Sunday, December 16, 2007
Designed GUI of TIL Loader
I now have both Linux and Windows installed on my home computer. I installed the Mozilla Thunderbird email client, which is now working. Also I successfully modified the "grub.conf" file to boot up Windows by default. So things are moving along nicely.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Installed Linux
- I want to change the boot loader's default operating system from Linux to Windows.
- Every time I log in to Linux, I must remove and reinsert the Bluetooth thing so I can use my cordless mouse/keyboard. Luckily I can use one of the USB ports on the front of my computer to make this task easier.
- I can receive but not send email. I emailed tech support but this is still an issue. I intend to ditch my email client and download Mozilla Thunderbird.
I guess the next order of business would be for me to get busy learning the Python programming language and PyGtk, in both Windows and Linux environments.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Ordered XO Laptop
Sunday, November 11, 2007
All in Python
Friday, November 2, 2007
Dual Treenimation Versions
I plan to implement the Treenimation Runtime in Python for both the Windows and Linux versions. However, I intend to maintain 2 versions of Treenimation Builder (the part that lets you create your own games): the full Windows version will be written in Delphi, and the less feature-rich Linux/XO version will be written in Python.
Implementation Phases:
- Translate TIL Loader from Delphi to Python
So after Phase 6 is completed, Windows users will be able to create games (using the text editor of their choice), and XO users will be able to play those games, but won’t be able to create their own games until after Phase 7 is completed.
I’m still in the early stages of learning Python. It seems like a nice language but it’s a lot different from the Object Pascal/Java/C#-style languages that I’m used to. The Treescript Compiler is perhaps the hardest part of Treenimation to implement. Being able to use a familiar tool (Delphi) for that job seems less intimidating to me. That's how I rationalize it, anyway.
Phase 4 is a big job. Maybe by the time I complete that phase I will be confident enough in Python to ditch Delphi and just use Python to implement Treenimation Builder.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Working from Home
I'm almost finished reading the Python tutorial, and this weekend I hope to begin translating the part of Treenimation I call the TIL Loader from Object Pascal into Python.
Benefits of working from home:
- More time to work on Treenimation
- Save money (don't need a car)
- Less hassle (won't have a car to worry about)
- More environmentally friendly (no more driving to work)
- Healthier lunches (fewer McDonald's/Wendy's meals)
- More exercise (going for walks in my neighbourhood)
To Do List:
- Go to http://www.laptop.org/ and find out which version of Linux they recommend
- Find out space requirements of Linux, Python, PyGtk, Sugar, etc.
- Download Linux and burn it onto DVDs
- Buy Partition Magic
- Back up my home computer's data onto a CD
- Make partitions for Linux and Windows XP
- Install Linux at home
- Bring my computer to work (it already has Delphi 4)
- Copy C:\Bdev (over 10 GB) from my work computer to my home computer
- Step 9 will take several hours
- Install Delphi 6 and all our development tools
- Take computer home (sometime in November)
- Start working from home 3 days a week
- Install XO Laptop emulator on Linux partition
- Translate TIL Loader from Object Pascal into Python
- Port TIL Loader to Linux/Sugar/XO Laptop
- Apply to OLPC for web hosting
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Navigation Keys
There exist 3 text-entry modes in the Treescript code editor:
- Free Form
- Structure Editor
- Code Menu
Pressing Esc toggles between Free Form and Structure Editor modes. Typing a question mark (?) enters Code Menu mode (except within comments and string literals; to enter Code Menu mode from inside those, press Ctrl+?). Pressing F1 displays context-sensitive help in all modes.
Structure Editor: a bottom-level token (e.g. a keyword, identifier, operator, or constant) or an entire list is often highlighted. Using the Shift key in conjunction with the Up/Down Arrow keys, it is possible to select more than one token/list at a time.
- Esc - enter Free Form mode
- Up Arrow - go to previous list element
- Down Arrow - go to next list element
- Left Arrow - go to parent list
- Right Arrow - go to first child element (if none, display text cursor following current bottom-level token)
- Shift+Up/Down Arrow - select a range of tokens/lists
- Printable Char. - insert token/list, display text cursor
- Backspace - undo insertion of previous printable char.
- Delete - delete current token/list
- Enter - display text cursor, insert space after cursor
- Space - display text cursor, insert space before cursor
- Ctrl+Enter – if at end of line, append blank line (otherwise break line into 2 lines)
Code Menu: a popup menu above or below text cursor (and including text cursor) is displayed. The contents of this menu include all valid code elements in the context of the text cursor (ignoring anything after the text cursor).
- Esc - show/hide code menu
- Up Arrow - move selection up
- Down Arrow - move selection down
- Left Arrow - go to parent code menu (if none, exit Code Menu mode)
- Right Arrow - go to lower-level code menu
- Enter - go to lower-level code menu (if none, select current menu item, and display new code menu following token/list just inserted)
- Space - go to lower-level code menu (if none, select current menu item and exit Code Menu mode)
- Printable Char. - incrementally select matching menu item
- Backspace - undo operation of previous printable char.
- Question Mark - exit Code Menu mode
Hello, World!
One Laptop Per Child
Welcome
This blog is meant to document the design process and implementation process of Treenimation. I have been working on the design process of Treenimation (albeit very sporadically) for over 10 years. Recently I have begun to implement Treenimation for Windows, using Python and PyGtk.