response duration, but not with EPrime

[Paul Gr]

Hi,

I'm not sure if it appropriate to discuss non-eprime issues in this mailing
list, but I think you’re right when you say that deploying or distributing
runtime versions of EPrime scripts may be difficult or even impossible. I
also realize that software developing companies such as PST require people
buying their products to be able to continue their business. I really hope
that PST will offer royalty free runtime licences in the near future, so
EPrime users are not restricted anymore to run their scripts at their own
sites. Or even better: being able to create standalone exe-versions of
scripts.

However, beside the licensing strategy, there are also some technical issues
that require attention. For instance, the current version of EPrime uses
special drivers to handle response devices. These drivers are required for
optimal response processing. So, even if there was a possibility to create
standalone executables, you would still have to deploy a proper runtime
environment. (And don’t forget DirectX
, which is a ‘must have’ for this
type of application.)

As far as I know, there are no commercially available alternatives, which
don’t have the same deployment issues as EPrime. So, for real standalone
executables, you would have to get into  a suitable programming environment
and enter the low-level world of WIN32, GDI and DirectX APIs. I know of some
projects at other universities, where colleagues are developing their own
‘time critical’ software libraries. However, compared to using EPrime and
the like, you really require in-depth expertise and lots of time


Let’s hope PST (and other’s) come up with a customer-friendly solution for
this problem. If not, then I expect some kind of open source project to
arise within a year or so.

Best,
Paul

P.S.: about matlab and alternatives
 beside accurate response measurement,
you would also require accurate stimulus delivery. Not sure if matlab will
pass that test.


>From: yoav Bar-Anan <baranan at post.tau.ac.il>
>To: eprime at mail.talkbank.org
>Subject: response duration, but not with EPrime
>Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 15:39:05 +0200
>
>Hi,
>
>
>
>I often prefer not to use E-Prime for programming experiments, because a
>simple executable written in C++, VB or even HTML, is easier to deploy.
>However, when an experiment requires response-duration recording and
>accurate timing of events, I always resort to E-Prime, because I know they
>invested much effort in accuracy.
>
>
>
>I wonder whether anyone can suggest other environments which offer accurate
>timing (or tools that can easily produce accurate timing) that can be ran
>on most computers without installing anything but the experiment file.
>
>
>
>On the same note: What do you think about Matlab as an alternative for
>E-Prime?
>
>
>
>Thank you,
>
>Yoav

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