Re: hypercard woes

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

Supertimer <supertimer@aol.com> wrote:

> be404@yfn.ysu.edu (Adalbert Goertz) wrote:
> 
> >hypercard woes
> > 
> >Hi:
> >Is there a way to convert hypercard.mac  stacks to
> >hypercard.gs stacks on my //GS?
> >I like to download hc.mac files to my //GS and convert them
> >on my //GS.
> >Hypercard.mover doesnt do it since it converts from GS.stacks
> >to mac.stacks on my //GS.
> 
> If you want to get a Mac hypercard stack to a GS, you need to
> run your Mac stacks through the Mac version of hypermover first.
> I think I have Mac hypermover in my list of programs.  It is a
> shrinkit disk image of an 800K HFS disk containing the Mac files.
> You'll have to unshrink the disk on the GS before sticking it into
> a Mac.  If you are interested, I'll post it on cba2 or upload it to
> the public ftp servers for you...

In case anyone reading this thread need further clarification:

HyperMover comes in two parts.  There is a stack that runs on the Mac,
and a stack that runs on the IIgs.  To use HyperMover at all, you need
BOTH parts.

To convert stacks in either direction (Mac->GS or GS->Mac), you must run
the stack through the "source" end of HyperMover.  This processes the
stack and extracts everything from it as separate files.

Next, you need to manually transfer these files to the other machine,
and are fed into the "destination" end of HyperMover.  It takes the
files and constructs a stack which matches the original as closely as
possible.

The translation is not perfect.  Problems that come to mind:

- Graphics aspect ratios are different, and Mac stacks may be larger
than the IIgs screen, requiring squashing of images to fit.

- Colour is lost when going from IIgs to Mac (and none is added when
going the other way, so the end result looks rather dull on the IIgs).

- There are some differences in HyperTalk which require manual
modifications.

- If the stack uses XCMDs or XFCNs, it is necessary to find a
replacement XCMD/XFCN for the other machine (it is not possible to
translate them).  If there is not an existing XCMD/XFCN available, this
usually means writing it yourself (or finding someone who can do this
for you).

- A Mac stack that makes use of any features added in HyperCard 2.2 or
later (for the Mac) will be difficult (if not impossible) to get working
on the IIgs.  There are some features of Mac HyperCard 2.0 and 2.1 which
aren't supported on the IIgs either.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand