Serious First Steps In Frontier Scripting

Scripting in Frontier

This tutorial introduces the scripting component of Frontier. It will get you writing scripts in Frontier's language, UserTalk, so that you can put Frontier's power to work for you, solving problems you want to solve, doing jobs you want done.

This tutorial is a hands-on exercise.

First we'll write and refine some simple scripts, for practice. Then, we'll write a userful, powerful Frontier script from the ground up: we'll start by stating what we want to accomplish on the computer, we'll plan how to do it, and we'll put the plan into action with Frontier.

When we're done we'll have a bells-and-whistles Frontier script that you can use to impress folks with your scripting prowess, and that also does something darned useful if you happen to be a Web site manager.

At that point, you'll know enough about UserTalk, and enough about how to find out more, to be able to go on independently to develop scripts of your own.

The scripts in this tutorial are all cross-platform. They work equally well on Windows and Macintosh.

Table of Contents

About This Tutorial

 
Squash the learning curve and start writing your own Frontier scripts.

What Does Frontier Do?

 
A brief reminder of Frontier's various powers.

Keywords, Handlers, Verbs, and Calls

 
We learn to count from 1 to 10.

Loops, Variables, Parameters, and Conditionals

 
We count from 1 to 10 more cleverly, and then we count from anything to anything.

The Handler Rule

 
Pushing the Run button and calling one script from another do different things.

Returns, Addresses, and Dereferencing

 
When a script calls a verb, an answer comes back -- sometimes more than one answer.

Scope and With

 
Precisely which "x" are we talking about here?

Strings and Files

 
We begin fearlessly messing with your hard disk.

Outlines and Tables

 
Driving Frontier to build an outline from scratch.

Running, Debugging, and Getting Help

 
General techniques for developing and working with scripts.

Datatypes

 
The kinds of objects Frontier can work with.

A Real-Life Problem

 
Introducing the AmelioWeb demo, as seen in Los Angeles.

String Parsing and Substitution

 
Part 1 of creating the AmelioWeb demo for ourselves.

Manipulating Files and Folders

 
Part 2 of creating the AmelioWeb demo for ourselves.

Final Touches

 
Part 3 of creating the AmelioWeb demo for ourselves.

Download

You can download this tutorial for off-line reading as a Windows zip file or a Macintosh binhex file.