Sample applications

I am a very experienced programmer, but have never used Smalltalk.  I
am considering learning and using Smalltalk, specifically the Dolphin
version, for a relatively small Windows file manager-type utility.

I would like to see an application built in Dolphin's Smalltalk in
order to get an idea of what it can do in the Windows environment --
its look and feel.

I found some sample applications on the Web demo'ing Squeak, but I was
rather disappointed with them.  I locked up Windows ME viewing some of
the graphics in a web browser, and I didn't find the sample
applications at all representative of what might be done or required
in a commercial programming environment.

Does anyone know where I might get a look at an application created in
Dolphin Smalltalk?  It would be helpful to see one with a database
interface, but I am interested in taking a look at anything available.

Thank you for your help.

Thomas Kine

Thomas Kine

> I would like to see an application built in Dolphin's Smalltalk in
> order to get an idea of what it can do in the Windows environment --
> its look and feel.

You may not have noticed that the Dolphin IDE -- a rather complicated piece
of functionality -- is itself written entirely in Dolphin.

Granted this doesn't show all that Dolphin can do -- it makes no use of
databases, and only very little use of networks or graphics.  But it does
give a baseline impression.

> Thomas Kine

    -- chris

Thomas,

You might like to take a look at the Dolphin version of the Windows Registry
Editor. The easiest way to get hold of this is in its applet form from our
sample applets page (you will, of course, need to install the Dolphin web
browser plugin first - instructions are on the page below). See:

http://www.object-arts.com/Plug-in/Samples/Samples.htm

The Registry Editor sample can be deployed as an EXE with no change to the
code, it's just that the applet is already in place so it's easier to
demonstrate. If you'd like to see a simple Notepad equivalent as an EXE then
this is available here:

http://www.object-arts.com/Lib/Downloads/4.0/DNotepad.zip

You'll have to install the Dolphin runtime by running the MSI file first.

There are some free 3D game demos available at this site but you'll need a
video card with OpenGL hardware support to get decent performance.

http://www.creative-computing-inc.com/home.htm

I'm sure some more of our users will chip in with some further examples.

Best Regards,

Andy Bower
Dolphin Support
http://www.object-arts.com
---
Are you trying too hard?
http://www.object-arts.com/Relax.htm
---

Thomas Kine <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Does anyone know where I might get a look at an application created in
> Dolphin Smalltalk?  It would be helpful to see one with a database
> interface, but I am interested in taking a look at anything available.

You could download and run our demo from

           http://canyon-medical.com

It is a medical accounts receivable program.  It is still
in beta.  The client is written in Dolphin (and the database
server is written in Python/Metakit).


-- Frank
[hidden email]

Thank you for your responses.

I had trouble with the http://www.creative-computing-inc.com/home.htm
freebies, but the demos from Object Arts and the beta from Canyon Medical
both worked fine.

I have not looked at the Dolphin IDE, because I did not want to invest too
much time into this until I had a better idea of whether it is practical for
me to use this tool.

I was very surprised by the fast performance of the applications.  They seem
to load and run faster than other Windows applications running on the same
machine, but that is a very subjective judgement.  The Windows look and feel
is also excellent, which was a concern of mine after looking over Squeak.

I believe I'll be taking a run at Smalltalk via Dolphin to see if I can do
anything interesting with it.  I have been hacking around with C++ in
Windows for several years and am currently working in Delphi, but I am not
happy with my tools.  I feel I am spending too much time managing the
complexity of the tools, languages, and environment and am not able to spend
enough time working on the problems I am interested in solving.

Thank you again.  I still have hope that I'll be able to enjoy some
recreational programming again someday.  Maybe with Smalltalk...

Thomas Kine

Andy Bower wrote:
>
> Thomas,
>

[ snip ]

[ snip ]

> Best Regards,
>
> Andy Bower
> Dolphin Support
> http://www.object-arts.com
> ---
> Are you trying too hard?
> http://www.object-arts.com/Relax.htm
> ---

Andy,

Sorry to be so negative, but while you can deploy on the web and as an
EXE with the same code, the resulting programs will function
differently.  Namely, you will lose track of the resources (icons,
bitmaps, cursors) as the Registry Editor sample shows.  I'm still hoping
that someone will redesign this so that it works better :)

Keith Alcock

Also, doesn't the Smalltalk archive at UIUC have a bunch of things
in Dolphin?  It's at http://st-www.cs.uiuc.edu/, BTW.  
I think, as Dolphin afficianados, we all should be encouraged to drop
source there as examples and demos.  Alternatively, we could put it in the
Dolphin Wiki or both.  There is, IMO, value to be had from code that's
just "dropped" into a storage in comparison to code which has been deliberately
designed to be used by others.  Of course the latter should be encouraged, but
given demands on peoples' time, I think we'll get a lot more if we allow the
"drop off" variety as well as something more deliberate.

