Hello. New and can't find good baby steps

Got a LiveCode personal license? Are you a beginner, hobbyist or educator that's new to LiveCode? This forum is the place to go for help getting started. Welcome!

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Re: Hello. New and can't find good baby steps

Post by Klaus » Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:38 am

witeowl wrote:... Klaus gets frustrated that people aren't using them, but I honestly would never have found them at all if it weren't for him pointing it out to other lost users.)
8)

Cybernicus
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Re: Hello. New and can't find good baby steps

Post by Cybernicus » Wed Apr 06, 2011 8:14 pm

witeowl wrote:
Cybernicus wrote:Oye. I don't get how anyone is supposed to figure this stuff out without a manual or some decent help functions (unless it's ALL word of mouth here on the forum). Crazy.
Hmm... Though it's far from complete, you have found**********************including the user's guide/manual, right? (I will admit that finding all the hiding places of manuals/help/etc. has been a source of frustration for me. Worst of all, I think, is the semi-secret iOS release notes. Klaus gets frustrated that people aren't using them, but I honestly would never have found them at all if it weren't for him pointing it out to other lost users.)
Thanks white owl for that link to the BYU lesson. That has been a breakthrough. The link you provided this time seems to take me to the things I've already been over many times which I find so excruciatingly lacking--unless I'm missing something. The "users guide" was already in the trial download, as was the dictionary. If those are really the "lessons", then RunRev hasn't ventured a whole hell of a lot in trying to make sure potential users click with this software and get all the value out of it. I guess they sell enough anyway to convince themselves that they do enough. Once again, I appreciate the difference you've made by pointing me to that BYU link. Where do I look for those release notes? I don't understand what IOS is yet and how it relates to anything.

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Re: Hello. New and can't find good baby steps

Post by Klaus » Wed Apr 06, 2011 8:20 pm

Hi Cybernicus,
Cybernicus wrote:Where do I look for those release notes?
in LiveCode: Menu -> Help -> iOS Release Notes
Will open a PDF with your default PDF viewer.
Cybernicus wrote:I don't understand what IOS is yet and how it relates to anything.
iOS (made by Apple) is the operating system running on iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone,
which means that you can also "compile" your LiveCode standalones for these devices.


Best

Klaus

bn
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Re: Hello. New and can't find good baby steps

Post by bn » Wed Apr 06, 2011 8:34 pm

Hi Cybernicus,

have you had a look at:
http://runrev.com/developers/lessons-an ... tutorials/
or
http://lessons.runrev.com/spaces/lessons

Or in Livecode under the Help Menu

Resource Center
and
Start Center
In the Start Center you click the tab "Get Started"

Kind regards

Bernd

Cybernicus
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Re: Hello. New and can't find good baby steps

Post by Cybernicus » Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:29 pm

bn wrote:Hi Cybernicus,

have you had a look at:
*****************************or
***************************Or in Livecode under the Help Menu

Resource Center
and
Start Center
In the Start Center you click the tab "Get Started"

Kind regards

Bernd

Thanks, but I was up and down through those several times before I threw up my hands and started this thread. There seems to be no logic whatever to those so-called "lessons". There is just a list of arbitrarily chosen "how-to(s)" all of which are way down stream from merely getting started. And by "getting started" I don't mean down loading and installing the software. By getting started I mean what comes next in every thought process in producing the type of rudimentary stack that used to get people off the ground with HyperCard like a "Rolodex". I don't think the first exercise should be a game or an I-phone application or a browser when someone hasn't even learned how to program one button yet to move between two cards. Heck, I wasn't even to that yet. There's no help at all on what each filed in the various inspectors is looking for. Thanks anyway for the welcome and thought.

bn
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Re: Hello. New and can't find good baby steps

Post by bn » Thu Apr 07, 2011 8:55 pm

Hi Cybernicus,

I agree on the lessons, they all target a specific problem which might be not so useful for someone first getting into Livecode.

The tutorials by contrast do attempt what you have in mind, just little projects that introduce into Livecode.

Anyways, when I started with Livecode/Revolution I had a Hypercard background but found Revolution different enough to want to read a book on it. I liked the Hypercard books and learned a lot from them.
At that time there was a book that helped me to get into Livecode/Revolution. It was Dan Shafer's "Revolution: Software at the Speed of Thought". It is a bit outdated today but introduces very nicely. I learnd a lot from it and should have followed his advice more closely. Dan Shafer offers it on his website in a smart e-book form and as printed copy.
http://www.shafermediastore.com/tech_main.html
You could also try to find it on Amazon or any other used-books source.

