EBasic Intro for beginners ..

[GWS]

Hi folks,

I haven't been idle during my unfortunate absence  - I've written a little intro to our favorite language.

http://www.ionicwind.com/downloads/intro.zip

It was going to be more, but my authoring program turned out to be somewhat flaky, and decided to collapse altogether just as I got this far .
'Error .. Error' it kept saying, but without telling me what it was, so I couldn't fix it.

I suppose I was lucky to salvage as much as I did ..

Anyway, I hope someone just starting might find it interesting.

best wishes,

Graham

[Jerry Muelver]

Good stuff, Graham! Thanks for showing us.

What authoring program were you using, that gave up on you? I've got a list of authoring options longer than a judge's robe.

[Rock Ridge Farm (Larry)]

I am using it as my starting point for Ebasic.
Will let you know how it works out.

[GWS]

Hi Jerry, ..  .. I was using PagePlus 11 from Serif.  It's a fairly cheap program, with a built-in pdf facility.  I haven't found it too easy to use, but then I'm not used to it.  I'd be interested what you would use for similar work.

Larry, ah! .. a perfect test candidate ..  It is an experiment really.  I wanted something that would maintain interest, motivate .. amuse even.
The simple 'Hello World' plus pages of language syntax type of document, I always found almost unreadable .. 

On the other hand, maybe this is too scary .. I don't know.  I shall be interested to hear how you find it

all the best,

Graham

[Brian]

Graham,

I've been using Vizacc Helpmaker - it's free and good

http://www.vizacc.com/gen_download.php

Brian

[GWS]

Thanks Brian .. that's a new one on me.

I think what I'm looking for is a straightforward Word-like package with some frills for fancy text, images, maybe even sound .. 
(Not so much a Help compiler - I have got Microsoft's version).  A sort of souped up writing tool - not a publishing package like MS Publisher or Quark.

PagePlus 11 was OK, but it wasn't easy to change text colors and it didn't have a format painter like Word.  You need to pay too much attention to page setup, and not to just creative writing.

I quite like Ability Write - it feels robust and user friendly, and it will produce pdf documents.  Maybe something just a little bit fancier than that .. 

all the best,

Graham

[Jerry Muelver]

OpenOffice for Win and Linux, NeoOffice/J for the Mac. JreePad (http://jreepad.sourceforge.net) on Win and Mac, TreePad (compatible with JreePad) on Linux. For note-taking and organizing. For delivery as single-file multipage HTML (no graphics, yet) I like TiddlyWiki, especially the "twee" offshoot (http://gimcrackd.com/etc/src/) for simplified ebook-style HTML packages. I integrate JreePad for authoring with twee for delivery.

[Junner2003]

Thanks Graham!

That was really a nice INTRO to EBASIC.
My first impression was that it got a little bit too deep into math for the beginning but it was still ok!

Maybe in future you wanna write this in html? PDF always makes trouble with copying text - formattings never turn out right and corrections are necessary (which is bad for beginners).

Since I am still an ABSOLUTE BEGINNER ( ... oh, I loooove to say that! ... ) I want to suggest something:
The coding might not really be the main problem new users have. Plenty of EXAMPLE CODE is available and it might help to refer to a special example and explain stuff in there. Most problems new users experience are coming from a different direction: At least I have trouble understanding DLL and API and how to get this to work with EBASIC. Well, most people say: search on GOOGLE! But the truth is that most stuff you can find out there is too advanced for beginners.

If you are already an experienced programmer then you also don't need all that code examples - just the different syntaxing ...

How ever, this was only meant to be taken as suggestions. I think you made a great job and hopefully you will continue when ever you will find enough time and a stabile program one day

Thanks!

[GWS]

Thanks for the review J ..   I note your comments.

Yes, I felt simply going through through lots of instructions would not be helpful.

My aim was to give an insight into the event handling and messages for a Windows program, plus a bit of fun with an illustration program.

I have trouble understanding DLL's and API myself - I'm not the world's greatest programmer by any means ..

all the best,

Graham

[Doc]

Heh heh... I like it Graham!

My favorite part:

The Crypt
Oh Dear! .. You came down here then?
Some people who came here have never been seen again .. Just follow the markers, and hopefully you will find what you are looking for.

A great start with plenty of personality added to what otherwise always seems to be dry subject material...

-Doc-

[Rock Ridge Farm (Larry)]

Open office is the way to go - Slight learning curve but even I managed it.
BTW - I am up to page 2 now.

[GWS]

He! .. He! .. 

Graham

[Allan]

Hi Graham

Thanks for the INTRO

Looking through the example Package I noticed the Code for the IDCHAR message closes the Window but not the application.

Press Ctrl - Alt Delete and look under the Processes TAB and you can see the prog is still there.

I changed the code as follows and it now closes the app as well.

Code Select Expand

case @idchar
'if (@wparam = 27) then closewindow w
if (@wparam = 27) then SendMessage(w, @idclosewindow, 0, 0)

[GWS]

Yep, you're right Allan ..  .. I missed that one ..

I should have used:

Code Select Expand

if (@wparam = 27) then run = 0

best wishes,

Graham

[mrainey]

Hi Graham - long time no see.

[GWS]

Hi Michael ..  .. I'm still around, mostly working in IB standard ..

Just hoping Paul will have some success in seeking new employment today.  He's long overdue for a happier lifestyle.

Hope you are well ..

best wishes,

Graham