# It's Here!!!...



## martinatkinson (Oct 9, 2001)

PowerText v1.0b3 is here!  Download the attached file (750K) and have fun!

*New Feature!*  For those of you who downloaded this program beore 20/12/01: you may want to download it again.  I have added a new feature, please check out the thread near the bottom of this page or download version 1.0b3 here.

I had originally posted this on the "Programming Carbon/Cocoa" so if you have any questions or bug reports please check out the "Beta Testing Anyone?" thread or reply to this one.  You can also email me at appletreesw@myfamilycenter.org.

Have a great day and have fun!

Albert


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## martinatkinson (Oct 10, 2001)

Hello,

To those of you who voted "I hate it!" or "Who cares" could you please let me know what you didn't like about it?  Was it to complex? Did the interface suck? Was there a lack of features?

I was pretty excited since this was my first app, but it looks like almost everybody else doesn't like it, so I need some input on what to do to fix it.

Albert


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## AdmiralAK (Oct 10, 2001)

Dont be blue my friend 
I am sure we will all take a look at it and give you feedback 
I will be the first 

Admiral


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## martinatkinson (Oct 11, 2001)

Hello!

Thanks for your reply and the encouragement.

I do have something I want to add to this software.  I have tried to figure out how to do this with no luck.  What I want is to make a custom color chooser panel and a custom font chooser panel.  How would I script these?

I am finishing a NIB mockup file of what I want it to look like, if you need to see it please let me know.

Thanks again!

Albert


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## martinatkinson (Oct 16, 2001)

Hello!

A new feature has been added to PowertText!  I know that alot of OS X users (including me) miss the window shade feature in OS 9.  I have added this function in PowerText.  Double-clicking the title bar or single-clicking the minimize button will collapse the title bar.  Control-clicking the minimize button will send it to the dock.  More cool features coming!  Let me know what you think!

Have a great day!

Albert

P.S.  I have re-uploaded the zip file so if you want this new feature just download it at the start thread.


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## Dradts (Oct 16, 2001)

Seems like ur program is not 2 well known yet!
Maybe u should make more advertisment 4 it!


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## AdmiralAK (Oct 16, 2001)

If you like text editors with palets its a nice looking program 

I reccomend it


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## simX (Oct 16, 2001)

That is actually a great text editor.

However it would be more convenient to have the fonts in a WYSIWYG menu.

I think the minimize in place feature is just TOTALLY AWESOME.  How did you manage this?  Is this like a little trick, or is it built in to the operating system (read: can you activate this system-wide using the Terminal, or is it just something that you coded into your own program)?

This program really has potential.  Now bring us drawing and painting and database and communications documents, and then you can sell it to Apple for AppleWorks 7! 

Seriously, it's good.  I still would like a drawing/painting thing integrated into one program though.


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## martinatkinson (Oct 17, 2001)

Hello!

Thank you for your reply.  I think the fonts in a menu would be easier as well.  I will try coding this.

This minimization feature is something that was coded into this program and I don't think that you coul enable it around the system.  I may be wrong though.  If you find out how to do this feel free to contact me with the hack, I would love to know how to do this!

I have never seen AppleWorks although it sounds like an interesting program.  I was thinking of making some kind of graphic application or a WYSIWYG HTML editoy next.  Database and communication programs sound good too.

Thanks and have a great day!

Albert


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## uoba (Oct 17, 2001)

Hi Martin

I would like to d/l your file but it seems to not be downloading from your link (it downloads attachment.php)

I'm not going to vote anyway until I've tried it!


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## cvisors (Oct 17, 2001)

One thing I have found if you download a file, and
it comes through as say attachment.php open
it with stuffit and lo and behold, it will work...

Benjamin


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## uoba (Oct 17, 2001)

Yep it opened alright!

Anyway Martinatkinson

I would be prepared to use it as an alternative to textedit if there was more in the way of alternative features. At present it seems like you have basically got TextEdit under there, with a more readily available interface (which is what I like about your app most)!

