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Re: [sc-users] helpfiles



On Saturday, Dec 18, 2004, at 10:46 US/Eastern, stu wrote:

But I am consistently seeing classes receiving messages etc. which I need to search and search for (that is through the current cmd-shift-h system).

The best help for this is still to cmd-Y on the method name, double-click on the implementation you want to check out ("implementation" meaning "SomeClass-someMethod") and cmd-J to read the source.

This is not helpful for beginners, though, which was the real purpose of my earlier comment. It also isn't helpful if the method is implemented by a primitive.

When you come to a program like this with no experience in the language, what do you want to know first? How do I make a simple synth. What problems am I going to run into when I try to make more complex networks of synth nodes. How do I control these things. How can I play things in time. How can I get started with Pbind (so I have the motivation to wade through Streams-Patterns-Events, which is not easy at first) usw... and new users should be able to find this easily from the front help page.

It's true, as jmc said, that the language syntax is described in detail in the language helpfiles. But you can read these helpfiles and still not know what syntax features, and what classes, to use for a particular task. So I think it's a bit glib to say "it's all in the helpfiles." For new users, there needs to be more guidance.

I wonder sometimes why we don't just add David Cottle's book to the main distribution. IMHO it's the best tutorial out there. (The Polishook tutorial in the distro is a big help, but Cottle's is more thorough.) Or at least put a note in a new users helpfile saying how to get this PDF.

hjh
____________________________________

H. James Harkins /// dewdrop_world
http://www.dewdrop-world.net

"If attacked by a lion, thrust your arm down his throat.
This takes some practice."  -- Cyril Connolly