Rolling a Revolution Application

  Joe Wilkins       February 27, 2007      Tutorials Mac Developer


We left off last week with having pretty much completed a completely new Revolution stack, named the “San Diego Activities and Coloring Book.” There were still a number of issues and more than a few scripting challenges to be resolved. I had assumed, somewhat naively, that the balance of the scripts would not be a great deal different than their HyperCard counterparts. As I dug in to completing them, I found that was not exactly to be the case.

Admittedly, Revolution’s scripting language, Transcript, is very much like HyperTalk, HyperCard’s scripting language. But, in order to create a stack that may be converted to standalone applications for a number of different platforms, it appears that it is necessary to use handlers that may then call different APIs for the various platforms that display that platform’s unique objects; whether they be dialogs or other elements that appear on the screen that have their own unique appearances and methods of doing things. This means selecting handler names that belong to Revolution, but may then, based on the particular platform, call APIs from those platforms. This may not be exactly the way it is done, but the most likely. So, we find many of the keywords are prefaced by the letters “rev,” the balance of the name being pretty much the same as it would be in HyperTalk, but not always or consistently. Hence, finding the right call is not always that easy. So here is the script that is being used for the button “File” of group “Coloring Book Menu Bar”:

on menuPick pWhich

  switch pWhich

 case "New Coloring Book..."

 ask file "Enter Name for new Coloring Book and show where to place it."

 if it is empty then exit menuPick

 put itemDelimiter into savedDL

 set itemDelimiter to "/"

 put last item of it into stkName

 set itemDelimiter to savedDL

 revCopyFile stkName,it

 go stack it in a new window

 set the name of this stack to quote&stkName&quote

 set the title of this stack to quote&stkName&quote

    break

  case "Open..."

 answer file "Select a Coloring Book to Open" --with type ".rev"

 if it is "Cancel" then exit menuPick

 go it in a new window

    break

  case "Close"

 hide this stack --it's still open, but not visible

    break

 case "Save..."

 get the long name of this stack --Puts stack name and path into it

 revCopyFile (the effective fileName of this stack), it

    break

 case "Save a Copy..."

    answer folder "Select destination folder for backup: "

 if the result is "Cancel" then exit menupick

 revCopyFile (the effective fileName of this stack), it

    break

 case "Page Setup..."

 answer printer

    break

 case "Print Current"

 set the backcolor of this stack to "white" --So we don't get a grayed backgound printout.

 hide group "Coloring Book Menu bar" --We don't want to have the Menu printed.

    -- Not all cards have the scrolling color field with it but for erasing color by whiting it

 if there is a fld "colorlist" and the visible of fld "colorlist" then

 hide fld "colorList"

 hide btn "button"

    end if

 open printing

 if thePaperSize is empty then doPrintThisCard (1224,792),72

 else print this cd

 -- After printing we restore the things we just hid

 show group "Coloring Book Menu bar"

 if there is a fld "colorlist" and not the visible of fld "colorlist" then

 show fld "colorList"

 show btn "button"

 end if

 close printing

    break

 case "Quit"

 put the name of this stack into stkName

 delete first word of stkName

 answer "Are you sure you wish to Quit "&stkName&"?" with "Cancel" or "OK"

 if it is "Cancel" then exit menuPick

 quit

    break

  end switch

end menuPick

on doPrintThisCard thePaperSize,theMargin

  -- set up defaults if no size and margin provided:

 if thePaperSize is empty then put the printPaperSize into thePaperSize

 if theMargin is empty then put 72 into theMargin --72 Pixels per inch

  -- get the page area:

 set the printMargins to \

      theMargin,theMargin,theMargin,theMargin

 put theMargin,theMargin, \

 item 1 of thePaperSize - theMargin, \

 item 2 of thePaperSize - theMargin \

 into destinationRect

 --print into that rectangle:

 print this card into destinationRect

end doPrintThisCard

There are still some aspects of the above script that do not work exactly as I would like; particularly the “New Coloring Book” portion. Note that the backslash character is used to continue the previous statement on the next line; and, in some cases, lines. The scripts are automatically indented and colorized, using the Courier Font. I’m still using the defaults for all of these items, but they CAN be changed to suit the users preferences. Where else to set them than the Preferences menu in the Revolution (Application) menu?

Revolution application on Mac

But for the ones I mentioned, you’ll need to click on the “Script Editor” in the left column above.

