Scripting TutorialAbout This Tutorial
What Does Frontier Do?
Keywords, Handlers, Verbs, and Calls
Loops, Variables, Parameters, and Conditionals
The Handler Rule
Returns, Addresses, and Dereferencing
Scope and With
Strings and Files
Outlines and Tables
Running, Debugging, and Getting Help
Datatypes
A Real-Life Problem
String Parsing and Substitution
Manipulating Files and Folders
Final Touches
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Serious First Steps In UserTalk Scripting
By Matt Neuburg, matt@tidbits.com
Programming in Frontier
This tutorial introduces the programming 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 programming 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 programs of your own.
Table of Contents
- About This Tutorial
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Squash the learning curve and start writing your own UserTalk programs. - What Does Frontier Do?
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A brief reminder of Frontier's various powers. - Keywords, Handlers, Verbs, and Calls
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We learn to count from 1 to 10. - Loops, Variables, Parameters, and Conditionals
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We count from 1 to 10 more cleverly, and then we count from anything to anything. - The Handler Rule
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Pushing the Run button and calling one script from another do different things. - Returns, Addresses, and Dereferencing
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When a script calls a verb, an answer comes back - sometimes more than one answer. - Scope and With
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Precisely which "x" are we talking about here? - Strings and Files
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We begin fearlessly messing with your hard disk. - Outlines and Tables
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Driving Frontier to build an outline from scratch. - Running, Debugging, and Getting Help
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General techniques for developing and working with scripts. - Datatypes
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The kinds of objects UserTalk can work with. - A Real-Life Problem
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Introducing the AmelioWeb demo, as seen in Los Angeles. - String Parsing and Substitution
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Part 1 of creating the AmelioWeb demo for ourselves. - Manipulating Files and Folders
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Part 2 of creating the AmelioWeb demo for ourselves. - Final Touches
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Part 3 of creating the AmelioWeb demo for ourselves.
Download
You can download this tutorial for off-line reading:
http://www.scripting.com/downloads/scriptingTutorial.sit.hqx
This page was built on a Macintosh running
Frontier.
Last modified 6/22/97; 12:39:52 AM. © Copyright 1997,
Userland Software, Inc. Written by Matt Neuburg,
matt@tidbits.com.
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