It doesn't have some of the more in-depth Textedit options for type.

But, just emulating these wouldn't be enough. You need to think of something that ain't in Textedit but would be a real bonus for us potential users!! (trust me, I'm a businessman! -- not a nasty one in a suit though!!!!)

I like it (but it needs a fancy Dock icon!)

 

A quick example, I only realised last week that Textedit had a drop down ruler and tabs! (I only use it for transferring or opening text quickly) -- yet i noticed this within seconds of opening yours!

Anyway, if you could make a cheap alternative to Word as so I don't need this. I'd be happy.


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## martinatkinson (Oct 17, 2001)

Hello!

Thanks for your reply.  That's what I need, some good constructive critisism!  Thanks so much!  

I have some features in mind that will make it more feature-rich than text-edit but I will not let you know so that I don't get your hopes up.  About this icon, I am working on an icon set.  I will totally replace the boring app icon with a better one as well as replacing the toolbar icons.

Anybody and everybody else please feel more than welcome to add to this thread!

Have a great day!

Albert


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## CreativeOne (Oct 17, 2001)

I think no one knew what it was.  I didn't by the text in the header.  I thought who cares until I saw some of the other posts.  Then I became interested.  I don't need a text editor yet, but I will check it out when I do some coding.  I have to stay "Office" standard for now because of other users I send to on PC's for now.  But I think it is great you figured this out and programed it.  I want to learn more of this, but some days I get the "brain is full" indicator.  Stuff just doesn't go in anymore that day!  Good luck!

Brian


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## martinatkinson (Oct 29, 2001)

Hello!

I have just finished version 0.2 of PowerText.  Looks like the final release is not that far off!  Anyway, I have added a new feature, you can now have PowerText read the selected text to you!  This is similiar to the feature in SimpleText and is one feature that TextEdit does not have!  I have also optimized this version for use with OS 10.1.

Also in v0.2:  Some new icons for the toolbar and application, toolbar has been removed from top of screen and placed in document window, toolbar print button is now enabled, about panel resizing problem fixed, document window resizing and printing problem fixed.

You can download PowerText v0.2 here.  I was not able to post it as an attachment because it is 120K but you can download it from my FTP server.

Have a great day and enjoy!

Albert


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## mr_mac_x (Oct 29, 2001)

Although TextEdit's options are harder to find, they don't take up my entire (800x600) screen. Options to turn off some of the bars would help. This program is also missing a few key things: Wrap to Window, and a resize handle on the document windows (_very important!_) come to mind. Also, it unexpectedly quits if you bring up the about dialog and then click on the menu bar.

Keep working on it!

(BTW, I might have missed one of the features, if I did, say so.)


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## beef (Oct 29, 2001)

uh... can you resize window?


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## martinatkinson (Oct 29, 2001)

Hello!

If you click the close buttons on the toolbars they will be closed, to open them again just go to Window > Special and choose the toolbar you want shown.

I am working on a wrap to window/wrap to page option and am close to finishing, I had to disable the window resizing because if the text box is bigger than it is now some of the text will be cut off when printed.  I am planning on fixing this.

I tried to recreate the error that you mentioned (unexpectedly quiting when bringing up about box and clicking on toolbar) but was unsuccesful.  Maybe if you answer the following questions I can fix this problem (Anyone else had this happen?):  What version of OS 10 are you running?  Are you using PowerText v0.10 or v0.20?  If you are using v0.2 and running OS 10.00 - 10.04 than you need to upgrade to OS 10.10.  If you are using PowerText v0.10 then I would suggest downloading v0.20 and see if that helps.

Thank you for your reply and please feel free to contact me about anything else you need.

Have a great day!