Revolution application on Mac

As you can see, there are a whole host of Preferences that you may make your own. I hadn’t really intended to show much, if any, of the scripting for this stack, but I’ve decided that it is important that you see how similar it is to HyperTalk; so the following is the script that may be found in the Stack’s script:

on mousemove

-- To easily reset the cursor by moving the mouse to the top

 if the mouseV < 11 then choose Browse tool

end mousemove

on openstack

 if the short name of this stack is "About Coloring Book®" \

 then exit openstack

 global gColor,gCyan,gEveningBlue,gGold,gMagenta,gDarkGreen,\

         gYellow, gOrange,gSalmon,gOrchid,gViolet,gBlack,\

         gRed,gSpringFrost,gBlue,gWhite

 put TheColor() into gColor

 repeat with i = 1 to 15

 set the checkMark of menuItem i of button "Color" of the \

 long name of this stack to (false)

 end repeat

 set the checkMark of menuitem gBlack of button "Color" of the\

 long name of this stack to true

 revSpeak "Welcome to " & the short name of this stack

 choose browse tool

end openstack

on openCard

 if the short name of this stack is not "About Coloring Book®" then

    if the number of this cd is 3 or 37 then enable button "Edit"

 else disable button "Edit" of the effective name of this stack

    if the number of this cd is 11 then

 repeat with c = 1 to 15

 put "Field "&c into afld

 set the foreGroundColor of  Field afld  to "Red"

 end repeat

 end if

  end if

end openCard

on closeCard

 global gCurrentPicture

 get the number of this cd

 if there is a fld "Music Instructions" and the visible of fld\

 "Music Instructions" of cd it then hide fld "Music Instructions" of cd it

 if it is 3 then

    revStopSpeech

    revUnloadSpeech

 else if it is 13 or it is 32 or it is 33 or it is 34 then

 if gCurrentPicture is not empty then

 doHidePict gCurrentPicture

    end if

 end if

end closeCard

on arrowkey theKey

 if target is empty then pass arrowkey

 switch theKey

 case "up"

 go cd 1

 break

 case "down"

 go cd 57

 break

 case "right"

 go next

    break

 case "left"

 go prev

 break

 case else

 pass arrowkey

 end switch

end arrowKey

on Enterkey

 global gCurrentPicture

 get the number of this cd

 if it is 13 or it is 32 or it is 33 or it is 34 then

 doHidePict gCurrentPicture

  end if

end Enterkey

on doShowPict thePict

 global gCurrentPicture

 if thePict is "Museum of Man" then

 put "My Rectangle 2" into theGraphic

 put "Picture Title 2" into theFld

 else if thePict is "San Diego Museum of Art" then

 put "My Rectangle 3" into theGraphic

 put "Picture Title 3" into theFld

 else if thePict is "Sea World" then

 put "My Rectangle 4" into theGraphic

 put "Picture Title 4" into theFld

 else if thePict is "Mormon National Monument" then

 put "My Rectangle 5" into theGraphic

 put "Picture Title 5" into theFld

 else if thePict is "Lindbergh Field" then

 put "My Rectangle 6" into theGraphic

 put "Picture Title 6" into theFld

  else

 put "My Rectangle" into theGraphic

 put "Picture Title" into theFld

 end if

 put thePict into gCurrentPicture

 put thePict into field theFld

 put " - Click/ENTER Key to close" after field theFld

 show graphic theGraphic

 show field theFld

 show image thePict

 put "This izz thee"&thePict into where

 if thePict is "La Jolla Cove" then put "This is the "\

      & "La Hoya Cove" into where

 if thePict is "Cabrillo National Monument" then put \

 "This is the " & "Cabreyo National Monument" into where

  revspeak where

end doShowPict

on doHidePict thePict

 global gCurrentPicture

 hide image thePict

 if thePict is "Museum of Man" then

 put "My Rectangle 2" into theGraphic

 put "Picture Title 2" into theFld

 else if thePict is "San Diego Museum of Art" then

 put "My Rectangle 3" into theGraphic

 put "Picture Title 3" into theFld

 else if thePict is "Sea World" then

 put "My Rectangle 4" into theGraphic

 put "Picture Title 4" into theFld

 else if thePict is "Mormon National Monument" then

 put "My Rectangle 5" into theGraphic

 put "Picture Title 5" into theFld

 else if thePict is "Lindbergh Field" then

 put "My Rectangle 6" into theGraphic

 put "Picture Title 6" into theFld

  else

 put "My Rectangle" into theGraphic

 put "Picture Title" into theFld

 end if

 hide graphic theGraphic

 hide field theFld

 put empty into gCurrentPicture

end doHidePict

on mouseup

 choose browse tool

end mouseup

function TheColor

 global gCyan,gEveningBlue,gGold,gMagenta,gDarkGreen,gYellow,gOrange\

         ,gSalmon,gOrchid,gViolet,gBlack,gRed,gSpringFrost,gBlue,gWhite

  put 1 into gCyan

  put 2 into gEveningBlue

 put 3 into gGold

  put 4 into gMagenta

  put 5 into gDarkGreen

  put 6 into gYellow

  put 7 into gOrange

  put 8 into gSalmon

  put 9 into gOrchid

  put 10 into gViolet

  put 11 into gBlack

  put 12 into gRed

  put 13 into gSpringFrost

  put 14 into gBlue

 put 15 into gWhite

  return gBlack

end TheColor

The above script is by no means perfect, and there are a number of things that might be done to improve the handlers it contains, but this will have to do for now. Being at the highest level, some of these handlers are called from other places in the stack; such as the Color Menu - see below.

