Next Version of TADS3?
Starman9
made available or if there is a general ETA?
Thanks.
Eric Eve
news:1180169215.6...@q19g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
> Anyone know when the next verstion of TADS3 (currently 3.0.12)
> will be
> made available or if there is a general ETA?
I don't know when the next official release of TADS 3 will be (only
Mike Roberts could tell you that, and he may not know himself), but
if you're on Windows you can look at TADS 3.0.15 now (obtainable
from http://www.tads.org/tads3alpha.htm). The main changes are to
TADS 3 Workbench, which now incorporates a built-in editor and some
other useful tools (see
http://www.tads.org/t3dl/alpha/changes/doc/changes.htm). It is still
and alpha version, and there are a few bugs, but once you know what
they are they're easier enough to work round, and I'm using this
version quite happily.
But, of course, you may prefer to wait for the official release, or
at least the beta, and I can't tell you when that will be. What I
can tell you is that the changes to the library and the system are
not all that extensive between TADS 3.0.12 and TADS 3.0.15 (for
details see
ttp://www.tads.org/t3dl/alpha/changes/lib/adv3/changes.htm and
http://www.tads.org/t3dl/alpha/changes/doc/t3changes.htm). The
library changes are mainly to do with tidying up a few things and
fixing a few bugs; many of the system changes concern the ability to
run a new kind of script file (an event script) to replay recorded
games. So, if you're running on Windows and like the idea of using
an editor built into Workbench (which I personally find a great
boon), by all means try out the latest alpha; otherwise, you're not
missing a great deal.
-- Eric
Starman9
> an editor built into Workbench (which I personally find a great
> boon), by all means try out the latest alpha; otherwise, you're not
> missing a great deal.
>
> -- Eric
Wow! Fantastic, Eric. Thanks for the information. I'll d/load the
latest alpha and check it out.
Jim Aikin
"Eric Eve" <eric...@NOSPAMhmc.ox.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:f39ghj$253$1...@frank-exchange-of-views.oucs.ox.ac.uk...
>
> It is still and alpha version, and there are a few bugs, but once you know
> what they are they're easier enough to work round, and I'm using this
> version quite happily.
I would second this enthusiastically. Workbench ROXX! And yes, there are a
few little bugs, but nothing that actually gets in the way.
--Jim Aikin
Fred Burbidge
Hmm, use the alpha build or wait? The alpha build is a tempting
proposition, although I'm not sure I'll use the workbench's new editor
unless it's REALLY good: I write T3 stuff in Textpad 5 with my own
custom syntax file (hacked together from similar files for other
editors..). Textpad is currently my weapon of choice: with clip
libraries and a myriad of useful tools it gives me that warm, fuzzy
feeling that only a good application can.
Oh fine: alpha build it is then.
Fred Burbidge
Ok, all is fairly well. Not entirely sure I'd recommend the alpha to
newbies, but those who at least consider their skill level to be at
least "mildly intermediate" should find something here to keep them happy.
The only real problem I've encountered is that the Compile And Run
feature (hotkey Ctrl-F5, or via the Build menu) is thoroughly broken
(grumble). By this I mean it throws a virtual fit: the Debug Log window
flashing about like a cheap school disco while Workbench seemingly tries
to compile your game again and again in some sort of infinite loop. The
workaround is of course to just hit Compile For Debugging and then run
the debug version of your game from the Debug\ directory. So, yes, fix that.
Otherwise, spangly.
Jim Aikin
> proposition, although I'm not sure I'll use the workbench's new editor
> unless it's REALLY good: I write T3 stuff in Textpad 5 with my own custom
> syntax file (hacked together from similar files for other editors..).
> Textpad is currently my weapon of choice: with clip libraries and a myriad
> of useful tools it gives me that warm, fuzzy feeling that only a good
> application can.
>
> Oh fine: alpha build it is then.
The editor in Workbench is pretty much a standard multi-tabbed text editor,
nothing extraordinary, though the built-in syntax coloring saves a bit of
effort. But being able to set breakpoints directly in the IDE is nice, and
the script playback tool is worth the price of admission by itself -- if you
often test scenes while debugging (uhh, you _do_ test scenes while
debugging, right?), replaying your most recent play session is a single
right-click away.
Having the manuals all available in the IDE is less useful, IMO, because
only one is available at a time. There's only one Help tab, in other words.
