a. HyperCube is currently under development as a commercial product of Thoughtful Software. The release of version 1.0 is expected before the end of 1992 (also see notes in section g. below).
For more information, send email to hypercube@thoughtful.com, or contact Doug Simons at Thoughtful Software, 616 E. Locust St., Fort Collins, CO 80524. Phone: (303) 221-4596.
b. Category: Multimedia Authoring
c. What the application does:
HyperCube is a comprehensive and easy-to-use hypermedia authoring environment. HyperCube makes it easy to create your own multimedia programs and presentations, from simple desktop utilities like address books and calendars to powerful interactive applications like data bases, hypertext books, and interactive video training systems.
One HyperCube "Document" may contain nothing more than text, with perhaps a few simple graphics, such as a single-page brochure. Another document may contain many pages of text and pictures, with sound annotations and buttons linking related parts of the document. A third document may be an animated presentation which takes over the full screen. Yet another may be an interactive tutorial which solicits responses from the viewer and presents information accordingly.
Creating your own HyperCube documents is as simple as dragging objects into a window. When more power is needed, the easy-to-use CubeTalk scripting language gives you the flexibility you need to create sophisticated applications. The English-like CubeTalk language is compatible with HyperTalk, so you can import Macintosh HyperCard stacks with little or no modification.
d. Some possible uses of HyperCube:
Convert existing HyperCard stacks for use under NeXTSTEP.
Develop courseware and interactive tutorials.
Present information, examples, concepts.
Maintain personal information databases.
e. HyperCube is developed and runs under NeXTSTEP 2.x.
f. Installation instructions:
None. When you launch the beta version included here, a panel will be displayed indicating that the program is not registered. Simply click the button labelled "Demo mode" to run HyperCube in demo mode. The demo mode will allow you to open and use any of the sample documents included on the disk. All of the documents will open in read-only mode, which allows changes to be made freely but prevents those changes from being saved to the disk. New documents may not be created in Demo mode. See the README file included in the directory with the sample documents for a brief description of them.
g. Additional information:
HyperCube is still under development. When version 1.0 is available, it will sell for $495 US. An educational discount will be available. By the time you read this, a more complete beta version should be available for purchase at a reduced price, with free upgrade to version 1.0. Contact Thoughtful Software for more information.
