More than 300 fixes for Dictionary errors.
More than 900 Lingo tips.
More than 100 Lingo examples and workarounds.
Macromedia Director and Lingo are registered trademarks of Macromedia, Inc.
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Intro
Hi to all companions out there in LingoWorld!
This Ldoc+ lists more than one hundred and fifty corrections to definite errors in the "Lingo Dictionary" of Macromedia Director, together with loads of tips and examples. It specializes in things to DO and things NOT to do when using certain commands, and tries to remember the dependencies between different Lingo and/or movie elements. It's kind of my private database from my Lingo studies. I wanted to start this collection since falling in love with 'MacroMind Director 2.0' in 1992, but had to wait until the lousy docs of Director 5.0 drove tears to my eyes... And the 6.0 versions aren't any better... :-(
I started in May 1996, after studying the 5.0 "Lingo Dictionary" and stumbling over the many errors. My first collection of errors was a 'small' text file of 10K. But the 5.0 "Lingo Dictionary" is so buuugyyyyy, to the extent of being immature. I pitty those of you who are starting to learn Lingo; the Dictionary might be of limited help for you. And Macromedia also CUT OUT the valuable 'Lingo Quick Reference' and the other appendices it used to have in Director 4. I guess they needed the paper to print more shares... Well, my error list started growing and growing, it seemed like everytime I looked into that book I found more mistakes, and these errors are also part of the German "Lingo Lexikon" (10/96), together with many more, like a typo already in the title of the german 'Learning Lingo' book: "Lingo Einstiegerhandbuch" (what a darn shame). Up to now I found more than 150 errors. The 6.0 Dictionary has at least as much, adding even more errors...
This Ldoc+ does NOT repeat anything mentioned in the "Lingo Dictionary", except when offering corrections, or in the case of cross-dependencies to other Lingo elements. The Ldoc+ does NOT explain any Lingo commands, it just lists doc errors and tips for many, many Lingo elements. The Ldoc+ works as an addition to the other multiple and powerful Lingo resources, and it will be updated and revised as soon as I find the time to add in new errors or TIPS (at the present that's about twice a month). I'll try to keep a history of all changes on the main page (the Ldoc+ Home Page: www.a3w.de/Lingo/index.html), so that when you come to the Ldoc+ site, you can rather quickly find the updated passages. But besides those 'big' changes, I might fit in small corrections and additions here and there all the time.
If there's anything you can add or correct, especially if you have Lingo pages of your own, please do e-mail me at <Denis@a3w.de> or < A3W_Multimedia>. For a good TIP I'll mention your name and link... ;-) Now let me just quickly state the following, and then we'll move on to the Lingo Links:
A big THANK YOU to Alexander Kienzle (Germany) for many qualified corrections and additions (and hopefully more to come), to those of you readers who have already contributed (and hopefully more to come), to Gretchen Macdowall (USA) who established the art of collecting Director errors (and hopefully... or not?), to my partners Michael and Thilo (at A3W Multimedia) for giving me time and space (and they'd better...), and to Brian Rhodes (my TOEFL partner in Canada) for correcting my broken English in the first online version in 6/97 (and possibly... ok, I messed it all up since then...).
The Ldoc+ © Copyright 97-98 by Denis Wieger , Bonn, Germany. All rights reserved. Online since June 1, 1997. All information on the Ldoc Web pages is provided as-is without warranty of any kind and can be used for Lingo scripts by own risk. The Ldoc+ Web site, its design and its contents are the property of the author and may not be altered, reproduced or copied in any way, shape or form without prior written consent from the author. Any printed quotations must include the author's name and the full URL of the Ldoc+. Quotations and mentionings on online forums, in lists and news groups, and in Macromedia documents (<g>-) should possibly include the "Lingo Doc+" URL: http://www.a3w.de/Lingo/. Thanx.
(Top) (Intro) (Lingo Links) (The Author) (©)
Lingo Links
The Ldoc+ Web pages are of best use if you...
0) See Macromedia's Director Corrections (March 97) at:
http://www.macromedia.com/support/director/docstuff/errata/.
See part 1 of 'Learning Lingo Fixes' by Michael Scaramozzino, DreamLight Incorporated:
http://www.dreamlight.com/insights/07/llmfixes.htm.
I'm currently working on part 2 of 'Learning Lingo Fixes': More than 150 additional corrections to that handbook!
a) Study and understand all the Director handbooks, and especially learn the "Lingo Dictionary" by heart. And keep the 4.0 Dictionary, it has valuable information on many Lingo elements plus a Quick Index that all got lost since then... ;-)
b) Carefully study all of Director's "Read Me" files, over and over again, even the old ones... ;-)
c) Download and study Macromedia's "Director Knowledge Base" from one of the Macromedia online places: http://www.macromedia.com/support/director or http://support.macromedia.com/director, CIS: go MACROMEDIA, MSN: Goto Macromedia.
d) Download and study as many "TechNotes" from Macromedia Technical Support on Director as you can get hold of, like TN #3135 'Director Top 30 Questions', TN #3174 'Director and Palettes', TN #3129 'Debugging Director', TN #3180 'Director FAQ about texts and fields', TN #3184 'Member vs. Membernum', TN #3125 'Using the searchPath in Director', etc. (Hm, haven't done that myself for a while now...)
e) Regularly read, download, and study the "Director Web" Internet site (http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/director), especially the 'Director FAQ' there. This is also the place to sign onto the 'DIRECT-L' mailing list for Director orientated discussions.
f) Check out all the other interesting Director online places mentioned at the "Director Web".
g) Frequently check out Gretchen Macdowell's "601 Quirks" for a list of problems with Director (www.updatestage.com/buglist.html). She moved the "501 Quirks" to www.updatestage.com/501list.html.
h) Subscribe the "Lingo User's Journal" by Tab Julius. It has articles for Lingo beginners as well as for experts (www.penworks.com). And join Tab's Lingo Mailing List <lingo-l>, which now is also available in digested form at www.penworks.com. Not to mention Tab's "Global Lingo Dictionary" of Global Lingo commands provided by commercial Xtras at www.penworks.com/LUJ/glingo/.
i) Get the book "Inside Director..." by Lee Allis, Gretchen Macdowell a.o. from New Riders Publishing (www.mcp.com/newriders, additonal info at www.updatestage.com/idl.html). There is a 6.0 version out now.
j) Get the book "Lingo!" by Tab Julius (written 1996) from New Riders Publishing, a really nice introduction and still worth its money for the 6.0 Director version (www.mcp.com/newriders).
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The Author
| Denis Wieger | |
|---|---|
| Specialties: | Web design, multimedia and interactivity concepts, Director authoring, Lingo Scripting, icons & cursors, system integration. |
| Qualifications: |
since 1992 multimedia authoring, since 1991 Apple Macintosh, since 1988 DOS computer. print and radio journalism, studies in media education, psychology and sociology. |
|
Interests:
|
music: Latin, Soul, Funk, Jazz, Rock, World Music, dj-ing and dancing at parties, multimedia, research in Matriarchy and prehistoric times, travelling, especially touring India. |
| Background: | Born 2/22/1955 in Oxford, England; raised in Germany. |
| Email: |
mailto:Denis@a3w.de |
| Telephone: | Fon: +49 - 2241 - 345 093 Fax: +49 - 2241 - 345 094 |
| Online Projects: |
The Lingo Doc+ with Tips'n'Tricks display TOEFL Prep Shockwave CBT online |
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