squeakland November 2006

squeakland@lists.squeakfoundation.org

26 participants
14 discussions

Lack of documentation frustrating
by Guyren Howe 27 May '07

27 May '07

Hi, I am volunteering at a local school, and will be doing squeakland once a week with some fifth graders. Squeakland (etoys?) seems ideal for these kids, except that I'm frustrated by the lack of documentation. I've spent ages looking through the website and searching online, and I can't really find the kinds of things I'm looking for. I went through some of the tutorials myself, and those will be great to get started, but I would like to give the kids fairly free reign, and be able to answer most of their questions. I tried to do some little projects myself, but I kept coming up with seemingly simple things I wanted to do, and not finding any obvious way to do them (or, as I say, any documentation suitable for answering the questions). For example: I wanted to make an etoy follow the mouse pointer around. I can't see any way of even obtaining a reference to a mouse object. I would also like to do loops and suchlike. Not obvious how to do that. I can see that if I can dive down into the smalltalk level, I could do it, but this seems like the kind of thing that's probably at the squeakland (etoy? What do I call the kids' environment?) level. But as I say, what I'm really looking for is not this particular fish, but how to fish for myself. I would buy a book, but the one pointed at from the website appears to just be a set of projects, rather than the kind of documentation I'm looking for. Squeak: Learn Programming by Controlling Robots looks like it might be sort of what I'm looking for, although I'm interested in a broader range of Squeakland projects than just the turtle graphics mentioned in the summary of the book. So: where is the documentation it seems ought to be there? Thanks.

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publishing files
by stvcomplab＠aol.com 02 Dec '06

02 Dec '06

I'm trying to use SQUEAK at my school. All the computers are networked thru a Novell server. I would like to control the location of the student files so that they go to the student's home directory on the server. Any help would be appreciated. Lou ________________________________________________________________________ Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more.

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Need help.....
by Leclerc, Guylaine (CCNB Bathurst) 29 Nov '06

29 Nov '06

Hi, I'm an IT teacher in a community college in New-Brunswick, Canada. We would like to use the book "Des idées puissantes dans la classe" (French version of "Powerful ideas in the classroom") in a project we're developing for French high-schools of our province. We would need to adapt the book, form teachers and distribute the book in the schools. Is there someone out there who did something similar? What are the copy rights for this book? How do we proceed to get permission to go ahead in our project? Thanks, Guylaine LeClerc Enseignante Technologies de l'information Collège communautaire de Nouveau-Brunswick - Bathurst C.P. 266, Bathurst (Nouveau-Brunswick) E2A 3Z2 Canada Tél.: (506)547-7513 Téléc.: (506)547-2174 guylaine.leclerc(a)gnb.ca http://collegecommunautaire.ccnb.nb.ca

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Could *really* use Bonjour support
by Guyren Howe 29 Nov '06

29 Nov '06

The desktop sharing built into Squeak is very nice, but it still needs an IP address to be handed around, which is tricky in a classroom full of kids. It seems to me that for a classroom situation, a Bonjour- or similar- based sharing system, that let the kids just turn on sharing and see anyone else who was sharing on the same subnet, would be *fantastic*. Is anything like that available or in the works, or is there some alternative I'm not aware of?

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Making a Copy of an eToy from a script and using the mouse pointer to activate an eToy script
by Offray Vladimir Luna Cárdenas 21 Nov '06

21 Nov '06

Hi all again :), My students and me are working in a kind of basic pingus/lemmings clone[1] using eToys. We would like to use the mouse pointer to select a eToy and execute an script. The idea is to make click on a button, for example the one with the message "Detener al otro" ("Stop the other") and then select the eToy who would have this script enabled using the mouse. [1] http://pingus.seul.org/ We are also stuck on how to make copies on an eToy, so we work only on one, defining scripts, and animations and the we put the amount we want in the game. We know about the green halo button for copy, but we would like to use not graphically but from inside of a script. We have tried to use the message eToyName's copy but it can't be dragged on a script. The animations defined for the first eToy are not copied when we copy it. Waiting for your quick and friendly answer as always, Offray Pdt: It seems that we're reaching some kind of stress point of the eToys. Would be nice to have the possibility to go from them to their code, but the scripts of the eToys seem to have only a code view, but is not usable for writing new code. I have bought the BotInc book from Steffane (it will be here in Colombia in a month :-/ ), as a path in that sense, but I'm wondering if eToys2/Tweak are the way to go from eToys to code for extending them and learn more about programming.

