[squeak-dev] No subject

Azka Niazi azka.akn at live.com
Fri Jun 21 11:57:46 UTC 2013


Thanks for the feedback Ron and Chris, but I have some more questions now.
1. I am sorry I didn't fully understand what did you mean by "act as storage space for the code you write in Smalltalk". Also please specify whether by Smalltalk you meant Smalltalk-80 (i.e. Squeak) or did you mean Smalltalk only. As in is there a custom to refer to Squeak as Smalltalk. Doesn't it create am
2. You said the .sources file holds the code for the image file. But a lot of stuff is absent in the .sources file to make the image file what it is. For example, below is the general format throughout the files for adding methods in the class whose name will be written in place of class-name:!class-name methodsFor: ‘protocol-name'
stamp: ‘some-tag DD/MM/YYYY time-in-format'!

name-of-method

  “Body of the method”! !Before adding methods to a class, in the .sources file only, there are some lines of code telling us which super class does it inherit from along with some description. There is no specification (in the .sources file) about the system category under which that particular class will fall. Yet, when one opens the image file all the classes are distributed among the system categories. From an object oriented point of view, I agree that it doesn't matter, but considering what I can see in the image file, and considering that I find it very hard at times to locate a class by browsing through the system browser by its name only and not knowing about it system category, I need to know if there is any part of the source code responsible for this classification with respect to system categories.
3. Yes http://download.scratch.mit.edu/source-code/ScratchSource1.4.zip  is where I started as well. I used the image file from this link. I couldn't find a hierarchy browser or anything analogous to it. I am sorry if this list the not the best place to ask this question, but how can I go about the inheritance hierarchy by using an image for Scratch.
Chris, I have joined the other mailing list you suggested and will soon initiate this discussion over there too. Thanks.

Azka

From: ron at usmedrec.com
To: squeak-dev at lists.squeakfoundation.org
Subject: RE: [squeak-dev] No subject
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 22:32:51 -0400

  From: squeak-dev-bounces at lists.squeakfoundation.org [mailto:squeak-dev-bounces at lists.squeakfoundation.org] On Behalf Of Azka Niazi
Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2013 11:59 AM
To: Squeak Developer Mailing List
Subject: [squeak-dev] No subject Treat me like a beginner. I have two targets:1. I want to document the source code of Scratch.2. I want to modify Scratch. Below the #'s is what I have already been told through this mailing list. Now, the source code provided for Scratch [1] has two files with code inside them; a .SOURCES file and a .CHANGES file. I have two simple questions:What is the purpose of the two files?If I want to change the code in one of these file and see it how does it come out, (how) can that be done?  Hello Azka, The .sources and .changes files are not changed by hand they are files that act as storage space for the code you write in Smalltalk.  The changes file tracks all changes that are made to the system.  .sources is a file that holds the code for the image.  You can think of a sources file as a starting point and changes adds to it.   You change code using browsers in Smalltalk itself.  It’s not a good idea to try to change code in the files. I have been able to understand the format of the source code provided. I would like to ask is there is any code which is responsible for creating the OO world of Scratch. The system categories for Scratch objects hold a lot of classes in them. Those classes, along with a lot of other new and old classes have been used to construct Scratch. These classes didn't preexist. Can a file of code not be used to create new classes and system categories? You create new classes using a Smalltalk browser.  While you could use a file and file in the file it’s not a good idea to change code in files. Squeak by Example [8] talks about a 'hierarchy browser' which is easy to find with the files provided with it. Is there a similar kind of thing to explore Scratch objects? If yes, how to get to it. If no, how do can I trace the hierarchy of inheritance objects used to make Scratch. For scratch you will need to use a development image, or break into the development environment to access the development tools.  Haven’t tried it but maybe that is where you are having difficulty.  I would start here: http://download.scratch.mit.edu/source-code/ScratchSource1.4.zip    A sealed image can lock out the dev tools, it may even strip out the development tools completely.  Also a sealed image does not normally require a changes file since it is not used for the purpose of changing code.  All the best, Ron TeitelbaumHead Of Engineering3d Immersive Collaboration Consultingron at 3dicc.comFollow Me On Twitter: @RonTeitelbaumwww.3dicc.com 3d ICC on G+  Thanks,Azka ##################################Scratch uses the Morphic UI on a Squeak image with a virtual machine underneath. The Squeak version is, I think, 2.8 (as opposed to 4.4 which is about to come out) and came out in 2005. The important difference is that the virtual machine has changed. Modern vms are closure complete and have a JIT. 

To see Squeak 2.8 when it was released. [7]
For some videos on Scratch from a Squeak perspective [3-6].
An introductory book on Squeak. [8]
Source code on the virtual machines. [2].
The Scratch image that will not work on a modern Squeak virtual machine. [1]
But will work on a virtual machine from a Squeakland Etoys release. [10]
As you first expressed interest with how Scratch interfaces with the hardware you may need to join the VM-Beginners list [9].

[1] http://info.scratch.mit.edu/Scratch_Source_Code_Licensed_Code
[2] http://squeakvm.org/index.html
[3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqV3nGD9N7U
[4] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwmQ1DoEjsA
[5] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGyfzw_gePo
[6] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmTk9t71jZ4
[7] http://ftp.squeak.org/2.8/
[8] http://squeakbyexample.org/
[9] http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/pipermail/vm-beginners
[10] http://www.squeakland.org/ Courtesy of Chris Cunnington; when I said I need to understand Scratch (get about its source code) and how does it interface with the hardware.   
 		 	   		  
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