Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: Scripting on Windows
Author: Daniel Barnes Posted: 1/12/1999; 10:48:46 AM Topic: Scripting on Windows Msg #: 2032 (In response to 2017) Prev/Next: 2031 / 2033
The newspaper publishing industry is going through a change of dominant vendors for editorial systems, and the new ones are primarily PC-based (some are cross-platform). They need scripting help!Groupware also is becoming more important to newspapers. Some editorial systems based on Lotus Notes are even being developed.
Editorial systems managers are accustomed to the keyboard macros available on even '70s-vintage editing systems and to Applescripting on Macs. But till CE Software recently announced Quickeys for Windows, there was nothing even close to an industrial strength off-the-shelf, ready-to-run macro and scripting tool for Windows. (Disclaimer: I haven't tried Quickeys for Windows yet. Their website has a trial download available, tho.)
(I'd put Frontier in a different category from Quickeys, but there's overlap.)
Some of the next-generation newspaper editorial systems use Quark, some probably will use Adobe's upcoming "K2" layout and composition system. Seems like getting the PC versions of those programs scriptable would help lots of publishing folks (and not just in newspapers).
Some others vendors use proprietary software for layout and/or editing.
Newsrooms aren't a huge market, but they're steeped in the tradition of automating as much as they can and they make good showcases.
The two increasingly dominant vendors in the metropolitan niche are: * CCI Europe www.cci.dk (proprietary layout tool, customized MS-Word for editing) * Unisys (an Italian division selling worldwide) http://corp2.unisys.com/publishing/index.htm (proprietary editing and layout tools)
Also interesting, selling mostly to medium-sized papers: * Digital Technologies Int'l (publishers of FaceSpan) www.dtint.com (Reported to be adopting K2)
And (the folks who created the editorial systems market worldwide): * Atex Media Solutions www.atex.com (Sells a system based on Word and Quark, "DewarView" * System Integrators Inc. (SII) www.sii.com (Has announced an editorial system based on Lotus Notes.)
Finally, the leading light in Notes-based editorial systems: * NewsEngin www.newsengin.com (Partner with Quark developer Desknet, www.desknetinc.com)
FWIW. --Dan Barnes/ Star Tribune/ Minneapolis-St.Paul barnes@startribune.com
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