March 92 - Office Memo
Office Memo
Bill Anderson
This is my second stab at writing this issue's MADA Office Memo. The first time
around, I suddenly realized I was writing about changes in MADA and in object
technology-which would have been the third column to deal with the subject. I think
we'll just let the changes happen and quit exploring all the philosophical
ramifications. (Hmmm... Did I just hear a collective sigh of relief?)
Instead, I'll introduce you to a covert group of engineers that collectively go by the
name of "the very unofficial guys." For the second year running, this group has
produced their own "very unofficial report" on the annual MADA conference, which
they distribute the last day of the conference (and linked to MacApp3Tech$ this year).
Though the group is shrouded in mystery, I can report that they are-in fact-members
of the MacApp Team at Apple, and are rumored to be headed by the notorious Bernadette
Jolicoeur, a.k.a. MacApp Quality Assurance Engineer. Excerpts from their
tongue-in-cheek report follow:
The second annual very unofficial Orlando '92 MADA
Conference Report
Top "Picks" for '92
Most Persistent Object Rain
Most Improved Player The Dessert
Best View Editor cePick
Best New Product Name NosePick, Jasik's view editor/disassembler
Worst Product Name SourceBug (still)
Best Status Symbol Apple PowerBook
Worst Status Symbol Apple Portable
Best New Methodology Solution Babe Modeling by Wayne Campbell
Best Audience Question "Why doesn't MacBrowse
print?", Curt Faith
Best Speaker Resonse "It wasn't in the spec?",
Bernadette Jolicoeur
Best Analogy James Plamondon "Calling OWL's exception
handling a 'Safety Pool' is like calling a noose
around your neck a 'Safety Rope.' If you fall, it
will keep you from hitting the ground.
The unofficial top ten reasons to program for Windows
10. I want to beat Claris to the punch
9. Donald Trump is doing Windows programming
tomake ends meet
8. I'll be more productive with Hungarian notation
7. C++ isn't enough of a challenge by itself
6. Bill Gates has far more money than John Sculley
5. We can finally feel superior to the competition
4. To remind us we actually like MPW
3. I secretly like MacApp 1.1 better
2. I've always wanted a square, white cursor
And the number one reason to program in Windows is...
1. My application doesn't need to scroll
As an added benefit, the "unofficial guys" included a Clip-N-Save Bonus in their
report:
The Unofficial View Edit Quick Reference Guide
(Things we learned in the demos)
"Don't hit the OK button in the preferences dialog-it will crash.
"Don't run 3.0b2 under System 6-it doesn't like it.
"You can see some screen anomolies, but that's okay.
"Use 4-character view IDs, or else ViewEdit sticks in bogus characters.
"You can have multiple docs open, but similar resource numbers
will cause problems.
"Dragging outlines don't agree with the actual size of the view.
"ViewEdit won't stop you from adding multiple views with the same ID.
"Option-UpArrow selects the next view above the selected view in hierarchy.