Another 5-out-5 review for LC!

[Kay C Lan]

On Mon, Jun 4, 2012 at 12:49 AM, Peter Haworth <pete at lcsql.com> wrote:

> Personally, I'm a big fan of separating code and data so always use
> external storage for the data in my applications, be it a flat file or a
> database.  However, that entails learning how to access files efficiently
> and/or learning SQL so I can see that folks would prefer to keep the data
> within Livecode.
>
> You missed the other option available, custom properties; which can also
take long time HC users a while before they have their 'ah ha' moment.

I note Graham's, Francis' and Alejandro's uses of multi-card stacks, and
whilst I'd tackle Graham's and Francis' problems differently, I would not
suggest they change their work method because if it works for them, great,
that's the great thing about LC, there are multiple ways to skin the cat.

Alejandro's is a difficult feline, and it certainly made me pause to think
how I'd tackle something similar. I noted his other post and I too would
like to see if anyone has done some amazing things with the new field
features. My own work with them have been nothing more than rudimentary
tests. I had a look at LC's own Dictionary, which has a lot of formatted
text, and could use a separate card for each entry but doesn't. It only
uses three cards and from what I can tell only one of them is for us
'users', the other two I think are used by the Runrev team to
add/remove/update entries. The LC Dictionary predates the new field
features and only seems to use htmlText to do its special formatting.

But the mention of skinning cats gave me my own 'ah ha' moment. I'm under
the impression that 'skinning' is a term used in other 'modern' programming
environments. I see no reason why, for the current iTunes generation, that
the LC programming metaphor could not be changed to one of windows (Stacks)
and skins (Cards).