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>So, are we faced with the challenge of being "task-centric" while not
>knowing if
>the user is using a "a word processor, spread sheet, a 2-D drawing
>package, [or]
>so forth"?
>It doesn't matter what the package is (except for grouping your
>documentation). The concept of "Word Processor", "Spread Sheet", and
>so forth is moot with O-O. It is the object not the program that is
>the focus.
>O-O applications are a shopping cart that you fill with the
>functionality you desire. Items in this cart can be upgraded, removed,
>or added individually. The entire application is not removed and
>replaced to gain the advantages of new and/or improved functionality.
>For example, in creating an O-O 2-D sketch package, you could include a
>2-D line draw applet, a shaded rendering applet, print applet, and a
>text applet. Later, you could add a raster import/editing applet.
>This applet would be added without having to remove and replace the 2D
>line, shading, and text applets.
>With these applets, it is the object that carries the functionality.
>The text applet carries the ability to set/modify fonts, text spacing,
>paragraph formatting, and so forth regardless of whether the applet is
>used in a 2-D drawing package to annotate sketches or is used in a
>documentation package to produce the text for manuals. Vice versa, the
>2-D line draw applet can be used in the documentation package to create
>illustrations or in the 2-D sketch package to depict a building's floor
>plan.
>In an O-O application, the commands available change (observable on the
>toolbars and menus) depending on the active object. In the
>documentation package, the text commands are available while you work
>on text. Activate the 2-D line diagram, and the 2-D line draw commands
>are available. These commands are the same regardless of whether you
>invoked the documentation package or the 2-D sketch package.
>Being that the functionality is portable, the documentation must also
>be portable. Therefore, the documentation for the text applet should
>keep focus on text construction, formatting, and modification and not
>be concerned with graphics, page layout, file format, and so forth (the
>graphics and document handler applet documentation addresses these).
>Mike Wing
>_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
>_/
>_/ Michael Wing
>_/ Principal Technical Writer
>_/ Jupiter Customization and Educational Services
>_/ Intergraph Corporation
>_/ 730-7250
>_/ mjwing -at- ingr -dot- com
>_/
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