Testing and all its crap

Updated the internal testing document.

Comlpeted more testing for documentation purposes and converted the document from a text file to an excel document... much easier to manage now.

Also did a lot more work on the flash application. Had a few problems with getting AS3 to work with my dodgy AS2 knowledge :p It's not perfect, but at least I'll have a good grounding to work off. It'll mainly be tweaking from here now on in terms of the actual core mechanic of the application.

Thankfully the AppleSpeech scripts are as simple as one line of code for each word we have in the database. Very simple, very quick, copy&paste-able... just the way I like it :)

Next stage will be to create and link the database which will be done in SQLite (compatible with AS3). I'm hoping that won't give me too much trouble since I haven't gotten to the design of the application yet.

That brings me to the next point... Liz will be working on the design over the next few days. She's compiled a list of words that are commonly used and grouped into categories. We'll be able to split those words up into difficulty ratings then later entered into the database.

Working on a couple of major project concurrently is proving difficult in terms of scheduling... especially if one of them isn't as exciting as the other :s

Studio 3 = lose.

- B

Assignment 3: Prototype Demonstration

We presented for the prototype demonstration on Wednesday. The class was split up so the tutors and Ralf could get through everyone by 12pm. As the last group, we went into overtime and had to present jsut outside the room. No major hassles though.

About the presentation... all in all I think it went well. I think we demonstrated proof of concept so it should be all good. Before I got started on the technology, I showed the clip we made from assignment 2 since we only presented to the tutors, Ralf and Michael.

To the nitty gritty...

I had some problems getting everything to work at the same time. I could get the components working by themselves, but not together due to how you apply the custom scripts to AppleSpeech and Flash. The Flash application itself was no problem since it's just comparing two strings. If it is correct, then it gives the user feedback letting them know that they were successful. If it's incorrect, then it does nothing.

I actually ran into a problem when I began coding the app. It compiled fine and the code looked good... after much grief of staring at what I thought was perfect coding, I turned to Dekker. He wrote a test one for me to compare it with... when I opened it up I saw what I missed immediately... "package"... a retarded mistake by a retarded person :)

I started looking at AppleScript and how to code within AppleSpeech. AppleScript so REALLY REALLY easy... especially for what I needed. In the end, it came down to one line of coding per word :p

Because of the ease of the coding, I'll be able to do what I wanted and concentrate more on the user testing and interaction side rather than spending all semester getting the technology to work.

Anyway, Liz presented some theory on colour and font as a means of design and what will be suitable for the final app. It was the first time she had presented anything in about two years so (except for presenting assignment 2) she was a little nervous. Though having said that, I don't think she was all too confident with what she was saying. Honestly, I felt like she didn't know the content and wasn't actually the person who did the research. After four to six weeks of research on the same topic, you'd think you would be fairly knowledgable (at least in general) in that area... she was basically reading off the sheet. Being her partner, I was a little embarrassed.

Also with the appraisal report, her performance was nothing short of sub par. I can understand the presentation but I couldn't feel anything but disappointed with her work on the appraisal.

I won't get into any details of why she failed to present her research or really give any good input for the report... we did discuss the problem so hopefully she'll shape up and really produce some great results.

Anyway, when I get home, I'll upload the PPT presentation and the appraisal report. I'm hoping to see our own appraisals so we can improve. Since I've been busy with the Rumble Pictures project (see my other blog), I haven't been giving 100% of my concentration to Play and Speak (though I've probably put in much much more than 20~25hrs/week on this). I wouldn't be surprised if I missed something really major.

Ah well... time to knuckle down and really smash this assignment.