The Trials

1
The Trials Tribulations of Developing
Cross-Platform Multimedia Applications in Music
Education

• Dr. Scott D. Lipscomb,
• Institute for Music Research
• UTSA Division of Music

2
Scientific Method

• Formulate Question of the Real World
• Review Literature
• Design Experiment to Answer Question
• Gather Data
• Analyze Interpret Data
• Create/Modify Model

3
Overview History

• Operationally define cross-platform
• My early experiments with software development
• user-friendly GUI
• Windows Development tools
• Creating cross-platform versions
• eventually allow WWW access

4
Programming Style Antiquated
FOR x 1 TO UBOUND(UsedDurs!) IF DurCount2(x)
lt 70 THEN LOCATE x 6 z, 1 PRINT
LTRIM(LEFT(STR(UsedDurs!(x)), 8)) LOCATE
x 6 z, 10 PRINT STRING(DurCount2(x),
"") ELSE LOCATE x 6 z, 1 PRINT
LTRIM(LEFT(STR(UsedDurs!(x)), 8)) FOR y
1 TO DurCount2(x) \ 70 LOCATE x 6 z,
10 PRINT STRING(70, "") z z 1
NEXT y LOCATE x 6 z, 10 PRINT
STRING(DurCount2(x) MOD 70, "") END IF NEXT
x CALL CenterLine(23, "Would you like a hardcopy?
(Y/N)")
5
Programming Style Antiquated
FOR x 1 TO UBOUND(UsedDurs!) IF DurCount2(x)
lt 70 THEN LOCATE x 6 z, 1 PRINT
LTRIM(LEFT(STR(UsedDurs!(x)), 8)) LOCATE
x 6 z, 10 PRINT STRING(DurCount2(x),
"") ELSE LOCATE x 6 z, 1 PRINT
LTRIM(LEFT(STR(UsedDurs!(x)), 8)) FOR y
1 TO DurCount2(x) \ 70 LOCATE x 6 z,
10 PRINT STRING(70, "") z z 1
NEXT y LOCATE x 6 z, 10 PRINT
STRING(DurCount2(x) MOD 70, "") END IF NEXT
x CALL CenterLine(23, "Would you like a hardcopy?
(Y/N)")
6
Scripting

• Hypercard/Supercard (Mac)
• Authorware (Mac)
• Toolbook (PC)
• Director (Mac/PC)

7
Traditional Programming Languages

• Fortran
• Basic
• Pascal
• C
• C
• Unix
• Java

8
ProgrammingThe Next Generation

• Visual Basic
• Visual C
• Visual J

9
Ease of Use Design

• Graphical User Interface
• Objects with Properties
• User Interaction
• Events
• Methods

10
Software Development

• Visual Basic
• Signal
• MEDS
• Visual C
• Signal
• Director
• Lingo
• Plug-Ins

11
Conclusions

• Visual Basic
• relatively easy to learn and use
• not cross-platform
• no easy WWW access (ActiveX)
• VC
• steep learning curve
• cross-platform edition adds another level of
  complexity
• no easy WWW access (ActiveX)

12
Conclusions

• Director
• Powerful with the use of Lingo Plug-Ins
• cross-platform (Mac/PC)
• WWW access with Shockwave
• Limited by built-in functionality
• Other possible solutions
• Java
• DHTML

13
Contact Information
Dr. Scott D. Lipscomb Institute for Music
Research UTSA Division of Music 6900 N. Loop 1604
West San Antonio, TX 78249 phone (210)
458-5334 FAX [phone] email
lipscomb_at_lonestar.utsa.edu WWW
http//imr.utsa.edu/lipscomb