the precision with which
graphics objects are printed is truncated to 1/72 inch. I know that
this seems like plenty of precision, but it makes stuff look
misaligned and sloppy on the printed page even though it looks fine
on the screen (in one case, it made a little OR gate look like an
AND gate, leading to serious confusion). This problem can be
exaggerated by printing at 400%. It occurs with all printers I have
tried (LaserWriter, QMS860, HP ink jet, etc.). Question: does CW 4.0
fix this?
JC
Martin Jourdan
com...@mojo.kodak.com (John Thomas Compton) wrote:
> The table stuff in CW 3.X is okay, but one thing which would be nice
> is for the height of a row to automatically size to the largest thing
> in the row. This would be particularly nice for cells which have text
> wrap turned on. Does CW 4.0 do this?
CW 3.0 does it already, and I guess 2.1 also! However the *only* way to
use this feature, AFAIK, is to install the relevant shortcuts into the
palette (there are two of them, "automatic row height" and "automatic
column width" -- loose translation from the French version -- which look
like a row or column of cells with a red two-headed arrow depicting height
or width). Then, select one or more cells and click the shortcut, presto!
you have automatically-resizing cells. As you say, it's nice in
conjunction with text-wrap cells (again a feature that you can access only
through a shortcut).
I seem to remember that information about this was hidden somewhere in the
documentation (on-line or printed). In fact, I learnt it by using the
Table Assistant. I'd have prefered something more obvious...
I hope this helps.
Martin Jourdan
Action Charme, INRIA, Rocquencourt, France
Phone +33-1-39-63-54-35, fax +33-1-39-63-56-98, Martin....@inria.fr
#include <std_disclaimer.h>
Brad Hurley
sure, but it seems to me CW 2.0 had context-sensitive help. Word
certainly does. Because so much more information is in the online
help than in the user manual, context-sensitive help would save
a lot of time -- I find that I don't always pick the right topic
when I'm looking for help.
Brad Hurley
Paolo G. Cordone
blac...@bga.com (Dan E. Nolen III) wrote:
> Cheesy help application, btw. Why doesn't Apple's subsidiary support
> Apple technologies (like Apple Guide)? *sigh* At least the CEO isn't
> evil. :-)
I can tell you why. Claris still has to support users running System 6.
Otherwise they would have already implemented a guide file.
Because CW is such a perfect product for educational sits, it is widely
used in countris other than the US.
For example in Russia and China. Not all people are as wealthy as the
Americans who can buy new Macs every couple of years.
Paolo
======================================================================
Paolo G. Cordone | Ailesbury Rd. Dublin 4, Ireland
Macintosh | Internet: pam...@internet-eireann.ie
software engineer | pcor...@homer.itp.ie
& localization | OneNet: ClubMac_Ireland, +353-1-4564450
specialist | http://intac.com/~gilesrd/paologc.html
======================================================================
Paolo G. Cordone
Len Goff <len...@mcs.net> wrote:
> No Apple Guide because it is a cross platform application?
>
> Len
Wrong. See my previous post.
Tad Davis
: One more complaint: no context-sensitive help.
The Help function seems clearly designed to resemble Windows help. This
is progress, right? At least from a marketing standpoint.
Other initial impressions: I'm impressed at the way outlining is
integrated into the WP function, and the way you can easily create
bulleted or numbered paragraphs. I'm impressed at the simplicity of the
Table assistant -- certainly it doesn't do anything you couldn't do on
your own, but that's not the point. I'm also impressed with the fact that
you can do endnotes or footnotes and that you can divide a document into
sections. I'm impressed also with the List View in the DB.
I'm depressed that the Comm module still doesn't offer a Print Selection
option.
Haven't used any of the other modules yet.
Tad
------------------------------------------------------
Tad Davis (dav...@umis.upenn.edu) 215-898-7864
------------------------------------------------------
Paolo G. Cordone
rsca...@world.std.com (Rich Scarlet) wrote:
> Sure, with an upgrade it's common for files from the new version to
> be unreadable on the earlier version, but there simply MUST be an option
> in the new version to save in an earlier format. Not Claris. Turkeys!
I know of a lot of programs where you cannot save in an earlier format:
PageMaker, QuarkXPress, FrameMaker, Persuasion, and there are a lot more.
So, I don't think that this is so unusual after all.
Marc
simply Awesome. It's so easy to use it's stupid. But that's not all, you
can, just as easily, add multiple columns in the middle of a document! I
did both in no time without using any online help and I haven't even
opened the manual. I'd like a new user to time themselves doing that in MS
Word.
Of course, there's no damn drag and drop text editing and that just pisses
me off. I use Tex-Edit Plus for text editing then copy into ClarisWorks. I
wrote a paper that way. No Apple Guide file either. That lamo excuse about
supporting System 6 and poor countries just doesn't hold. Claris could
have written a Guide file that's only installed if you have System 7. If I
ever got around to learning how, I could write one (I don't know how and
don't have the time to learn right now - that's why).
I also don't really like the new New Document dialog but i can't think of
anything better.
Overall, it's very good. Highly recommended. If you have v2 and didn't
upgrade to v3, I'd go for the upgrade.
