Letters

NUMBER FORMATS FOLLOWUP
Regarding the article "International Number Formatting" in develop Issue 16: I've written a freeResEdit editor ("FMAT Editor") that enables you to easily create Script Manager canonical formats and store them as resources. I hope you'll find it useful.
-- Michael Hecht

The author of the article looked at your editor, and he thought it was so useful that he submitted it to the CD. Thanks!
-- Caroline Rose

NEW FLOATING WDEF ON CD
I'm the author of a freeware floating window WDEF known as the Infinity Windoid. It was one of the first such WDEFs to implement the System 7- style coloring of windows, tinge colors and all. It includes support for a title bar down the left side of a window, System 6's coloring of windows, multiple monitors via DeviceLoop, and checking the available colors in 8-bit mode to determine whether the title bar should be color.

I recently finished up version 2.5.1 of the WDEF, which adds the ability to have a grow box, a title string in the title bar, and a slightly different style of title bar.

Please consider including this WDEF with source code on your CD. An appropriate place for it would be with Dean Yu's floating windows code (Issue 15). Dean has stated that his WDEF is not highly robust, and providing my WDEF with the source would make a lot of sense. This would also help me meet my goal of making it available to as many Macintosh developers as possible.
-- Troy Gaul

Thanks for bringing your WDEF to our attention. We've included it with Issue 15's floating windows code on this issue's CD. Dean has also tweaked the code again since his last updates. Check it out!
-- Caroline Rose

GREAT MAG, BUT LOSE LEDGE
My vote for your View From the Ledge column is: lose it! Dilbert (the comic strip by Scott Adams) does a much better job at commenting on the political and social structures of corporate America. Thanks for the fine publication. develop is the only periodical that doesn't end up in the trash after I read it. Keep up the good work.
-- Dave Lamkins

The editor thanks you for your kind words about develop. As the author of View From the Ledge, I've been volunteered to address your remarks about that column.

Scott Adams is unquestionably a genius. He has a certain wit and control of the English language that hasn't really been equaled since Shakespeare, and an artistic flair that I'm certain makes all Florentines weep. There's simply no way I can compete with this caliber of raw talent.

No doubt Mr. Adams gets invitations to dine with the President. I've never met any of the Presidents of Apple, let alone of the United States -- although John Sculley did pull up next to me at a stoplight a few years ago, and I used to have a Jean-Louis Gassée mask hanging in my cubicle.

Mr. Adams has the advantage of dealing with a world where the characters are two-dimensional, all of their worst traits are brought to the forefront, and the situations these characters get caught up in border on the absurd. None of those things can be said about the real office environment.

Having said all that, we're putting View From the Ledge on ice after this issue, and the thaw comes only if there's a chinook in the form of a strong reader response.-- Tao Jones

MISSING CD? A ROYAL PAIN
First, I'd like to say that I think develop is excellent. I await each issue with frenzied anticipation and find each one absorbing, informative, well written, and funny.

I'd also like to comment on the Bookmark CD. I can't, however, because we don't get it. I keep reading articles referring to "this issue's CD" and it's infuriating! We get our regular monthly Developer CD with Apple Directions but no develop CD. Is this because we're in England? Don't you like us any more? It's the royal family's fault, isn't it? They've made us look stupid. They're nothing to do with us, honest. We'd just like our CD.
--Richard Gibson

Some international developers receive develop without the Bookmark CD as part of a mailing that includes the Developer CD and Apple Directions. Anyone who gets the Developer CD doesn't need the Bookmark CD (see "This issue's CD" on the inside front cover).

We still like our British readers, so from our standpoint you should have no gripe with the royal family. Thanks for writing!
--Caroline Rose

DON'T FORGET TO WRITE!We welcome timely letters to the editors, especially from readers reacting to articles that we publish in develop. Letters should be addressed to Caroline Rose (or, if technical develop-related questions, to Dave Johnson) at Apple Computer, Inc., 20525 Mariani Avenue, M/S 303-4DP, Cupertino, CA 95014 (AppleLink CROSE or JOHNSON.DK). All letters should include your name and company name as well as your address and phone number. Letters may be excerpted or edited for clarity (or to make them say what we wish they did). *