Tim Rowledge wrote:

On Wed 25 Nov, Dan Ingalls wrote:

...

Folks -

I have just stored a beta version of Squeak 2.3 out on the UIUC server: ftp://st.cs.uiuc.edu/Smalltalk/Squeak/

OK - first bug for Acorn:- I sent johnM a patch to remove the LEBB startup sequence, since I've withdrawn it from use. Isn't in there, so my new VM don't work.

Otherwise, same as Dwight said. registering the file stream gets its knickers twisted and goes into a screaming powerdive to oblivion, pilot shrieking for mother, smoking crater, fire blazing across the desolate moors as puzzled sheep look on. Rain comes, puts out the flames, silence returns. The mist rolls in....

Such an evocative image. I can almost hear Churchill in voice-over saying, "Yes, I believe I will have another brandy." :-)

-- Dwight

I got Squeak 2.2 loaded on my windows 95 machine. It comes up with the multi-windows, etc.

My background is assemble language. write code, compilie, run

I havn't a clue on how to start. i.e. how do I use squeak to to get on the web as a browser ? how do I do anything ? the readme doesn't address simple questions. :-) Help ! can anyone point me in the right direction ?

Thanks, Stan microres@crl.com

Hi Stan,

Go to the getting started tutorial at: http://kaka.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/~wolfgang/cosc205/smalltalk1.html and then: http://www.phaidros.com/DIGITALIS/englisch/sqk/sqk00002.htm which should get you well on the way. Squeak is a rapidly changing and evolving system, so you can expect to have to wade in and figure some things out, but be sure to ask questions too.

Also make sure you check out the Squeak Swiki: http://minnow.cc.gatech.edu/squeak.1 and the Squeak Directory: http://directory.mozilla.org/Computers/Programming_Languages/Squeak/

-- Dwight

Stanley Wilson wrote:

I got Squeak 2.2 loaded on my windows 95 machine. It comes up with the multi-windows, etc.

My background is assemble language. write code, compilie, run

"And now for something completely different" -- Monty Python's Flying Circus

I havn't a clue on how to start. i.e. how do I use squeak to to get on the web as a browser ? how do I do anything ? the readme doesn't address simple questions. :-) Help ! can anyone point me in the right direction ?

Thanks, Stan microres@crl.com

Many thanks, Andreas, for highlighting the new features of Squeak 2.3 that are available for test in the beta image. I was busy with Charlie's birthday and didn't want to spend the whole evening at the computer.

A couple of other things occur to me worthy of mention, as folks may want to try them out in beta and let us know of anything that seems amiss.

• Interface changes

We have now new Morphic menus (I just love them) and a preferences panel with help messages for most entries.

Note especially the preference for inboard scrollbars. I spent a while getting these to work right, as it really makes a difference on PDAs where there is no mouseOver tracking.

Also note that Morphic windows now have the ability to adjust pane boundaries (and I fixed a couple of bugs there, too).

And the multiple selections finally work in morphic (cf changelist)

Andreas was too modest to mention that his file contents browser has been included. The normal way to get at it is through the fileList menu options. It is wonderful to have the diff feature, and I extended its availability to the changeList and versions browsers. Also note that the 'compare to clipboard' command (in the "special" menu of the text editor) has been changed so that it spawns a window with the detailed diffs. It can be really useful.

• Numerical stuff

The new coercion scheme is in 2.3beta, we have array math and a brand new wavelet transform hanging around (see class FWT).

The new coercion scheme has been extended to collections and points. This was inspired by Travis Griggs's collection arithmetic package. We probably have some more work to do to fully include, eg, the FloatArrays.

Also note that the 2.3 VM does Float/Integer coericons internally which makes this most common case uncommonly fast.

Finally, although it's not exactly numerical, the VM now includes a string search primitive that dramatically changes the performance of most string searches. The primitive is parameterized for casesensitivity, and has been incoporated into most of the other code such as beginsWith:, match: and the like.

• Weak classes / finalization support is now part of the standard image

[Note: Some people were already running into this - you really need a new VM for this stuff to work properly]

Oops. I forgot to mention that.

• Balloon Flash is a vector graphics package designed for vector graphics content delivery over the internet. Many sites use this to enhance their web pages and it's a lot of fun to play with. If you have access to any .SWF files just open them from the file list.

Note that balloon objects built from SWF files can be scaled and rotated to any angle without loss of detail. Use cmd-click to get a halo for the flash player, and then choose make controls from its menu. This will allow you to choose fastest, medium or nicest, the Sears good/better/best choice applied to anti-aliased rendering. Also bear in mind that speed and quality will depend on your color depth setting. Things will be nicest if you use 16- or 32-bit color (natch).

Finally, there is a significant new system (called Squeak Pages) designed to allow morphic worlds to be cached in Squeak, but resident on Web Pages. This is largely the work of John Maloney and Ted Kaehler. We will write more specifically about this when we have had a chance to shake it down a bit ourselves.

Enjoy - Dan

Mark Guzdial wrote:

...

• Playing with MacroMedia Flash files Flash is a vector graphics package designed for vector graphics content delivery over the internet. Many sites use this to enhance their web pages and it's a lot of fun to play with. If you have access to any .SWF files just open them from the file list. [Note: The integration into Scamper didn't make it for the beta. It will be in the final 2.3 and I'll post a couple of links for you to play with].

For those of us who have just learned of Flash, where's a good place to grab .SWF files?

If you're running Mac or Windows you can go to http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/index_flash_movie.html and download the trial beta which has example files.-Laurence

Thanks! Mark

---

Mark Guzdial : Georgia Tech : College of Computing : Atlanta, GA 30332-0280 (404) 894-5618 : Fax (404) 894-0673 : guzdial@cc.gatech.edu http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/people/Faculty/Mark.Guzdial.html

Dear Friends,

This past week I got my January issue of Dr. Dobbs (yes, one of the few hard core mags still around that doesn't have it's head up some language's behind), and, as usual, I sat down to read Michael Swaine's column, and what do you know... he talks about Squeak! About 1/2 the column!

The article seemed to have a fair idea about Squeak, although he seemed to have no idea about the current state of Smalltalk. I was a bit surprised to get the impression that he didn't really know Smalltalk too much, but I guess no one can know everything.

As to the current state of Smalltalk, he talks about how Squeak will be hard to make any inroads against C++ or Java. As if Squeak was somehow synonymous with Smalltalk... I'd go as far as to say the tone of the article was that Smalltalk has somehow become Squeak.

I find that very unfortunate. As we all know, Squeak is to Smalltalk what Linux is to Unix, and no more has all of Unix become Linux than all of Smalltalk become Squeak. Which is not to say I have a problem with either Squeak or Linux. It's just that, oh, I don't know, It's just that I find it unfortunate that Squeak has, in this one case, as narrow as it may be, somehow occluded the demonstrable advances and successes of Smalltalk over the decades.

And So It Goes Sames

============================================================================ Samuel S. Shuster Continuum Methods & Frameworks, Inc. Go Smalltalk!