osmigo@ut-emx.uucp (rn) (10/13/90)
Some people I know, professional programmers, say that if you're just starting out learning about HC scripting, don't waste time learning 1.2.X, since 2.0 is now out. Do you agree with this? Is somebody who goes out and spends $50 on 1.2.X HyperTalk books throwing money down the drain? Ron Morgan osmigo@emx.utexas.edu
krona@nada.kth.se (Kjell Krona) (10/16/90)
Yes, I think so. HyperTalk is really improved in version 2.0 (though some might prefere to call it "a lot of bugs fixed) Some highlights: The order in which certain messages are sent is really changed for the better. For example, "openstack" is now sent before "opencard" to a newly opened stack; "newcard" is sent before "opencard" when a new card is created, and so on. Some of the old message orders created a need for massive cludges, which are gone now. You can have fields in which the content is permanent for every field in the background (for instance for headings and displaying "number of cards"); and buttons which have an individual highlight value for each card (mostly check- box buttons). The previous absence of these features did also require massive (and time-consuming in execution) scripting. Many more commands can now be applied for cards on the same background (for example, sorting); and cards can be "marked", during a search for instance, and easily printed. These are just some improvements which will be visible even for a beginner in HyperTalk scripting - and which will make many ideas possible to realize with a lot less effort, especially for a beginner but also for experienced scripters. Thank you very much, HyperCard team! kjell krona@nada.kth.se (Kjell Krona) Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
kamins@well.sf.ca.us (Scot Kamins) (10/16/90)
In article <38218@ut-emx.uucp> osmigo@ut-emx.uucp (rn) writes: >Some people I know, professional programmers, say that if you're just >starting out learning about HC scripting, don't waste time learning 1.2.X, >since 2.0 is now out. Do you agree with this? Is somebody who goes out and >spends $50 on 1.2.X HyperTalk books throwing money down the drain? > >Ron Morgan >osmigo@emx.utexas.edu All the 2.0 books from Banatm Electronic Press cover both 1.2.x and 2.0. This includes the Danny Goodman piece, plus the two books by Winler et. al., "Cooking with HyperTalk" and "HyperTalk 2.0: The Book." True Confession Time: This note a bit self serving; I'm the co-author of the last-mentioned book. :-} Scot Kamins