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Glen,
You must understand that what you are describing in Graham's e-mail was a CODING TECHNIQUE. I've come to find that programming is 40% understanding syntax (the help file) and 60% knowing coding techniques.
Right now the AB board is the primary source for the coding technique portion, and I wholeheartedly agree that a coding technique reference is going to be necessary for AB to get mass appeal.
Judging from your posts, you have done a good job of getting your arms around AFL, and I hope that others new to AFL will espouse the same sense of curiousity and patience you have exibited.
Kind Regards,
Gary
Glen Haponek <ghaponek@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello Gary,
On 3-24-04 a post by Graham did an excellent job providing pertinent information on the use of the keyword CUM. I don't think that a more robust elaboration on the typical use of some of the keywords in the users guide is unreasonable. After all they are keywords and it's not like you can go to the bookstore for a reference manual on AFL, as you can on a foreign language. Everyone usually has some preconceived notions about what to expect when they start working with a new program. I expected to find a section on creating or building a system. Well it's in the user's guide but not really as a section such as is devoted to " A Beginner's Charting Guide", which I personally don't really care much about right now. The optimum use of "function" and "procedure" as explained in the user's guide doesn't exactly jump right out at me either. Why and when and how I would use it to
advantage just aren't in any context that I can use.
I'm not here to criticize the user's guide and I'm not seeking advice on the mentioned topics, they are just examples that come to mind of questions that I have had. I really don't know what could be expected out of a person trying to do anything in AFL if they had no prior programming experience. But if you suggest that this person pour over code to learn AFL that did not contain concise explanation then it could be like picking up a foreign newspaper and not knowing their alphabet. If you learned in this manner then you ought to be commended for accomplishing so much.
I'm not advocating for or against your effort to"work up a to do list", and I'm not advocating less reading as has been previously suggested. I'd just like to see more of something to read in certain areas.
Regards,
Glen
----- Original Message -----
From: Gary A. Serkhoshian
To: amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, April 05, 2004 1:30 AM
Subject: Re: [amibroker] Re: Helper duudes: Whadya say let's work up a to do list for...
Kevin,
I gotta offer some tough love here because I, along with everyone else on this board, have been or currently are in the same situation you are.
If you've ever had the pleasure of learning a foreign language, you may recall how much of a pain it was to learn conjugation of verbs, learning vocab, and understanding concepts of grammar. If you were even more fortunate to have gone to a foreign country to apply your learnings, you realized that what you learned in books was only scratching the surface.
Well Kevin, AFL is no different. You must go through the entire help file that encompases AFL. You must read through every function. You must read every line of code from every post on this board.
Initially, you will only understand 1% of what you read. However, after enough iterations, you will gradually get a grasp of the language, and the inherent power that it offers.
I'm not programmer by trade, but if I could learn AFL then you can too. : )
Kind Regards,
Garymrdavis9 <mrdavis9@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Yes, the AFL functions do have an example, however, they are of little value to non-technical folks such as myself and Yuki. Every time that I look up a function, it has only the techie definition, and obviously, that is as it should be.
However, when I click to go on line to see more detailed information, there is usually no additional detail there to see.
The help provided by this board has been enormously helpful. However, non-techie newbys will be able to grasp it much faster if we could see examples of practical use of these functions when we click go online to see a more detailed description.
Below here I have pasted an earlier email from a very frustrated Yuki.
====================================================================
Side note, William,Friday, September 12, 2003, 1:12:11 PM, you wrote:WP> if (GetDatabaseName() == "XYZ")This seems so easy -- so very bloody easy that it is *extremely*frustrating that I could not come up with it myself. Perhaps thesethings are only easy in retrospect -- at least I hope so. I neverreally thought of myself as mentally challenged until I started usingthis software. ^_^ I knew of this function, but a practical use forit simply eluded me. This is true of any large number of AFLfunctions. ^^_^^The AFL reference is simply not all that much help for minds that arenot accustomed to programming, I think. Here is what it says aboutthis function:SYNTAX GetDatabaseName()RETURNS STRING FUNCTION retrieves the name of the database - the last part (folder) of the database path EXAMPLE SEE
ALSO And this was from the updated/extended version online.Okay, it retrieves the name of the database. Whatever would I everwant to use that capability for? ^^_^^ Now I know, of course.My point here is that this function was included into the AFLlanguage for a reason. The developer (TJ) had a notion ofspecifically what this might be used for, and it turns out to be veryhandy indeed for this situation that I have recently come across. YetNO notion of any specific practical way that this function might beused is included in the AFL language reference, at least none that Ican find. There is some kind of thought bridge here that programmerscan easily cross, and non-programmers (at least this non-programmer)cannot.A specific example of practical usage should be given for AFLfunctions in the reference, I think. These examples should bewritten in NON-PROGRAMMING prose. ^_^ They
should be the antithesisof Linux MAN pages. They should take little grasshoppers like me andlead them to discovering practical usages for the function.I would be willing to help anyone that would like to work on thistype of project. I'm afraid, though, that my contribution would belimited to cleaning up the wording, and making it clear. And also,if I can understand it, it's probably a great filter for 'ready' or'not ready'.Yuki
----- Original Message -----
From: Jayson
To: amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2004 10:56 PM
Subject: RE: [amibroker] Re: Helper duudes: Whadya say let's work up a to do list for...
Odd....in my version of AFL function reference nearly every AFL function has an example, many more than one, attached to it.....
Regards,
Jayson
-----Original Message-----From: Kevin243@xxxxxxx [mailto:Kevin243@xxxxxxx]Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2004 11:42 PMTo: amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxSubject: Re: [amibroker] Re: Helper duudes: Whadya say let's work up a to do list for...
I asked a simple question and got a lot of answers that have nothing to do with the question I asked. You don't know me, so how do you know what I need. Does anybody know of a good book that comes close to AFL? What's missing in the documentation is examples. That's how you learned things in school - working through examples and finally creating your own routines to solve new problems. That was true for basic Addition math all the way through Differential Equations.
Two salesmen in Best Buy kept telling me the print cartridges they handed me would work in my printer today. I kept telling them no, they won't work. They talked me into trying them.
Of course they didn't work......
Kevin Campbell
In a message dated 4/4/04 10:31:56 PM Central Daylight Time, Kevin243@xxxxxxx writes:
That's too simple...
Kevin
In a message dated 4/4/04 10:12:56 AM Central Daylight Time, jcasavant@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
You might have a look at the simple program written by Bill Peters over at ABtools.com it allows you to tell the program what you want in English then it spits out the AFL equiv. It may give you a quick start on AFL programming
Regards,
Jayson
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