Category Archives: LiveCode

On Friday 9th October 2015, eHUG (the European HyperCard User Group) organised a LiveCode meeting in Breda, the Netherlands. At the meeting, we exchanged ideas and experiences with LiveCode. Subjects that came to table were RunRev’s support service, Beat Cornaz’ composing software (obviously created with LiveCode), HyperStudio and HyperDuino, and the Arduino.

group1

Because we talked so much about Arduino, we didn’t have much time to do experiments, but we did have a live demonstration of the Arduino. We raffled off a copy of the book Programming LiveCode for the Real Beginner and a license of HyperStudio.

group2

While Claudi was not able to attend the meeting, he offered to send us his Arduino stack. Everyone who was present at the meeting will receive his e-mail address (as well as those of all other participants).
If we find the time to organise it, we’ll have the next meeting in spring. If you’re interested in attending the meeting, contact the organiser through this web form.

group3

See also here for more a little more information about the HyperDuino and the location of this edition of the meeting.

The book that was raffled off is also available here.
You can read everything about HyperDuino on this website.

Beta Version of Installer Maker 1.8.7 Available!

Recently, We got a request to make some improvements to Installer Maker. As a result, we have made many, many invisible changes, fixing bugs and adding new features. In a few places, the changes are visible. For example, you can see the long list with all special folder paths for Windows (XP up to and including 8.1) and you can see a small but essential change on the Scripts pane, allowing for pre- and post-uninstall script execution.

It is now possible to select any special Windows folder as a destination folder.

It is now possible to select any special Windows folder as a destination folder.

Installer Maker 1.8.7b03 can be downloaded here.

Below follows an overview of all changes in the latest beta version.

  • Installers created with a trial copy on Windows should now start correctly (only on the same computer as on which they were created)
  • The documentation (on the Help screen) should still show up, even if the httpHeaders were set incorrectly by another script
  • install locations have been extended by a large number of Windows-specific directories
  • the destination “startup disk” appeared incorrectly
  • a possibility to create an installer with empty files has been added
  • the uninstaller is now installed in the executable’s folder on Windows, while previously it would end up in a separate folder occasionally
  • file paths are now included in profile files
  • if a path in a profile file is not found, you’ll be asked if you want to repair all paths
  • on Windows, the Uninstaller can now execute LiveCode scripts that have been added on the Scripts pane; thise feature will be added for Mac OS X soon

Installer Maker Scripts Pane

Installer Maker Scripts Pane

Note that this is still a beta version. If you want to create an installer for distribution, download and use Installer Maker from the official website. Tests show that Installer Maker 1.8.7b03 isn’t fully compatible with LiveCode 7 yet, due to bugs in LiveCode 7. Installer Maker 1.8.7b03 is only available as a plug-in for the commercial license of LiveCode. A standalone version will be made available shortly.

We need your help! Please, download and test Installer Maker 1.8.7b03 and send an e-mail with your findings to Economy-x-Talk’s support department! Everybody can download the beta. Installers created with an unregister trial copy only work on the computer they were created on. This version of Installer Maker is a free update for everyone with a current license.

Everything Everybody Needs To Know About My Book

During the past year, I have written several messages on the LiveCode mailing list, the forum, the Facebook group, Economy-x-Talk’s web site and other places. Now that we’re getting closer to the end of he year, it is time to wrap it up. This blog posts gives an overview of all you need to know about the book.

First things first

There are only 30 copies left. These will be sold out by 12 December 2013 (there might be one or two left). We will ship the last batch of the year on that day. You can still purchase the book after 12 December, but your order will be put on a waiting list. Before we can ship more books, we have to print them. We expect to resume shipping by the end of January.

Want to know the current situation? Skip to Edit 4.

Edit 1: The current date is 1st June 2014. A new batch is being printed and purchased books will be shipped within 2 weeks. We now have another 30 copies available again, which we expect to sell within the next month. Another batch of books will be printed in 2 months. If you don’t want to be on a waiting list, order now.

Edit 2: We’re now one year after the previous edit: june 2015. We have had a time that we couldn’t ship all orders, but we caught up on the back log and we printed some extra. If you order now, we have a book in stock for you and we will send it within two weeks.

