Inside Natural - What is it?


Quite a number of years ago I began using Microsoft Word on my Macintosh. A friend told me about a publication called Inside Word. I called the number he gave me and had a complimentary copy sent, along with a subscription form. I was impressed by the knowledge of the staff writing Inside Word, and the rather free and easy style of the publication. Since they encouraged participation, I soon had several articles published. When I recommended Inside Word to another Natural consultant, he mused that it was too bad that something like that didn't exist for Natural. Too bad indeed. It took me about ten seconds to realize he was right, and another ten seconds to decide to publish Inside Natural. It then took me about four months to produce a Marketing Sample (the somewhat rare Volume 1 Number 0).

That was in 1990. The first "real" issue, Volume 1 Number 1, appeared in February of 1991. We are now in our second decade of publication. It has been a real learning experience for me; trying to ascertain what level the readership wanted to see; the ins and outs of publishing; learning Pagemaker for the Mac and PC; interfacing with the Natural Development staff in Darmstadt to produce a periodic column called "mesSAGes from the Developers"; etc. The feedback from the community of subscribers has been excellent. The Readers Forum column reflects the letters, faxes, and e-mails that I get from the readership.

Table of Contents & Index

Over the years I have been asked on several occasions about a Table of Contents and an Index for Inside Natural. Actually, for the first three volumes, there was an annual index. However, time pressures quickly set in, and the annual index disappeared. Ten years have passed since the last index. I am finally going to place a Table of Contents and an Index on my website, rather than mail out what would be a somewhat cumbersome document. I will start with the most recent issues and work backwards, adding volumes/issues as time permits. The Table of Contents will appear first for a given range of Volumes/issues, followed by an update of what will be an expanding index. It should be noted that although many articles from the "early days" are still quite appropriate (even some of the timing comparisons), others may be simply obsoleted by new statements, options, and facilities in the newer releases of Natural.

Click here for Inside Natural Table of Contents and Index




Not every issue contains all the "columns" that appeared over the years. However, here is a rundown of the columns that have appeared.

  • Commands in Depth
  • Natur Technik
  • The Map Editor
  • Bug of the Month
  • Short Shots
  • Faster than an interpreted bullet
  • This Old Program
  • Readers Forum
  • Parameters
  • mesSAGes from the Developers
  • Version 2.2



And here is a table of contents from a recent issue.

  • Readers Forum
    • More Dates
  • Bug of the Month
    • When is #A GT #A?
    • No Title
  • Natur Technik
    • COMPRESS FULL
    • P* T*
    • FIND NUMBER
  • Short Shots
    • Header Width
    • Nested IF's
  • Commands in Depth
    • ACCEPT/REJECT
    • Global Variables, GDAs, and AIVs
  • mesSAGes from the Developers
    • Natural Buffer Pool Management



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