> >> QLib/EasyPTR allows you to make some professional looking programs. It's > >> just a pity that the latter is such a b*gg*r to learn. > > Have you seen the (excellent) tutorial that was published in Quanta and I > think is available on Dilwyn's web site, on using EasyPTR ? > I thoroughly recommend it :o) Yes, on my site - goto QL documentation page, scroll down to 'articles' section and you'll find a 250K-ish download of the said "(excellent) tutorial" there, written by said Mr Dunbar
Anyone unhappy with such large downloads can also get it on disk from my PD library service. Easyptr needs a little knowledge of both pointer environment and superbasic or sbasic programming in general. I'd suggest reading something like Mr Dunbar's other excellent guide, the PE Idiot's Guide first (learn the basics, PE terminology etc), then work your way through the Easyptr guide. Easyptr is not bad at explaining itself, but the concepts are not too brilliantly explained. When I first tried getting into it, terms like "primary window", "secondary window", "application sub-window menu", "blobs", "dynamic sprites", "append", all the different extensions files (easymen, easybmen, easymenr, easybmenr, ptrmen, ptrmenr) and the different ways of calling menus in interpreted and compiled programs, "events", "bars", "outline", "hierarchy", "pointer request", "sleep", "wake",..... That will either have put you off or encouraged you to seek out the Easyptr Tutorial. I hope it's the latter, because the latter does have a key by key account of building a simple program from scratch. Without it, I doubt I'd have mastered it. I think Roy and Jochen could probably do the QL world a favour by bundling the tutorial in with Easyptr sales in the same way as a QPAC2 guide was thrown in with sales of QPAC2 at one time by QBranch IIRC. Certainly, back in DJC days, the littlee pointer environment guide leaflet I threw in with QPAC2 sales overnight killed the initial help requests since it provided that very basic bridge between those with no experience of QPAC2 and the QPAC2 manual which is not really meant ot be the best ever beginners guide. Don't think Norman was showing off about the Easyptr tutorial, it's a brilliant help to learning Easyptr. -- Dilwyn Jones [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.soft.net.uk/dj/index.html