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Turtle graphics ideas
by Bert Freudenberg 19 Nov '06

19 Nov '06

Interesting turtle graphics, posted to the Python-Edu list. - Bert - Begin forwarded message: > From: "Daniel Ajoy" <da.ajoy(a)gmail.com> > Date: November 19, 2006 5:16:46 GMT+01:00 > To: edu-sig(a)python.org > Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] experiences teaching Python with turtle > graphics? > > On 18 Nov 2006 at 12:00, edu-sig-request(a)python.org wrote: > >> As has been mentioned, looking at Logo resources is probably the best >> thing to do. Wikipedia's entry on Logo is a reasonable place to >> start: >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_programming_language >> > > I have a small collection of classic turtle graphics here: > > http://mondragon.angeltowns.net/paradiso/GaleriaGT.html > > And I've promoted this page in the past: > > http://mondragon.angeltowns.net/paradiso/Construcciones.html > > Daniel > Del Paraiso de Logo (Logo Paradise) > > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig(a)python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig

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Re: [Squeakland] [BUG] Can't use Squeakland plugin very well from Firefox...
by Ken G. Brown 19 Nov '06

19 Nov '06

John McIntosh Posted this a couple days ago to Squeak-dev. Ken --------------------------------------------------------------------- At 4:36 AM -0800 11/17/06, squeak-dev-request(a)lists.squeakfoundation.org wrote: >Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 22:18:06 -0800 >From: John M McIntosh <johnmci(a)smalltalkconsulting.com> >Subject: mac carbon VM 3.8.14b3 pending >To: The general-purpose Squeak developers list > <squeak-dev(a)lists.squeakfoundation.org> >Message-ID: > <55A53A0E-9BFE-4B24-AAEB-CC95D663FD81(a)smalltalkconsulting.com> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed > >I've posted a 3.8.14b3 Mac carbon VM to my ftp site and idisk for >testing. Some notes are below, the big changes are for ppc, and >macIntel browser support (safari/firefix), headless support, >remapping of mouse buttons, and adding Exupery support for MacIntel. > >http://www.smalltalkconsulting.com/squeak.html > > >Please let me know if there are issues. > >PS Yes I know sound recording is broken somehow, I hope to explore >why at some point this weekend, although the unix code was swapped in >at 3.8.6b5 and no one noticed anything, assuming anyone does sound >recording anymore, and perhaps it's just a macintel issue, yet >another endian issue one can hope. > > >3.8.14b3 sqMacWIndowUnversial.c Ensure window is created when non- >headless and not running under the browser > typo in check prevent squeak from showing the window when running >standalone for 3.8.14b2. > > sqMacMain.c Check processsor status at startup, if non-headless >and LSBackgroundOnly is true, then > switch process to foreground. > info.plist rest LSBackgroundOnly to false, from true, to avoid >Dock display issue. People > wanting true headless app need then to alter info.plist > > revert bitBlt>copyLoop changes, introduced drawing problems, look >at fixing later, or never as time permits > >3.8.14b2 Fixes for browser support > >3.8.14b1 New browser support on os-x mac/macintel for safari and >firefox. > This logic now follows the example set by the unix plugin, where we > run the VM headless and talk to the browser plugin stub via a two- >way pipe to > enable fetching data via a URL, drawing the screen, and setting the >cursor. > > Thanks to Viewpoint Research for funding this effort. > This VM had limited distribution. > > sqMacOpenGL.c - remove BROWSERPLUGIN > sqMacUnixFileInterface.c - needed include for sqUnixCharConv.h > sqMacHostWindow.c - remove BROWSERPLUGIN > sqMacMain.c - remove BROWSERPLUGIN, add browser pipe logic, > rearrange startup to