History of Scripting Terms (was Re: Attachability)
History of Scripting Terms (was Re: Attachability)
- Subject: History of Scripting Terms (was Re: Attachability)
- From: Leonard Rosenthol <email@hidden>
- Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 11:17:06 -0500
As one of the people who helped defined the original terms for
"levels" of scripting, I guess I should put my two cents in.
For anyone keeping historical records, feel free to note that the
first formal discussions about defining types/level of scriptability
took place at a pre-WWDC "coding kitchen" at Pajaro Dunes (CA) in May
of 1992. Among those present (that I remember) were myself
(Aladdin), Don Brown (CE Software), xxx (Word Perfect), Brandon
McCarthy (Claris/FileMaker), xxx (Shana) and some key Apple people
including Mark Thomas (Evangelist) and Don Dehnman ("Father of
AppleScript").
At the time, we defined four levels of "scriptability" that any given
software product could achieve.
* Scriptable - supported any Apple events and included an 'aete'.
Since this was BEFORE the Apple Event Object Model (AEOM) existed, we
weren't concerned with "quality" of implementation - just that they
had something!
* Recordable - allowed the user to record the events as they took
place so they could be played back.
* Attachable - provided a way for the user to run scripts from "user
interface elements" in the application. At the time, we were
thinking more along the lines of buttons/fields in a database or form
processor, cells in a spreadsheet or folders in the Finder. The idea
of attaching to menus and "Script" menus came later - most likely as
a response to Jens' Script Menu and my OSA Menu.
* Tickerability - allowed the user to override, replace or add
functionality to an application through scripting. This is what
products like Style and Script Debugger do by allowing users to
install handlers that can modify standard application behavior.
Whether these terms are still valid and/or accurate, and should still
be used as is or with modification is a discussion that comes up
every few months. I simply offer the above as a historical
perspective and a starting point for those having the discussion
today with respect to what we "pioneers" believed almost 10 years ago
(wow!).
Leonard
P.S. Bill, feel free to include the above information (with
appropriate edits as you see fit) in your source book for "future
generations" to reflect on.
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