Here are a few tips roughly sorted by subject.
Projects
Learn to use projects
In Morphic
Squeak you work in windows called
Projects.
You can save and load Projects into Projects. They have ".pr" extensions.
You make a new Project in a Project by Worldmenu - projects - make new Morphic
project.
Images
Many Images
Make many images
You can save under different names and versions
Document images
You can run several images at one time and use one to comment
Several Squeaks
One can open several Squeaks simultaneously (memory permitting).
Copying and pasting between them is unproblematic.
Make backups of starting images that you know are OK.
This way you are sure you can load new stuff in a properly working image (after
which you can save it and load it in other images).
Keep fresh images as copies.
See previous remark.
Saving by versions
Check out the possibilities for saving in the
Worldmenu.
Think imaginatively
It helps to think of Squeak in terms of images consisting of AN environment made
by and
maintained THE Squeak Language
plus VM.
Squeak
Squeak as
SqL + SqE
These are merely convenient abbreviations. Check out the
following:
SqL = the Squeak Language
SqL = Smalltalk +
Morphic
SqE = Squeak Environment
SqE = squeak.exe +
VM +
image
The image contains an interpreter that parses and compiles the SqL.
Squeak and Smalltalk
Squeak, Morphic and MVC
Squeak comes in two flavors:
Morphic and
MVC
Morphic Squeak is Smalltalk-80 + Morphic
MVC is Smalltalk-80.
If you know Smalltalk use the
MVC but else learn to use Morphic for it is a
richer environment.
Help commandkeys gives the editor keys
From: WorldMenu - help - commandkeys
Document yourself in Workspaces.
You CAN keep track of everything or anything you do. It often DOES help.
Preference Menu
You can set many aspects of SqE by the
Preferences Menu.
From: Toolsflap or Windows Menu - appearance - preferences
Setting pictures as background.
There are many ways to work with pictures in Squeak. Suppose you have a
directory full of images - gif, jpg, bmp files - and you want to enliven
Squeak with them. Do Cmd-d on the following
FileList2 morphicView openInWorld
This opens a FileList with more facilities than the old standard one. You
can use it as expected from Windows Explorer or whatever you are used to.
Well, use it to go to the directory with images. The option open will
open such an image in your Project,
while the option background will make it the background of your present
Project.
Workhabits
Lots of space in an image.
On a somewhat capacious computer you have many megabytes available.
Toolboxes consisting of browsers and help on screen
Windows collapse and expand
From Worldmenu - windows. (This contains more handy choices.)
Use several browsers +
workspaces on same methods for viewing and editing
Use links in workspaces to collect and get browsers etc.
Saving workspaces
You can save workspaces on disk by way of the square icon - save contents to
file...
Convention: Use ".text" or ".txt" as filetype for files editable by Workspaces.
You can load workspaces from disk by way of a FileList.
From Worldmenu - open - filelist
Copying workspaces etc. by halos
A workspace is a morph and so has halos that allows you to duplicate it in one
click.
The same trick holds for any morph.
Touching up workspaces
A Workspace is a SystemWindow which contains a
TextMorph.
You can
- color the SystemWindow from its menu
(next to 'x').
- click up the halo of the TextMorph by
repeated Middle-Clicking, and set the backgroundcolour.
- select text with (all with Cmd-a)
and use Cmd-6 to colour it.
- select text with (all with Cmd-a)
and use Cmd-k to change its font.
This starts a Workspace of your own:
'example message' openInWorkspaceWithTitle: 'Example Title'
Document your own work in your own words
It helps to write notes to yourself on what you think you
learned.
Squeak has excellent facilities to do so.
Tip for working in stages
Make something - if satisfied make copy with upper right
halo; improve the copy - if satisfied make copy etc. Thus you will always have
the latest best to fall back to if necessary.
Literate programming
If you didn't know about literate programming and are
interested in programming:
Do a google on 'literate programming'. Donald Knuth
conceived of it and practices it.
Object-talk
Be aware of levels and being misled by terminology:
"Objects" may occur in Squeak and Smalltak
as:...............say:
........................located:
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imagined....... imagined object........ in one's mind as experience
described.......commented object.....in one's editor as English
coded............coded object............in one's editor as programming code
working..........virtual object............in one's computer, run by executing
code
represented... model object.............in some world outside the computer
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