W-hat is StevePerfect and why would you ever use it?
The purpose of StevePerfect is to have a simple typing interface that is more useful then Apple's Simpletext. It also supports the latest Macintosh advances that Apple has yet to include with Simpletext such as themes, internet access, true worldscript support, a music player capable of playing mp3 or quicktime audio, movie viewer for quicktime files, MPEGs and VCDs, live internet media content and a really easy user interface. StevePerfect is intended for novice users or other users who don't mind a simple interface to type in the language they prefer. I would not recommend this program to the power user who likes a boring looking desktop. StevePerfect looks beautiful in the Aqua II Scheme and Liquid Theme! For users of MacOS X Public Beta there is a preview carbon version of StevePerfect X available for a true Aqua experience.
What does StevePerfect do?
StevePerfect supports the basic typing features: Font, Style, Color, Size, Search, Save, Open, and Find. It also includes more advanced features such as streaming Quicktime Media support and web and email links (the latter only supported in MacOS 9). StevePerfect is completely balloon help compatible and also features a help system. It also uses Apple’s new Open/Save windows otherwise known as navigation services. Themes Support is included and is geared towards the user installing Kaleidoscope and the Aqua II Scheme or the Liquid Theme for MacOS 8.5 and above. Also, StevePerfect runs beautifully under Worldscript extensions. This means that StevePerfect works with Apple's language software. Many users have reported success n Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and other languages. If it does not work in your preferred language please let me know. StevePerfect can also correctly print other languages besides English. Lastly, if you have Quicktime 4.1 installed you can listen to mp3 files or quicktime audio files while you work.
What are the requirements?
You need at least:
System 7.5.5, but MacOS 8.1 or higher is recommended
Applescript
9.6 megs of free memory (with or without virtual memory)
1500k of hard disk space
Screen Resolution of 800 X 600 (iBook size)
Quicktime 4.1.2 (for music and video support)
For some features you need at least:
Internet Config (Installed on MacOS 8 and above by default)
Internet Connection (56k or higher recommended)
PowerPC processor (For playing MP3 files while you work)
Sherlock 1 or 2 (MacOS 8.5 or higher)
Web Browser
E-Mail
Navigation Services library (MacOS 8.1 or higher)
StevePerfect has been tested on MacOS 8.5 and above. As always, use StevePerfect at your own risk.
What is new in version 4.6.1 compared to version 4.5 released a while back?
Version 4.6.1 includes the following enhancements:
1-The dictionary client has been fixed since the "dict.org" database changed its IP address.
2-Many buttons have been changed so that the return key will complete a command.
3-Balloon help options have been added to the help button.
4-Fixes a printing bug that caused a crash on certain printers.
Known Bugs
1-On some systems when a user changes the styled text they can not change the text back to plain text. To fix this select the text that you want to change and click plain text.
2-When StevePerfect runs out of memory it quits with a type 2 error. Increase the amount of memory in the about box.
What do you have planned for the future?
Find and replace instead of just find.
More size options.
Text-to-speech capabilities so you can have a corny computer voice read your document.
Play lists for the MP3 music.
Decrease in the RAM requirements for the program.
MacOS X support (this is being worked on already).
Better style icons then just letters.
Better printing support.
Yes, this all sounds very ambitious, but this program has come a long way in very little time, so you may see some of these features soon. I take requests from users so send in those e-mails!
Troubleshooting
Q. My StevePerfect keeps running out of memory and quiting. What gives?
A. In the finder click once on the StevePerfect icon. In MacOS 8.5 and above click the general information tab and select memory. In all other MacOS versions skip that step. Click on the suggested memory box and increase the memory by a meg or so. That should fix it.
Q. When I do print from the file menu only the cancel button prints anyway? What gives again?
A. I'm working on that one. It is basically the only bug in StevePerfect. To avoid that problem use the print button in the document window.
Q. My computer says this is not a valid .exe file. Where's the love?
A. This program only works on a Macintosh. Do not open it in Windows. Case closed.
Q. My worldscript doesn't work!
A. Let me know! I have fixed all of the worldscript problems so far, so I can probably work with you to resolve the problem.
Anything else?
As always use StevePerfect at your own risk. I don’t guarantee anything nor do I plan to anytime in the future as long as this product remains free to the public. I hope it provides you with a simple editor that leaves off where Apple did a couple of years ago. You may use StevePerfect free of charge. All I ask is if you find it at all useful you send me an e-mail and let me know. If you think it is terrible I wouldn’t mind constructive criticism either (I think we all learned that phrase in the 3rd grade). Also, at this time I do not plan to produce a Windows version. I have tested a few Windows builds but I do not have the interest at this time to do a Windows version. Also the Windows version I made lacked many of the useful features that are included with the Mac version. So if you really want to see a Windows version send me an e-mail and enough federal reserve notes to do the job.
Also, the bar on the left of the window uses the new Mac OS X Aqua style buttons that I found on Resexcellence. I did this because I think the icons Apple made are very straight forward and will provide the user with an easy to use interface. Unfortunately I have noticed that Apple is very protective over the new Aqua interface. If the buttons in StevePerfect are in any way violating any copyrights at Apple, or someone at Apple actually cares about StevePerfect (now that would be the shocker of the century) then please let me know and I will remove the icons from the StevePerfect application and create some boring ones myself. Also the main application icon was taking from a set of NeXT icons I found on the internet at one point, but I don’t remember who made them. So if you made any of the icons included with my software please let me know and I’ll put you in the credits or take them out of the program if you really care.
How did you make this software?
I made this software with REALBasic. It is an object-oriented programming environment for the Macintosh platform. For information see the bottom right side of this page.
So who is Steve?
I am a second year student at The University of California, Davis. While I am far from perfect, I hope this application is closer to it. This application was made with on a Powerbook G3 333mhz with 128 megs ram and MacOS 9.0.4. It also provided me a great distraction from my French homework. If you have questions about the software please e-mail me at sdmassey@ucdavis.edu.
Thanks
For the printing code and dictionary code I would like to thank Matt Neuburg. Not only did he write most of the code for the printing but he also wrote a wonderful guide to programming. Without it this document would never be printed in our lifetime!
StevePerfect 4.6.1 is copyright 1999-2000, Steven Massey. All rights are reserved. Use at your own risk.
