Alternative graphical programming environment -- Enchanting

[clinton10]

Dud,

can you tell us what you did and how far things got? That'll help us help you!

Clinton

[thekodyking3000]

So you know small talk, Clinton 10?

[clinton10]

So you know small talk, Clinton 10?

I didn't before I started working on this project, and it did set it back to start with, as I felt trepidation on learning a new environment. If I were starting now, I might look at OpenBlocks, written in Java, IIRC, but I don't regret it a bit.

SmallTalk is a beautiful language. I'm a C++ programmer by training, but SmallTalk works so differently. You are coding in a live environment -- so much so that you can debug your objects while they are active in the application. It is really slick. It is really confusing at first, though -- what on earth is an image, why doesn't my code exist on the file system, how do I interact with anything outside the system? -- but once you get your mind around it, it is awesome.

Starting out with Smalltalk isn't that bad. The language itself is small. The library it comes with is rich and discoverable. I highly recommend working through Squeak By Example, as that is what I did. Granted, it takes some adjusting going back to hacking on Scratch, which is based on Squeak 2.8 (ten years old -- the current version is 4.2, I believe), but it isn't that bad.

In other words, "Jump in, the water's great!" (I'd be happy with help on the Java side, too, or with coming up with a good set of blocks for kids to use, and so on.)

[clinton10]

PS. I've considered making a video to give a feel on how development works on the project -- the version control, coding on Scratch, adjusting the template files, etc -- would that be beneficial?

Clinton

[dudmaster]

Wow... this is cool! it works nicely. I have found some bugs. I guess you would like to see them...

EnchantingProgram.jpg

[clinton10]

Awesome! I'm thrilled to hear that you've got it working.

Here are some things that you need to know about version 0.0.3 of Enchanting. Chief among them are that the list blocks do not work yet, the broadcast/when I receive blocks do not work, and the stop button doesn't do anything. (You can force your NXT running LeJOS to shut down by pushing the dark stone and orange buttons at the same time.)

Thanks for persisting, Dud. Good for you!

[dudmaster]

Your welcome, and i don't have leJOS NXJ but i am compiling programs and i tried to download them but it
said "No Response from Back End"! What does this mean?

P.S. i have lejos FW

[clinton10]

Your welcome, and i don't have leJOS NXJ but i am compiling programs and i tried to download them but it
said "No Response from Back End"! What does this mean?

P.S. i have lejos FW

There are two parts of the application:



* the Front End. This is the part based on Scratch. It is the part you interact with directly.
* the Back End. This is a Java application that uses the NXJ libraries. It talks to the NXT and the Front End. (It also talks to Scratch, but that part of the application needs more work.)

There are several ways of starting the application. When you start is properly, most simply by running Enchanting.exe, the executable file runs the Back End and the Front End. (If that doesn't work, try some of the alternatives).

The Back End requires a proper installation of LeJOS on the computer in order to work. The program should not launch at all if you have not got it installed. [It is possible to change into the Front End directory and run EnchantingFE.exe, but the back end will not be running and the program will not do much useful. It will still allow you to construct scripts and choose File -> Export Code so that you can manually build, compile, and upload them, though.]

There are three reasons you could get this error message.
1) The Back End did not start -- most likely because you just ran the front end application instead of the proper launcher application.
2) The Back End is no longer running -- it crashed or the process was killed.
3) The Front End and Back End can not talk over a socket. When you start the application on Windows, you will most likely see a message from your firewall asking if you want to allow the application to communicate. (Why it does this for a socket on the local host is perplexing to me.) If you do not allow it to do so, the front and back ends will not be able to communicate.

In future versions, I plan to cross out the green flag button when there is no communication with the back end.


How are you compiling programs if you don't have LeJOS NXJ installed?

[dudmaster]

Thanks for the information. I have been using EnchantingFE.exe because it is not installed. I tried downloading the NXJ "Java Development Kit" and
got it working, but i guess i forgot to switch the .exe files.

EDIT: HAHAHA I wuz usin' the wrong exe!

Thanks, DUD MASTER

[dudmaster]

Not another pickle! no......!

Well, doesn't Enchanting.exe only run if you have NXJ? I got it to run, compile an empty program, but not one
that contains something. I have NXJ. It says it links if you compile empty programs.