More New-be Curiousity Questions
Frank D. Engel, Jr.
fde101 at fjrhome.net
Wed Apr 13 09:48:31 EDT 2005
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On Apr 13, 2005, at 7:35 AM, Typing80wpm at aol.com wrote:
> Thanks! That link on comparisons between Dreamcard and Revolution is
> just
> what I needed!
> _http://www.runrev.com/section/platform.php_
> (http://www.runrev.com/section/platform.php)
>
> Questions:
>
> 1.) If I spend a year developing some great application in Dreamcard,
> then
> is moving it to Revolution simply a matter of purchasing Revolution
> (will the
> same source code produced run in either environment)?
Yes. Rev and Dreamcard use the same basic engine for running scripts,
so they should function identically in nearly all cases.
> 2.) If I want to use MySQL, I am assuming that the MySQL in any of the
> several WAMP (WIndows Apache MySQL PhP) installs will do the trick, or
> is there a
> special MySQL install I should do?
Any standard MySQL server should work fine, but you might want to
consider PostgreSQL instead if you are thinking of going to Oracle.
MySQL is *not* a true SQL database server and there are a substantial
number of features of SQL which both PostgreSQL and Oracle implement,
but which MySQL does not. Take views for example. Supposedly they
will be added to an upcoming version of MySQL, but PostgreSQL and
Oracle have had them for years. MySQL is not fully ACID compilant
either (at least it wasn't last I checked), but PostgreSQL is, meaning
your data is safer in the event of a power failure, and concurrency is
managed somewhat better.
Additionally, MySQL is *not* free for commercial distribution, but
PostgreSQL is. PostgreSQL is available under a much more liberal open
source license.
> 3.) If I develop an application using MySQL, using commonly available
> SQL
> commands, and staying away from proprietary things, is it then much of
> a job to
> switch that application to Oracle as a back end?
As long as your SQL code is compatible with both MySQL (or PostgreSQL,
or whatever you use at home) and Oracle, switching to Oracle is a
matter of buying the needed version of Rev (one with Oracle support)
and changing the code used to connect to the database (or some settings
in the Query Builder, if you use it). The rest should just work.
If any changes need to be made to the SQL code, that would be the only
major difference you are likely to encounter.
> 4.) Does Revolution/Dreamcard give one a way to, lets say, present a
> dialogue similar to Explorer, choose a path, choose a file, and then
> open that
> WIndows file and read and write to it randomly, byte by byte? I have
> something
> in Liberty Basic which does that. Just curious if anyone in this list
> uses
> Liberty Basic or has any opinions pro or con?
I don't use Liberty Basic, but I have used other forms of BASIC in the
past. Rev allows you to develop many kinds of apps substantially
faster than is possible in most other languages, but it will have a bit
of a learning curve if you've never used an Xtalk before.
As pointed out in another reply, it is possible to get random access to
a file, but as long as the size of the file is not too large, it may be
more efficient (and much easier) to read the entire file into memory,
make your changes in memory, and write it back to the file.
For (a rather pathetic) example:
answer file "Select a file:"
put URL ("binfile:" & it) into myBuffer
put char 1 of myBuffer into char 12 of myBuffer
if char 90 of myBuffer is not "Q" then put char 5 of myBuffer into char
53 of myBuffer
put the number of chars in myBuffer into secretNumber
add charToNum(char 774 of myBuffer) to secretNumber
answer "The secret number is: " & secretNumber
- -- whatever...
ask file "Save changes to:"
put myBuffer into URL ("binfile:" & it)
> 5.) When I download a trial version of Dreamcard or Revolution, is it
> ok to
> download at work, where I have a fast T1, put it on a cd, and install
> and
> unlock at home (where I have slow dial-up) and then just enter the
> unlock key?
Yes
> 8.) When I finish developing an application, then is that entire
> application
> expressed solely in the form of script files, viewable in any editor,
> or are
> there some components of the application which are in some kind of
> object or
> format which is not editable. I realize that if one
> deploys/distributes
> applications, they are in some compiled or tokenized form so the code
> remains
> proprietary. That is not what I am asking. I am thinking that if the
> final
> application is defined by editable files of coding/script, then it is
> possible to
> write a program in some language to output that code, whereas if the
> final
> application has template files which are not plain ascii script, then
> it would
> not be easy to programatically output a script file. I am asking this
> question mainly out of curiosity, to get a feeling for what a
> finished application
> is like, in source form.
Normally, the script code is readable in the stack file (or in the
standalone file if using Rev Studio/Enterprise and building
standalones), but it is possible to encrypt the file before
distributing it. The encrypted version still works just fine, but the
embedded script code is not readable as plain text, and your stack is a
bit more protected.
> 9.) Is there a data type which is fixed point penny accurate BCD type
> decimal arithematic, which would allow accurate calculations with
> money in a
> buisness application.
> Is there a floating point type of variable?
All variables are strings. You use them as numbers by... well, using
them as numbers!
put 7 into q
put "8" into z
add z to q
put q -- results in 15
Don't know about fixed-point, but floating-point math works fine. In
the worst case, you could always strip off the decimal point and do the
integer math, then add the decimal point back in:
if char -2 of z is "." then put "0" after z
else if char -1 of z is "." then put "00" after z
else if "." is not in z then put ".00" after z
else -- yes this could be done without the loop, but I'm in a hurry
and can't think of the syntax right now ;-)
repeat while char -3 of z is not "."
delete char -1 of z
end repeat
end if
delete char -3 of z -- this actually removes the decimal point
- -- do the integer math
put "." before char -2 of z -- add the decimal point back in
> 10.) I stumbled across Dreamcard/Revolution while I was searching for
> information on Python. I had downloaded a version of Python
> yesterday, and when I
> ran it, was somewhat startled to see a DOS type black window open up.
> Is
> Revolution related to Python in any way? Does Dreamcard/Revolution
> development
> happen right in Windows, just like, e.g. Visual Basic IDE, or does it
> take
> place in one of those black DOS Windows.
Rev is fully GUI-based. No black DOS windows (unless you ask for one),
and no Python. You actually drag your interface elements from a
palette onto a stack window, then add script code via a script editor.
> 11.) When I purchase Dreamcard/Revolution, do I receive a box with
> CD,s
> and are the video training portions on a DVD, or VHS, or how does
> that work?
> Just curious.
You can download Dreamcard or Revolution from the web site, order the
books if you want, and the video training stuff is done online through
a custom "browser" type thing integrated into Rev/Dreamcard.
There is also a boxed version, but add $15 to the price tag, plus
shipping.
- -----------------------------------------------------------
Frank D. Engel, Jr. <fde101 at fjrhome.net>
$ ln -s /usr/share/kjvbible /usr/manual
$ true | cat /usr/manual | grep "John 3:16"
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
$
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