During one of my original CNE classes (circa 1994), we were shown a new
software development tool from Novell. This was during the days when
Novell was going crazy trying to beat Microsoft on every front (e.g.
their own version of DOS, the WordPerfect Office suite, etc), and
apparently they wanted to go after the RAD software business that Visual
Basic led. I don’t know if this tool was ever commercially released –
the version I saw may have been a late beta – but in essence it allowed
you to develop Windows “programs” by dragging components onto a canvas,
and connecting them with lines, like a flowchart or Visio diagram. The
components were pre-existing logic “building blocks”, such as “read
file” or “prompt user”, which could be configured for the specific task
needed (e.g. “read value -x- from line -y- in file -z-”). There
were also “decision” and “loop” blocks, to mimic the types of logic flow
common in language-based development, and there was supposed to be an
API for creating or using third-party building blocks (similar to
Microsoft’s VBX extensions).
Does anyone remember what this was called? Was it ever released?
Thanks so much, that’s exactly the system I meant. I remember the
AppWare and Visual Appbuilder names. It’s a shame the thing was
abandoned; it had the potential to do for Windows RAD what HyperCard did
for the Mac.
Thanks so much, that’s exactly the system I meant. I remember the
AppWare and Visual Appbuilder names. It’s a shame the thing was
abandoned; it had the potential to do for Windows RAD what HyperCard did
for the Mac.[/color]
Which fully explains why it suffered the same fate?
On Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:36:01 +0000, EJSawyer wrote:
[color=blue]
Thanks so much, that’s exactly the system I meant. I remember the
AppWare and Visual Appbuilder names. It’s a shame the thing was
abandoned; it had the potential to do for Windows RAD what HyperCard did
for the Mac.[/color]
Yep.
I had contact with Network Multimedia after they took it over (even had,
until recently, a fully copy of MicroBrew 1.3 (I think that was the
version number). I had used it pretty extensively, and things were going
quite well.
And then one day Network Multimedia just dropped off the face of the
earth. It wasn’t merely abandoned - the company just disappeared.
Apparently one of the founders (Ed Firmage IIRC) had something happen to
him (I’ve heard mixed reports, and it borders on religious discussion IIRC
so I’m going to stop there) and he completely changed direction overnight.
There has been the occasional talk in AppWare mailing lists (there are
some still active AFAICR) about seeing if someone could take ownership of
the product, but those never went anywhere - again as I recall - because
nobody could contact the current owners of the IP. There was even a
suggestion that the ownership had moved back by default to Novell
(probably not the case, though IANAL so don’t know the terms of the
agreement or the relevant law) but they never pursued it to my knowledge.
On Tue, 05 Feb 2013 23:04:02 +0000, Picador01 wrote:
[color=blue]
Does anyone have a copy of AppWare or MicroBrew, or know where to find
one?[/color]
I had looked for some sort of update a few years back, but it seems they
just completely vanished.
Last year, I had a clear out of all my old software, and I know a copy of
AppWare went into the pile that I now have a certificate of destruction
for.
I /may/ still have a CD with MicroBrew on it. I don’t recall if that
went into the pile or not.
Network Multimedia (the company that AppWare went to and then that
rebranded it) more or less vanished not long after the one release they
put out. IIRC, Ed Firmage was the guy in charge there, but a Google
search only turns up some very…shall we say “odd” things about him.
There are/were some online user groups for the products after the company
vanished, and once upon a time there was even talk that Novell could take
ownership of AppWare back if they wanted to, but I don’t think anything
was ever done with that.
It would still be 16-bit only (as it never was ported beyond Win 3.1
IIRC), but if I do by some chance still have the disc, I can see if I can
make it available somehow.
Thanks, Jim. I’d be curious to get any copy – though especially Mac (*I still have an old Mac)
Also: My understanding is that the product was licensed to Network Multimedia, not sold. Is that true? Any idea who at Novell would have a copy of that license, or info about it?
On Sun, 10 Feb 2013 17:54:01 +0000, Picador01 wrote:
[color=blue]
Thanks, Jim. I’d be curious to get any copy – though especially Mac
(*I still have an old Mac)[/color]
At least for 1.3, both versions were on the disc IIRC.
[color=blue]
Also: My understanding is that the product was licensed to Network
Multimedia, not sold. Is that true? Any idea who at Novell would have
a copy of that license, or info about it?[/color]