handle startup with out window for >browser support. > sqMacMemory.c - remove BROWSERPLUGIN > sqMacTime.c - remove BROWSERPLUGIN > sqMacUIAppleEvents.c - remove BROWSERPLUGIN > sqMacUIEventsUniversal.c - remove BROWSERPLUGIN, expose some >internals so new browser > support code can call or access. > sqMacUnixCommandLineInterface.c - add headfull cmd for browser testing > sqMacUnixExernalPrims.c - remove BROWSERPLUGIN > sqMacWIndowUnversial.c - remove BROWSERPLUGIN, changes for browser >support, > assume window is hidden which is different from being headless. > sqNamedPrims.h - remove BROWSERPLUGIN > sqPlatformSpecific.h - remove BROWSERPLUGIN, add URL_FETCH > npSqueak - Directory, add plugin for browser into source tree > sqMacNSPLuginUILogic2.c - new file to replace sqmacNSPluginUILogic.c > sqMacNSPLuginUILogic2.h - new file to replace sqmacNSPluginUILogic2.c > > >3.8.13.b4 Headless support > sqMacMain.c > headless, set background to false if not headless. > alter uuid returned to signify which VM this is > > info.plist > swap buttons to ensure cmd/opt of trackpad is right > Add LSBackgroundOnly to yes i > > sqMacEventsUniversal.c > headless support > > sqMacUnixCommandLineInterface.c > headless parm -headless added > > sqMacWindowUniversal.c > headless support > > platforms/Cross/plugins/ExuperyPLugin created > >3.8.13.b4, b5, b6, b7 > Had limited distribution to test new button modification logic > >3.8.13.b3 > bitBlt>copyLoop changes, normally it prefetchs the next byte for >barrel shifting 64 bits when copying from > one form to another, and a dirty secret and old bug is that it >reads one word past the end of the Form > when it processes the last word in the Form. However when you use >surfaces where the surface is > allocated elsewhere not in object space and in fact say the >allocated form is 2MB and the vm memory > system makes the frame past the 2MB range non-readable, why then >you die on a read protection failure. > So alter the loop to consider if it's preload and the last line we >don't do the pre-fetch because that could > cause a read failure. >3.8.13.b2 > Exupery support, via plugin and changes in the VM for Mac Intel, >use merged VMMaker-Exupery change set > >3.8.13.b1 > Exupery support, via plugin and changes in the VM for Mac Intel. > http://minnow.cc.gatech.edu/squeak/5672 > >-- >======================================================================== >=== >John M. McIntosh <johnmci(a)smalltalkconsulting.com> >Corporate Smalltalk Consulting Ltd. http://www.smalltalkconsulting.com >======================================================================== >=== --------------------------------------------------------------------- >Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2006 13:53:04 -0500 >From: Frank Caggiano <frankcag(a)crystal-objects.com> >Subject: Re: [Squeakland] [BUG] Can't use Squeakland plugin very well > from Firefox... >To: Ned Konz <ned(a)bike-nomad.com> >Cc: squeakland(a)squeakland.org >Message-ID: <C5041CB6-A8C0-48C6-8E3A-939F2C918B84(a)crystal-objects.com> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed > > >On Nov 17, 2006, at 11:02, Ned Konz wrote: > >> Hi all, >> >> I just tried to use the Squeakland plugin on my Mac Mini. I'm running >> the most recent version of Tiger (10.4.8), and I have a Squeakland >> image >> that I just downloaded. >> >> I'm using Firefox 2.0 as a browser. >> >> When I try to run the test project from the Squeakland website (or the >> Weasel Essay): >> >> * I get a SyntaxError notification, with the text: >> >> 'Nothing more expected-><' >> > >I'm getting the same error on a PowerPc G5 with 10.4.8 in both >Firefox 2 and Safari. > >------------------------ >Frank Caggiano >frankcag at crystal-objects dot com >http://www.crystal-objects.com > >The best education for the best is the best education for all. > Robert Maynard Hutchins

