[HN Gopher] The Complete Hypercard Handbook (1988)
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The Complete Hypercard Handbook (1988)
Author : lubesGordi
Score : 187 points
Date : 2021-05-07 18:35 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (archive.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (archive.org)
| BaldricksGhost wrote:
| The first useful application/database I ever wrote was in
| Hypercard. I loved that app. 33 years later I still work in IT.
| peterchane wrote:
| This book changed my life in that it introduced me to
| programming. Thanks archive.org for keeping it around!
| ludr wrote:
| My late-nineties elementary school computer class was mostly
| devoted to learning about and building a project in Hypercard on
| the school's Mac Classic fleet. The project was to build a
| "house" of our own design with each room being a card or
| collection of cards - and to allow movement between them by
| clicking on doors, windows, etc. like a LucasArts adventure game.
|
| It wasn't expected that your house be based in reality, so some
| people went further with this than others by adding animations or
| hidden-object like game elements. I remember it being a lot of
| fun and something that seemed accessible to everyone regardless
| of experience with computers.
|
| I hadn't put it together until right now, but I wonder how much
| that experience influenced my eventual educational and career
| path (among many other factors). It really was my first
| experience with creating something interactive on the computer,
| not quite programming in the way I do now but getting those same
| gears turning.
| bombcar wrote:
| _Myst_ was just that - a HyperCard stack (actually many of
| them).
| zqfm wrote:
| I still have this book on my shelf, it got me started programming
| as a youngin'. Good times!
| kalleboo wrote:
| This and "HyperTalk 2.0: The Book". I got them from my uncle when
| I was 8-9 years old, read them cover to cover, and that's what
| got me hooked on programming.
| rsync wrote:
| I had this book circa 1993...
|
| I read it front to back several Times and continued to use it as
| a reference for years afterward.
|
| I was using HyperCard to build an entire operating environment
| for myself layered on top of classic macOS. I had the equivalent
| of directory indexes and file management and the ability to
| manage and consume multi media files... Including porn, of
| course, but weirdly _icons_ were the thing I kept downloading and
| needed to manage.... Icons and sound files...
|
| Then I got my first UNIX shell account and never opened that book
| again...
| thrownout wrote:
| So I had to post that excellent comment from DonHopkins as seen
| here two days ago ""
|
| DonHopkins 2 days ago | parent [-] | on: LSD, cargo shorts and
| the fall of a tech CEO
|
| I don't know how it affected Steve Jobs, but Bill Atkinson
| handled his LSD pretty well.
|
| https://www.mondo2000.com/2018/06/18/the-inspiration-for-hyp...
|
| >The Psychedelic Inspiration For Hypercard, by Bill Atkinson.
|
| >In 1985 I swallowed a tiny fleck of gelatin containing a medium
| dose of LSD, and I spent most of the night sitting on a concrete
| park bench outside my home in Los Gatos, California.
|
| >I gazed up at a hundred billion galaxies each with a hundred
| billion stars, and each star a giant thermonuclear fusion
| reaction as powerful as our Sun. And for the first time in my
| life I knew deep down inside that we are not alone.
|
| >I knew that life on planet Earth is not the only pocket of
| consciousness in the universe, and likely not the most advanced.
| But we still have a role to play in the unfolding drama of
| creation.
|
| >It seemed to me the universe is in a process of coming alive.
| Consciousness is blossoming and propagating to colonize the
| universe, and life on Earth is one of many bright spots in the
| cosmic birth of consciousness.
|
| >But the stars are separated by enormous distances of darkness
| and vacuum, which may hinder communication between them. I
| lowered my gaze and saw the street lamps below glowing brightly,
| each casting a pool of light but surrounded by darkness before
| the next lamp. As above, so below.
|
| >The street lamps reminded me of bodies of knowledge, gems of
| discovery and understanding, but separated from each other by
| distance and different languages. Poets, artists, musicians,
| physicists, chemists, biologists, mathmeticians, and economists
| all have separate pools of knowledge, but are hindered from
| sharing and finding the deeper connections.
|
| >My vision distorted by thick eyeglasses, I witnessed the
| curvature of the Earth's horizon, and I felt the pull of gravity
| toward its center, such that every one of us is standing at the
| very apex. Each of us stands at the top of planet Earth, and each
| of us is a leader or captain of the "Blue Marble" team.
|
| >How could I help? By focusing on the weak link. If I were
| captain of a soccer team, I would look for the weak link and work
| on it. If the goalie was letting too many through, I would spend
| extra practice time with him, and the whole team would prosper.
