I've been a whirlwind of a week for me. With the REALbasic release happening on Wed, the RBLibrary.com release happening on Friday, working on the house and just life in general -- I haven't had a chance to sit back and enjoy!
I'm very happy with the state of REALbasic 2006r1. I've been working on my trucker app (the ODB II one, for reading trouble codes on my truck) lately using this new version (so I can use structures for the protocol -- but in actuality, I think I've used almost every new feature in it). That's been going very well. I recall starting this app in 5.5! Then RB2005r1 came out and I scrapped the project and started it over so I could use the newer features. I scrapped again and started over with RB2006r1 and it's an even cleaner design now. The 5.5 code was pretty far along and it had about 20 classes, 10 interfaces and a handful of windows. The new version has two modules and one class and is just about as far along as the 5.5 version was! :-)
I'm elated about the launch of RBLibrary.com. So far, the response has been very good. A few people have mentioned that they think the prices are too high -- but that's only two or three voices out of the crowd of people who purchased articles over the last two days. I think the price point is just about right -- 1$ to 5$ is pretty darned low, especially given the content that you get.
I'm curious though -- if any of you bought the RB2006r1 Features article that I wrote, I'd like to hear your comments. Did it cover what you expected it to cover? Did I cover the topics in enough detail? I really had fun writing that article (which is why it turned out to be such a monster) and I want to make sure it had the right mojo (since I want to do another one when r2 comes out, and so forth).
Dad and I have been working like madmen on the nook in the kitchen. We've got most of the shelve brackets in place and the shelves fit nicely. We still have one bracket left to put up for the bottom shelf (had to wait for the varnish to cure before cutting the board; otherwise we'd just gum up the jigsaw). Then we need to biscuit on the face of the board. Since we're using oak MDF, the face is very ugly, so we're going to attach a rounded edge which will also hide the brackets a little bit. Once we have the face on the boards, then I have to stain them and varnish them. Then it's a simple matter of attaching some of final trim (think corner protectors) and the nook will be done! I've got to pick out some finials as well; I want corner protectors on a few things, but I don't think I want them going all the way up to the ceiling. My original idea was to blanket any corner (exterior or interior) with wood trim, but I think that'd be overkill in the kitchen since it already has so much wood in it. So now I'm looking at notching out a small finial and using that as the visual stopping point on the exterior trimwork. Maybe. Still on the fence about it to be honest. If the trim work looks small enough, I may use it in all the corners anyways. I want something that breaks up the white of the walls, but I don't want it to draw attention. So who knows, we'll see what I end up going with whenever I end up going with it. :-P
Once the upstairs stuff is finished, dad and I are going to move on to the basement. The first thing we need to do is wire everything up. Then, it's time to start sheetrocking! Yee haw! ;-) At least Abe said he'd let us use his Rotozip again! I haven't decided whether I'm going to plumb the bathroom myself or just hire it out. I'm half-tempted to do it myself since I know how, and it'd save me a decent amount of money... Oh well, that project's at least a week away still, so I'll just forget about it for now. :-P
I hope everyone's having a great weekend!
I'd say the RBlib prices are very reasonable.
I haven't bought anything yet because it's a bit too early to back down on a row I had with my bank.
At that time I swore I was never going to use them to buy anything in foreign currency again.
The article prices are good.
I got the 2006r1 features article (and 2 more others) and it was a great reading - it saved me a lot of time to learn/understand the new features. I think the detail is ok and also the examples.
However I would love to see you using an example on structures to create for example a Windows Rebar control with a Toolbar via API. Consider this a challenge for a new article - I’m sure many Windows users would by it ;-)
Oops... of course on last line is not "by" but "buy".
Now, time to fill some bug reports for 2006r1 about the "horrible" antialiased text on the IDE and ListBox control, and icons and colors disappearing on the IDE panes ;-)
*** WARNING : RANT ****
I hope I dont dampen your party. These are purely some things I felt the first (and only time) I visited RBLibrary.com. I might change my opinion later (10.79% possibility). :-)
When I first visited RBLibrary.Com after reading the announcement (just skimmed the announcement) I was expecting a "help site" for RB with articles written by RB staff.... I said to myself (not to my split personality), YAY!!!
