30 Facts About HyperCard

1.

HyperCard is a software application and development kit for Apple Macintosh and Apple IIGS computers.

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2.

HyperCard combines a flat-file database with a graphical, flexible, user-modifiable interface.

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3.

HyperCard includes a built-in programming language called HyperTalk for manipulating data and the user interface.

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4.

HyperCard was not ported to Mac OS X, but can run in the Classic Environment on those Mac OS X that support it.

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5.

Beauty of HyperCard is that it lets people program without having to learn how to write code — what I call "programming for the rest of us".

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6.

HyperCard has made it possible for people to do things they wouldn't have ever thought of doing in the past without a lot of heavy-duty programming.

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7.

HyperCard is based on the concept of a "stack" of virtual "cards".

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8.

Also, HyperCard includes prototype or template cards called backgrounds; when new cards are created they can refer to one of these background cards, which causes all of the objects on the background to be copied onto the new card.

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9.

Database features of the HyperCard system are based on the storage of the state of all of the objects on the cards in the physical file representing the stack.

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10.

Unlike the majority of RAD or database systems of the era, however, HyperCard combines all of these features, both user-facing and developer-facing, in a single application.

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11.

HyperCard contains an object oriented scripting language called HyperTalk, which was noted for having a syntax resembling casual English language.

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12.

HyperCard can be extended significantly through the use of external command and external function (XFCN) modules.

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13.

HyperCard was created by Bill Atkinson following an LSD trip.

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14.

Apple's project managers found HyperCard was being used by a huge number of people, internally and externally.

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15.

Many of the HyperCard developers chose to stay at Apple rather than move to Claris, causing the development team to be split.

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16.

Early versions of Claris HyperCard contain an Easter Egg: typing "magic" into the message box converts the player into a full HyperCard authoring environment.

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17.

Nonetheless, HyperCard continued to be popular and used for a widening range of applications, from the game The Manhole, an earlier effort by the creators of Myst, to corporate information services.

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18.

The last functional native HyperCard authoring environment is Classic mode in Mac OS X 10.

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19.

HyperCard has been used for a range of hypertext and artistic purposes.

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20.

Examples of HyperCard applications include simple databases, "choose your own adventure"-type games, and educational teaching aids.

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21.

In Quebec, Canada, HyperCard was used to control a robot arm used to insert and retrieve video disks at the National Film Board CineRobotheque.

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22.

HyperCard was used to prototype a fully functional prototype of SIDOCI and was heavily used by Montreal Consulting firm DMR to demonstrate how "a typical day in the life of a patient about to get surgery" would look like in a paperless age.

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23.

HyperCard-inspired SuperCard for a while included the Roadster plug-in that allowed stacks to be placed inside web pages and viewed by web browsers with an appropriate browser plug-in.

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24.

HyperCard executed scripts in stacks immediately on opening, it was one of the first applications susceptible to macro viruses.

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25.

HyperCard is one of the first products that made use of and popularized the hypertext concept to a large popular base of users.

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26.

Jakob Nielsen has pointed out that HyperCard was really only a hypermedia program since its links started from regions on a card, not text objects; actual HTML-style text hyperlinks were possible in later versions, but were awkward to implement and seldom used.

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27.

HyperCard saw a loss in popularity with the growth of the World Wide Web, since the Web could handle and deliver data in much the same way as HyperCard without being limited to files on a local hard disk.

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28.

HyperCard had a significant impact on the web as it inspired the creation of both HTTP, and JavaScript (whose creator, Brendan Eich, was inspired by HyperTalk).

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29.

HyperCard influenced the development of the Web in late 1990 through its influence on Robert Cailliau, who assisted in developing Tim Berners-Lee's first Web browser.

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30.

One of HyperCard's strengths was its handling of multimedia, and many multimedia systems like Macromedia Authorware and Macromedia Director are based on concepts originating in HyperCard.

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