I use HyperCard exclusively to write instructional software for the languages of Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, and German. I have also used HyperCard to write a comprehensive school master schedule program which we currently use at our school in Cincinnati, Ohio (The Academy of World Languages). HyperCard is also excellent for easily creating instant-self- grading quizes and tests. I've used HyperCard to teach computer programming to 11 & 12th graders. HyperCard is one of the greatest computing inventions since the monitor!! It is the ultimate programming "swiss army knife." I can't wait until it goes cross-platform. Mike Brucato Cincinnati Academy of World Languages
Comments to: Michael A. Brucato
I'm a 67 year old Biologist that started with an old Apple in 1980. The only way you could do anything was to program it yourself, so I became a BASIC programmer,self-taught. I developed a number of programs for Ecology, primarily simulations and computation. When the first Mac came along I talked the department into getting one, but I continued to use the Apple IIe for most of my class oriented work since you couldn't program a Mac in BASIC. Then I discovered HyperCard!!! My first project was a stack which made herbarium labels, with maps, and at the same time became a data base of our herbarium collection, which would automatically update as new student collections came in. Next, a data base of the department's undergraduate theses, easily updated and easily searched. Next a data base of a Diatom culture collection. These could have been done with a data base application but Hypercard was already on the Mac and 15 years later the stacks are still functional and we can modify them and add graphics if we wish. As our old Apple II's were phased out I started to convert the BASIC simulations to HC stacks and discovered that I could do mathematical and statistical manipulation and graphing easier than with BASIC. Next HyperCard became my presentation application of choice. I built a simple stack which could show text, graphics and PICTs, from scanned illustration or photos. We then got a camcorder and video capture software and added movies into the mix. Building on this, and the help of a state environmental education grant I've been developing a series of multimedia stacks on local biomes, plant and animal communities. The stacks have been used in local schools and the Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque. Now that I've retired I'm in the process of expanding the stacks to include all the biomes in the U.S. The major problem now is not the programming but access to illustration and video clips. Oh, and expansion to that other platform! Where are you HC3.0? That's my story, and it started with a biologist in his fifties with no programming experience. Ed Cawley, Ph.D Professor Emeritus, Loras College
Comments to: Ed Cawley
The Grauer School has developed a database using HyperCard which essentially drives the school. We enroll, track, notate, keep addresses, etc. with this database. More importantly, we have used it to make many kinds of reports including such things as report cards, weekly report cards, guidance counselors reports, attendance, and even whole school reports. For example, our Weekly Reports are far more detailed than any report cards I have ever seen in my 7 schools over 25 years - needless to say, most schools can only generate reports quarterly. HyperCard gives our school an amazing edge; it enables us to communicate with parents, students and teachers with unparalleled timeliness and precision. We continually exceed everyone's expectations for most types of school evaluation. If something happened to our HyperCard, I think I would commit hari kari. We have been developing and refining the functions of this database for 7 years now, and it has evolved in tandem with the school. With minor refinements, individual teachers could use this program to their great benefit, as could department heads and tutoring services. It's completely flexible. We can evaluate and generate reports easily on anything we can imagine. Dr. Stuart Grauer, Director The Grauer School
Comments to: Dr. Stuart Grauer
To many, it may not seem like much; but to me, it's incredible that I can "program" and do useful things. HyperCard and HyperTalk have made this possible. I have a property management firm with our own shopping centers. I utilize stacks I've written for accounting, property management, 1099's, vendor and tennant information, and the like. I use version 2.2 with an SE30. My next project is to build a stack for fixed asset depreciation; with arrays(items) it will be a cinch. The boring part will be to enter the monthly percentages. HC and HT are very helpful. Also will be doing checkwriting tied in with accounts payable and general ledger.
Comments to: John Hudson
The coolest thing I do with Hypercard? Utilities For Speeding Programming Tasks (in various languages)! Automation Software for text processing! Speech Assisted Programs for the Handicapped or (like me) lazy! I have accomplished so much with straight hyperTalk, and even more by mixing HC, AppleScript, and compiled code, it's hard even to start. To see (what I feel is) the "Coolest" thing, go to www.wsmarketing.com, and then follow the links to the "Websites" page. There you will find a short story about a program called "WebWrite." In short, WebWrite is a "turn-key" solution for putting any type of "listing" publication on the web. Currently being used in the realestate market by Osborne Publications of Gaithersburg Maryland, WebWrite runs on a network of 21 Macs and produces 8000 perfectly formatted web pages a month, including converting the company's "TIFF" images to "JPEG", starting with raw text and requiring no (as in ZERO) user intervention. None of the 30 (aprox) people responsible for the company's 10 monthly print publications can type the first line of HTML, yet an entire searchable site is created, maintained and updated for them while they produce those printed versions (WebWrite even creates a Spanish version of their publications). The question is, could it have been created in another environment? Sure! At over 4 times the cost and man hours. Next, pop on over to AOL and do a software search for "ScriptScraps." This shareware stack is really helpful to anyone who codes in several languages. It supplies it's user with a means to organize "snippets" of code by language, function name, etc, and to retrive them quickly when needed. And lastly (but certainly not least), if you visit my web site or any of the sites from our "examples" area, I want you to know that very little of the HTML in any of the sites you view is edited by hand (and no, I'm not using an HC based HTML editor like the ones you've probably seen). All of the sites are coded with an application called "SpeakEasy," and as the name implies, the code for the pages is produced by selecting passages of text and speaking into a plaintalk microphone. It's faster than any WYSIWYG editor on the market, more convenient to use by far, and is 99.9% pure HyperTalk!
Comments to: Bill Westfield
All contents copyright (C) 1996, HyperActive Software. All rights reserved.
Revised: November 6, 1998
URL: http://www.hyperactivesw.com/HCStories/stories.html