IT MAY SEEM that Apple's Internet offerings are a bit behind the times. All that will change this spring when CyberDog is unleashed.
CyberDog provides Internet access for Web browsing, e-mail, FTP file transfers, Telnet ses-sions, and the like. However, rather than being a monolithic application or a suite of separate utilities, CyberDog -- that's just a code name, by the way -- is a set of OpenDoc parts.
OpenDoc is a software technology that allows parts -- small functional elements -- to be embedded within containers -- what we today call documents. An example: Today's page-layout pro-grams let you import various types of graphics, but to edit each graphic, you have to go back into the program that created it. With OpenDoc, embedded graphics would be OpenDoc parts, which could be directly edited in place.
Apple's plans for CyberDog go even further. For example, when you use it to access an FTP site, a window will appear that contains a list of hierarchical folders, just as in the Finder. And -- you guessed it -- you'll be able to download a file to your local hard disk by dragging it from the FTP-site window to your desktop.
Apple will supply an OpenDoc-compliant SimpleText-like container and other basic ele-ments. Things should get more exciting later this year: Although Claris isn't talking, our advice is to keep your eye on it -- especially if you think an OpenDoc-compliant version of ClarisWorks might be of interest.
