Conference bulova::decw_jan-89_to_nov-90

       
       
       	
       DECpresenter sounds from what I've heard to be 10k times better
       than the old VWS SIGHT. So, I suspect that will be our
       "Super-PAINT". Personally, I can't wait for DECpresenter!!
       
       							mike

	For DECwindows V3, paint will have color and some other nifty stuff.
Because Paint (like all the other DECwindows products) has to run on every
platform which DECwindows runs on, it is likely that certain enhancements 
may have to be sacrificed because the resources may not be available on every
platform.  Paint was never intended to incorporate any object oriented (draw)
elements.  Both DECwrite (which is aready out there) and DECpresenter will
have object oriented capabilities, and both may include a bitmap image created
with paint (so you can get two both layers with these products).  I (just me)
am the entire development team for DECpaint, so what I can do for V3, I will.
What I can't do won't make it into V3, and that's all I can say.

-Jonathan

I may be getting ahead of myself here.  It's certainly not a majority of 
people who have access to DECwindows V2 (although it may be a majority of the
readers of this conference).  V2 paint (though still monochrome) is much
improved over V1, though not in terms of specialized painting tools.  It was
not our desire to create an application with a great deal of nifty yet not
largely used tools.  We instead created an application which has a basic set
of commonly used tools.  The largest functionality difference between V2 and
V1 is the ability to edit images larger than the screen, and to set the 
resolution (useful for editing 300 DPI images)

-Jonathan

    I completely understand.  Sounds like you have a great deal of items on
    YOUR list, and only 1 person to do it!
    
    Is it possible to take a look at some of the packages commonly
    available on the market (like MACdraw II , or Super-Paint)
    and see which features actually makes sense? I totally agree that MANY
    features in these external packages are nit features, BUT, there are
    still a great deal of REALLY useable features. (Take a look at their
    3-D wire frame OBJECTs, or the dithering mechanisms, or their alignment
    techniques- These were all really nice and would be used WIDELY.)
    
    As a aside, I am part of the project team implementing the DIGITAL
    ROADSHOW (32 cities over 5 months, 1st city: Houston on 24-Oct-89)
    DURING the show, we need to demo a great deal of product and
    capabilities. At one point, we will draw the MAILbus and NAS diagrams.
    We have chosen the SuperPAINT application on the MAC to do it due to
    the limited functionality of our DECW$PAINT.  If WE had to do it, I can
    only believe that our CUSTOMERS will make similiar choices...
    
    (No energy here, just wanted to explain my interest in PAINT as a REAL
    product which has some VERY REAL applications for our customers.)
    
    Mark

>    capabilities. At one point, we will draw the MAILbus and NAS diagrams.
>    We have chosen the SuperPAINT application on the MAC to do it due to
    
    Why not use DECwrite?  It provides text and graphics drawing
    capabilities at the object level instead of the pixel level.  It just
    doesn't do color yet (and DECpresenter will be addressing that in their
    V1 release).
    
John

    No, didn't miss anything... In fact I'm one of the biggest advocates of
    using DEcwrite, but in comparison to the simplicity found when using
    SUPERpaint, it doesn't come off well. In fact, customers can relate
    directly to PAINT-type applications, while they hesitate to adjust to
    using a full-blown documentation package to get at the simple
    'DRAW A PICTURE' need.  -- DECwrite would do it fine, but it involves
    more operations just to get you to the point where you can
    begin drawing.
    
    If they feel they want and understand PAINT, we'll do it with Paint.
    
    (Now next year, maybe DECpresentor, or DECW$PAINT, or...?)
    
    Mark

>-< DECwrite is like buying a gas station to fillup your tank >-
    
    I guess.  I don't have a user's perspective on DECwrite, so I'll trust
    your views.
    
John