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[BUG] Can't use Squeakland plugin very well from Firefox...
by Ned Konz 17 Nov '06

17 Nov '06

Hi all, I just tried to use the Squeakland plugin on my Mac Mini. I'm running the most recent version of Tiger (10.4.8), and I have a Squeakland image that I just downloaded. I'm using Firefox 2.0 as a browser. When I try to run the test project from the Squeakland website (or the Weasel Essay): * I get a SyntaxError notification, with the text: 'Nothing more expected-><' * Somewhere up the stack I see a "Message not understood: ByteArray>>string". The CodeLoader's stream is a MultiByteFileStream; its converter is a UTF8TextConverter. * Trying to use the "mail bug report" menu choice from the debugger, I can't use Cmd-S to do an "accept". In fact, all Cmd- keys are intercepted by Firefox. Unfortunately, there is no text context menu in the "mail bug report" text editor. * Control-clicks are sent to both Squeak and Firefox, sometimes resulting in both context menus coming up. * Repaints are unreliable. I sometimes have to drag the Squeak objects around to get them to repaint. * Here's the full stack at the exception: Process>>suspend SyntaxError class>>open: SyntaxErrorNotification>>defaultAction UndefinedObject>>handleSignal: MethodContext(ContextPart)>>handleSignal: MethodContext(ContextPart)>>handleSignal: MethodContext(ContextPart)>>handleSignal: MethodContext(ContextPart)>>handleSignal: MethodContext(ContextPart)>>handleSignal: MethodContext(ContextPart)>>handleSignal: SyntaxErrorNotification(Exception)>>signal SyntaxErrorNotification class>>inClass:withCode:doitFlag: Parser>>notify:at: Parser>>expected: Parser>>method:context:encoder: [] in Parser>>parse:class:noPattern:context:notifying:ifFail: {[t7 := t10 method: t3 context: t4 encoder: (Encoder new in...]} BlockContext>>on:do: Parser>>parse:class:noPattern:context:notifying:ifFail: Compiler>>translate:noPattern:ifFail: Compiler>>evaluate:in:to:notifying:ifFail:logged: Compiler class>>evaluate:for:notifying:logged: Compiler class>>evaluate:for:logged: Compiler class>>evaluate:logged: [] in MultiByteFileStream(PositionableStream)>>fileInAnnouncing: {[t2 := (self peekFor: $!) ifTrue: [(Compiler evaluate: self nextChunk lo...]} BlockContext>>on:do: [] in MultiByteFileStream(PositionableStream)>>fileInAnnouncing: {[:t4 | [self atEnd] whileFalse: [t4 value: self position. self skipSep...]} ProgressInitiationException>>sendNotificationsTo: [] in ProjectLauncher>>installProjectFrom: {[:t2 | t2 sendNotificationsTo: [:t3 :t4 :t5 | t5]]} BlockContext>>valueWithPossibleArgs: [] in MethodContext(ContextPart)>>handleSignal: {[(self tempAt: 2) valueWithPossibleArgs: {t1}]} BlockContext>>ensure: MethodContext(ContextPart)>>handleSignal: MethodContext(ContextPart)>>handleSignal: MethodContext(ContextPart)>>handleSignal: ProgressInitiationException(Exception)>>signal ProgressInitiationException>>display:at:from:to:during: ProgressInitiationException class>>display:at:from:to:during: ByteString(String)>>displayProgressAt:from:to:during: MultiByteFileStream(PositionableStream)>>fileInAnnouncing: MultiByteFileStream(FileStream)>>fileIn MultiByteFileStream>>fileInProject MultiByteFileStream>>fileInObjectAndCodeForProject [] in ProjectLoading class>>openName:stream:fromDirectory:withProjectView: {[t5 := t5 fileInObjectAndCodeForProject]} BlockContext>>on:do: [] in ProjectLoading class>>openName:stream:fromDirectory:withProjectView: {[[t5 := t5 fileInObjectAndCodeForProject] on: FontSubstitutionDuringLoadin...]} BlockContext>>ensure: ProjectLoading class>>openName:stream:fromDirectory:withProjectView: CodeLoader>>installProject [] in ProjectLauncher>>installProjectFrom: {[t1 installProject]} BlockContext>>on:do: [] in ProjectLauncher>>installProjectFrom: {[[t1 installProject] on: ProjectViewOpenNotification do: [:t2 | t2 resum...]} BlockContext>>on:do: [] in ProjectLauncher>>installProjectFrom: {[[[t1 installProject] on: ProjectViewOpenNotification do: [:t2 | t2 resu...]} BlockContext>>on:do: ProjectLauncher>>installProjectFrom: ProjectLauncher>>startUpAfterLogin ProjectLauncher>>doEtoyLogin ProjectLauncher>>startUp [] in AutoStart class>>startUp: {[t4 startUp]} WorldState>>runStepMethodsIn: PasteUpMorph>>runStepMethods WorldState>>doOneCycleNowFor: WorldState>>doOneCycleFor: PasteUpMorph>>doOneCycle [] in Project class>>spawnNewProcess {[[World doOneCycle. Processor yield. false] whileFalse. nil]} [] in BlockContext>>newProcess {[self value. Processor terminateActive]} -- Ned Konz ned(a)bike-nomad.com http://bike-nomad.com

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Squeak first impressions and a couple questions
by Jeff 17 Nov '06

