User's Guide - Chapter 3: The Development Environment
This chapter will take you on a tour of TrueUpdate’s sophisticated program interface. You’ll learn how to use the features of the interface that allow you to create a comfortable and productive work environment, customized for the way you want to use the program. You’ll also learn how to take advantage of TrueUpdate’s self-help resources, which are designed to answer any questions you might have while working with TrueUpdate as quickly and efficiently as possible.
TrueUpdate has the built-in ability to check the Internet to see if there is an update available. In fact, this ability is the result of a TrueUpdate Client application, just like the ones you will build with TrueUpdate.
Before we start exploring the program interface, let’s use this feature to make sure you have the latest version of the program.
The TrueUpdate Client application will open.
When you click Next, the TrueUpdate Client will connect to the Indigo Rose website and determine whether there is a newer version of TrueUpdate available for you to download. If there is, it will give you the option to download and apply a patch that will update your copy of TrueUpdate to the latest version.
Note: If you are running any Internet firewall software such as ZoneAlarm, it may ask you whether to permit the TrueUpdate Client to connect. You will need to allow the client to connect in order for the update to work.
You will be alerted if an update is available. Simply follow the instructions to complete the update.
If an update is not available, just click Close to exit the TrueUpdate Client application.
Now that you know you are using the latest version of TrueUpdate, it’s time to get comfortable with the actual program interface.
The TrueUpdate program window is divided into a number of different parts.
At the top of the window, just under the title bar, is the program menu. You can click on this program menu to access various commands, settings and tools.
Below the program menu are a number of toolbars. The buttons on these toolbars give you easy access to many of the commands that are available in the program menu.
Tip: You can create your own custom toolbars or edit the existing ones by choosing Tools > Customize.
The script editor takes up most of the program window. It is where you will edit the main scripts that determine what your project does. There are actually two script editors in this window--one for the client script, and one for the server script. You can switch between the client and server scripts by clicking on the respective tabs.
The script editor is a full featured code editor, including autocomplete, dropdown lists, and syntax checking.
At the very bottom of the window is the quick help bar, which displays any quick help information available. For example, when working with an action in the script editor, the quick help bar will display the prototype for that action.
The rest of the program window is made up of individual sub-windows known as panes. Each pane can be docked, tabbed, pinned, resized, dragged, and even made to float on top of the design environment.
There are two panes to the right of the script editor. The top-most pane is actually a pair of panes that have been tabbed together: the Client Screens pane, and the Server Screens pane. Because these panes are tabbed by default, we often refer to them as the Client Screens tab and the Server Screens tab.
The client screens are distributed with the TrueUpdate Client application, and the server screens are stored in the server configuration files (which get hosted at your TrueUpdate Server locations). You can switch between the client screens and server screens by clicking on the appropriate tab.
Below the pair of screen panes is the Screen Preview pane. When a screen is selected on one of the screen panes, a preview of how that screen will look is shown in the Screen Preview pane.
You can resize panes by dragging their edges. In this case, you want to drag the part "between" the rightmost panes and the script editor...specifically, the little bit of window surface to the right of the script editor and to the left of the two screen panes and the Screen Preview pane. As you begin to drag the edge of a pane, a line will appear to show where the edge will move to when you release the mouse button.
You can also resize the screen and preview panes vertically by dragging the window edge between the two of them up or down. As one becomes larger, the other will become smaller, and vice-versa.
The Screen Preview pane is docked by default. A docked pane is seamlessly integrated into the program window. You can "un-dock" it from the program window by double-clicking on its title bar.
When you un-dock the Screen Preview pane, it floats above the program window, and the screen panes expand to fill in the space that the Screen Preview pane left behind.
You can move panes around by dragging them by their title bars. As you move a pane, an outline shows you the general area where the panel will end up, and special ‘drop points’ appear to control where the pane will be docked. We want to put the Screen Preview pane back where it was originally. Drag the Screen Preview pane by its title bar around the design environment until the drop points appear. Then, drop it on the point that will re-dock it below the screen panes.
Tip: When you are dragging panes, the position of the mouse cursor is what determines where the pane will land. When moving panes to the drop points, the mouse pointer must be over the point for the screen to dock as you intend.