|
| >It occurred to me the weak link for the Blue Marble team is
| wisdom. Humanity has achieved sufficient technological power to
| change the course of life and the entire global ecosystem, but we
| seem to lack the perspective to choose wisely between alternative
| futures. But I was young, without much life experience or wisdom
| myself.
|
| >Knowledge, it seemed to me, consists of the "How" connections
| between pieces of information, the cause and effect
| relationships. How does this action bring about that result.
| Science is a systematic attempt to discover the "How"
| connections.
|
| >Wisdom, it seemed to me, was a step further removed, the bigger
| perspective of the "Why" connections between pieces of knowledge.
| Why, for reasons ethical and aesthetic, should we choose one
| future over another?
|
| >I thought if we could encourage sharing of ideas between
| different areas of knowledge, perhaps more of the bigger picture
| would emerge, and eventually more wisdom might develop. Sort of a
| trickle-up theory of information leading to knowledge leading to
| wisdom.
|
| >This was the underlying inspiration for HyperCard, a multimedia
| authoring environment that empowered non-programmers to share
| ideas using new interactive media called HyperCard stacks.
|
| >Each card in a HyperCard stack included graphics, text,
| interactive buttons, and links that took you to another card or
| stack. Built-in painting tools, drag-and-drop authoring with a
| library of pre-fab buttons and fields, and simple event based
| scripting made HyperCard flexible and easy to use.
|
| >It took a lot of hard work and a dedicated team to complete this
| mission. Apple shipped HyperCard in August 1987, and included it
| free with every Mac so any user could create and share HyperCard
| stacks. Many creative people expressed their ideas and passions,
| and several million interactive HyperCard stacks were created.
|
| >HyperCard was a precurser to the first web browser, except
| chained to a hard drive before the worldwide web. Six years later
| Mosaic was introduced, influenced by some of the ideas in
| HyperCard, and indirectly by an inspiring LSD experience.
| cmdrriker wrote:
| I have this book! I loved Hypercard and spend many hours making
| silly and functional programs with it.
|
| I wish that somehow it was continued and not sent out to the
| pasture at Claris.
| protomyth wrote:
| In a lot of ways, my ideal product would be a HyperCard / Excel
| combo that could output Java (or some other source code).
| tomcam wrote:
| Something close to that was tried in Microsoft when I was
| there 1996-2000. It was extraordinarily hard to keep the
| visual forms designer and the output code in sync, especially
| when users tried to edit the code.
| protomyth wrote:
| I don't think it needs to return trip for it to be useful.
| Most of the value is allowing programmers to get the
| business logic that expert users generate.
| tomcam wrote:
| It's really, really hard to explain that to users when
| they see what looks to be editable serialized code for
| forms.
| protomyth wrote:
| I was thinking a file export, not something the user
| would deal with. They get their nice HyperTalk with Excel
| functions.
| blacktriangle wrote:
| Sometimes when I'm drinking at 3am I like to imagine a world
| where somebody wrote a hypercard server and we were all
| developing web apps as hypercard stacks instead of our current
| abomination.
| ksec wrote:
| Something like CardStack?
|
| https://cardstack.com
| disqard wrote:
| Would you give https://www.blockstud.io a try?
|
| I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
|
| Thanks!
| outofpaper wrote:
| I thought the site was pretty cool. What's your take on using
| Blockstud.io over Snap or Scratch?
| disqard wrote:
| I'm slightly biased (as the creator of BlockStudio), but I
| think Scratch/Snap are basically graphical editors for
| textual code. They solve a different problem (preventing
| syntax errors) than what BlockStudio is aiming for: using
| an extension of Graphical Rewrite Rules for programming,
| with an emphasis on making it accessible to beginners.
| criddell wrote:
| That's pretty neat, but a browser-based application just
| isn't the same thing.
| disqard wrote:
| Thanks for checking it out! You're right that a browser-
| based app is not the same thing. At the same time, as an
| individual maintaining this entire thing, I can't invest
| the time and effort to port this to multiple platforms,
| whereas this format enables it to be used by people on
| (self-reported) laptops, tablets, as well as desktops.
| criddell wrote:
| It doesn't have to be on multiple platforms though...
|
| One of the cool things about Hypercard was that it could
| access the entire machine. A sandboxed browser page will
| never (hopefully) be able to do that.
| joezydeco wrote:
| We'd all be here bitching about how our stupid e-commerce
| stacks still need to have backwards support for 512x342 1bpp
| monochrome graphics.
