Serfing USA
Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 7:56 pm
https://web.archive.org/web/20000822032 ... com/~serf/
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You will need:
1. A Macintosh computer capable of running MacOS 7-9, or
2. A Macintosh computer (PPC) capable of running 'Classic'. or
3. A way to emulate MacOS 7-9
"It's everything you want!
For all developers from little to big, Serf is the ultimate answer. Serf supports integrated color, threading, object-oriented classes, and much more. With Serf, you don't need to give up your investment in your scripting language, and you don't need to learn new techniques and behaviors unless you want to. Serf will give you the capability to expand your scripting efforts. And the documentation is built right into the application!
It's everything you remember!
SerfTalk, the scripting language of Serf, is a superset of xTalk. You'll be able to use HyperTalk, SuperTalk, and MetaTalk scripts with almost no modifications -- it's quite compatible. It also contains new improvements, such as the apostrophe-s 'reverse of': button 1's hilite is the same as hilite of button 1 . Referring to objects is much more flexible and English-like. You can say third checkbox, or 3rd checkbox, or even (x)th checkbox! How about the first line of card #4's (x+1)th field part's contents...?
It's everything you need!
Serf has a compiled frontend coupled with an interpreted backend for especially fast execution on machines with slow or no cache (between 3x and 10x the performance of HyperTalk). As Serf matures, it will get even faster than that. Serf graphic
Serf is entirely object-oriented and supports Classes. A Class is simply a cleverly written piece of script which does the most important work for an object, such as drawing it and deciding what happens when it's clicked, all out of sight. Three commonly used classes are the 'Button', 'Field', and 'Window' classes. But there are plenty more, such as sliders, graphics, and movies. Some Classes can also be "sub-classes" of other classes. For example, in HyperCard a checkbox is a button. In Serf, a Checkbox is a subclass of a Button. You can use the script "tenth button" to get the tenth button of any kind, or you can refer to a specific checkbox as "tenth checkbox part", in which case it finds the tenth button that is specifically a checkbox. Object-oriented programming can be as simple as that. Many of the standard Serf objects are subclasses, which helps compatibility with xtalk development environments.
Fields are extremely robust, offering color, tabbing, very large amounts of text, Macintosh Drag-and-drop, and more. All of the user interface utilizes the "OS 8" look, including three types of bevel buttons. Serf is OS-8 savvy, and it even runs speedily on machines with only System 7 and older PowerPC chips.
It's everything you can't afford to be without!
Serf has a Tool Palette and Message Box for fast access to your windows and handlers. Instead of putting up dialog boxes at every turn, you can change options while you work through a sophisticated yet simple Part Information window. This palette is space-efficient and fits in any closet or underneath the bed. A 640x480 screen is sufficient to use Serf; anything larger is nice but not required."
