Anyone here remember Apple's HyperCard program from years ago?

[Ken Springer]

Looking for a similar program that runs natively under Windows 7, so far
without luck finding something that is current. There's one for OS X
called SuperCard, but no Windows version. :-(

Any suggestions?
--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.8.2
Firefox 18.0.1
Thunderbird 17.0.2
LibreOffice 3.6.3.2

 

[Asger Joergensen]

Hi Ken

Looking for a similar program that runs natively under Windows 7,
so far without luck finding something that is current. There's
one for OS X called SuperCard, but no Windows version. :-(

Any suggestions?

Maybe if you explain what the program does ?

 

[Ed Cryer]

Looking for a similar program that runs natively under Windows 7, so far
without luck finding something that is current. There's one for OS X
called SuperCard, but no Windows version. :-(

Any suggestions?

I'd suggest listing the things it does that you like about it, post them
here, and wait for someone to suggest some modern Windows-based software.

I'd bet a pound to a penny that you'll find some freeware for a Win7
base that will at least equal the talents of the OSX application.

OTOH, if you're so enamoured of it, why not run it under an OSX
emulator, such as this;
http://download.cnet.com/Apple-Mac-OS-X-Lion/3000-18513_4-75454201.html

Ed


Ed

 

[Andy Burns]

Looking for a similar program that runs natively under Windows 7
Any suggestions?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperCard#Similar_systems

 

[John Williamson]

Hi Ken



Maybe if you explain what the program does ?

A rapid application development environment for use by non-programmers,
which could use an almost natural English program form.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperCard.

The OP might like to have a look at this:-

http://www.tigabyte.com/index_hn.htm

Hypernext, a cross-platform RAD based on the Hypercard interface principles.

 

[Ken Springer]

Hi Ken



Maybe if you explain what the program does ?

I couldn't do a better job that the link that John Williamson has provided.

What's hard to explain, even by users back then, is just how many
different ways people used it. I wasn't a Mac user then, but if you
ever saw it being demoed by someone that knew how to use it, you
immediately say how much easier and more flexible it was to use than the
averaged DOS/Windows database program, if that was your desired end result.


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.8.2
Firefox 18.0.1
Thunderbird 17.0.2
LibreOffice 3.6.3.2

 

[Ken Springer]

I'd suggest listing the things it does that you like about it, post them
here, and wait for someone to suggest some modern Windows-based software.

I was never a user of HyperCard, but as I just posted in response to
Asger, it was obviously much easier to use than the DOS/Windows
databases at the time. One of the things I remember about it was how it
was so easy to include a graphic.

I'd bet a pound to a penny that you'll find some freeware for a Win7
base that will at least equal the talents of the OSX application.

Which is exactly what I'm asking for. Some suggestions for easy to use
software. Kind of figured if folks remembered what HyperCard was like,
they could offer suggestions for something similar.

Once I find some programs to test, then want to create a simple database
for my brother-in-law. Found a couple flat file types, one I never
really could make work, another had deficiencies in the report generator.

Found one relational database, that looked really promising until I went
to create reports. Now, this is relational database, but would you
believe you could only access one table for a report, without jumping
through hoops? Neither was it that easy to use.

OTOH, if you're so enamoured of it, why not run it under an OSX
emulator, such as this;
http://download.cnet.com/Apple-Mac-OS-X-Lion/3000-18513_4-75454201.html

To start with, HyperCard will not run under OS X. With OS X, you have
to have one of the older versions of OS X that had the emulator built in
that allowed you to run OS 9 and earlier software. That was gone by OS
10.5.x, Leopard.

And the link above is not an emulator. That is a copy of the OS X
10.7.5 Lion, Supplemental Update. Meaning, you probably have to have a
legit copy of Lion installed first before you can use this.

The first hint it's not an emulator is that it is listed under Mac
Software rather than Windows software, plus the file extension is .dmg,
which is Mac's version of an .iso file.

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.8.2
Firefox 18.0.1
Thunderbird 17.0.2
LibreOffice 3.6.3.2

 

[Steve Hayes]

Looking for a similar program that runs natively under Windows 7, so far
without luck finding something that is current. There's one for OS X
called SuperCard, but no Windows version. :-(

I heard of it, but never used it.

What about Windows Office OneNote?

 

[Steve Hayes]

I couldn't do a better job that the link that John Williamson has provided.

What's hard to explain, even by users back then, is just how many
different ways people used it. I wasn't a Mac user then, but if you
ever saw it being demoed by someone that knew how to use it, you
immediately say how much easier and more flexible it was to use than the
averaged DOS/Windows database program, if that was your desired end result.

Check http://www.asksam.com

 

[Ken Springer]

I heard of it, but never used it.

What about Windows Office OneNote?

I don't know enough about OneNote to know. But a quick look leaves me
the impression that's it's more a means to organize various notes and
odd bits of information, rather than function as a simple database
that's as easy as HyperCard was.

At this point, I think I'd try Live Code, Ask Sam, and HyperNext Studio
(no particular order) before OneNote. All three seem to me to be closer
to what I'm looking for.

Simple to use databases seem to have all but disappeared from the
computer scene. :-(

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.8.2
Firefox 18.0.1
Thunderbird 17.0.2
LibreOffice 3.6.3.2

 

[Ken Springer]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperCard#Similar_systems

Thanks for the link, Andy, but most of those programs have gone by the
wayside. Others, I already discovered.

HyperNext looks the most promising visually, but according to dates on
the website, nothing is updated since 2009, and the pages seem like the
software just generates apps that run under the Android OS. Plus, the
latest OS X listed is Leopard, which is 3 versions older than I
currently operate.