on menuPick pWhich

 global gColor,gCyan,gEveningBlue,gGold,gMagenta,gDarkGreen,gYellow,gOrange,\

         gSalmon,gOrchid,gViolet,gBlack,gRed,gSpringFrost,gBlue,gWhite

 set the checkmark of menuitem gColor of button "color" to (false)

 put empty into gColor

 switch pWhich

  case "Cyan"

 set the checkMark of menuItem gCyan of button "Color" to (true)

    put gCyan into gColor

    break

  case "Evening Blue"

 set the checkMark of menuItem gEveningBlue of button "Color" to (true)

    put gEveningBlue into gColor

    break

 case "Gold"

 set the checkMark of menuItem gGold of button "Color" to (true)

 put gGold into gColor

    break

  case "Magenta"

 set the checkMark of menuItem gMagenta of button "Color" to (true)

    put gMagenta into gColor

    break

  case "Dark Green"

 set the checkMark of menuItem gDarkGreen of button "Color" to (true)

    put gDarkGreen into gColor

    break

  case "Yellow"

 set the checkMark of menuItem gYellow of button "Color" to (true)

    put gYellow into gColor

    break

  case "Orange"

 set the checkMark of menuItem gOrange of button "Color" to (true)

    put gOrange into gColor

    break

  case "Salmon"

 set the checkMark of menuItem gSalmon of button "Color" to (true)

    put gSalmon into gColor

    break

  case "Orchid"

 set the checkMark of menuItem gOrchid of button "Color" to (true)

    put gOrchid into gColor

    break

  case "Violet"

 set the checkMark of menuItem gViolet of button "Color" to (true)

    put gViolet into gColor

    break

  case "Black"

 set the checkMark of menuItem gBlack of button "Color" to (true)

    put gBlack into gColor

    break

  case "Red"

 set the checkMark of menuItem gRed of button "Color" to (true)

    put gRed into gColor

    break

  case "Spring Frost"

 set the checkMark of menuItem gSpringFrost of button "Color"\

        to (true)

    put gSpringFrost into gColor

    break

  case "Blue"

 set the checkMark of menuItem gBlue of button "Color" to (true)

    put gBlue into gColor

    break

  case "White"

 set the checkMark of menuItem gWhite of button "Color" to (true)

    put gWhite into gColor

 break

 case "Browse Tool"

 choose the browse tool

 set the checkmark of menuitem gColor of button "color" to (true)

 exit menuPick

 case "Paint Tool"

 choose the bucket tool

 set the checkmark of menuitem gColor of button "color" to (true)

 exit menuPick

 case "Show Kolor Field"

 set the visible of fld "ColorList" to (true)

 if the tool is not "browse" then choose browse tool

 put "Hide Kolor Field/K" into last line of button "Color" of\

         stack "San Diego Activities and Coloring Book"

 exit menuPick

 case "Hide Kolor Field"

 set the visible of fld "ColorList" to (false)

 put "Show Kolor Field/K" into last line of button "Color" \

         of stack "San Diego Activities and Coloring Book"

 exit menuPick

 end switch

 if gColor is not empty then

 set the brushcolor to pwhich

 set the checkmark of menuitem gColor of button "color" to (true)

 end if

end menuPick

The color menu was done before I realized that an easier way to implement color selection and provide for a greater number of colors at the same time was to put a scrolling field onto each card that was intended for coloring and list all 552 available colors in it. By showing the names of the colors in THEIR colors, the user knows what they are getting - kind of. Some show up pretty faintly, even when the font is enlarged considerably. After the field was created on the first card on which it would appear, the following script was placed in its script:


on mouseup

  --  get the colornames

  --  repeat with i = 1 to the number of lines in it

  --    put line i of it into line i of me

  --    set the forecolor of line i of me to line i of it

  --  end repeat

 get the value of the clickline

 set brushcolor to it

 choose bucket tool

end mouseup

Note that the first 5 lines are now commented out, so they aren’t used anymore. I left them in place in case I mess up and need to recreate the field’s contents. If this were actually to be done again, a number of times, then it would have been better to replace the references to the field by “me” with a local variable of some kind; and, then, when the entire list was completed, put the variable into the field. This is a pretty universal approach when manipulating the contents of fields. Do the manipulating in memory (using variables) rather than in the fields. Once I was satisfied with the appearance and functioning of this field, and had created a button to make selecting the color “white,” for the purpose of “erasing” other colors, as easy as possible, I copied the field and the button at the same time and proceeded to cycle through the stack’s cards, pasting the copied objects into many, but not all, of them. There was no need to show “where” they were to be placed, since Revolution is smart enough to place them all in the same spot on each of the cards, so long as I don’t click anywhere on the cards, which would probably mess things up. I’m going to show just one more script; that of the Music Menu. There are nine preloaded Music clips in a folder named “Music Folder,” and the clips have names “Music 1” through “Music 9.” Note that you are always taken to the first card to play music. This is how the clips are played:

