Scratch controls importer

[xAction]

ScratchControls_ImporterV2_full.oxtStack

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In case you ever wanted to build Scratch or Scratch like interface in xTalk.
Didn't enable any kind of editing like put values into the controls, but they do snap if you stuff one control up under another with a bit of overlap.

Well some of them do, it's a bit buggy, a work in progress for someone who wants to work on something like this
A shame after 20 years Scratch doesn't export to some file that can be parsed into a real programming language.
They have whole '3D' raycasting games locked up in their 10,000 draggable ding-a-lings.

[richmond62]

A shame after 20 years Scratch doesn't export to some file that can be parsed into a real programming language.

It's a shame that children are taught SCRATCH at middle school, from which they seem to learn almost NO transferrable skills for when they suddenly are faced with a programming language in High school.

[richmond62]

Go over here: and, Wow! it is scary . . .

https://playentry.org/download/hardware

Anyway, while learning Hangul may not be top of your list of priorities at the moment: download their 'thing':
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While it is downloading do something else as 95% of the Entry website, despite the menu at the top, is in Korean only: don't let that fuss you.

Then install the thing.
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I'll just bung in a quick disclaimer here: I don't like Scratch or any other block coding thing.

https://forums.livecode.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=32722
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Be aware that if you install this on a Macintosh computer it will NOT install it into the standard 'Applications' folder, but into the 'Applications' inside your User folder.

Start up Entry:
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Very SCRATCHesque . . .

HOWEVER, Entry has one thing that SCRATCH does not seem to:
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You can toggle between code blocks and a reduced form of Python.

[richmond62]

Of course, as I have little or no interest in Python, nor SCRATCHesque 'programming' that does not exactly float my boat:
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BUT; from a methodological point of view it does seem to be a bit better than SCRATCH.

AND: it is not too far fetched to imagine a similar sort of arrangement with xTalk instead of Python.

My argument against this type of approach is that the conceptual leap from SCRATCHesque code blocks to Python (or xTalk) is rather too large.

Certainly the assumption seems to be that "kiddos" will intuitively 'get' Python from seeing their Code-block creations in Python. Which they won't without one hell of a lot of hand-holding, which rather begs the question as to why one would bother with the code blocks in the first place.

At 13 I learnt FORTRAN IV with no 'pretty pictures' at all; just a fantastic teacher who, obviously, worked out how to get pea-brained types like myself to understand the programming language.

As xTalk is considerably less clunky, and considerably simpler than FORTAN IV, the necessity to have a code block, LEGO kit before it is introduced escapes me.

As I have reiterated far, far too many times: I have had 9 year olds running up calculator clones, temperature converters, text editors and "Snail Bob" clones in a matter of a week with LiveCode . . . No Scratch, No "sniff".
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