Docked panes can also be "pinned" or "unpinned." Pinned panes remain open when you’re not using them. (All of the panes in the default layout are pinned.) Unpinned panes stay out of the way until you click on them or hover the mouse over them. Whenever you need them, they "slide" open on top of everything else and then slide closed when you’re done.
You can pin or unpin a pane by clicking the little pin icon on the pane’s title bar.
Panes remember their positions even after you unpin them. If you unpin a pane, and then pin it again, it will return to the position it had before it was unpinned.
Right clicking on the standard toolbar will bring up the list of available toolbars. Notice that only the standard toolbar is enabled by default. Click on ‘Script Help’ to enable the Script Help toolbar. This toolbar displays useful tips and information, and any other helpful tools relating to scripting.
You can turn on as many toolbars as you like, or disable them all. You can drag and drop toolbars around the interface similar to how you dragged panes around. Dragging a toolbar to the edge of the TrueUpdate window will dock it to that side. Dragging a toolbar to the middle of the TrueUpdate window will make the toolbar float above the interface.
Feel free to customize the design environment as you see fit. TrueUpdate is your tool, so go ahead and arrange it to fit the way you work.
If you still have questions after reading this user’s guide, there are many self-help resources at your disposal.
Here are some tips on how to quickly access these self-help resources.
Help is only a key press away! TrueUpdate comes with an extensive online program reference with information on every action and feature in the program.
In fact, pressing F1 will, whenever possible, bring you directly to the appropriate topic in the online help. This context-sensitive help is an excellent way to answer any questions you may have about a specific dialog or action.
Note: You can also access the help system by choosing Help > TrueUpdate Help.
There are three ways to navigate the online help system and find the appropriate topic: use the table of contents, use the keyword index, or search through the entire help system for a specific word or phrase.
To exit from the online help, just click the Close button on the help window’s title bar.
You can also open the help file inside a pane, right in the TrueUpdate design environment. This is especially useful when you’re working on scripts and want quick access to the help topics for the actions you’re working on.
When you click on an action in the script editor, notice that the Help pane automatically displays the help topic for that action.
As you are working on your scripts, the Help pane will automatically display the help topic for any action that you click on. It will also automatically display the help topic for an action as you’re typing it into the script editor. (In other words, if you typed "Application.Exit" into the script editor, the Help pane would automatically show you the help topic for the Application.Exit action.)
Choosing View > Help will close the Help pane if it is currently open.
TrueUpdate is used by thousands of people worldwide. Many users enjoy sharing ideas and tips with other users. The online forums can be an excellent resource when you need help with a project or run into a problem that other users may have encountered.
Choosing Help > User Forums opens your default web browser directly to the online user forums at the Indigo Rose website.
Exit from your web browser and switch back to the TrueUpdate program.
Alternatively, you can press Alt+Tab to switch back to TrueUpdate while leaving the web browser open in the background.
This takes you to the TrueUpdate web site, where a variety of online technical support resources are available to you, including a large knowledge base with answers to common questions.
This is also where you can find information about ordering one of our premium support packages and submitting a support request.
When you’re done browsing the technical support information, return to the TrueUpdate design environment to continue with this chapter.
There are a number of preferences that you can configure to adjust the TrueUpdate design environment to suit your work style. Let’s have a look at some of them.
This will open the Preferences dialog, where all of TrueUpdate’s preferences can be found.
The preferences are arranged into categories. The categories are listed on the left side of the dialog. When you click on a category, the corresponding preferences appear on the right side of the dialog.
The Document preferences allow you to change settings that affect the project file. For example, you can configure the auto-save feature that can automatically save your project file as you’re working on it to avoid any accidental loss of data. You can also configure the number of undo/redo levels, and choose either to use the project wizard to create new projects or to simply start with a blank project.
Tip: It can be helpful to set the number of undo levels to a larger value, like 25 or 50. That way you can undo even more "steps" and go back further in your project if you change your mind while you’re working.
You can also expand the Environment category by clicking on the little plus symbol to the left of it.
The Folders category allows you to specify the locations of various folders that are used by the project. For example, you can specify the location where project files are stored, and specify the default output folder where your update files will be published to.
There are many other preferences that you can set, such as what to do when the design environment is started (in the Startup category). Take some time to look through the categories and familiarize yourself with the different options that are available.
Remember that you can click Help or press F1 to get more information about any of the settings in a specific category.