Summer Courses?

[richmond62]

So: I am about to start working out the "jollifications" involved with my annual offering to the 9 - 12 years old bunch in terms of xTalk programming.

Now I KNOW that LiveCode 963 will function on all my end-users' home computers (Intel Macs, Windows, Linux): BUT I would far rather deploy OXT Lite 1.02: so am I correct in assuming that there is a fully-functional Windows version up-and-running? Something like 9-out-of-10 children in the 9 - 12 age group I am likely to be teaching this July have access to some sort of computer running a version of Windows.\

I do not want to find myself in some sort of odd position where I run OXT Lite on my school PCs (Xubuntu 64-bit) and issue a flashdrive to all comers with OXTL installers for Mac and Linux, and LC 963 for Windows: and that isn't even getting into the ever-so-slightly tedious explanations I am going to have to give to Mums and Dads (who in 95% of cases know slightly less about the niceties of computer programming than my cat) as to why I am playing LC/OXTL mix-N-match.

I'd love to teach Summer Courses: but do not want to have to teach 'Summer Coarses'.

[tperry2x]

You could indeed install 1.03 in Windows - it's probably slightly better behaved via the palettes than some versions of Linux, and it (should) work with the browser and player widgets too.

What it will be missing, and something only Linux has, is correct UI object support for the various 'classic controls' that you drag in. If anyone were running this in Windows 11, they'd notice the controls look like Windows 10 ones.

Same as in MacOS, anything past 10.15, and you start to get inconsistencies with the way popup menu controls are represented.

But these two issues are covered already in the known bugs section.

As far as running on Windows, it'll run on windows 7 - all the way up to windows 11. It's the most compatible of the OpenXTalk Lite builds.

If you are talking older PCs, presumably these would have CD drives? It's probably the most cost-effective way to hand out OXT Lite, being about 380MB. Anyone installing it will need to install 7zip first, but you could include that on the CD. The installation process is an easy one - no harder than the Linux installer. Just run the bat install script as an administrator.

Or, you could just send them the direct download link if they are going to have internet access.

[richmond62]

I must have been asleep to have missed 1.03 . . . or at best, otherwise engaged.

Thank you very much for a comprehensive answer.

[richmond62]

Most of the kids I teach are at the higher end of the local economic scale having parents who are doctors, business types, lawyers and so on, so all have recently current laptops (my 6 year old mind-price laptop doesn't have a CD/DVD drive). So they can bring along Flash-drives . . .

Just run the bat install script as an administrator.

Ha, Ha, Ha: I could waste a whole 90 minute session installing OXTL onto 12 Windows laptops as neither the children nor their parents have a clue how to do that.

[tperry2x]

Ha, Ha, Ha: I could waste a whole 90 minute session installing OXTL onto 12 Windows laptops as neither the children nor their parents have a clue how to do that.

That's a pain. I have tried to make it as easy as possible (it only needs admin so it can install in C:/Program Files/OpenXTalk Lite...

I have put a fairly straightforward 'read me first' file in there for good measure, just like I've done with the Linux and the MacOS builds to get people off the mark.

[richmond62]

I'd like to point out 2 things:

1. LC 963 is delivered as an .EXE.

2. A Windows standalone generated by LC 963 (and, presumably OXT Lite) also is delivered as an .EXE.

What is the thing that is stopping you deliver OXT Lite as an .EXE?

[tperry2x]

What is the thing that is stopping you deliver OXT Lite as an .EXE?

The original LCC installer is a compressed exe, which is an in-house installer produced by LC.
As I mentioned previously, multiple times, 7zip produces by far the best compression, and it's free.

I could make it a self extracting exe, however then the first run files don't get created.
You can't run them during the extraction process if its a self extracting archive (this is blocked in Windows because it's called a chain-loader exploit technique - where you use one thing with elevated permissions, to spawn other processes which also have elevated permissions - and is very frowned upon by security software). (Sophos comes to mind immediately).

If you can't create the first run file, then new users will see the LC registration dialog, as the bat script sorts that out for them too. Not a problem for LCC users, but I don't want that registration requirement dialog to be shown upon first run of OXT lite.

Bat scripts are not unheard of, especially in the world of software development, in Windows. In fact, it's quite normal. You'll find bat install methods for most of the popular packages, such as homebrew and others.

Are you having trouble following the install instructions at all?
They are no harder than the Linux ones, which seem to have worked for you in the past, so I'm a bit confused.

Or, are you thinking of your end-users not being able to uncompress a 7zip file and run an install script? I have put very self explanatory notes with the installer.

If you are worried about your end users not being able to install 7zip (which is 2 clicks), you could uncompress the 7z file and copy that installer folder to their memory sticks to cut out a step for them. You'll find the copy will take a lot longer as you'll be copying about 1.4gb of uncompressed files and folders, instead of the single 380mb one.

Build 23493 of Windows 11 includes 7zip extraction as default, just like MacOS 11 and most mainstream versions of Linux these days too. They'd only need to install 7zip, (which isn't exactly difficult), if they are running an old system where it's not included as default.

I'd already taken away 7zip compression from the Mac installer at your request - (this is why it's almost a 800MB download now), against the 380MB(ish) versions for Windows and Linux.

Which I also can't get my head around, as afterwards you complained that the Mac version was a large download. (?)

[richmond62]

It is not me I'm worried about, its little Georgi or Gergana's Mum or Dad trying to install the thing on kiddo's Windows box at home.

[tperry2x]

Well, as above then really.
If you supply it to them as an uncompressed folder, all they have to do is right click and choose 'Run as Administrator'

Screenshot (35).png (33.95 KiB) Viewed 147 times

[richmond62]

That should pass, Thank you.