Important question regarding next major Rev version

[Richard Gaskin]

Valetia Lowe wrote:

> Will the upcoming release of rev take care of *ALL* of
 > these issues???????? Really??? On all platforms including
 > Windows??

That's a pretty tall list.  From their announcement at MacWorld in 
January it seems some of them are well underway, even though most of 
them range from non-trivial (like the drag-reordering in lists) to 
really, really difficult (customizable resizable reorderable scriptable 
headers for multicolumn lists), so I don't know if it's possible to 
deliver them all in the next version.

I may be a little slow, but I can't even offer a recommendation for all 
the syntax and properties that would be required for the list headers. 
I've scripted some nice ones so I know how hard it is to do even a 
non-customizable implementation, and I can barely imagine what it would 
take to do something in a flexible scripting environment. If you have 
recommendations it might be worthwhile floating them on the Improve-Rev 
list for review.

Everything you listed is important and should be done as soon as 
possible.  It just may be a bit much to expect it all right away.

Even as Rev is now, it compares favorably with many higher-priced 
options.  For example, while most of your list are refinements on basics 
already in the package, many of those basics are no more well 
implemented in ToolBook or Director, if available at all in those tools.

One of those items is an improvement in subtle nuances of scrollbar 
rendering, but HyperCard didn't even have scrollbars at all, nor even 
any means of making anything close to a normal scrolling document 
window.  Looking at the big picture, Rev has delivered a lot already.

Alternate line coloring is another example.  It would be really nice to 
have, but until it's implemented it's hardly going to shut down a 
mission-critical application to have a list displayed without alternate 
coloring for rows.  It's a nice-to-have, one I'd really like to see too, 
but it's not stopping me from profitably shipping applications in the 
meantime.

I don't know if you've done any lower-level (C or Pascal) programming 
with the Mac Control Manager, and it's been years since I've bothered 
myself with it.  One of the reasons I got so excited about 4GLs is that 
the Control Manager is a rat's nest.  I can't cite one 4GL that uses it 
directly; it just isn't flexible enough for what scripters like you and 
  I need from controls.  Yes, the new APIs and are much cleaner and the 
frameworks available make using them much easier, but platform-specific 
frameworks do nothing for a 12-platform tool.

And Quartz is not without its quirks as well. Talk to anyone who's tried 
using the recommended Carbon API to render a pulsing default button 
against anything but Apple's white or striped backgrounds and you'll 
probably have to clean your ears out from all the cursing.  At the 
Carbon Kitchens Apple's response is that you should never need to do 
that, but of course if you're making an authoring tool it's really hard 
to tell that to your customers, so you have to dig deeper and do things 
they tell you not to do.  And then you have to do that hard process over 
again for every platform, each with its own quirks and limitations.

Boot CGG and make a window with a field that displays a file and keeps 
the scrollbar set appropriately.  It's trivial in HyperCard, Rev, etc., 
but I can tell you from firsthand experience it isn't trivial under the 
hood, at least not in the Classic Control Manager.

So I'm right there with you in terms of wanting everything you asked 
for. But I'm willing to be patient and let them roll them out when they 
can do so solidly and in a way that integrates well with the language.

In the meantime the current engine offers so much there aren't enough 
hours in the day to build all the things I can build with it.  And even 
with the occassional nuance in control rendering being not just so, it 
hasn't stopped my Rev-based product from getting a 4.5-out-of-five mouse 
review in MacWorld.

These nuances and features are important to us, but they rarely prevent 
us from improving a customer's quality of life by delivering a valuable 
application.  And as the engine improves, the work you deliver only 
keeps getting better.

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Media Corporation
  ___________________________________________________________
  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com       http://www.FourthWorld.com