Hi everybody,
Thanks, Uli, for mentioning (remembering) FreeCard/OpenCard. :-)
I am not presently working on it, but I have NOT abandonned it either.
I am currently experimenting with Couch-DB,
a new kind of database (non-SQL), that leverages old principles, and simplicity!
With Couch, we get a very fast, very reliable, flat database, that is accessed via HTTP.
The data can be updated from any web-client capable of HTTP,
with the following methods: head, get, put, post, delete.
Even MetaCard 2.5 can do this, which is what I'm using [for my experimentation].
Furthermore, Couch is non-SQL, which means that there is NO database schema..
IOW there are no BG-fields. Each 'card' has its own set of fields, aka CARD-fields.
Another interesting feature of Couch is REPLICATION.
It allows MANY instances of couch-databases (aka stacks) to synchronize.
Couch is programmed in Erlang, which came from telecommunications (parallelism).
User replicate/synch when on-line, but can also work OFF-line.
We can have shared stacks (on public servers) and personal stacks on our desktops.
The interface will be implemented with : HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and various JS-libs.
Using AJAX to dynamically update a page, without reloading it, is definitely possible/easy.
But AJAX might not be necessary, because users download portion of the DB they need!
Creating a field-widget that converts from xTalk to JavaScript will be a modest challenge.
but they are more alike than most people realize. I've been scripting with both 10-years +
Dany Goodman, after HyperCard, migrated to dynamic HTML scripted with JavaScript.
UserLevel-1 (browse): dynamic html, http and off-line too
UserLevel-2 (editing): javascript, ajax, server-side, couch
UserLevel-3 (drawing): existing javascript librairies, PNG/SVG output
UserLevel-4 (authoring): existing javascript librairies (ex: jQuery)
UserLevel-5 (scripting): xTalk, scriptEditor, 'compiles' to javascript.
We still have not found what we're looking-for since HyperCard's demise,
and nothing is close to its simplicity, except RunRev/LiveCode ..of-course!
Our implementations are radically different though.
I'm excited about the open-sourcing of LiveCode.
The dream is still alive, :-)
Alain F.
________________________________
From: Uli Kusterer <Witness.of.TeachText@[redacted].net
To: HyperCard-Mailing-List
Sent: Tuesday, February 5, 2013 5:09:27 PM
Subject: Re: [HC] LiveCode is going open source
On 05.02.2013, at 20:27, Michael Mays michael@[redacted].org wrote:
>> The problem with LiveCode is, unlike other popular open source languages, that it lacks a significant number of lower level programmers using it. The fact that you do not have to even know that C or C++ exists in order to write an application in LiveCode is a detriment to its success as an open source program IMO. There aren't that many LiveCoders who understand C or C++ and could fix the C++ engine. People who can write the glue between LiveCode and C++ for the most aren't LiveCode users.
While that is true (and also held true for FreeCard/OpenCard all those years ago), keep in mind that people learn. I started out with HyperCard, now I'm a full-time Mac and iOS programmer.
Also, there are people TODAY who write XCMDs, XFCNs etc. in C, Objective C and C++ that implement single features they need added to the language. It requires much less skill to add a single feature here or there (e.g. new button styles, field styles or access to system features like the address book). The beginners who take care of these "simple" features free RunRev's developers to get going with bigger, more complex, more important features.
Not to mention that a university professor may hire an intern to add what they need for their lectures to LiveCode so that their beginning programmers can use LiveCode in the problem domain this prof is interested in.
Cheers,
-- Uli Kusterer
"The Witnesses of TeachText are everywhere..."
http://www.zathras.de [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]