Newsgroups: comp.mail.multi-media
Path: utzoo!utgpu!craig
From: craig@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (Craig Hubley)
Subject: Re: Multi-media mail standards; Forw: Use of ODA in the Internet
Message-ID: <1990Aug19.195257.13157@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca>
Keywords: multi-media hyper-media objects OMG
Organization: Craig Hubley & Associates
References: <9008171018.AA04800@thumper.bellcore.com> <QamxKTi0M2YtM9U6xU@thumper.bellcore.com>
Distribution: inet
Date: Sun, 19 Aug 90 19:52:57 GMT

That list of standards efforts in multimedia was excellent, but there is a
body of work that it didn't cover.  I mean the current efforts to standardize
"Object Management", including tangible media objects, that are happening in
the microcomputer world.  It seems very likely that this work will have a major
effect on the form of any real working standard, as microcomputers are by far
the most likely terminals for any MM document or mail system.  I think that a
standard that required a computer costing over $1000 (today's money) is likely
to lose ground, since there are tens of millions of PCs, Macs, etc., out there.
(about 20 million PCs, 4 million Macs, and 1.5 million Amigas, to name the 
capable/popular MM platforms - plus all the workstations of course).

OMG

The OMG has about 70 corporate members.  The goal is to standardize object-
oriented databases, operating systems, and most importantly from the multi-
media standpoint, *applications*.  Their approach has some drawbacks, but
it makes new media types incidental side-effects of new applications, and
solves some very real problems in remote/programmed application control:

OBJECT = APPLICATION+DOCUMENT

The full command structure is considered to be available EITHER from WIMP means
or through a script language.  The application code itself, *plus* an individual
document, constitutes an object.  So, a spreadsheet object consists of Lotus
plus your spreadsheet.  Lotus provides the behavior, you have provided the
data.  Views of this 'object' can be included in other documents, and will
be updated when the spreadsheet is updated (the so'called 'hot link').  It 
may be dependent on other documents itself.  Snapshots can be taken at any
point in time.  This would be useful to, say, send a report to someone else,
without sending the entire spreadsheet.  

BIG OBJECTS

Now, granted these are pretty big objects, but as the approach catches on they
would get smaller, in fact each would tend to conform to one media type, just
as Unix tools have tended to become 'filters'.  Most of the follow-on
functionality (printing, importing and exporting data, scripting languages)
would be provided for by the operating/window system.

ANY DOCUMENT

So, ANY DOCUMENT is potentially a piece of multimedia or even hypermedia,
just by including views of other documents.  Each application defines a new
media type.  The script language and standard WIMP controls are the same for
each.

AMIGA AREXX/IFF

This approach has already been test-bedded on the Amiga by the AREXX/IFF
combination.  IFF is the Amiga answer to ODA, and defines many media types
up to and including animations, to match the Amiga's multimedia capabilities.
Amiga applications include AREXX ports to let AREXX scripts control them from
the 'inside'.  AmigaDOS has lightweight multitasking, so tools have always
tended to be small and interoperable with others.  AREXX is now part of the
operating system.  It is interesting to note that neither IFF nor AREXX were
Commodore ideas, but their support in the user community grew so great that it
was impossible not to support them.  Applications without AREXX ports are
considered substandard by the Amiga community.  So, the hardware vendors need
not buy in to such a scheme to make it work, but it sure helps...

OTHER EFFORTS

HP's NewWave provides very similar capabilities for DOS and (I think, by now)
Unix.  Apple is providing a parallel capability for System 7.0.  These are
not the same, of course.  According to some industry analysts at the time of
the suit, Apple sued HP over NewWave in part because it was afraid of this 
greatly extended set of capabilities and wanted to scare off the market and 
give itself time to catch up.  This appears to have worked to some degree.
I have seen very few 'real' NewWave applications.

FOR MORE

For more information on the OMG, contact soley@omg.org (the Technical VP) and
ask to receive their standard literature pack.  They are seeking feedback on
their current standards framework.  For more on AREXX and IFF, read the group
comp.sys.amiga.tech - contact HP about NewWave, and Apple about System 7.0.

DEBATE ?

I would like to start a debate going on the advantages/disadvantages of this
approach to multimedia documents.  I tend to think that today's monolithic
Mac and PC applications would make poor media types, but that Amiga and Unix
applications tend to be far better, probably due to multitasking which makes
it possible to run many simple programs, each dealing with one media type.
As Macs and PCs acquire this ability, their applications would be more 
suitable for this approach.  But in any case, this approach to MM documents
is very attractive because of the minimal incremental effort required on the
part of developers, to support it.  It seems likely to have a very substantial
influence on standards efforts in this direction, although the standards groups
themselves seem blissfully unaware of it.

  Craig Hubley                     kid after Live Aid: "Is that it?"
  Craig Hubley & Associates        ---------------------------------
  craig@gpu.utcs.Utoronto.CA   UUNET!utai!utgpu!craig   craig@utorgpu.BITNET
  craig@gpu.utcs.toronto.EDU   {allegra,bnr-vpa,decvax}!utcsri!utgpu!craig
-- 
  Craig Hubley                     kid after Live Aid: "Is that it?"
  Craig Hubley & Associates        ---------------------------------
  craig@gpu.utcs.Utoronto.CA   UUNET!utai!utgpu!craig   craig@utorgpu.BITNET
  craig@gpu.utcs.toronto.EDU   {allegra,bnr-vpa,decvax}!utcsri!utgpu!craig
