Hypertext Ada

[munck@MBUNIX.MITRE.ORG (Bob Munck)]

  The discussion of Knuth's WEB system has pushed one of my "hot
buttons:"  the way we continue to burden ourselves with the requirements
of physical/non-computer-based media when those forms are long obsolete. 
For example, I'll bet that 90% of Ada programs would fit comfortably on
80-column IBM cards.  The legacy of cards and keypunches has been
preserved in the 80x25 screen.

  When I'm writing Ada code, I'm talking to two audiences: first the Ada
compiler and second programmers yet unborn who will maintain and upgrade
my code.  (Priorities should be reversed.)  The two audiences are very
different.  (The struggle to higher-level languages is driven by this,
in that it is an attempt to make the two audiences closer to each
other.)  I personally find it a real pain to be restricted to the forms
and media of the compiler when I'm trying to say something to the
people.  For example, quite often a picture or two would be very useful,
but after a few minutes of trying to line up "-----"s and "|"s on lines
starting with "--"s, I give up and write some less communicative text.

  At other times, I want to refer to something elsewhere in my text. 
We have the technology to allow me to do so with an icon or
special-character "button" that the reader can mouse-click on.  Instead,
I'm forced to type a long qualified name that the reader can use to
trace through my structure to the place referenced.  A pain for both of
us.  I certainly want to use italics, boldface, different fonts and font
sizes, and full proportional spacing in my documentation.

  It occurs to me that what I'm proposing here is a candidate for
consideration by the Ada 9X group.  I don't want to change the language,
but rather the data format that it is embedded within.  I want a
"multi-media hypertext" Ada with desktop-publishing capabilities like
"Mac Draw" pictures, scanner input, color, multiple fonts, orientations,
etc.  Also, and more ambitious, the idea that Ada code is _always_ read
on and with the help of an interactive tool that can travel around a
hypertext, maybe something like HyperCard.  The problem of separating
and keeping clear what the compiler deals with is not difficult, but
certainly can be a bit more sophisticated than leading "--"s.

  This means we have to raise our sights above the VT-100 as our
lowest-level programmer support, but not that much above.  A Mac or a PC
with EGA display should do fine, and cost less than 1% of the yearly cost
of its user.  The 9X people will have to struggle with "external form,"
graphics, windowing standards, and other bothersome subjects, but the
technology is all available; it's just a matter of making choices. 
While I'm against the 9X effort in general because of the political
dangers of changing the language, this wouldn't bother me because it
isn't really changing the language, but its storage medium.

  Comments?  Opinions?  Funding?
                                 -- Bob Munck, MITRE