Learning RR's Transcipt

[Michaeldb B]

Richard Gaskin wrote:

> Many if not most of the readers here exhibit unusually high intelligence..
> Most of the folks on this list have experience in other languages..

I'm sure those points are generally true, but I don't think they apply, to
this particular reader, for one. I'll explain why..

I had a "Sinclair Spectrum" in the 80's and learned to program, a little, in
its Basic language. Then there was a long gap, before I got a (Windows) PC -
5 years ago. I was frustrated to find, no easy way to programme, in Windows.

I searched - for a Language (or tool) I could cope with. In those searches,
I never came across any of the "Card" programming tools.(Maybe I didn't
realise what they were about).
Then, in March, I saw RunRev, on a magazine disk (PCPlus) and from the
write-up - it seemed what I was looking for. I was very pleasantly
surprised, by the ease of object
creation and manipulation. On researching RR on the web, I found all the
other similar "Card's" (Metacard etc). I realised I had missed years of it
all.

So, I started trying to learn Transcript. (As a newbie) I go through the
extensive documentation. But, probably because I am...let's say
"intellectually challenged", I don't find it easy to learn.

I've had RR for about 10 weeks now. At 66 yrs, this is a hobby pursuit. I'm
attempting to build a "Horserace Selection" stack. (What else?). At first, I
found it slow going. But, now I'm making progress. The link, to earlier
Hypertalk stuff, helps. I've sent for a Hypertalk book. What I find myself
yearning for..are more extensive script examples than are found in the docs.

I realise as Richard (Gaskin) says, most here, are experienced. But, with
the lack of a book (Dan Shafer has one coming, I read) complete newcomers to
RR, must have some level of frustration. It's like owning a Ferrari and not
knowing how to drive. I find the script editor's error messages helpful. I
just try out different code and move on. But I still long for more. I have
searched the web extensively and not found what I need.

One problem I have is - how to deal with the fractions -13/8, 100/30 etc -
used in betting markets. A search on fractions, in the list, produces just
one post, about the fractions used in cooking. This didn't help. As I am
beginning to understand, there may be a problem - trying to deal with
fractions on a computer - and in RR. At present, I just don't know. I
downloaded the Beta version of 2.0. because of the cookbook. It didn't give
me much help either.

I was dissapointed to find, are no books on RR. So I looked for books on
Hypertalk. Although, there are tons of Hypertalk books, available in the
U.S. There are hardly any available locally in the U.K. where I live. I've
ordered one from the U.S. I have no idea, as yet,  if it will offer answers
to the questions I have. Dealing with maths/numbers especially.
Is it my lack of knowledge, or is there a lack of specific commands, for
manipulating numbers in RR?.

RunRev is a wonderful product.

Michael Bird





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