SuperCard 4.1.2 review

Making applications and utilities is normally seen as the preserve of 'real' programmers - dedicated geeks with encyclopaedic brains and poor social skills.

However, SuperCard 4 from Solutions Etcetera is designed to make software creation something almost anyone can do.

In a nutshell, SuperCard is a tool for creating software. It uses a plain-English scripting language called SuperTalk, and a rich array of interface elements - buttons, sliders, tabs, fields and so on - and graphics tools for creating custom, dynamic projects.

SuperCard projects use a card and window metaphor, where a project contains one or more windows, and each window contains one or more cards. Windows can be standard document-style items, dialogs or palettes. They can also be clipped to any shape you like, and a free add-on component even allows windows to be given custom transparency settings.

The various controls you draw out on a card (buttons, text fields, sliders and so on) are true native operating system-generated items that look and behave exactly as you'd expect. Alternatively, custom bitmap and vector graphics can be used to create alien interfaces and behaviour if you want.

Make a new project, draw out buttons, a text field and a graphic rectangle, and you're just steps away from, say, making a webpage-customising tool for your clients.

Putting projects together is done with SuperCard's Runtime Editor; the Developer Edition of SuperCard also uses SuperEdit, a powerful, clinical editor used for major structural work. The Runtime Editor is built using SuperCard itself, and works on projects while they're alive and functioning; add a button, give it a script, then click it to see how it works. In addition, third-party editors offer different production approaches. SuperCard's scripting language is what makes projects come alive. SuperTalk is based on English words and logical sentence structures. Scripts are placed in handlers, which are triggered by specific events. An 'on mouseUp' handler in a graphic runs when the mouse is released on the item, while 'on mouseEnter' would be run by waving the cursor across it. Of course, it's quite possible to come up with complex, daunting constructions. However, on the whole, the language does encourage clarity of thought.

For those with some scripting or programming experience, the script-tracing features should be of great interest. You can drop into your scripts at any point, break when variables hit specific values, and even edit variables on the fly while pausing script execution. Specific error numbers can be identified and dealt with in your scripts, and try-catch-throw script structures provide sophisticated ways to prevent things from going wrong in the first place.

You can also build and run AppleScripts on the fly, and your projects can intercept and work with AppleEvent triggers and even write and execute Unix shell scripts as they run, if you're so inclined. There's no compile process, as SuperTalk is an interpreted language, so your applications can even be self-modifying, customising their own scripts as they run.

SuperCard's built-in abilities can be extended with the use of custom 'externals'. There are many available, almost all of which are free or shareware, providing features such as fast HTML parsing, ftp and http transfer control, high-speed database tools, image filter effects, individual QuickTime track control and so on.

Once your project is ready you can turn it into a freely distributable application for Mac OS 8, 9 and OS X using SuperCard's Standalone Maker utility, or run it with the free SuperCard Player utility.