Frontier 4.1 is shipping at (http://www.scripting.com/frontier/). Here’s an
overview of the new features in 4.1, full detail is available on the site.
***Ease of Learning and Use
The main priority of Frontier 4.1 was to re-design the user interface to
incorporate what we’ve learned about Frontier over the last four years.
The User’s Guide has been completely updated and made current with the
feature set of Frontier 4.1.
Frontier’s menus have been reorganized to be easier for the first-time
user, and more complete for experienced users.
Navigators make finding your way around the object database easier, and
supply vital information for the beginning script writer.
Where do I put my script? This was the number one question for new Frontier
users. New places include the Workspace table, which is the best place to
store personal scripts; the Overnight and Hourly scripts tables store
scripts that run every night at 2AM and every hour on the hour; the
webServerScripts table stores CGI scripts that run behind WebStar and
compatible servers.
Streamlined for AppleScript. Frontier has been able to run AppleScripts
since version 3.0. In this release, the features have been streamlined to
make the Frontier environment more accessible to AppleScript developers.
***New Technology
It’s possible to build friendlier and more powerful applications with
Frontier 4.1, thanks to several new technologies incorporated for the first
time in this release.
MacBird is an GUI authoring tool, MacBird Runtime is baked into the
Frontier application. Many of the new ease-of-use features in 4.1 are
implemented as MacBird cards.
Thread control. The new thread verbs allow script writers to build more
powerful multi-threaded server applications with Frontier. They also
complete the verb set needed to run Java code in the Frontier environment.
Object database access from scripts. The new db verbs allow script writers
to build systems that store information in multiple root files. This brings
the scripting interface into parity with the API supported by our ODB
Engine project.
Network OS features. Frontier 4.1 is a more complete network operating
system with the inclusion of the new version of the NetFrontier suite.
External editors. In cooperative development with other developers,
external applications including BBEdit and Script Debugger can be used to
edit text and scripts in Frontier’s object database. MacBird supports a
similar protocol, allowing the MacBird editor application to edit cards
stored in the object database.
Page rendering features. The templates, glossary, macro, and hierarchic
website features that were introduced in Frontier 4.0 were refined in 4.1.
There are hundreds of new features and fixes in 4.1, they are detailed on
the website.
***New standards
We’re leading in the design and support of new standards to connect
Macintosh applications, especially as they relate to working across the
Internet.
Mail agents. In Frontier 4.1, we support the proposed “Mail Agent
Protocol”, documented on our MIDAS website. This protocol allows electronic
mail to flow into databases and search engines; and allows specialized
filtering to be implemented by webmasters and system managers.
Menu sharing got an overhaul in 4.1. A new toolkit is available.
Support for other protocols will be released in the form of add-ons to
Frontier 4.1. Watch the “News & Updates” page for new releases.
***Frontier is free
It’s the biggest bargain in the Macintosh world. We want developers to
build on Frontier, so it’s free. Let’s have fun!
Dave Winer
UserLand Software
