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Have you ever felt frustrated with the way your software doesn’t really do what you want? Off-the-shelf programs are ‘one size fits all’ solutions, and will rarely satisfy everyone - whether they are for portfolio or presentations, information tracking, entertainment, file management or text editing.
So why not make your own software? No, I’m not raving mad, and nor am I a programmer. Yet I’m constantly whipping up custom bits of software to make life simpler and more fun for myself, my friends and acquaintances.
IncWell SuperCard proves that making software doesn’t have to be a nerdy process, and it doesn’t have to involve even a single line of programming code. If you can string sentences together and have half an ounce of logic in your head, SuperCard can help you create software which does virtually whatever you want, exactly the way you want it. It can be as easy to use as the drawing module in AppleWorks: create your layout of graphics, buttons and text fields, attach simple instructions, and you’re up and running.
Like HyperCard it uses a card metaphor, with objects being placed on cards and shared backgrounds. However it has full support for multiple windows, polygon buttons, vector graphics tools, and proper handling of 24-bit images. If you’re a HyperCard fan mourning its now-official death you really should try this. If you’ve always dismissed HyperCard as a dated hobbyist toy, don’t make the mistake of dismissing SuperCard as well; despite its general ease of use it is more powerful and flexible than most people can imagine.
Scripting
What brings a SuperCard project to life are the script instructions. These are written in a language called SuperTalk, which is actually a superset of HyperTalk. The vast majority of HyperCard stacks can actually be converted to SuperCard projects with little or no work.
SuperTalk is about as English-like a scripting language as you can get. The chances are that if you can say what you want something to so (put the width of graphic “logo” into field “width”) then you’re virtually talking in SuperTalk.
If you don’t want to write out scripts you can use SuperCard’s ClickScript tool to write it for you. Click an object in your project, then pick from various options in the ClickScript window. The right script instructions are written for you, and you can then check them out to see how things work, and perhaps to customise them a little.
ClickScript doesn’t cover everything - it would be good to see even more options in the future - but it does make short work of common tasks. And as what it produces is sprinkled with explanatory comments, it is a great way of getting to know the language better.
Interface
If you’d like to try your hand at user interface design you can make projects look and behave like nothing on earth. There are even free SuperCard add-ons which do things such as make windows take on any shape you can draw, from circles and freeform blobs to multi-part polygons with holes chopped out. Vector shapes can be reshaped point-by-point on the fly with scripts, so objects can be morphed in front of your eyes or reshaped to fit window and screen sizes as required.
On the other hand, if you want to make things which look and feel exactly like the best traditional Mac applications you’re in for a treat. SuperCard supports the Mac OS Appearance Manager, the part of the OS which defines the exact look and feel for Mac software. Projects can use a ‘modernLook’ setting to comply with the user’s interface settings, or they can use the flatter, plainer System 7 look - or they can mix and match, setting the look at the object level. If you’d like to put your own menu items into your project’s Help menu this is as simple as saying ‘insert menu “Hints” as help’.
If you get more adventurous you’ll find incredible power within your grasp. AppleScript commands can be created and run inside SuperCard to drive the Finder and virtually any application. These can be precompiled and stored for lightning-fast deployment, or constructed and used on the fly.
You’ll find yourself taking mere minutes to do things which ‘real’ programmers would need hours or even days to produce - and all without going near anything as unpleasant as programming code. I recently made a project to find every HTML file within a folder, alter every occurrence of a phrase, and upload everything to my Web site. This took about 5 minutes to create, where users of more conventional tools might well have spent the better part of a day or more. Other projects I’ve made include a portfolio for my design work, games for my children, an invoice tracking system for my freelance work, software for MacUser’s labs testing, useful interfaces for MacUser CDs, a custom word processor, and much more.
SuperCard is one of those rare tools which really liberates users in extraordinary ways. Basically, it is a magic software toolbox. You can use it, easily, to make you and your Mac more productive in just about any way you can imagine. And at just £99 ($149 to those in America) it is an extraordinary deal. |
