new kid on the block

[Ken Ray]

On 10/2/05 12:54 AM, "MisterX" <b.xavier at internet.lu> wrote:

> for those it might interest...
> 
> http://www.tigabyte.com/default.html
> 
> and it seems to have Neural Networks built in...

It's this odd combination of REALBasic and HyperCard: an RB app built with a
limited HyperTalk-style interpreter (at least to some degree), along with
the xTalk-like globals/locals and lack of variable declaration, but with the
ability to add code it in RBScript.

I downloaded the Trial version to check it out, and it is simplistic and a
bit odd, although the Neural Networks stuff may be interesting (didn't have
a chance to check that out). Here's an comparison of some simple stuff:

Revolution:
     answer "Pick a fruit:" with "Apple" or "Orange"
     answer it

HyperNext:
     Local tAns,tButtons,tButton
     Put 'Orange,Apple' into tButtons
     Dialog 'Hello, pick a fruit:','Apple','Orange'
     Put AnswerFN into tAns
     Add 1 to tAns
     Put NthChunkFN(tButtons,',',tAns) into tButton
     Message tButton

So a few things to note on the HyperNext code:

1) You have to declare all variables

2) The 'AnswerFN' function returns the number of the button picked, not the
text, and it is 0-based, and reads from the right (so Orange=0 and Apple=1),
so I had to put the name of the buttons in a separate variable (tButtons),
*backwards*.

3) You can't do math on variables (it seems), since "Put tAns+1 into tAns"
(or even a variant that put it into another declared variable) didn't work.
I had to use the "Add" command.

4) Although it uses chunks like "line" and "word", you can't use a phrase
like "item 2 of tButtons", but instead need to use the NthChunkFN function.

So although it is supposedly intended to be easier than Visual Basic (which
is what it is compared to on the site), it seems that it is still more
complicated than HyperCard... :-)

Anyway, that's my 2 cents with playing around with it for a half hour...

Ken Ray
Sons of Thunder Software
Web site: http://www.sonsothunder.com/
Email: kray at sonsothunder.com