Monthly Archives: October 2011

New: Installer Maker 1.7b01

We at Economy-x-Talk are pleased to announce the first beta version of the Installer Maker 1.7 for LiveCode. After almost half a year of programming, we are now ready to release a beta version into the wild.

This is what the new Installer Maker 1.7 looks like. We have changed the interface completely and have added a really cool new feature: running applications and scripts before and after installation. As you can see, we also removed the old tab bar and added an all-new tool bar in the top of the window. Needless to say, while working on these features, we fixed many bugs and added several other features requested by our customers.


Click on the picture for a large version.

 

The picture shows the panel to set up additional applications and scripts. If a LiveCode stack is selected, you will be able to choose a handler name to run when the stack opens.

Installer Maker 1.7 works as a plugin with LiveCode 5.0. Naturally, you can also use the standalone version of the Installer Maker to create installers for SuperCard, MetaCard, RealBasic, HyperStudio or simply for any collection of files.

Here’s a list of new features in Installer Maker 1.7:

  • We have reworked the interface, particularly by removing the tab bar and adding a completely new tool bar
  • The ability to run scripts and applications before and after running the installer has been added; supported are: Revolution/LiveCode/MetaCard stacks, AppleScript (.scpt) files, Visual Basic Script (.vbs) files, Mac OS X applications (.app) and Windows executables (.exe)
  • Commandkey-1 to Commandkey-5 are handled ‘slightly’ better in the IDE
  • In de Edit tab, files could sometimes not be removed; this bug has been fixed
  • on Mac OS X, the installer log is now UTF8 encoded
  • this version is meant to be compatible with LiveCode 5 (please report any problems)
  • this version is also meant to be compatible with Lion (please report any problems)
  • install optional alias in Dock on Mac OS X
  • we disabled arrow key navigation in the Installer Maker window because it was confusing
  • small language improvements in German installers
  • we have added an optional default license text (English only for now)

 

Special Offer

Any new or upgrade license bought after 1 October 2011 is valid for the final release of Installer Maker Plugin 1.7. Buy a license for Installer Maker 1.6 or renew your current license and get 1.7 for free. This offer is valid regardless of when we officially publish the final version of Installer Maker 1.7. Any license comes with at least 3 months of free updates from the official release date onwards.

The LiveCode plugin and licenses can be obtained from our website.

Something about Forum Spam

Troll Thing It is definitely amazing how many people respond to spam (to be defined as any unsolicited contribution) on forums and on community mailing lists. Many people respond with “intelligent” statements like “hey you [sub-classification of human species], don’t [pollute|disgrace|other supposedly unpleasant activity] this forum!”, while some people don’t even realise they’re replying to a message that has been deliberately posted as spam and try to write a genuine answer.

Unfortunately, by responding, these people attract more views and more replies and hence even more views to the spam message. Consequently, the spam message gets a lot of exposure and the spammer has achieved his or her goal. Even if nobody clicks the link in the spam message, the brand name or domain name has been seen by people and people might remember it later, just like those annoying T.V.-commercials that announce stuff you don’t need.

How to avoid this? First, you need to be able to recognise spam, which isn’t always easy. Second, both forum administrators and forum members need to follow a set of rules.

Here are some possible clues that may help you to recognise spam:
– the post may contain a quote from elsewhere in the forum
– the spammer didn’t write anything clever about the main subject of the forum (e.g. “Hi, can it do this?”)
– the spammer wrote about something that has nothing to do with the subject of the forum (e.g. shoes instead of programming if it is a forum about programming)
– there is a link in the signature or in the post
– the spammer has written less than 10 messages
– all messages were written on the same day
– your first impression of the post is “huh?!”
– sometimes you can find the user name here http://stopforumspam.com
– the spammer keeps annoying people and doesn’t seem to mind being beaten up continuously

Here are some simple rules that you might want to follow:
– if 2 or more of above items apply, assume the poster/registrant is a spammer
– approve all registrants manually, because ultimately this will save you a lot of work
– don’t approve a registrant if you’re not 100% sure that s/he isn’t a spammer
– never ever reply to spam and warn and ultimately ban people who do
– require registrants to write at least 500 characters when they apply and check that this text makes sense (most forums have a feature for this)
– don’t allow people to post links until they have made a dozen of sensible posts
– don’t hesitate to ban people, but only if they violate forum rules, not because they annoy you personally

One remark about manually approving people. I receive two or three requests for subscription to one particular forum each day. The forum software sends these requests automatically by e-mail. Usually, the user name already tells me I’m dealing with a spammer. Genuine users use genuine names. Spammers don’t. I save myself a lot of time simply by looking at the user names and ignoring fake requests.