Albert


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## Ghoser777 (Oct 29, 2001)

Is it appropriate to post apps to be reviewed in this section of the site?  It seems a little out of place... plus it could really commercialize macosx.com.  If it is appropriate, can I post the status of an app I'm writing and get reviews without people chewing off my head? (granted, it's shareware, but it's useful shareware )

F-bacher


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## kilowatt (Oct 29, 2001)

I haven't downloaded it yet (on my linux box), but it sounds pretty cool.

First off, I like your courage to interact with the user directly. Not just via email or something.


One feature I'd like to see, would be a way to import word files. There's a program out there, called antiword. You could include it (ie, have it installed, but not as in copy the source code into your program), and have an  "Import..." option in the file menu.

It could simply run antiword and convert it into a regular text file. 

Don't know where I downloaded antiword from, the version at versiontracker.com didn't work, so I think I got it from sourceforge.net or something

Keep up da good work!


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## martinatkinson (Oct 30, 2001)

Hello!

*Ghoser777:*  I am sorry if this thread is in the wrong place.  I posted it here so users could test this out and then report what they think is missing.  I had originally posted this in the programming section and while I do need programmers to find bugs and tech stuff, I need the "regular" Mac OS X user to try it out too.  I think the Admin is alright with this too since he has not removed it.

*kilowatt:*  I am planning on adding an import/export feature for TXT RTF and RTFD documents so that users on other systems can read the documents.  Converting word documents is an excellent idea!  Thank you so much. 

Thank you all for your valuable comments and suggestions, feel more than welcome to add to this thread.

Have a great day!

Albert


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## mr_mac_x (Oct 31, 2001)

> _Originally posted by martinatkinson _
> *If you click the close buttons on the toolbars they will be closed, to open them again just go to Window > Special and choose the toolbar you want shown.*



I meant that I couldn't find a way to close the buttons that are built into each window (the speech bar, for example). It would be nice if there was an option to put them into a button bar that would stick on the side of the screen.



> _Originally posted by martinatkinson _
> * I tried to recreate the error that you mentioned (unexpectedly quiting when bringing up about box and clicking on toolbar) but was unsuccesful.  Maybe if you answer the following questions I can fix this problem (Anyone else had this happen?):  What version of OS 10 are you running?  Are you using PowerText v0.10 or v0.20?  If you are using v0.2 and running OS 10.00 - 10.04 than you need to upgrade to OS 10.10.  If you are using PowerText v0.10 then I would suggest downloading v0.20 and see if that helps.*



I downloaded it again and it worked fine. Weird. BTW, I'm on 10.1 (5L14) and it was version 0.2.


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## martinatkinson (Nov 25, 2001)

Hello! 

I have decided to use my own server for these threads so as not to bog down MacOSX.com. I have been working hard all this week and I have reached one of my goals, I have the forums up and running today (my birthday). You can check out the forum pages at http://www.myfamilycenter.org/appletreesw/cgi/teemz/tzmanager.cgi 

Please, once you register, contact me and let me know that you are a beta tester, even you guys who posted here on this thread. Please include your full name and username that you used on my site (your MacOSX.com username would be nice too if you didn't use the same one). The only reason I ask that you do this is so that you don't get banned from my server  

Also, I am not finished with the whole site (just the forums). You can check out the design I will be using at http://www.myfamilycenter.org/appletreesw/ Give me feedback about the design, I made it from scratch so there are sure to be some things that could be done better. 

I think that is it, please post on the new forums and not in this thread if you need to, contact me if you need any help. See you over on the new site! 

Have a great holiday season! 

Albert


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## ulrik (Nov 25, 2001)

all I wanted to say: Don't be depressed by the poll result. I tested your app and I like it. It doesn't replace my favourite text editor, but I like it. And I can only, keep up the good work and don't bother about "I hate it" voters which never tell you why. They just do it to do something bad. 

Keep up the work. I really like the editor and the idea behind it!


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## uoba (Nov 26, 2001)

This thing is getting really good now!

I love the interface, everything is there when you need it.

