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Any forward movement on AutoIT?


JCarson
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Been using the software for years, lurking on the forum for more years .. relatively new to the whole participation thing. Was wondering if there was anywhere to go from here, or do we basically have everything we need in AutoIT?

Open discussion, not wanting to start anything if mods feel that the post will cause an issue, wouldn't take it personally if it was deleted.

Thanks again,

Joe

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Although there are still functions people would like to see added to AutoIt and a few bugs that need eradication; the basic functionality is all in place for AutoIt. It can still be improved on but I don't see any need for a major push to get it done. AutoIt went from a one person project to having a substantial number of Devs. Most of the developers are no longer active in that area (for many reasons) and the list of active developers is way down again.

My opinion is you will still see AutoIt advance but it's not going to be at previously seen levels, no more weekly or even monthly updates.

Everyone can help to some degree by getting involved in some particular area,i.e Manadars example of the Wiki. Another way that anyone can help is with donating to keep the site up and running. In the end it doesn't matter how large or how small a contribution you can make in any area, what does matter is that more people take on some of the load in an area where feel they can be of any use.

AutoIt can really use a few more tutorials but remember they should be geared towards helping the noobs.

An advanced tutorial would be a welcome addition but it should include a collection of all existing tutorial including those on the Wiki, in other words gather them into one spot. Brett F did a great job on a basic tut, we have a great help file, we have the Wiki and the forums. A few weeks or months invested in an advanced tutorial would not only help the AutoIt community at large; it would give you some pride in knowing you have helped out.

George

Question about decompiling code? Read the decompiling FAQ and don't bother posting the question in the forums.

Be sure to read and follow the forum rules. -AKA the AutoIt Reading and Comprehension Skills test.***

The PCRE (Regular Expression) ToolKit for AutoIT - (Updated Oct 20, 2011 ver:3.0.1.13) - Please update your current version before filing any bug reports. The installer now includes both 32 and 64 bit versions. No change in version number.

Visit my Blog .. currently not active but it will soon be resplendent with news and views. Also please remove any links you may have to my website. it is soon to be closed and replaced with something else.

"Old age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill!"

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Imagine it would be a little more motivating to reporters and fixers when there would at least be some sort of general (next beta) countdown, that gets activated after a X~ number of bug's are fixed.

Futile suggestion of course considering its coming from me. But hee I like to day-dream.

"Straight_and_Crooked_Thinking" : A "classic guide to ferreting out untruths, half-truths, and other distortions of facts in political and social discussions."
"The Secrets of Quantum Physics" : New and excellent 2 part documentary on Quantum Physics by Jim Al-Khalili. (Dec 2014)

"Believing what you know ain't so" ...

Knock Knock ...
 

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Imagine it would be a little more motivating to reporters and fixers when there would at least be some sort of general (next beta) countdown, that gets activated after a X~ number of bug's are fixed.

Futile suggestion of course considering its coming from me. But hee I like to day-dream.

I don't see that happening when you consider that AutoIt has traditionally been released when the Developers decided they had something worth releasing.

George

Question about decompiling code? Read the decompiling FAQ and don't bother posting the question in the forums.

Be sure to read and follow the forum rules. -AKA the AutoIt Reading and Comprehension Skills test.***

The PCRE (Regular Expression) ToolKit for AutoIT - (Updated Oct 20, 2011 ver:3.0.1.13) - Please update your current version before filing any bug reports. The installer now includes both 32 and 64 bit versions. No change in version number.

Visit my Blog .. currently not active but it will soon be resplendent with news and views. Also please remove any links you may have to my website. it is soon to be closed and replaced with something else.

"Old age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill!"

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I don't see that happening when you consider that AutoIt has traditionally been released when the Developers decided they had something worth releasing.

Yep ... but.

For final release versions that seems fine. But for beta's it makes less sense.

Beta's are perfect to get rid of fixed items from the known(and fixed) item list, give those users that like to a change to retest fixed items, give previously hidden and/or new bug's a change to surface. And show that final development/maintenance is not completely halted or stagnated (the demotivator in my view).

And lower the change of topics likes these from popping up.

"Straight_and_Crooked_Thinking" : A "classic guide to ferreting out untruths, half-truths, and other distortions of facts in political and social discussions."
"The Secrets of Quantum Physics" : New and excellent 2 part documentary on Quantum Physics by Jim Al-Khalili. (Dec 2014)

"Believing what you know ain't so" ...

Knock Knock ...
 

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Time is the main problem at the moment. I've got a lot on but still intend to do AutoIt stuff :)

Jon can you tell us some example what new functionality can be added (or maybe planned) to Autoit in the future?

I can imagine many DOC/UDF improvements but I have no idea what else can be added to Autoit's core

because I know there is list of NOT TODO things.

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That's one that I hope never happens.

George

Question about decompiling code? Read the decompiling FAQ and don't bother posting the question in the forums.

Be sure to read and follow the forum rules. -AKA the AutoIt Reading and Comprehension Skills test.***

The PCRE (Regular Expression) ToolKit for AutoIT - (Updated Oct 20, 2011 ver:3.0.1.13) - Please update your current version before filing any bug reports. The installer now includes both 32 and 64 bit versions. No change in version number.