I keep them _all_ open in separate tabs in Internet Explorer. Much nicer,
especially as the pdf of the tour guide can be kept in one tab, making its
text searchable.
--JA
Eric Eve
news:CI36i.1947$qD....@newsfe6-win.ntli.net...
> The only real problem I've encountered is that the Compile And Run
> feature (hotkey Ctrl-F5, or via the Build menu) is thoroughly
> broken (grumble). By this I mean it throws a virtual fit: the
> Debug Log window flashing about like a cheap school disco while
> Workbench seemingly tries to compile your game again and again in
> some sort of infinite loop. The workaround is of course to just
> hit Compile For Debugging and then run the debug version of your
> game from the Debug\ directory. So, yes, fix that.
Yes, that's one of the bugs I referred to (and you've already
discovered the workaround). Another one is the auto-script replay
doesn't quite work as advertised, in that the final Q/Y is not being
stripped from the end of the script (which is a mild nuisance if you
want to replay a script and then carry on from the point it
reached); again there's a straightforward workaround (use the replay
to cursor function instead). There also seem to be a few minor
issues with the find function (searching project source code), but
none of them is serious, and you might hardly notice them.
-- Eric
> Otherwise, spangly.
Eric Eve
news:f3ahf6$hme$1...@aioe.org...
> The editor in Workbench is pretty much a standard multi-tabbed
> text editor, nothing extraordinary, though the built-in syntax
> coloring saves a bit of effort. But being able to set breakpoints
> directly in the IDE is nice, and the script playback tool is worth
> the price of admission by itself -- if you often test scenes while
> debugging (uhh, you _do_ test scenes while debugging, right?),
> replaying your most recent play session is a single right-click
> away.
Yes, that's a highly desirable feature (of the kind that makes me
wonder how I ever lived without it). Just having the editor
integrated with Workbench is a benefit too, partly for the reasons
you describe, partly just to avoid the need to switch between
different applications (to be sure, that's only a very minor
inconvenience, but it's not one I miss!). I also find the
auto-indenting in the editor a helpful feature too, not only because
it make the code look a bit nicer, but because when it doesn't work
as I expect it's usually a good indication that there's something
wrong with my code.
> Having the manuals all available in the IDE is less useful, IMO,
> because only one is available at a time. There's only one Help
> tab, in other words. I keep them _all_ open in separate tabs in
> Internet Explorer. Much nicer, especially as the pdf of the tour
> guide can be kept in one tab, making its text searchable.
I'm pretty much with you there; I also keep a set of TADS
documentation open in separate IE tabs and use them rather than the
help tab built into Workbench (except that I seldom bother to
include Getting Started and the Tour Guide in the set, since I so
seldom refer to them). In addition to having several different tabs
open at a time, this also gives me more screen area to view each
tab. Finally, when looking at documentation in the Workbench help
tab you can't always rely on the browser back button to work; it's
all too often greyed out when you want to go back to view a previous
page. That said, the Workbench help tab is occasionally useful: for
reading the help documentation on Workbench itself, for example, or
for use with the documentation search facility.
-- Eric
Fred Burbidge
stuff that doesn't *quite* work yet but the features that do are really
quite impressive, particularly the Scintilla integration. I'm finding
myself using either Textpad or Workbench at the moment: really,
whichever I happen to Alt-Tab to first.
As for approaches to documentation, I tend to have shortcuts to all the
relevant stuff right in my work directory: I just open it when I need
it, although I must admit that Eric's Tour Guide is where most of my
answers are found. Indispensable!
Fred Burbidge
icons in the Workbench and TADS interpreter are going to get neatened
up? They're a really bright, garish yellow, look a bit scribbly and are
driving me up the wall in a way that only a terminal pedant can be
driven. I actually went to the trouble of extracting the offending
images from the programs by hand using a resource editor, tweaking them
in an image editor and put them back in again. I can pass on the altered
BMPs if Mr. Roberts wants 'em.
Eric Eve
I suggest that's something you contact Mike Roberts about directly
(or else post a suggestion to the TADS 3 list at
http://lists.v-space.org/listinfo/tads3).
-- Eric
Fred Burbidge
> I suggest that's something you contact Mike Roberts about directly
> (or else post a suggestion to the TADS 3 list at
> http://lists.v-space.org/listinfo/tads3).
>
> -- Eric
>
>
Oh, right. I'll do that. Cheers.