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.8.2
Firefox 18.0.1
Thunderbird 17.0.2
LibreOffice 3.6.3.2

 

[Andy Burns]

Thanks for the link, Andy, but most of those programs have gone by the
wayside.

I saw the link from RunRev that mentioned open-sourcing LiveCode, and
assumed they'd decided it was a suitable option for an EOL porduct, but
when I followed it, seems they'd like to raise £1/3m to release a FOSS
version of their own product, while continuing to sell it as a
commercial product ...

<http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1755283828/open-source-edition-of-livecode>

For that, I'm surprised they have found as many backers as they have so far!

 

[John Williamson]

Thanks for the link, Andy, but most of those programs have gone by the
wayside. Others, I already discovered.

HyperNext looks the most promising visually, but according to dates on
the website, nothing is updated since 2009, and the pages seem like the
software just generates apps that run under the Android OS. Plus, the
latest OS X listed is Leopard, which is 3 versions older than I
currently operate.

Hypernext generates apps that run in a "player", which is available for
most if not all OS's. They're just pushing the Android one at the moment
because that's what's cool. It doesn't run native code anywhere.

It's still possible to do useful database mangling in Delphi 2, which
was written in 1996, although the latest version is obviously better.

 

[mechanic]

Thanks for the link, Andy, but most of those programs have gone
by the wayside. Others, I already discovered.

HyperNext looks the most promising visually, but according to
dates on the website, nothing is updated since 2009, and the
pages seem like the software just generates apps that run under
the Android OS. Plus, the latest OS X listed is Leopard, which
is 3 versions older than I currently operate.

Quote from Hypernext web page:
"HyperNext is freeware and truly cross-platform building software
for both Macintosh and Windows."

Not true?

 

[John Williamson]

Quote from Hypernext web page:
"HyperNext is freeware and truly cross-platform building software
for both Macintosh and Windows."

Not true?

They're pushing the Android version, it's not that clear how to get the
Windows and Mac versions from the project home page.

It would seem that an app written for one will actually run on all the
supported platforms, with the clever stuff being done by the player
application.

 

[Steve Hayes]

I don't know enough about OneNote to know. But a quick look leaves me
the impression that's it's more a means to organize various notes and
odd bits of information, rather than function as a simple database
that's as easy as HyperCard was.

At this point, I think I'd try Live Code, Ask Sam, and HyperNext Studio
(no particular order) before OneNote. All three seem to me to be closer
to what I'm looking for.

Probably wise.

OneNote sounds nice, but documentation on how to use it is unobtainable.

They tell you how easy it is to enter data, but they don't tell you anything
about reporting and getting it out again.

I've used askSam for 20 years and find it very useful.

 

[Ed Cryer]

I was never a user of HyperCard, but as I just posted in response to
Asger, it was obviously much easier to use than the DOS/Windows
databases at the time. One of the things I remember about it was how it
was so easy to include a graphic.


Which is exactly what I'm asking for. Some suggestions for easy to use
software. Kind of figured if folks remembered what HyperCard was like,
they could offer suggestions for something similar.

Once I find some programs to test, then want to create a simple database
for my brother-in-law. Found a couple flat file types, one I never
really could make work, another had deficiencies in the report generator.

Found one relational database, that looked really promising until I went
to create reports. Now, this is relational database, but would you
believe you could only access one table for a report, without jumping
through hoops? Neither was it that easy to use.


To start with, HyperCard will not run under OS X. With OS X, you have
to have one of the older versions of OS X that had the emulator built in
that allowed you to run OS 9 and earlier software. That was gone by OS
10.5.x, Leopard.

And the link above is not an emulator. That is a copy of the OS X
10.7.5 Lion, Supplemental Update. Meaning, you probably have to have a
legit copy of Lion installed first before you can use this.

The first hint it's not an emulator is that it is listed under Mac
Software rather than Windows software, plus the file extension is .dmg,
which is Mac's version of an .iso file.

Well, I installed it in Win7 inside VMware; just to see what it looked
like. I soon got rid of it.
Apple hardware is always so beautifully turned out. Almost "designer
engineering". Software, however, is a different story.

Ed

 

[Ken Springer]

Well, I installed it in Win7 inside VMware; just to see what it looked
like. I soon got rid of it.
Apple hardware is always so beautifully turned out. Almost "designer
engineering". Software, however, is a different story.

This is interesting, supposedly you're not supposed to be able to
install OS X in VM's due to copyrighted/patented items in the
OS/hardware. But I guess it's possible somebody managed to reverse
engineer everything. That, I just don't know.

Hopefully I can find some time to try this, but it's a tangent from my goal.

I need something that runs natively in Win 7. VM's won't cut it for the
end user of the project.


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.8.2
Firefox 18.0.1
Thunderbird 17.0.2
LibreOffice 3.6.3.2

 

[Ken Springer]

Quote from Hypernext web page:
"HyperNext is freeware and truly cross-platform building software
for both Macintosh and Windows."

It's not a questions as to what the end product will run on, but whether
the software will run under and OS newer than Leopard, and I think XP.
Even then, will the results run on the newer OS's?

I just got my password to their site, when I'm ready to try it out, I'll
ask.


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.8.2
Firefox 18.0.1
Thunderbird 17.0.2
LibreOffice 3.6.3.2

 

[Ken Springer]

Probably wise.

OneNote sounds nice, but documentation on how to use it is unobtainable.

They tell you how easy it is to enter data, but they don't tell you anything
about reporting and getting it out again.

I've used askSam for 20 years and find it very useful.

Thanks for the askSam comment.

A friend just told me about Filemaker. I thought it was more of a
standard database program like Access, but when I watched the video, it
reminded me very much of HyperCard.

Too expensive for the project I want to do, though.



--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.8.2
Firefox 18.0.1
Thunderbird 17.0.2
LibreOffice 3.6.3.2