on menuPick pWhich

 global gPlayer

 if the number of this cd is not 1 then go cd 1

  switch pWhich

  case "About Music"

    set the visible of fld "Music Instructions" to not the visible of \

        fld "Music Instructions"

    put fld "Music Instructions" into temp

    revspeak temp -- The instructions are read to the user

 exit menuPick

 case "Music 1"

 put "Player 1" into gPlayer

 break

 case "Music 2"

 put "Player 2" into gPlayer

 break

 case "Music 3"

 put "Player 3" into gPlayer

 break

 case "Music 4"

 put "Player 4" into gPlayer

 break

 case "Music 5"

 put "Player 5" into gPlayer

 break

 case "Music 6"

 put "Player 6" into gPlayer

 break

 case "Music 7"

 put "Player 7" into gPlayer

 break

 case "Music 8"

 put "Player 8" into gPlayer

 break

 case "Music 9"

 put "Player 9" into gPlayer

 break

 case "Stop Music"

 stop playing gPlayer

 exit menuPick

 end switch

start playing gPlayer -- This is outside of the switch statement

end menuPick

In order for the users to have their own music played, all they have to do is replace the nine files in the Music Folder with audio clips of their own (that have the same names as the ones currently there). You might think this was pretty easy, but there were issues to overcome. Getting this external folder to be recognized required some exploration. I tore what little hair I have nearly out by the roots before I finally discovered the secret. Revolution has a lot of “secrets”! I don’t even remember exactly how I managed to solve this problem. It all had to do with “paths.” Initially, I tried rolling my own, but then I found that once I had created nine different player objects with the names “Player 1” thru “Player 9,” and took a look at their Inspector, there was a little folder icon to the right of where the “path” was to be put that allowed me to browse my hard drive until I located the “Music Folder”. See below:

Revolution application on Mac

This automatically put the correct “path” into the “source” field on the Inspector. I’m sure that I could get this to work on all of the cards, but this is another one of those group “things” that I really haven’t mastered yet; plus it’s not that important right now. Well, that’s all I’m going to explain before saving as a standalone application, something I went through successfully a couple of weeks back with my Picture Fonts Stack. I set the “Standalone Application Settings” as I did before, but this time I had some external files (the music clips) that needed to be attached. So when clicking the “Copy Files” icon, the following dialog appeared, though it was empty at the time.

Revolution application on Mac

Clicking on the Add File… button allowed me to navigate to the “MusicFolder” and then to select each one of the clips. My only complaint here was that I had to do it nine times since it would not allow me to choose more than one file at a time. Then I selected “Save as Standalone Application…”, but before I did, it was necessary to reopen the Menu Builder from the Tools Menu, so that I could check the “Set as Menu Bar on Mac OS” checkbox. Otherwise, even on the Mac version the Menus would appear at the top of the Card. Unfortunately, doing this lopped off about 40 pixels from the bottom of the cards. Fortunately, I had taken this into consideration at the outset, and that didn’t adversely affect the appearance of any of the cards.

Revolution application on Mac

After doing this, I decided to build the standalones, since I’ve just about run out of time for this week’s column. After a very short time, during which I noticed that the Externals were being added, the completed application dialog appeared, so all looked well. This was the final Mac opening screen shot:

Revolution application on Mac

I transferred the Windows version over to my other Mac, one that has Virtual PC 6 on it. When I transferred the file over to the other Mac, I put it in my “Shared Folder” file. Then, opening VPC, I located the Windows version and noticed that the Externals were all there in an Externals Folder and the About stack was there as well; however, double clicking on the Coloring Book icon immediately produced a dialog that said it had failed to initialize, so I had to quit, and then close VPC6. At this point I decided to present the problem to the RevList for some guidance. After trying a few suggestions, I have come to the conclusion that it is not a Revolution problem, but a Windows problem - probably an incompatibility between XP running under VPC 6 and my hard drives.

As those of you who have experimented with Windows over the years well know, things never work as easily on that platform as they do on the Mac OS. I have yet to check the Mac version to make sure that it works on the new Intel Macs, but I am fairly confident that it will. Be sure to check back next week to see the end - I hope - of this little mystery.

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