Frontier Do-Script 3.0.3

UserLand Software, Inc.

© copyright 1992-94, UserLand Software, Inc.

UserLand Software is the developer of the UserLand Frontier scripting system. The company is located at 555 Bryant #237, Palo Alto, CA 94301. 415-326-7791, 415-326-7793 (fax). UserLand, Frontier, Frontier Runtime and Frontier Extras are trademarks of UserLand Software, Inc. Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their owners.

Email: userland.dts@applelink.apple.com. If youÕre an AppleLink user, check out the UserLand Discussion Board under the Third Parties icon. CompuServe users enter GO USERLAND at any ! prompt. The UserLand Forum is in the Computing Support section on CompuServe. On America On-Line, enter the keyword USERLAND.

Comments, questions and suggestions are welcome!


About Frontier Do-Script

This is the simplest of the sample programs. It implements a routine called FrontierDoScript that shoots an IAC message at Frontier asking it to run a short script, and returns a string representation of the value of the script.

When it starts up, it makes one call to Frontier with a script that has a syntax error to test error reporting from Frontier. Then it sends a legal script to Frontier in a tight loop. ItÕs a thorough exercise of FrontierÕs Òback-doorÓ script runner.

Here are several examples of programs that might want to use FrontierDoScript:

¥  A macro program such as CE SoftwareÕs QuicKeys 2 can incorporate a short Frontier script in a macro or a macro sequence. This allows Frontier scripts to be triggered by a Òhot keyÓ from within any application.

¥  A to-do list or reminder program can allow a user to schedule a script to run at a specific time, or under specific circumstances. The script can do anything that Frontier can do, including calls to the Macintosh OS to copy, remove, or rename files or folders, or launch an application, and drive an IAC-aware application.

¥  A user-interface design tool such as AppMaker, PrototypeMaker, or even Resorcerer or ResEdit can allow the script writer to design dialogs that call scripts when the user clicks on a button. Frontier itself doesn't include a dialog design tool.

¥  A draw program, page layout program or animation program can allow a user to add a text object that gets a value by calling a Frontier script. This would make templates and stationary much smarter and allows easy customization by power users for less sophisticated users.

This program does not use the IAC Tools library. For a version of FrontierDoScript that builds on top of the IAC Tools library, check out appletfrontier.c in the Applet Toolkit folder.


Frontier Do-Script 3.0.3 -- 7/27/94 dmb

Universal Headers, PowerPC compatibility

Frontier Do-Script can now be built using AppleÕs Universal Headers under Symantec C/C++ 7.0 or Metrowerks C/C++ 1.0 68K or PPC. Native or Òfat binaryÓ applications can be generated in the Code Warrior environment using the Do-Script source.

Frontier Do-Script 3.0 -- 11/4/93 dmb

A new version uses the Component Manager

There are now two sub-folders here, one that uses the Apple Event interface described above, and the second that uses AppleÕs Open Scripting Architecture to connect to Frontier. This version only works with Frontier 3.0, and it requires either System 7.1 or QuickTime to run.

The Component Manager version is considerably faster than the Apple Event-based version!