17 Nov '06

Hello all! :) I'm a squeak newbie and pretty much a newbie to programming as a whole. I've explored a little bit of a variety of languages, but never really got serious about any of them because I always had the impression that I would have to invest a great deal of time and effort into studying them before I could use them to do anything useful. This is an unfortunate thing for someone who really does want to, (and sometimes "needs" to), do some programming. Additionally, the languages I've looked at have always given me the impression that even after learning them creating simple programs from them would be a very time consuming process. This might be fine for people who want to BE PROGRAMMERS, but what I want is to HAVE WORKING PROGRAMS. (Bold there is for emphasis, I'm really not shouting at you all :) So anyway, after exploring and doing short tutorials in a lot of languages, (c, C++, perl, ruby, java, php, Visual Basic, Basic), I finally found squeak. This is the first one that I've really liked at first glance. Why, you ask? Well, the first thing I loved about it was that I was able to make a race car move around the screen very quickly and now I know how to do it again in under 5 minutes if I want to. But after I got over how cool that is and did a little more sober reflection, (as well as searching the web to find out what all there is to squeak), I started to appreciate it even more. For one thing I don't know of any other language in which you can modify an active script during runtime. Secondly morphic programming seems very cool. I haven't fully got the hang of it yet, but it looks like it has a lot of potential. Third, I was pleasantly surprised to see some of the tools that have been included in squeak, such as the painting program and wonderland. I'm also happy to see the projects that are in the works, and I look forward to using completed version of croquet and squeakNOS in the future. On the downside, as I think others mention a lot I'd like to see more and better documentation. Most of the tutorials I've found on the web I have been unable to make work, and I believe it is because they were written using an earlier version of squeak. Also the pages I've opened with Scamper aren't being rendered properly. The only other real downside I see at the moment is that some of the projects I wish were complete aren't finished yet. Actually there is one other one, and that's that it, (or the "e-toys" part of it? I'm not sure exactly what the definition of etoys even is yet, is that just whatever you make with the prepackaged morphs?), appears to be marketed as if it were just for kids. I don't know why that's the case. Comparing making the race car in squeak, (e-toys?) versus doing so in another language reminds me of comparing running a computer on DOS versus running one with an OS that uses a GUI. These easy to conceptualize and use drag-and-drop, point-and-click interfaces might be arguably childish, but I don't know too many adults running DOS machines right now. After having played around with squeak for about a week, I do have a few questions, if anyone would be kind enough to answer them. 1. When creating a new morph, how do you get it to appear in the flaps registry?, ( I managed to successfully create a read only text morph by copying the textmorph class and removing the HandlesKeystroke method, but I don't know how to get it into the supplies flap. ) 2. I figured out how to get my race car to react to keystrokes, but I'd like to get it to react to keys that are still down. In other words, when I keep holding the up arrow after hitting the left arrow, I want it to continue accelerating without me needing to hit the up arrow again. Is there a way to script "KeyBeingHeldDown" or something like that? 3. While playing around with text entries, I managed to get scripts to fire based on the text's last character... unless that character is the enter key. I tried <cr> for carriage return, and other variations to represent that, to no avail. How can I start a script from a person hitting enter after typing a command in the text field? 4. I did see an older version of squeak that used a buttonbar in which morphs could be placed on little squeak logos which would then act as creators of those morphs. Was that removed, and if so why? 5. Are there any plans to make some standard morphs for widgets such as those which come with Glade or WXWidgets? I know about WXSqueak, but I'm wondering if there are plans to make those kinds of windows, listboxes, etc. as morphs, so that I can create and manipulate them in the same way I do with all the other morphs. I understand that it's unlikely that such morphs would look "native", but I believe that is an overrated concern. Whether the aesthetics match my windows theme, Mac, Unix, etc. defaults is not concerning to me. I just want them to function in the same way. 6. On that same note, any good tutorials for WXSqueak that work with Squeak 3.8? (I did manage to get it installed through squeakmap, and the system browser shows a lot of WXwidgets packages, classes, etc. so I believe I did it right, but I have no idea how to use it.) 7. Also, is there a tutorial for Seaside that works with Squeak 3.8? Thanks!, Julio :) _______________________________________________ No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding. Make My Way your home on the Web - http://www.myway.com

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How to share?
by Guyren Howe 16 Nov '06

16 Nov '06

Hello, all. My initial efforts with an after-school 9-11 year old group are going very well. I think if it works reliably and is easy to use, the sharing facilities that are hinted at on the site, which would seem to make simple networked games very easy to create, would be wonderful. But I can't see how to get them to work. I've tried going to the Object Catalog and dragging out a Badge, a Fridge, a Listener, a Nebraska Server (and starting it), and a Welcome thingy. On two machines on the same subnet. And I can't see anything from there that would seem to let me connect from one to the other, apart from the badge. This lets me put in an email address and (or?) an IP address. Doing this on a XP and a OS X machine side by side, I tried putting in the IP address of the XP machine on the mac, and clicking on the T button (open a Telemorphic). This momentarily produced an ugly error dialog. When I tried to dismiss this, it locked up Squeak on my Mac (specifically: the error message "Cannot connect to..." kept appearing in pieces across the top of the error dialog, and the mouse wouldn't move). I ended up having to kill Squeak on the Mac. On WIndows, I just get errors when I try to connect. The Fridge keeps complaining that it knows of no server, but there is no obvious way to tell it of one. Heeeeelllllpppp!!!

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squeakland November 2006