| klodolph wrote:
| So, HyperCard's 1bpp limitation is fairly ingrained, but the
| resolution can be anything you want.
| w0mbat wrote:
| In HyperCard 2.0, yes. There was a color HyperCard 3.0 in
| development at Clarus which never shipped. Then there was
| the HyperCard/QuickTime hybrid that was demoed at WWDC and
| never shipped.
| joezydeco wrote:
| But would they work with the Facebook XFCNs? =)
| protomyth wrote:
| They also have the 2.0 book and his AppleScript handbook which
| was really helpful.
|
| https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Goodman%2C...
| dstainer wrote:
| Hypercard, now that is a name I've not heard in a long time
| cortesoft wrote:
| This and the HyperCard Bible were my most read books as a kid
| anthk wrote:
| Did Hypercard 2.0 (or further versions) support QuickTime VR?
| Because it would be huge back in the day.
| flaxton wrote:
| I never used Hypercard back in the day. But I recently started
| using Obsidian, and it has the idea of cards/notes and linking to
| them. It's built on Markdown files, and you can use it for
| Zettelkasten if you wish.
|
| Linking notes (or even creating them) is as easy as type [[ and
| then type the (new) name and ]] and _boom_ it is linked or a new
| note created (as you type the name it searches for existing notes
| of course).
|
| A powerful idea, but it appears that it is anything but new lol
|
| https://obsidian.md
|
| Use for free on Mac, Windows, Linux. Support them for early
| access to iOS and Android beta apps. Stores all your notes as
| plaintext markdown files.
|
| Optionally pay to sync (encrypted) with their sync across
| devices.
|
| I really like Markdown - that's what brought it to my attention.
| klodolph wrote:
| HyperCard is only like that at its most primitive. HyperCard,
| back in the day, was all about code and functionality. I
| remember using a HyperCard stack that could record and play
| back music, interactive character sheets for D&D, and tons of
| games.
|
| Instead of using HyperCard to track information, like Obsidian,
| you might instead use it to _create_ an information system like
| Obisidian.
| atotic wrote:
| I was just talking to someone today about what the programming
| might look like in 20 years. He was hoping for something more
| graphical.
|
| I told him that HyperCard was the only graphical programming
| environment that I ever loved. My first real job had me making
| stacks and XFCNs.
| evaneykelen wrote:
| This book was so big (5-6 cm) I had to cut it into three parts to
| turn it into a manageable desk reference.
| pcthrowaway wrote:
| Not sure why, but the most interesting comment here to me is
| marked [dead]
| tobr wrote:
| > GOODMAN: But we can expect to see additions?
|
| > ATKINSON: Lots of improvements. This is not going to be
| abandoned like MacPaint was. Pretty much Apple put me on
| something else and gave the maintenance of MacPaint to someone
| else and then kept shuffling that from one person to another, and
| MacPaint never got maintained.
|
| As far as I understand that's almost exactly what would happen to
| HyperCard over the next few years as well.
| setpatchaddress wrote:
| Yup. It was abandoned almost exactly like MacPaint was. Real
| shame.
| betamaxthetape wrote:
| HyperCard did get a fairly substantial upgrade with HyperCard
| 2.0. Indeed, the second version of The Complete HyperCard
| Handbook included another interview with Bill Atkinson,
| discussing some of the changes made and the direction HyperCard
| was heading in.
|
| The real trouble for HyperCard came when it was moved to the
| Claris subsidiary, who started charging for it [1]. No longer
| was the full version bundled with every Mac sold, which had
| helped HyperCard become ubiquitous until that point.
|
| [1] https://www.zdnet.com/article/apples-lost-decade-
| hypercard-a...
| ryanmarsh wrote:
| This is great, disappointed that the site won't let me download
| it though.
| [deleted]
| mimixco wrote:
| https://archive.org/download/The_Complete_HyperCard_Handbook...
| gdubs wrote:
| Well, there goes my weekend. Happy to see the Hypercard love is
| still out there. I think about it a lot. I love the idea of a
| coffee shop or a bicycle shop that's run on a Hypercard stack on
| an old Mac.
|
| In case you've never seen it:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FquNpWdf9vg
| pbourke wrote:
| Wow - thanks for posting this. It's 30 years later and we
| really don't have anything comparable to HyperCard in terms of
| making programming accessible to non programmers.
| RodgerTheGreat wrote:
| The closest we have today in terms of universal accessibility
| is Excel, but it's a far less charming and elegant
| environment than Hypercard.
