Do Be Do Be Do
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Here's an explanation of what you see in this 18-second clip.
The clip is christened '9' because we had to come up with a name, and the original idea was to fill the screen with a 3x3 matrix of small windows from the new application Be.app.
The process as intended seemed too lugubrious and so, after creating the first three windows, the plan was aborted and we settled for three.
But what are those three windows? For further information, continue reading beyond the clip below.
Xshelf
Off to the right you see a document window for the ACP application Xshelf. This is to speed up the process for the demonstration.
The Xshelf window is populated with three Xshelf items.
1.dobedobedo
2.dobedobedo
3.dobedobedo(Note: The file extension 'dobedobedo' is registered as a humorous afterthought. The dedicated file extension for Be.app is 'be'.)
The above three files have but one (1) byte each. One character. Those characters are displayed in the windows.
Those three characters appear to be 'selected'. That's because they are.
Those three windows also appear to have different colours. That's because they do.
And please note: Those files are not 'rich text' - they literally contain a single byte.
And, as you can see in that brief clip, all that's done is the three files are dragged along the Dock and dropped on the Be.app icon. That's it.
Yet those three windows come up on screen with random window placements, window sizes, background colours, foreground colours, and unusual and very big fonts. How is that possible?
Do Be Do Be Do
Configuring a Be document file - note: not the application, but a file, as this is on a per-file basis - is just a matter of strolling through the menus.
You set alignment, background colour, character encoding, font, foreground colour, spell check, window frame, and your caret position and text selection, all saved when you save your file. On a per-file basis.
What Do You Do Now?
What do you do now? That's up to you. The goal was to refine an all-purpose text app that can perform seamlessly in a limitless variety of scenarios.
Thanks to its built-in templates, Be functions as a source code editor, an HTML editor, a typical generic text editor, and a 'Stickies' Post-It editor. It can create fridge magnet reminders for your desktop. It can do whatever you want it to do.
To do is to Be. - Nietzsche
To Be is to do. - Kant
Do Be do Be do. - Sinatra
- /usr/games/fortune