OKScript Status Report #21

December 12, 2002

Dear OKScript User,

The OKScript Status Report is sent to OKScript
licensees, developers and friends when significant
updates have been made to the program. Interesting
techniques and applications for the program will
also be distributed in the report periodically. To
update or be removed from this distribution list
please see the links at the bottom of this message
or write me at yweare@gte.net.

This issue announces several enhancements to 
OKScript and introduces an OKScript derivitive 
program called Ophidio.

HOW TO UPDATE OKSCRIPT...

The OKScript enhancements appliy only to the 32 bit
version. Development of the 16 bit version of
OKScript has been discontinued, however the most
recent release of that version will continue to be
available, along with the current 32 bit version,
from http://home1.gte.net/yweare/.

Your existing license will automatically be active
on the new OKScript if you install it to the same
directory, or copy the okscript.ini file from the
folder where your licensed program was installed to
the new OKScript folder. Alternatively, you can re-
enter the registration data. The current build is
dated December 11, 2002. Click Help | About to
determine the date of your copy of OKScript. Please
note that the OKScript web site may become sluggish
following update announcements. If you experience
this try again later or write me and I'll send you
the installation package as an email attachment.

OKSCRIPT ENHANCEMENTS...

The latest (December 11, 2002) release of OKScript
includes one major and several minor enhancements
and bug fixes. The most significant is the addition
of user configurable syntax coloring to the script
editor. Syntax coloring greatly improves the
readability and navigation of large script files by
rendering comments, primary and secondary keywords,
macros and other text in different colors. To see
what this looks like visit the Ophidio site
mentioned in the next section. The script editor's
font can also be changed to any of the fonts
installed on your system. To access these features
click on Edit | Editor Options.

Minor OKScript enhancements include:
 - the "PRAGMA WINCOLOR colorname" which sets the
     background color of a button panel.
 - counterless LOOPs that continue until a BREAK 
     or AbortScript is encountered.
 - window name matching (in WINDOW, BUTTON, RIGHT,
     WAITFOR and MENU instructions) that forces 
     the match to begin at the start of the window 
     caption or end at the end. This is useful
     when you need to target a window whose name 
     is a substring of another window. To enable 
     this type of match place a dollar sign ($) 
     at the start or end of the window field.


OPHIDIO...

Ophidio is OKScript with several extensions that
make it somewhat incompatable with existing
OKScript code. I built it because I had tasks that
needed more capability and I wanted to rework some
of the awkward aspects of OKScript. Some of the
enhancements were requested by users, but I expect
that most OKScript users will have little need
for them. Here is a summary of the new features
in Ophidio...

- Ophidio maps user macros into the open-source
	Python scripting language (hence the "Ophidio"
	name) and allows full access the Python language
	and library features. PYTHON MUST BE INSTALLED ON
	YOUR COMPUTER BEFORE OPHIDIO WILL RUN. It is free
	and can be downloaded from http://www.python.org.
	Ophidio scripts can include embedded Python
	statements and expressions.

- OKScript's built-in expression evaluator was
	removed. Python provides a more powerful
	expression capability.

- The background color of user buttons can be
	changed. To do this the syntax of the BUTTON
	instruction was changed only slightly - the color
	field was replaced by a style field that refers
	to a STYLE instruction that names the foreground
	and background colors, the button's minimum width
	and whether the caption text should be bolded.
	Old color names can be used in the style field
	with their normal effect. Style-based procedures
	have been added which are similar to the existing
	DO BEFORE/AFTER instructions. Some special
	characters used in BUTTON instructions were
	changed.

- The IF instruction was simplified - all the
	special iftypes were removed and their
	functionality was reimplemented as predefined
	macros that access Python.

- %-ARGn% was changed to %-ARG n%

- The Rollup and Tabs arguments of the PLACE
	instruction were removed. That functionality is
	now implemented in two PRAGMAs.
  
- The mode names in the MOUSE instruction were
	changed to SCREEN, WINUL and WINLL be more
	obvious.

- The QUOTECHAR instruction was removed.

- The shift metacharacter was changed from "+" to
  "`" (the grave character).

- The options dialog was simplified and includes a
	section for specifying a default script folder
	and default Python file to load.

- Ophidio script files have the .ODO extension.

- The OKScript changes described above are included
	in Ophidio.

Ophidio can be downloaded from:

http://home1.gte.net/yweare/odo-intro.htm

Ophidio is intended to address the unusual needs of
users and myself. It is more of a research project
than a formal product. I don't intend to maintain
compatability between Ophidio releases as I do with
OKScript. Licensing is virtually free and is
described on the web page. There will be a separate
announcement list for those who are interested.


For more information, or to offer suggestions or 
interesting techniques or applications for OKScript
or Ophidio, write me at yweare@gte.net, or visit the 
website at http://home1.gte.net/yweare/index.htm

Thank you for supporting the continuing development of 
these programs.

Michael Mardesich
okb://mikezzz