Just my opinion,

   --jtg


In article <9glcoa$9m000$[hidden email]>, [hidden email]
says...

[snip]


>
>You might like to take a look at the Dolphin version of the Windows Registry
>Editor. The easiest way to get hold of this is in its applet form from our
>sample applets page (you will, of course, need to install the Dolphin web
>browser plugin first - instructions are on the page below). See:
>
>http://www.object-arts.com/Plug-in/Samples/Samples.htm
>

[snip]



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Keith,

> Sorry to be so negative, but while you can deploy on the web and as an
> EXE with the same code, the resulting programs will function
> differently.  Namely, you will lose track of the resources (icons,
> bitmaps, cursors) as the Registry Editor sample shows.  I'm still hoping
> that someone will redesign this so that it works better :)

Probably the best way to do that is to have the session manager participate
in the selection of the locators.  One might clear them on startup and throw
in some lazy initialization for efficiency but still have the right choice
for the deployed app[let].  A similar trick would probably help with the STB
problems that some of us have seen due to the class locator looking in the
wrong place - I'm assuming that was the cause of my applet problem, though
I've not had a chance to confirm it.

There probably should also be a way to capture bitmaps in the image.  A
Lagoon script could pull bitmaps into the image, storing them in byte arrays
in a device independent form.  The same mechanism could also allow
programmatic drawing, though (I think) one could just as easily do that in
the deployed app.

Have a good one,

Bill

--
Wilhelm K. Schwab, Ph.D.
[hidden email]

I'd agree with the below.  It's very helpful to get an idea of what
things actually look like that were created with the tool.  Having
taught myself C++ from scratch with no formal instruction, I can tell
you that any source samples would also be much appreciated and
helpful.

The same goes for the Dolphin environment itself.  One of the earlier
posters into this thread suggested looking at Dolphin for an idea of
what apps can look like, but I haven't downloaded and installed it
yet.  It would be a nice feature on the web site to have some screen
shots of what the environment looks like for someone as green as I am
coming into this.  Just trying to decide whether to take the plunge is
kind of a shot in the dark, with no Smalltalk background.

For what it's worth...

Thomas Kine

[hidden email] (Jan Theodore Galkowski) wrote in message news:<9gp17o$h25$[hidden email]>...
<snip>

"Thomas Kine" <[hidden email]> wrote in message
news:[hidden email]...
There are screen shots in the Education Centre. Start from
http://www.object-arts.com/Lib/EducationCentre4/htm/helpcontents1.htm and
follow the links to the various tools listed in the user guide contents.

Regards

Blair

What about a Smalltalk system built in Dolphin Smalltalk.

http://www.pocketsmalltalk.com/new/

In this application you can build Smalltalk applications for the Palm
Pilot and other small devices. After building the application, you
compile it to the machine instructions for the specified device and
download it to your pocket device.

IMHO this shows the strength of Smalltalk and what you can do with
Dolphin Smalltalk.

Ted

In article <[hidden email]>,
[hidden email] says...
> What about a Smalltalk system built in Dolphin Smalltalk.
>
> http://www.pocketsmalltalk.com/new/

        To get the latest version go to www.pocketsmalltalk.com/1.6 and
get the PST1.6a4Setup.exe file, or click here:

        http://www.pocketsmalltalk.com/1.6/PST1.6a4Setup.exe 

> In this application you can build Smalltalk applications for the Palm
> Pilot and other small devices. After building the application, you
> compile it to the machine instructions for the specified device and
> download it to your pocket device.

        Actually, right now we only support the Palm line. We did support
the Motorola 9110 GEOS pager, but that has been broken... I'm actually
working on integrating some great user contributions into the next
version that will really make PST a lot sweeter.

> IMHO this shows the strength of Smalltalk and what you can do with
> Dolphin Smalltalk.

        The whole reason I bought Dolphin was to work on PST. It was one
of the best purchases I've made. I love working in Dolphin. I happen to
like Win2k (gasp!) and the fact that Dolphin is so Windowzy is really
nice. VW is nice if you need cross-platform (and it's a fine system) but
for Windows only stuff, Dolphin is the way.

Joey


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