| D-Coder wrote:
| LiveCode.com. Very compatible with the original HyperCard (I
| know, I had to switch. And I'm a software guy.) AND multi-
| platform!
| jkestner wrote:
| Ha - Gary Kildall (who missed the opportunity to be Bill Gates)
| is a host.
|
| Good Atkinson comment that illustrates how powerful of a tool
| this was for verticals: "A whole new body of people that have
| creative ideas but aren't programmers will be able to express
| their ideas or their expertise..."
| anaerobicover wrote:
| I had one job during university at a cafe breakfast shop which
| the point of sale, scheduling, payrolls, and such were run by
| the owner's custom FileMaker program. (She did not like to
| spend money on commercial software.) It was not so enjoyable as
| we nostalgiac would think. :)
| w0mbat wrote:
| I bought the first edition when it came out, read it straight
| through like a novel. This is what ignited my change in career
| direction from a photographer who dabbled with his dad's Mac SE
| to programmer. I eventually learned many languages beyond
| HyperTalk and moved to Silicon Valley. I may have written part of
| this web browser.
| amatecha wrote:
| Some online friends & acquaintances held a "HyperCard Jam" just a
| little over a year ago. Lots of cool/creative games and apps came
| out of this fun jam! I think most people developed in a Mini vMac
| virtual machine (rather than firing up physical Macintosh
| hardware). Take a look here: https://itch.io/jam/merveilles-
| hyperjam
| hugs wrote:
| That is so cool! Will they do it again? (Please!?)
| almost wrote:
| What I wouldn't have given for a copy of this back then!
|
| The samples that came with HyperCard where good enough though :)
| alexchamberlain wrote:
| Has anyone made a serious attempt to recreate HyperCard for
| modern systems? Would Apple try to block it?
| cmdrriker wrote:
| I think Supercard is still going, its sorta like a souped up
| version of Hypercard
| analog31 wrote:
| Wow, that's great. I wrote a printed circuit layout program
| in SuperCard. You basically drew your program in the card
| layout editor using a few allowed shapes, and it just looped
| through all of the shapes on the card and translated them to
| Gerber files. The color identified top or bottom copper. When
| I got my first boards back from the fab, and they were
| actually what I designed, I nearly fell over.
| blacksmith_tb wrote:
| I haven't used it in a looong time, but yes[1] it is,
| apparently.
|
| 1: https://supercard.us/
| Wowfunhappy wrote:
| Has anyone used this one? Is it good? I'm on a compatible
| OS but it's just so incredibly expensive...
| chris_wot wrote:
| Does not work on Catalina and Big Sur.
| phonon wrote:
| https://livecode.com/
| coolestuk wrote:
| On a thread reminiscing about Hypercard, the only comment
| down-voted is the one that points to a superset of Hypercard
| that runs on Windows, OSX and Linux and that can also produce
| apps that run on iOS and Android.
|
| And it's free to use and GPL'd.
|
| What a weird place HN is.
| notaclevername wrote:
| Power Apps in Office365 are darned close. I never had a deep
| experience with HyperCard, so I'd actually love to hear folks
| with deeper experience contrast the two.
| ta988 wrote:
| Except that you do not own it and apps may disappear. We can
| still run hypercard stacks many decades later... I doubt we
| will be able to run actual power apps in 15 years.
| buserror wrote:
| When I was about 17, I worked with a chartered surveyor (aka
| geometre) on digitizing the whole path from Lille to Paris
| (france) and use the "computer" to split the polygons that were
| digitized by a team of people using "cadastres" (official, high
| definition paper maps).
|
| The polygons were entered by a team of people, from the map into
| a small serial-to-file program, and that file was then fed to a
| Hypercard stack that did the polygon intersection...
|
| ...To was to be the path of the Eurostar Lille<->Paris. The land
| in the middle was expropriated, sometime leaving landowner with
| bit of land they could not reach as the next "bridge" back to it
| was 20 miles away!
|
| Anyway, I used hypercard back then for a multitude of reasons at
| the time. It had "plugins" to read/write stuff, it had pretty
| good interface, it allowed code to very easily detect errors in
| the digitizer input, and allowed a very, very rough preview of
| what the "cut" would look like.
|
| I did quite a few cool projects in my career, but every time I
| drive at 300km/h on the eurostar to paris, I take a little extra
| pride into thinking I "did" that :-)
| ptcampbell wrote:
| That is a cool story, thanks for sharing.
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