what is needed ...

[Trevor DeVore]

On May 21, 2005, at 5:07 PM, Mark Wieder wrote:
>
> I do think (and have since I started using runrev) that the IDE lacks
> some of the basic training wheels that would a) help new users get
> started and b) act as a sort of app Construction Kit for users who may
> not necessarily want to get into programming but have ideas about what
> they want to do. I feel that the runrev IDE has made steps forward and
> backward in this respect.
>
> In previous versions of the IDE you could place a button on a stack
> and that was the end of things. Now when you go to edit the button's
> script there's the stub of a mouseUp handler. That's a good start. It
> would be nice to have an indicator that "ok - now you need to edit the
> script of this object to have it do something", or better yet, not
> have to edit the script at all.
>
> HyperCard had a menu item that would allow you to select a button,
> then navigate to a target card, and automatically create a mouseUp
> handler with a "go to card" line in it. No programming necessary, just
> point and select. This made it possible for nonprogrammers to create
> applications quickly without having to worry about editing the script
> (or even what a script is, for that matter). It also left them free to
> exercise their creativity in designing the application instead of the
> nuts-and-bolts aspects of stack design.
>
> More importantly, I think, it provided that "aha!" moment; not only of
> "so that's how this works", but also "that gives me another idea",
> hooking in new users and inspiring them to dig deeper into what can be
> done.

While reading this I thought about behaviors in Director.  Behaviors  
in Director allow you to drag and drop code snippets that added  
certain functionality to a project.  It requires no programming and  
allows someone with no programming experience the ability to make  
their project do something.  A similar concept is very doable in  
Revolution right now and could be improved in the future when  
Revolution adds support for parent scripts.

Here is how a "Behavior" palette could work in Revolution.

1) libBehaviors is created.  This is a library which does all of the  
magic.  It has handlers which will go to cards, launch urls, animate  
things, etc.  For now it could look for certain custom properties of  
the target object which would flag the object for processing by  
libBehaviors.

2) A plugin is created which is basically a palette that enables you  
to drag and drop behaviors onto objects.  When the user drops a  
behavior on an object, certain custom properties are set which tell  
libBehaviors to process events sent to that object.

Each behavior would have a configuration screen associated with it  
that would help the user configure the parameters.  For example, if  
you had a behavior which went to a specific card then the dialog box  
might prompt the user for the name or number of a card.  Or it would  
allow them to navigate to the card in order to set the destination.

3) The plugin could also install libBehaviors when a standalone is  
built using the savingStandalone message.  I haven't tried this but  
it should be possible to work something out.

Perhaps this is what is missing for the person just getting started  
with Revolution.  It would be very easy to write an introductory  
tutorial that said:

1) Create a new stack
2) Drag a button onto the stack
3) Drop the GoToURL behavior on the button.
4) Enter a url
5) Switch to browse mode, click the button and watch the website appear


-- 
Trevor DeVore
Blue Mango Multimedia
trevor at mangomultimedia.com