Hi Folks,

On 1-May-08, at 8:01 AM, oakmasii wrote:

> > Seems to me we haven't heard anything about Facespan 5 status for
> a long
> > time?
> >
> > I'm sure it's a long and difficult job with substantial
> uncertainty about
> > how it's going to pay off. But how's it going? Is there a light
> somewhere
> > out there at the end of that tunnel?
> >
> > Bruce Robertson
> >
> Yeah - I love FaceSpan
> So what is the news?
>
> I really DON"T want to have to use AppleScript Studio in Xcode.
> Oakley


The simple answer is that I massively underestimated the effort needed
to turn FaceSpan into the product I want it to be. This has impacted
all of my other work as FaceSpan 5 has expanded to consume almost all
my resources and delayed the release of other products (Script
Debugger 4.5, Affrus 2).

This said, the FaceSpan 5 is progressing. The FaceSpan IDE now
includes Script Debugger's AppleScript editing and debugging
capabilities. This means that you can single step through the code in
your project and manage breakpoints directly within the IDE. Script
Debugger's dictionary windows, including the Explorer, are also fully
integrated into the FaceSpan IDE.

The FaceSpan scripting interface has been re-implemented from
scratch. This means that FaceSpan is no longer dependent on
AppleScript Studio. You can see the current AppleScript interface
here (I think you'll agree that the dictionary is vastly improved over
FaceSpan 4's AppleScript Studio-based dictionary):

http://www.latenightsw.com/blogfs5/wp-content/uploads/dictionary/index.html

FaceSpan 5 introduces some important changes in the way you script
projects. Initial documentation for all of the work done is here (PDF):


http://www.latenightsw.com/blogfs5/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/introducingfacespa\
n50d41.pdf

FaceSpan 5 has a plug-in API that will ultimately allow others to
build "widgets" for FaceSpan. This will permit new UI objects to
appear from 3rd parties, and allow integration with database APIs and
other 3rd party libraries and frameworks.

There are still some key missing features (eg. tables, outlines) which
I want to implement before opening the testing program to the public.
However, if you want to begin using FaceSpan 5 in its current form,
you can join the private Alpha testing program by emailing me privately.

Cheers
-Mark