-----------------------------------------
Marc R
http://www.iii.net/users/mer/Welcome.html
-----------------------------------------
William Lorenzo Moss IV
>In article <blackadd-220...@vern-b4.aip.realtime.net>,
>blac...@bga.com (Dan E. Nolen III) wrote:
>> Cheesy help application, btw. Why doesn't Apple's subsidiary support
>> Apple technologies (like Apple Guide)? *sigh* At least the CEO isn't
>> evil. :-)
>I can tell you why. Claris still has to support users running System 6.
>Otherwise they would have already implemented a guide file.
>Because CW is such a perfect product for educational sits, it is widely
>used in countris other than the US.
>For example in Russia and China. Not all people are as wealthy as the
>Americans who can buy new Macs every couple of years.
This sounds like a sensical answer until you realize that most of the
machines that still run System 6 were eliminated from using Clarisworks 4.0
with the requirement of a 68020 or better CPU.
The only machines capable of running System 6 and Clarisworks 4.0 are the
Mac SE/30, II, IIx, IIcx, IIci, and IIfx. These models were also pitched as
the "high end" CPU's in their hey-day and certainly not something schools or
poorer people would have invested in at the time. There was a hacked System
6 that Apple shipped in foreign markets that allowed System 6 to run on
the IIsi and LC, but it was never made available in the US.
If Claris was really concerned about supporting older Macintosh users they
should not have cut support for the Mac SE. Practically every school I've
been to that uses Mac's has SE's. Add in the huge number of people still
using Plus's, Macintosh Portables, Powerbook 100's, Classics, and Performa
200's (as well as the small handful running enhanced 512KE's or Mac XL's)
and that's a fairly sizable number of users Claris dumped with the release
of version 4.0 of Clarisworks.
If they aren't supporting older machines, then Claris should
more fully support the capability of the newer Mac line.
William
--
William Moss Disclaimer: I speak for myself.
wMoss
--
T&B Brodhurst-Hill Pty Ltd
Tom
--- david....@pro-applepi.wap.org (David Harris) wrote:
>Another complaint: no provision for printing only odd- or even-numbered pages.
>You can make them different, but you can't print them out so that you can print
>on both sides of the paper (except by hand, one by one).
Paolo G. Cordone
gt0...@prism.gatech.edu (William Lorenzo Moss IV) wrote:
> If they aren't supporting older machines, then Claris should
> more fully support the capability of the newer Mac line.
I think your argument is fair :-)
Mike Rosenberg
hoh...@cipserv1.physik.uni-ulm.de (Lars Hohmuth) wrote:
> Could anybody please tell me, if CW4 finally has a reasonable table editor, I
> am using WriteNow at the moment, because the one in 2.1 shipped with my Mac is
> simply useless.
I don't know what you mean by "reasonable" or why you consider the one in
CW 2.1 useless. Since it uses the spreadsheet module, I consider CW's
table editor to be easier to use and more flexible than most.
--------
Mike Rosenberg
Macintosh Consultant/Instructor
mrose...@electriciti.com
San Diego
So many people told me to get a life that I finally gave in
and got one. I didn't like it, so I gave it back.
Peter Kerr
> I don't know what you mean by "reasonable" or why you consider the one in
> CW 2.1 useless. Since it uses the spreadsheet module, I consider CW's
> table editor to be easier to use and more flexible than most.
Flexible, easy to use, yes, comparable to Word4 to setup and use,
except: no paragraph formatting within cells, ie. if you are using
borders it is difficult to balance text referenced to the vertical
cell border, and numbers which automatically reference to the bottom :-(
Naomi-Leah Tibaldo
order vendors aren't. After waiting and not receiving an upgrade offer, I
went ahead and purchased the upgrade from MacZone for $64.98 w/$20 rebate.
As Murphy's Law dictates, one week after my order arrived I received the
ClarisWorks 4.0 w/ ClickBook offer in the mail. :-/
So why did you wait for an offer from Claris? I also did not receive an offer
from Claris but I just called them on the phone and told them I wanted the
upgrade. I have now been using my 4.0 upgrade fro several weeks and I am a very
happy camper. Unfortunately, if I had waited for an offer from Claris, I might
have been old and grey by the time it arrived since somehow, they no longer had
a record of my account. Good thing I called. Ahhh, I think ClickBook helped to
make it a very worthwhile upgrade, even though I am pleased as punch with CW 4.0
after 2.1.
naomi_...@nile.com
DougDWB
is far easier to make tables with WordPerfect, which has an excellent
table, than ClarisWorks. The main thing is, everything is WYSIWYG with WP
and is much faster.
Virgil Vergara
Tibaldo) wrote:
I am also thinking about upgrading to Claris 4.0 because it has worldscript. Have anybody tried using Claris 4.0 with worldscript? How does it rate in comparision with WordPerfect and Nisus? Is it easier than these high powered word processors? How does Claris 4.0 differ from 2.1? Am I asking to many questions? Sorry, just curious. Thanks.
Virgil
--
Virgil Vergara :)
email: spu...@aloha.net