Re: A nice bit of syntax
Interesting too, because Applescript is a kind of offshoot of HyperTalk. It was my impression that Applescript was a way to get the whole operating system and applications to work like Hypercard did. It was a great idea, and is still incredibly useful, but the severe downside to Applescript is trying to decipher what those damned application dictionaries are asking you to do. Most of the time there are absolutely NO examples of syntax. I have read through the Acrobat one, and I have to tell you I still have no idea how to do most things. I always have to revert to googling some method, and then when I see what they are doing, I can find absolutely no correlation in the Acrobat dictionary. I have similar problems with other dictionaries. I eventually end up using javascript, and having Applescript tell acrobat to run the javascript as javascript. Writing Livecode to tell Applescript to tell Acrobat to tell Javascript to do a series of things is an interesting exercise in multidimensional thinking, but I find it is still much MUCH easier than the trial and error (almost always error) of doing it completely in Applescript. While Applescript seems on it’s face to be a way of writing programs in a way that is accessible to more common developers like myself, it turns out to be a highly specialized language that needs to be studied and mastered like many other high level languages. “Livetalk” if you will, allows novice programmers to get going almost right away. Bob S On Feb 22, 2015, at 09:47 , Mark Schonewille m.schonewi...@economy-x-talk.commailto:m.schonewi...@economy-x-talk.com wrote: Hi Geoff, While this looks very nifty, it definitely isn't easier to program. LiveCode is much easier (IMHO). We should never be able to do this with LiveCode, simply because this isn't how xTalk languages function. One important difference is that AppleScript uses typed variables and even typed data and objects, while in an xTalk language everything is a string (except for arrays perhaps, which are constructs of strings). I consider this an advantage of xTalks. If you really like this way of programming, you can create Cocoa-AppleScript applications with XCode, which I actually consider a very interesting way of programming, but I'm happy that I can use LiveCode next to AppleScript. -- Best regards, Mark Schonewille ___ use-livecode mailing list use-livecode@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
Re: A nice bit of syntax
Hi Geoff,
While this looks very nifty, it definitely isn't easier to program.
LiveCode is much easier (IMHO). We should never be able to do this with
LiveCode, simply because this isn't how xTalk languages function.
One important difference is that AppleScript uses typed variables and
even typed data and objects, while in an xTalk language everything is a
string (except for arrays perhaps, which are constructs of strings). I
consider this an advantage of xTalks.
If you really like this way of programming, you can create
Cocoa-AppleScript applications with XCode, which I actually consider a
very interesting way of programming, but I'm happy that I can use
LiveCode next to AppleScript.
--
Best regards,
Mark Schonewille
Economy-x-Talk Consulting and Software Engineering
Homepage: http://economy-x-talk.com
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On 2/22/2015 17:01, Geoff Canyon wrote:
Just came across this in AppleScript:
tell application System Events
set {procesList, pidList} to the {name, unix id} of (every
process whose name contains Myapp_action_download)
end tell
There are multiple niceties here: in-line list filtration, multiple
simultaneous property retrievals and assignments, and of course directed
messaging. I look forward to when we can do similar things in LC.
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Re: A nice bit of syntax
On Sun, Feb 22, 2015 at 11:47 AM, Mark Schonewille m.schonewi...@economy-x-talk.com wrote: Hi Geoff, While this looks very nifty, it definitely isn't easier to program. LiveCode is much easier (IMHO). We should never be able to do this with LiveCode, simply because this isn't how xTalk languages function. I didn't say it was easier. It's more powerfully expressive. I'm not advocating for AppleScript over xTalk, just admiring this syntax's expressive capability. xTalk shouldn't be static. It's not as english-like or expressive as it could be. I still hold out hope (despite the disappearance of supporting documentation) that the new definable syntax features will be able to do more than just obscure object hybrids and translate system-level access, and give *those who wish to* the ability to experiment with actually extending xTalk, something that hasn't been done much in the last twenty years. One important difference is that AppleScript uses typed variables and even typed data and objects, while in an xTalk language everything is a string (except for arrays perhaps, which are constructs of strings). I consider this an advantage of xTalks. Everything can be *treated* as a string. As far as I know: put 5 into x Does not result in x being 5. And after that: add 3 to x Does not require the engine to cast x from a string to a number so that it can add 3 to it. If you really like this way of programming, you can create Cocoa-AppleScript applications with XCode, which I actually consider a very interesting way of programming, but I'm happy that I can use LiveCode next to AppleScript. I have written less than 50 lines of AppleScript in the last fifteen years, so apart from small projects I'm unlikely to go back. ___ use-livecode mailing list use-livecode@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