Just a few points:
-- I can't resize the document window
-- It didn't recognise a native TextEdit file to open
-- What does the document button do?
-- It won't print anything! (is this because it's a beta?)
-- The tab measurements are in inches, I hate inches! (mm would be nice!)

Apart from this, it's definately I viable alternative to TextEdit!

Nice work.


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## uoba (Nov 26, 2001)

I have no problems with you posting your application here (the Macintosh community is after all a genuine community!)

...and you are a genuine kind of guy, not a big corporation or anything! (yet)


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## martinatkinson (Nov 26, 2001)

Hello!

Thanks for your reply, i guess I should update you on how it is coming:

 I am now using a different language to program this app. This means it may be a little whil until I release v1.0b3.  This also means, however, that there are more cool features to come!
 Coming in v1.0b3: A dynamic font menu, I will try making this into a WYSIWYG font menu before the final release, I have to work out some minor bugs before I introduce this.
 Coming in v1.0b3: A shareware delay dialog *groan*, qualifying beta testers will receive a FREE acess code with download for all beta versions (my way of saying thanks for your help)!  I will contact all qualified members when I release this version.
 Coming in v1.0b3: Dynamic menu items, menu items will dynamically update themselves depending on what the user has done.
 Coming in v1.0b3: Mac OS 9 support! Also coming in final release, Windows 32 - XP support 
 Coming in v1.0b3: Tear off menu's, you can "tear off" various utility panels to make them a panel of their own (similair to Adobe GoLive 5's pallets yet different)
 Coming in v1.0b3: You can print documents, I had this disabled in previous versions because of the wrap to window/wrap to page bug.
 Coming in v1.0b3: Resizable windows, you can now resize the text windows to any size you want.
 Coming in v1.0b3: Toolbar hiding, you can now hide or show the toolbar that is in the left side of the text window.
 Coming in v1.0b3: Import any file, you can now open any file (although you will get "garbage text" when opening RTF or word documents, I am working on an importing engine for these files)

More features are being added and the app has gone from 200+K (v0.2) to 1.8M (v1.0b3)

*Uoba:*  The document button is part of a feature that is not yet complete, I will have it where it will say "Properties", users will click on that button and they will see the creation and mod dates as well as the doc name and path and more, then they click on "Document" to return to the text editing interface.  It will be fixed in next version.  Also, I used OS X's built in toolbar to accomplish the ruler, I am working on making my own from scratch and will include inches, pixels and mm.  Thank you for your relpy and have a great day! 

Thank you all for your help, this piece of software is getting more meat on its bones each time you reply with comments, suggestions or critisizm.

I wish you all a wonderfull holiday season!

Albert Atkinson


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## googolplex (Nov 26, 2001)

This is really cool! Its a great interface very intuitive. One thing I would like though is for there to be an option for it to go to the dock or for it to colapse into the menu bar. I personally prefer it going to the dock.
googolplex


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## martinatkinson (Nov 26, 2001)

Hello!

Thanks for your reply, actually, I will have to remove the WindowShade feature in the next version because of the language change   Sorry!

When I finish porting the plugin to the new language I will reintroduce it but for now we will have to download that app that enables it system wide (if it does it for carbon apps as well).  If I reintroduce this feature I will add a user preference to have it minimize to the dock or do the WindowShade by default.  Thanks for the suggestion!

Have a great holiday season!

Albert


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## googolplex (Nov 26, 2001)

BTW. What language are you porting it to?

googolplex


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## gerbick (Nov 26, 2001)

my 2 cents... it's cool.  I like it... keep up the good work


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## martinatkinson (Nov 27, 2001)

Hello!

I am porting it to REALbasic.  And since this program uses its own language I can't take any of my usefull Cocoa plugins (such as sheets, windowshade, ruler, etc.)   The upside to using this program is that I can build it for all platforms with one project instead of just OS X like I was doing with Project Builder.   Eventually, when I upgrade to the pro version, I will even build it for windows  

If you need anything else feel free to ask!

