MetaCard
discontinued cross-platform, commercial HyperCard clone
MetaCard is a discontinued cross-platform, commercial HyperCard clone. MetaCard included an IDE, a GUI toolkit and had its own language, MetaTalk. From the MetaCard Corporation website: "The MetaTalk language has all the features common to third-generation languages like C/C++/Java but has a much simpler syntax."
Cross Worlds Computing developed applications on the MetaCard platform (e.g., Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor) and developed their own MetaCard IDE called Revolution. They agreed to take over MetaCard development adding the language and runtime to Revolution and changed their name to Runtime Revolution (RunRev). RunRev did not adapt the original MetaCard IDE and it was made available as free and open-source software via a Yahoo! group and a RunRev hosted mailing list. Runtime Revolution changed the name of Revolution to LiveCode and then changed their name to LiveCode, Ltd. as well.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “MetaCard” is discontinued cross-platform, commercial HyperCard clone. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through MetaCard, discontinued and cross-platform, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “discontinued cross-platform, commercial HyperCard clone” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 9, 2022. The linked authority identifier is Q6822271. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “MetaCard”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow MetaCard primary sources, MetaCard archive and MetaCard research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “MetaCard”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “MetaCard” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.