Usually, I only attend forums about very specific subjects, such as programming with tool A or about… well, programming with tool B. I tried to attend fora about history, economics and politics, but usually those fora are completely cluttered with obscure (conspiracy) theories, false facts and persistent hobby subjects. These forums are often full with flame wars, which is another type of spam, more difficult to tackle.

Have a look at this fun website. If you recognise yourself and don’t like what you see, maybe you’re doing something wrong.

If you have any additions to the rules, please make a comment. I’ll add the really, really good suggestions to the main text.

Sneak Preview Installer Maker 1.7

Here’s another preview of the new Installer Maker. Below follows a list of new features in Installer Maker.

This is what Installer Maker 1.7 will look like. we changed the interface completely and added a really cool new feature: running applications and scripts before and after installation. As you can see, we also removed the old tab bar and added an all-new tool bar in the top of the window.

The picture shows the panel to set up additional applications and scripts. If a LiveCode stack is selected, you will be able to choose a handler name to run when the stack opens.

Installer Maker 1.7 will work as a plugin with LiveCode 5.0. Naturally, you can alsouse the standalone version of the Installer Maker to create installers for SuperCard, MetaCard, RealBasic, HyperStudio or simply for any collection of files.

Here’s a list of new features in Installer Maker 1.7:

  • We have reworked the interface, particularly by removing the tab bar and adding a completely new tool bar
  • The ability to run scripts and applications before and after running the installer has been added; supported are: Revolution/LiveCode/MetaCard stacks, AppleScript (.scpt) files, Visual Basic Script (.vbs) files, Mac OS X applications (.app) and Windows executables (.exe)
  • Commandkey-1 to Commankey-5 are handled ‘slightly’ better in the IDE
  • In de Edit tab, files could sometimes not be removed; this bug has been fixed
  • on Mac OS X, the installer log is now UTF8 encoded
  • this version is meant to be compatible with LiveCode 5 (please report any problems)
  • this version is also meant to be compatible with Lion (please report any problems)
  • install optional alias in Dock on Mac OS X
  • we disabled arrow key navigation in the Installer Maker window because it was confusing
  • small language improvements in German installers
  • we have added an optional default license text (English only for now)

Everyone who purchases or renews his/her license after 1 October 2011 will get access to Installer Maker 1.7. We will make sure that your license is valid and if applicable you will receive a new license when Installer Maker 1.7 is officially released.

Download Installer Maker 1.7a02

Sneak Preview Installer Maker 1.7

Here’s a preview of the new Installer Maker. This is what Installer Maker 1.7 will look like. we changed the interface completely and added a really cool new feature: running applications and scripts before and after installation. As you can see, we also removed the old tab bar and added an all-new tool bar in the top of the window.

Screen_shot_2011-10-12_at_11

The picture shows the panel to set up additional applications and scripts. If a LiveCode stack is selected, you will be able to choose a handler name to run when the stack opens.

Installer Maker 1.7 will work as a plugin with LiveCode 5.0. Naturally, you can alsouse the standalone version of the Installer Maker to create installers for SuperCard, MetaCard, RealBasic, HyperStudio or simply for any collection of files.

New: iOS Search Table view for LiveCode

The collection of Economy-x-Talk’s iPhone interface elements has been updated. Existing elements have been improved and a new search table view has been added.

To display the keyboard and the Cancel button of the search table view, you need to set the searching of group “Search Table View” to true. If you set it to false, the keyboard hides and the Cancel button disappears.

Display the list of items to be searched by setting the itemList of the search table view. This list is return-delimited (ASCII 10).

You can download the stack with the iPhone interface elements from the Economy-x-Talk website if you have an account and are logged in.