I went to the website and found a "shop style" website and said... Hmm.. Aaron sure has a funny sense of humour.. they have designed a self-help site like a shop front.. funny.. ha ha... and then it dawned on me... You expected people to "buy" these articles... and then I got bitter...
Firstly, Realsoftware creates a product called RB.. then the 'forgets' to document the whole stuff (frankly your documentation is only a 'tad' better than many open source 'projects', but atleast with those we do have the option of seeing the source, if push comes to shove) ... then they have a Feedback system (NAY) and support forum (YAY) ... and then you go and supplement the lack of documentation with "paid articles" (I spent a few minutes waiting for the catch line to the joke).
Now that you have gone and shot your credibility in the foot, the very least I would expect is a "credit value" for subscribers to RB (if people only want to dabble with the demo then it is their problem)
Now, I know what you are going to say to flame me (kidding)... If you dont want it dont use it... but my rant is the woeful state of the documentation... (for non-hobbyist professionals... Or dont you want us to use RB ?)
I have said my piece and a great burden is lifted off my chest.
PS: I am doing a post on the forums just in case ;-)..
You're certainly welcome to your thoughts and opinions. However, I have some questions (and something to point out):
1) RBLibrary.com is *not* affiliated with REAL Software. My day job is still REALbasic, and I am constantly pushing more documentation at our doc writer.
2) Do you have the same complaints about RB Developer? If not, then why not?
3) Do you feel the same way about things like MSDN magazine or Dr Dobb's journal?
I guess my point is -- REAL Software doesn't "forget" to document REALbasic. You just don't like the way it's documented (which is understandable; there are days when *I* don't like the way it's documented [as a user]). Granted, it has its fair share of bugs in it, but (and this may come as a shock to you)... EVERY piece of documentation has bugs in it. Hell, I just ran into a string of "bugs" on MSDN over the weekend.
You're certainly welcome to dislike the fact that you have to pay $1-5 to get a dozen (on average) or so pages of "documentation." However, you should also realize that these articles are meant to complement the RB docs -- not replace them. The RB docs aren't conversational by nature; they're technical docs. The RBLibrary.com articles are conversational discussions about features and concepts. They're *not* documentation.
If you truly feel that the docs are so woeful, then you shouldn't complain about it on my personal blog, or on the REALbasic forums. You should complain about it in the feedback system and get others to sign on to it. That's the only place which people with decision-making powers are going to take note of it. And to be honest, there's actually a large number of people who I've heard claim they prefer our doc format to others (like MSDN or developer.apple.com). So if you're going to report it, be descriptive and informative as to *what* you don't like about them. That's the only way you're going to get the docs to change.
We missed you Saturday.
And I'm still set for Thursday. What time you wanna do it?
Sorry if you felt I have hijacked your blog by my posting. I apologise for the same. Though I feel I may be right in posting it on the forums (off-topic as ou rightly pointed out ;-)). I am not attempting to diss you... Just some opinions for general discussion.
I remain a committed RB Developer nonetheless..
Hah! No worries, you haven't hijacked anything and I don't think you're dis'ing me.
But you didn't answer my questions (which I was honestly trying to get an answer to):
1) Do you have the same complaints about RB Developer? If not, then why not?
2) Do you feel the same way about things like MSDN magazine or Dr Dobb’s journal?
btw, for those of you following along at home, another thread has popped up on a different blog:
Which then got its link removed because WordPress has a fascist attitude towards anything with a < or > sign in it.
Here is the post I was talking about.
Re my row with my bank - it turns out paying by direct transfer from my bank account, Paypal dealt with my problem. A 4.99 USD transaction was presented to my bank as 2.87 GBP, thus avoiding the thorny issue of charges for tiny USD transactions.
Aaron's article on RB2006r1 features was well worth the money.