Noob question: accepting multiple responses

[David McFarlane]

Jen,

>I, too, am interested in resources for inline scripting. I wrote to
>PST asking about a paper version of a user manual (I hate the help/
>search functions in the software) but does anyone else know of a
>manual or book that's helpful for new users?

I had answered Dan off-list, but since you asked, I will repeat this 
for the group.  It does not exactly answer your question, but may be 
of some help, and maybe someone else can fill in the rest.


Dan,

>I want to become more familiar with inline scripting of e-prime, 
>would you be able to recommend any good resources?

I'm glad you're interested.  I recently gave an extended answer to a 
similar question on the group (see 
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0805d&L=eprime&D=1&F=&S=&P=1310 
), so I will answer you off-list.

First, take advantage of the manuals that should have come with your 
E-Prime.  Look at Chapter 4 of the "User's Guide", where it introduces E-Basic.

After that it gets tough.  The real documentation is the E-Basic 
online help (from E-Studio, do Help > E-Basic Help).  You could 
browse through the E-Basic and E-Object branches, though it will be 
tough going.  It would help at this point to have some general 
programming background (especially object oriented programming).  For 
that you might try a couple Visual Basic books, "VB and VBA in a 
Nutshell" comes recommended but I have not used it myself.  It might 
even be easier to practice with some JavaScript, and then carry those 
concepts over to E-Basic.

Unfortunately, I have not found anything that covers the underlying 
principles of E-Prime and E-Basic.  I keep wanting to write that 
myself, but then it would be written in a style that appeals only to 
me, and be limited to the range of things that I have tried.

Moreover, I prefer to do less with script and more with the 
capabilities built into the E-Prime objects themselves.  There's a 
lot you can do just by understanding how the object properties and 
methods work.

Finally, bear in mind that although I do have a research background, 
I now work as a sort of "engineering" resource for the scientists 
here, so I can devote more to learning programming than others who 
are doing real research.  It's great to get as familiar with your 
tools as you can so that at least you can communicate better with 
your own engineers, but you do not have to be a great engineer to be 
a great researcher.

Regards,
-- dkm


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