Edit 3: We have reached the end of 2015 (december 20th). We’ve printed a large pile of books and now we have enough in stock for the next few months. If you’re asking: “is the book still available?” The answer is: “Yes! And it will stay like that.” Tomorrow we ship the last orders of the year and on 2nd of January we’ll prepare the next batch. So, you can order now and expect the book to arrive at your home within a few weeks.

Edit 4: In November 2016, the fourth print run is still going strong. We sell and ship books every week, except during holidays. Any books purchases before Monday 28th November, will be shipped on Wednesday 30st November. If you buy the book later, but before 14th December, we will make sure to send it before Christmas.

No e-book

As it looks now, chances are very small for an e-book to appear, because people just don’t understand why they would have to pay for it. As long as people feel that an e-book is not something to pay for, we can’t afford to publish one. Additionally, our experience shows that e-books are easily hacked and obviously we don’t like that.

Shipping costs: none

A question that keeps coming back is how much it costs to send a copy of the book to the USA. Our website clearly states that shipping costs are included in the price. The book costs 32 euro and this covers everything, including taxes, packaging and shipping. The website also contains more information that you might want to read if you’re interested in the book.

Discounts available!

Discounts are available to schools, user groups and book shops, if at least 2 books are purchased. Anyone else buying at least 10 copies gets a discount too. The only condition is that all books are sent to one and the same address. Usually, a discount is 5 euro per book, but this is for Economy-x-Talk to decide on individual basis. Just contact us to find out what we can do for you.

The procedure

Go to our website to purchase the book. Read everything. At the bottom of the page, you’ll see a menu with payment options. If you are in a Euro country, make sure to choose (International) bank transfer. This is the cheapest and quickest way to pay if you are in the EU. If you would like to pay in a way that is not listed, e.g. Western Union, contact us to make an arrangement.
A few days after you purchase the book, we send you an e-mail, asking you to confirm your address. Most people reply immediately, but if you don’t reply within 4 weeks, we send you a letter by postal mail. If you still don’t reply, we keep your order in the queue for one year and return your money if we never hear from you (see the website for more info). Once your address is confirmed, your book is packaged and scheduled for delivery.

Normally, we ship the books every 2 weeks. Most books are delivered within 2 weeks after we ship them. This means that delivery time is anything between a few days and 4 weeks. If your local delivery service can’t find you immediately, they might need a little longer to deliver the book to you. If you don’t confirm your address immediately, there will be some delay as well.

We would appreciate a brief note from you, when you receive the book. This helps us to monitor the shipping procedure and allows us to solve problems if there are any.

Free Books!

Yes, really, we are giving away free books. As soon as the book’s Facebook page reaches 1000 “likes”, we’ll give away 10 books (that’s over USD 400 worth of books).  Currently, we have over 100 fans. Because it will take a while to reach 1000, we’ll be giving away an extra book as soon as we have 200 fans. Like this Facebook page, share it with your friends, and maybe you’ll win a complimentary copy of Programming LiveCode for the Real Beginner.

Feedback

Your feedback is of utmost importance. There are a few ways to provide feedback. First of all, you can send questions about your order to Economy-x-Talk support. If there happens to be a problem with your copy of the book, you can also report this to support.

The most important way to provide feedback is our survey. We have set up a survey, which helps us to take important business decisions about future prints and new releases. Please, make sure to fill out the questionnaire when you receive the book. We will send the results to you, if you leave your e-mail address after filling out the questionnaire.

Anyone reading the book is welcome to ask questions on the Q&A website. You might want to ask help understanding the examples. Perhaps the scripts in the book inspire you to try something yourself, which you can also discuss on the website. If your question is about the book, it is always useful to mention the pages that your question is related to.

Summary of important links

No doubt, the most important website is the order page for Programming LiveCode for the Real Beginner. Head over to the page and buy your own copy while you still can! Also very important are the survey and the Q&A website. Obviously, you might want to contact us directly if you have questions.

Additonally, there is the Facebook page for the book and the author’s Twitter account. You might also want to follow Economy-x-Talk’s Twitter account, where you’ll find IT-related news. You might want to check out Economy-x-Talk’s website, where you’ll find products such as Color Converter and Installer Maker. Installer Maker wraps your standalone in an installer and is well-suited for LiveCode.

We have created a portal, which gives access to the most important websites related to Programming LiveCode for the Real Beginner. You can find it here.

If you have any questions about this blog post, you can leave a comment.