Mark,
The correct answer to your question is "well, uh...". In order to
completely explain this, though, I think I need to give you a complete
overview of where this massive collection of interconnected projects
stands:
1. Sphere Project/WildFire [Waiting for Host Environment]
WildFire/Sphere is a project to create a modern GUI on top of
HyperCard. Seeing as how HyperCard is permanently dead, that goal has
faded, and now Sphere stands as a sort of collection of useful scripts
and tools. However, Sphere was never intended as a complete xTalk
solution, so it needs a host environment to run on. At the time all
this was happening, the available options were cost-prohibitive, so we
decided to create our own, spawning...
2. PXI ("Project 11") [On temporary hold.]
PXI is an attempt to create a complete, working HyperTalk IDE in
C++(/ObjC/Win32/GTK). After pouring countless hours of back-breaking
work into PXI, I subjectively decided that what we had so far was
never going to be what we needed it to be. I posted the source code as
it stood and washed my hands of it to focus on other projects for a
while. Then, one day...
3. HyperPHP [You never heard of it, but it's probably canceled.]
I decided to see if I could translate HyperTalk into PHP. They're
surprisingly similar languages on the inside, and the project proved
to be a fantastic success. I never really got to finish it, however,
because at some point during development it occurred to me that...
4. HyperJS [Now better known as jsCc: In development.]
PHP is very similar to JavaScript. I was sitting on what basically
amounted to a perfect HyperTalk to JavaScript converter. The holy
grail! A couple hours of code pounding later, I posted the results to
the HyperTalk mailing list. This is what I've been working on ever since.
Right now, I'm putting my full weight behind jsCard, for a number of
reasons:
1. It has the biggest potential payoff. EVERYONE wants a web-enabled
HyperCard. A desktop version is still needed, but jsCard can get
people INTERESTED. And it proves that we have the technology.
2. It's a valuable learning experience. I could never get PXI's
compiler working, or get the user interface off the ground. With
jsCard, I'm solving this problems with amazing efficiency. Once jsCard
is finished, it will be much easier to come back and pick up where we
left off with PXI.
3. It's almost done. jsCard is already 1000% further along than PXI
ever was. A few weeks of coding will net us a functional web-enabled
HyperTalk environment to play with. PXI has a good 6 months of serious
development before I could even release a public beta.
All that being said, jsCard will eventually filter back down the line
and allow us to progress on our other projects. And nothing's on
indefinite hold. But for now, I'm focusing on where the best
time/value is. Who knows? Maybe we can build Sphere on top of jsCard? :D
--- In sphere_project@yahoogroups.com, Mark Schonewille <mark.sch@...>
wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> What's the current status of the Sphere/PXI/... project? I
> noticed Tyler working on something called jsCard --which seems
> very cool--, does it mean that other projects are currently on a
> hold?
>
> Best,
>
> Mark
>
> --
>
> Consultant and Software Engineer
> mailto:m.schonewille@...
> http://www.economy-x-talk.com
>
> eHUG coordinator
> mailto:europe@...
> http://www.ehug.info
>
> Advertise with us and reach 1000 truely interested internet
> users every month. See http://economy-x-talk.com/advertise.html
> for more information.
>
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