Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!emory!wrdis01!nstn.ns.ca!uupsi!cci632!ritcsh!ultb!cms2839 From: cms2839@isc.rit.edu (a.stranger) Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms.programmer Subject: Re: Actor ... Please help !!!! Keywords: Actor books etc.... Message-ID: <1991Apr11.015921.19097@isc.rit.edu> Date: 11 Apr 91 01:59:21 GMT References: Organization: RIoT Lines: 52 In article cameron@cosc.canterbury.ac.nz (Cameron Farquhar) writes: >For a friend.. > >I have recently sent away an order for Actor thanks to their special >deal going at the moment but I am unclear on a few things. > >1) Do I need the SDK? >1a) If so, there are a few alternatives I beleive. What is the best one > to get? no . all SDK functions can be accessed through actor , and the resource compiler is included . the *documentation* of the SDK functions leaves a lot to be desired , though , and if you plan to use them , some sort of reference ( like Petzold ) might come in handy . for the most part , though , you won't need them , and you may be able to use the documentation that's included with actor ( scant though it may be ) when you do . there are no " alternatives " to the SDK other than other languages ; that's what actor is . there are , however , alternatives to the resource compiler . by far the best and the most complete , of any that i have heard of , is the Whitewater Groups own Whitewater Resource toolkit . it will save you incredible amounts of time designing and testing resources , whether you program in Actor , C , or anything else . it's included free with Borland languages , but Actor owners have to buy it seperately . >2) After learning Actor I will probably be writing some database > applications. What is a good relational file manager? I have heard of > Wintrieve and dbVista which I think will work with Actor. Are there any > other good ones around. I do most of my programming with Clipper so am > used to having lots of powerful features provided free-of-charge. WinTrieve and Actor are made by the same company , so i'm sure they work well together . i can't comment beyond that , as i've never used it . >3) Books. I have Petzold's book for Windows 2. Is it worth getting an > update or is there a more Actor specific book around? > there's a book available called Object Oriented Programming Featuring Actor , but it's outdated , and , frankly , the Actor documentation is among the best i've ever seen ( i'm referring to the documentation on Actor itself , not the SDK functions ) . be prepared to spend a good amount of time browsing the demo programs , though ; it's one of the best ways to learn the language . -- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @ "Imagination keeps the shadows away - Xymox @ @~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@ @ a.stranger - CMS2839@ritvax.isc.rit.edu @