Paul, to get a copy, I Google "Everything you wanted to know about
scripting but didn't know who to ask." by Kenneth A. Gould, and the 7th
result is a download of the file.
upon looking for it, I came across a couple of references that the
document was produced in the early days before JAWS version 6, probably
before 3.0, when information about writing scripts was scarce, and for
that time, was the best for getting newbees started. But over the years,
it was superseded by another document named "the basics of scripting"
that combines Gould's document with the improvements in the JSL. but is
still considered a good document to help get newbees started. there was
also a mention of a repository called FSDN which contains help
references to the various commands used in the JSL.
the other resources you mentioned also would be useful as the utilities
that were mentioned was made by seasoned scripters.
but like I previously mentioned, I still maintain that in order to do
meaty scripting needs knowledge of programming concepts, and in Gould's
document, between the first part and the second part, something is
missing, maybe not for a programmer, but for a newbee there certainly is.
On 8/13/2015 6:50 PM, Paul Martz via Jfw wrote:
Thanks, Mario. I like your idea of a sort of, "let's learn how to program -
using JAWS scripting". It makes a lot of sense to teach basic programming,
using JSL as an example. The idea has a lot of merit.
While looking for Kenneth Gould article, I found this:
http://grabbag.alacorncomputer.com/jawsscripting.html
Looks like some valuable information. But if you know where the Gould
article is, could you email the address? Or post it here? Or to my blog? Or
all of the above... LOL
I'll put in as much time on this as I can, but it's one of those big
projects. I need to review all the available information first. Then
actually become competent with JSL, otherwise I'm just blowing hot air.
Finally, I can move forward with some kind of wikibook. Anyhow, I'll blog as
I go.
Thanks for the feedback.
-Paul
-----Original Message-----
From: Jfw [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mario via
Jfw
Paul, since no one has responded, here's my thought:
in addition to your ideas, what the blind user who wants to get into
writing
JAWS scripts really needs is to learn basic concepts of programming in
order
to do the nifty stuff, like using functions, arrays, etc.
about 12 years ago when I tried my hand at scripting,there was a document
called "Everything you wanted to know about scripting, ...", written by
Kenneth A. Gould. I think it's still on FS's website or some where
else... it
was divided into two parts.
the first part dealt with the basic stuff, like how to get started,
syntax, etc.
but the second part dealt with stuff that assumed that the user had prior
programming knowledge about concepts, techniques, etc.
like the knowledge one would attain after programming for a while... a
good while.
since you've programmed for about 3 decades,... I think it was you, ...
you could fill in the missing explanation that a newbie would need to
comprehend before attempting to try their hand at scripting.
creating a wiki sounds like a good idea, this way other experienced
programmers could also contribute to the cause, working out explainations
of different concepts, and whatever else would be important. but it should
be that a newbie needs to register and login in order to read and/or
contribute. and I'd also suggest that only the experienced programmers
have the right to add/modify these materials that teach the needed
concepts and explainations, effectively preventing mis information by any
newbie. the experienced programmer who would want to contribute would
have to send an email request , to you?, to be approved. if this last part
doesn't sit well with you, something has to be done to ensure that the
newbie is not mis informed of explainations and whatever else would be
important to understand.
your thoughts?
On 8/12/2015 2:53 PM, Paul Martz via Jfw wrote:
Hi all. A few days ago, there was some discussion on learning JAWS
scripting. I've started learning it myself, and wanted to post some
thoughts.
First, I've decided to blog about JSL as I learn it. My blog page is
here:
https://skewmatrix.wordpress.com/ . No advertisements or popups, just
straight information about JSL whenever I learn something interesting.
The "JSL #1" post enumerates the available JAWS Scripting Language
resources that I've found. Please post comments if you know of other
resources.
Second, I'm toying with the idea of starting an online book project
about JSL, for example at wikibooks.com. The advantage of putting this
book online as a wikibook is that the information would be much more
likely to stay up-to-date and relevant; people could immediately
correct any typos or mistakes; and of course the book would be free to
all and readily available online. I have written technical books in
the past, so this wouldn't be too much of a stretch for me. (I just
need to learn it first. Ha ha.)
The question is: In light of the wonderful documentation from Freedom
Scientific that is already available, what kind of content would I /
we need to provide in this new online resource in order to make it
worthwhile? What would you like to know about JSL that you can't
already learn from the FS docs? Would we want something like a brief
overview of JAWS scripting? Or maybe a "quick start guide" to get you
up and running with the basics? Or possibly a "scripting gems" kind of
book, with several examples of JAWS scripts? Or a language reference?
Or all of the above? Of course, "we don't need this, the FS docs are
fine" is
also an acceptable response.
Any thoughts or comments... Thanks...
-Paul
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