Visit my Blog .. currently not active but it will soon be resplendent with news and views. Also please remove any links you may have to my website. it is soon to be closed and replaced with something else.

"Old age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill!"

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Because I seldom use a UDF as is.

I usually just extract the functions I need.

It would make them much more difficult to use not to mention the difference in overall file size.

George

Question about decompiling code? Read the decompiling FAQ and don't bother posting the question in the forums.

Be sure to read and follow the forum rules. -AKA the AutoIt Reading and Comprehension Skills test.***

The PCRE (Regular Expression) ToolKit for AutoIT - (Updated Oct 20, 2011 ver:3.0.1.13) - Please update your current version before filing any bug reports. The installer now includes both 32 and 64 bit versions. No change in version number.

Visit my Blog .. currently not active but it will soon be resplendent with news and views. Also please remove any links you may have to my website. it is soon to be closed and replaced with something else.

"Old age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill!"

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Because I seldom use a UDF as is.

I usually just extract the functions I need.

It would make them much more difficult to use not to mention the difference in overall file size.

That's false. You can extract compiled functions from a compiled library, just probably not with a text editor. There are overall benefits to being able to include A3X files, mostly that more people will be willing to share their compiled libraries who previously did not want to share their source code. The code authors will benefit and the community will benefit. It makes much sense. Edited by Manadar
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I still seldom use complete UDFs nor do I want to start now. Even the functions that I do use may well be customized for my particular use at the time. I need those files to stay in an easily editable state.

George

Question about decompiling code? Read the decompiling FAQ and don't bother posting the question in the forums.

Be sure to read and follow the forum rules. -AKA the AutoIt Reading and Comprehension Skills test.***

The PCRE (Regular Expression) ToolKit for AutoIT - (Updated Oct 20, 2011 ver:3.0.1.13) - Please update your current version before filing any bug reports. The installer now includes both 32 and 64 bit versions. No change in version number.

Visit my Blog .. currently not active but it will soon be resplendent with news and views. Also please remove any links you may have to my website. it is soon to be closed and replaced with something else.

"Old age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill!"

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I still seldom use complete UDFs nor do I want to start now. Even the functions that I do use may well be customized for my particular use at the time. I need those files to stay in an easily editable state.

No one is saying that the existing UDFs should all be pre-compiled, nor is anyone saying that you have to use the pre-compiled UDFs that people are releasing. If you don't want to use a feature then don't, but don't say it is a bad feature because you won't use it, even when you can clearly see the benefits of such a system. Edited by Manadar
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I have UDFs that I have written, that I consider my intellectual property. I use them with multiple clients. They are welcome to the source for scripts that I write on their dollar, but not to my UDFs. Some of them represent considerable effort and creativity on my part. As is, if they want to update scripts, I have to compile the scripts for them. As much as I like to hold onto business, it is bad to keep them strapped to working with me just because they only own part of the code. If I could include a precompiled A3X file for my UDFs, they can continue to use my services because they like my work, not because they have to. It also frees me up from having to compile for them when they just want to make a minor change. I can just license the use of the A3X file to them.

This, in addition to Mandar's point, that more AI community members will be willing to share more of their work in this form than by just releasing the source.

I do recognize that this will not be a simple addition to implement. I also recognize that there are also risks of abuse from people that may want to include hidden extras to their A3X files, but that is no more so than for programming tools, objects, dlls, etc... that are shared for various programming languages, and should not be a detractor to the benefits of legitimate use.

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I just don't get why sharing creativity is bad.

It isn't bad. It is good. I seldom have an issue with sharing AI code I have originated/updated. There are some times, however, when the sharing of the code may not be in everyone's best interests.

For example, we all know that there is no such thing as securely stored passwords. In the interest of automating some tasks, we do the best we can to encrypt or obfuscate them from the more casual hackers, and hope that more serious hackers never get close enough to know there is anything to hack. If the code for encrypting/decrypting the passwords is out there, it just makes the whole thing a mute point. To prevent the need to recompile network management scripts every time passwords change, I have a UDF that creates a key file that contains the needed credentials. A separate utility creates the key file. Each admin utility reads from it. It isn't 100% secure, but as long as no-one in the company ever sees the code, it is REASONABLY secure from all but the maliciously adept. My clients are happy because they feel secure, and don't have to pay me for my time every other month when they change passwords. (I don't really want that either)

Then there is also the issue of code ownership. Some companies just pay for a utility, and don't expect to own the code. Other companies expect that they own the code I write when on their dollar. If the contract specifies that they own the code, then I cannot re-use that code elsewhere, or release it. To get around that, I include clauses that exempt certain functions that I have already written on my own time from their ownership clauses. They usually do not have any problems with that, since they get a product that includes tried-and-true functions, and don't have to pay for my time to re-research and re-write code that is already done. Naturally, I do not want to give them code that they could later try to lay claim to, so I license compiled code only for their use, and do the compiling myself when it is needed. That is where pre-compiled UDFs come in. If I could provide the pre-compiled code, that they can re-compile with, then I don't have to be in the picture when they update code that they own, and the license and contracts become much simpler.

I have never charged anyone for AI code I have written. I only charge for my time spent on their projects.

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