sharedscripts

[Richard Gaskin]

Rob Meijer wrote:
> I am a newbie in Revolution, being in the trialperiod.
> In themy resting 19 days I try to translate a Toolbook
> application to Revolution language.
> The TB-app is written by myself. I work with TB for 18 years
> and have some experience with TB.

Welcome aboard.  I've used ToolBook myself - nice system, and the only 
one I've used which comes close to matching Rev for performance and the 
vendor's confidence in their own language (both IDEs are built in in 
their native language).

> In my app there is a listfield, each line corresponding
> with a card; the listfield has several functions:
> go to a card, change textline and name of card, delete
> textline and card etc.
> In Toolbook I can use for this someting in the script  like:
> my script=script of button "navigate" (or whatelse),
> or
> my script=sharedscript "navigate"
> but in Revolution a statement like that cannot
> be used while the script is running.
> 
> Has anybody an idea.

You can use the "insert script" command to put a script of any object 
into the message path for use by any other object, and you can use 
"start using" to make something roughly equivalent to TB's sysbooks.

For notes on these and more see:
<http://www.fourthworld.com/embassy/articles/revolution_message_path.html>

> Next question:
> How far goes the use of Dreamcard. What is the difference
> with Revolution exactly ? Can I develop a complete stack
> like a Toolbook-book, or do I need Revolution?

TB is a funny beast in that regard, because it's EXEs don't really bind 
the engine to the book file, but add only a tiny wrapper to call the 
engine stored elsewhere in a set of DLLs (at least as of v7, the last I 
used).

Rev has two deployment options which more or less straddle the TB EXE 
delivery method:

- Standalone applications: these bind the engine to your stack file
   creating a self-contained EXE which requires no DLLs to run (unless
   you use supplimental widgets like DB connectivity or third-party
   externals).  The engine is pretty small for what it does (about 2MB
   for Win), and being self-contained makes it a delight to make
   installers and uninstallers for.

   Note:  While you can bind a stack file to the engine, you also
   have the option of putting binding only a small stack to the
   engine and keeping your main UI separate.  This can be useful
   if you want to build an auto-update mechanism (Rev makes most
   HTTP and FTP functions as simple as a single line of code).


- Revolution Player:  this is a separate application that can be
   distributed for free along with your stack file.  This is a
   good solution for quickly sharing prototypes with others on
   your team, or for folks looking for a quick way to share
   just about any stacks.

More comparison info is available at:
<http://www.runrev.com/section/platform.php>


> www.japrosoft.com

Nice collection of TB stuff there.  Looking forward to seeing some of 
that translated to Rev.  :)

Feel free to post any other questions you have as you come across them. 
  There's a number of us here who've used ToolBook who can lend a hand.

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Media Corporation
  __________________________________________________
  Rev tools and more: http://www.fourthworld.com/rev