Have a great holiday season!

Albert


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## martinatkinson (Dec 7, 2001)

Hello!

I just created the icon for the release version, see a preview in the attachment below.  Please give me feedback on it: personally I think it needs to be a little lighter, the paper smaller but the pencil bigger (It doesn't look "Aqua-ish").  I don't know, this could be because I am such a perfectionist, let me know what you think.

Unfortunatley, I think this app is going to need a couple more weeks of work, I have added sheet support, finder-like toolbar buttons, animated panel resizing, more speech options (choose voice, pause after word/sentence, and more)

Also, anyone have any feedback about the site design?  Like it, hate it, let me know what you think about it.  I apologize to those of you who tried the forum pages, they are poor and very unstable.  Unfortunatley my knowledge of CGI is minimal and I can not afford a proffessional script that is custom configured by those who know what they are doing (like MacOSX.com's forums).  Good news though, I have programmed a secret backdoor for beta testers!  This way you can automatically send a bug report right from the software!  I am also programming a news downloader (for beta testers only).  This way I can post a news report online and you can read it from the program.

Thank you so much, all of you, all your bug reports and suggestions (however small they may be) are such a great help.  This next release is going to be awesome! 

Have a great holiday season!

Albert


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## chevy (Dec 8, 2001)

I am a fan of FrameMaker, Adobe's technical text editor.

What I like in FrameMaker is it capability to maintain good look over a large document, and the possibility to create paragraphe and character styles. I also like the advances numbering capabilities. The only drawback of FrameMaker is its sometimes difficult interface (and its price).
If you could have the same multilevel style capabilities, it would be very good. Also, the numbering capabilties may be copied.


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## kilowatt (Dec 13, 2001)

If I'm not mistaken, there is a version of project builder for Windows NT. 

I've built programs with RealBasic before, compiled them for windows, and they would only work on windows 95, not 98 or NT. But then again, windows is highly inconsistent in my experience. 

Good luck on your project, and let us know what developing with RB is like, in contrast to Project Builder... I'm interested, since you will be creating the same program two entirely different ways.


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## martinatkinson (Dec 20, 2001)

Here we go again!  PowerText has just gotten bigger and better, check out version 1.0b3 at the following URL:

http://www.myfamilycenter.org/apple...ster&action=opentopic&topic=3&forum=PowerText

Have a great day and have fun!

Albert


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## martinatkinson (Dec 27, 2001)

Hello!

First of all I want to apologize to the faithful beta testers.  For some reason my forums are giving me problems and the download link for version 1.0b3 was broken.  If you have not downloaded this version because of the broken link please go to http://www.myfamilycenter.org/appletreesw/ and click the download link under the news header.

Also, the bug reporting center is fixed.  Command-Option-Control-Shift-clicking the close box will bring up a login panel.  Login with your name and acess code (8050131) and push submit.  Fill out the form and click send then your email app will open with a new message ready to go out.  IMPORTANT: Do not edit this message in any way, there are invisible character codes in the email that keeps my server from thinking it is junk mail and throwing it away.  YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REDOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION TO HAVE ACCESS TO THIS FEATURE.

Also, on the bottom of the text window is a toolbar that says "Current Document: [YOUR FILE NAME]"  Option-clicking on this will switch the view to properties so you can view certain things such as path, creation date and mod date.  This panel will be enhanced in 1.0b4.  Clicking this toolbar in the properties panel will  return you to your text file.

One more thing: anyone having this problem: pushing the open button brings up the open dialog.  If you hit cancel and push open again half or all of the action buttons in the open dialog (open, cancel, new folder, path) are missing and the cursor is a watch.  This happens on my system and I need to know what happens on others.

Please post bug reports or feature requests no matter how small.  You can either post it on this forum, on the AppleTree forum (it is fixed now  ) or email me at appletreesw-bugsfeatures@myfamilycenter.org.

Thanks and have a great day!

Albert


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