Although Craig's (Dunbarx) advice to just read a Hypercard book covers many aspects of Livecode language, you would still have to know where the two differ. I would try to get a copy of Dan's book if you prefer a more systematic introduction into Livecode.

Kind regards

Bernd

Cybernicus
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Re: Hello. New and can't find good baby steps

Post by Cybernicus » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:43 pm

bn wrote:Hi Cybernicus,

...Kind regards

Bernd

Once again, thanks. Can anyone point me to anything inside the program or what's on line to simply start programming buttons to go from one card to another in a stack? I'm not trying to be sarcastic. Something as simple as this is proving to be a saga. Thanks again.

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Re: Hello. New and can't find good baby steps

Post by deebee » Sun Apr 10, 2011 9:17 pm

Maybe these very short videos will help a little.
http://www.youtube.com/user/timestopper ... EE8061F6F5

Cybernicus
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Re: Hello. New and can't find good baby steps

Post by Cybernicus » Sun Apr 10, 2011 10:03 pm

[quote="deebee"]Maybe these very short videos will help a little.
************ (deleted because I can't post links yet)
Is that supposed to be a joke?

That link takes me to Wrestlemania. Please. I need to make progress.

Cybernicus
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Re: Hello. New and can't find good baby steps

Post by Cybernicus » Sun Apr 10, 2011 10:06 pm

I don't see a text icon in the tools pallete to put text on a card other than in a field or in a button name. How is that done? Thanks.

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Re: Hello. New and can't find good baby steps

Post by deebee » Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:34 pm

Cybernicus wrote: Is that supposed to be a joke?

That link takes me to Wrestlemania. Please. I need to make progress.
No joke, look closer, that guy has some tutorial vids, look at his playlists.

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Re: Hello. New and can't find good baby steps

Post by bn » Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:43 pm

Hi Cybernicus,
I don't see a text icon in the tools pallete to put text on a card other than in a field or in a button name. How is that done? Thanks.
You would either use a text field or a label field to put text on a card.

To go from one card to the next put a button with the script

Code: Select all

on mouseUP
go next card
end mouseUp
If you want this button to appear on every card select that button (or more buttons for navigation and field you want to also show up on every card) and group that button/those objects. Then in the property inspector you choose "behave like a background" Make shure you do all this on the first card of a stack, then the background group will be place automatically onto every new card, not on cards that already exist.

I append a little stack that demonstrates this.

Kind regards

Bernd
Attachments
basicNavigation.livecode.zip
(1.58 KiB) Downloaded 274 times

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Re: Hello. New and can't find good baby steps

Post by bn » Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:13 am

Hi Cybernicus,

you might want to have a look at this lesson. It explains the very basic use of the tools palette, difference between edit and browse mode, how to add objects to a card from the tools palette and add a script to an object.

http://lessons.runrev.com/spaces/lesson ... Components

Kind regards

Bernd

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Re: Hello. New and can't find good baby steps

Post by bn » Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:36 am

Hi Cybernicus,

there used to be very basic videos from Runrev. They are still there but not easily accessible from the current Livecode. They are all for "Revolution" the former name of "Livecode", I guess that is why they are only accessible from earlier Versions of Revolution.

here is a link to the codec to display the videos, the page looks horrible but the links work. These is the Ensharpen Codec from TechSmith. You have to install that codec before you can view the videos.

http://support.runrev.com/tutorials/

This is the introductory video:

http://support.runrev.com/tutorials/vid ... cation.mov

kind regards

Bernd

Cybernicus
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Re: Hello. New and can't find good baby steps

Post by Cybernicus » Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:49 pm

Thanks for your help so far folks. Is it OK if I just keep firing newbie questions up? Here goes:

- what's the difference beteen "push button" and "default button" and "rectagle button"

- when is the "label" field used and is it much different than the "text entry field" to its right in the tools pallete.

- in a drop down like the object inspector - "basic properties" can I conclude absolutely that there is no box by box documentastion of help anywhere and the only way to understand what values these require or imply is trial and observation?

- I experimented a little with the "pull down menu" object. I see that there are "choices" and how to add some more. But how do you establish what those choices will trigger. Where would be the script for "choice 1" for instance?

I'll keep throwing these out there if it's OK with you guys. Thanks again.

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