INTRODUCTORY LESSONS

These lessons and activities are designed to be printed out or viewed through your browser as you learn. If you have just started looking at the Multimedia Platypus, you will be better served by going through the other tutorial presentations. If you are sitting down ready to create for yourself, this is the place to be.

Lesson One: Creating a Simple Slide Show plus exercise

(Possible with only the unregistered Platypus installed.)

Lesson Two: Using Buttons plus exercise

(Requires registration to complete - see CD sleeve)

Interesting things to do whether teaching children or adults.

The Platypus Application Wizard begins NINE different applications. Each can be followed to interesting conclusions as very worthwhile learning activity and result in useful end products.

(All will open with unregistered Platypus. All but "Standard" require registration to go further.)

*Standard : | Used for Lessons one and two, and most custom applications.
**Picture book: | Draw your own images and write a children's story. Add a reading voice or animations if you like.
*Slide Show: | Scan your favourite snaps and set up a slide show. Add commentary if you like!
*Presentation: | Develop more scenes and use them to present a current project.
**Cartoon: | Develop a cartoon strip complete with speak bubbles. Add sounds and animations if you like.
**Puzzle: | Create a jigsaw puzzle or board game. Use a dice or random card pile if you like.
*Browser: | Develop a personalised browser, linking to your favourite sites and search engine.
***Curriculum Vitae: | Develop your resume on CD ROM.
*OnLine Help: | Capture screens from an earlier activity and develop a user tutorial. (keep small)

** Electrifying classroom activities

*** Highly recommended for senior students

* Recommend

Lesson One

Creating a simple slide show

This is a simple process, set out in great detail. If you are uncertain follow each step carefully. If you are feeling confident, skim through this material and explore other possibilities with it.

A slide show can be created in a number of ways with the Platypus. One way is to make each slide a new scene. We chose this way to teach you.

At the end of Lesson One you will know:

1. how to start a project
2. how to develop a scene
3. how to develop a new scene AND how to move between scenes.

   Step one: How to start a new project

   Launch the Platypus Project and press "New"

Answer the questions in the dialog box.
Follow the example, entering your own name and details.
Press Finish.

You will find yourself in a save dialog box. You are asked to name the new project and to decide where to save it. Make sure that you save it in a place on the hard disk, or on the network, that you are allowed to use. Name the project with your name and then "One"

eg: PatJonesOne ( to avoid any network difficulties do not use spaces in any names)

Press Save.

Platypus Project will open PlatyEd and place in it your starting script.

// Created on Tuesday, February 9, 1999 <APP> NAME = "Activity One" VERSION = 2.0 AUTHOR = "P. Jones" COMMENT = "Yr 8 Ms Smith" MEDIA = "MediaOne" // Place all the resources into this folder CLICKSOUND = "Click.wav" </APP> <LEARN> <FRAME NAME ="base" SIZE = 640,480 COLOUR = cyan> <SCENE NAME ="setup"> <BUTTON NAME ="exit" SET=SquareExit POSITION = 10,10> </FRAME> </LEARN> <DO> Scene(setup) // Insert your code here Button(exit) End (setup) </DO>

This is an empty, but fully working script.

It is now our task to progressively alter and add to the script to make it do all the things we want of it.

BUT FIRST Test it!

Press "Tiny", the little Platypus icon on the toolbar to test your application.

Platypus will always ask you to save the script first – Answer Yes.

Welcome to the Interactive Editor. You will see that the new script works even if it does very little.

Exit your application and you are back in Platypus Editor.

Step Two: How to develop a scene

To place the first image in the first scene, the Platypus must LEARN about the image.

Place your flashing cursor at the start the free line above </FRAME> .

Select Image from the Add menu. You will then be in the Image dialog box.

We are going to add a photo called "Walk1.jpg" which is on your hard disk in your C:\Platypus\Clipart\Images folder.

First, name this Image Sky.

Next Press the long button next to SOURCE and, using the open dialogue box, find Walk1.jpg ( go up 2 levels and you will find the Clipart folder).

Double click Walk1.jpg. PlatyEd will ask if you want it copied to your media folder. Answer OK. Then press Save – to save Walk1.jpg in your MediaOne folder, and press OK in the Image dialog box.

The following line will appear on your cursor line.

<IMAGE NAME = "Image1" SRC = "Walk1.jpg" POS = 0,0>

Now the Platypus knows all about the Image called "Sky".

Now tell the Platypus when to DO the image.

Place the line "DoImage (sky)" in the DO section, under "Scene(setup)" through the Add Command dialogue box or by typing.

To use the dialogue box, select Command from the Add menu.

Scene(setup) // Insert your code here DoImage (sky) Button(exit) End (setup)

Press "Tiny", the Platypus icon to test it!

Exit your application.

Step Three

How to develop a new scene

To create and develop the new script we need to

1. Teach the Platypus that there is a second scene called secondSlide, by adding a line in the LEARN section. To do so select "Scene" from the "Add" menu and enter secondSlide as the scene name.

<FRAME NAME ="base" SIZE = 640,480 COLOUR = cyan> <SCENE NAME ="setup"> <BUTTON NAME ="exit" SET=SquareExit POSITION = 10,10> <IMAGE NAME = "sky" SRC="walk1.jpg" > <SCENE NAME ="secondSlide"> </FRAME>

2. Place the second scene also in the DO section. Do so by selecting "Command" from the "Goto" menu, or click on the red exclamation mark on the tool bar. From the Select a box, select "Scene/End". Then select "secondSlide" from the Select the object box. Press OK

The following empty scene will be entered into the DO section.

Scene(setup) // Insert your code here DoImage (sky) Button(exit) End (setup) Scene(secondSlide) End (secondSlide)

3. Now move your curser back to Learn section. Put a button in the first scene (perhaps below the "Sky" image), that we can use to move us to SecondSlide by selecting Button from the Add menu. Edit only the following fields:

Platypus Editor will insert this line

<FRAME NAME ="base" SIZE = 640,480 COLOUR = cyan> <SCENE NAME ="setup"> <BUTTON NAME ="exit" SET=SquareExit POSITION =10,10> <IMAGE NAME = "sky" SRC="walk1.jpg" > <BUTTON NAME = "NextBUT" POS = 552,400 SET = SquareNext > <SCENE NAME ="secondSlide"> </FRAME>

3. Select "Command" from the "Add" menu and select the following.

The button has now been entered into the DO section and knows its action.

Scene(setup) // Insert your code here DoImage (sky) Button(NextBUT) ACTION = DoScene ( secondSlide) Button(exit) End (setup)

4. Now add an exit button to the second scene, into the DO section.

Note that the exit button is not placed in the LEARN section again. The Platypus already knows about this button.

You can type, use copy and paste or use the Add Command dialogue box

Scene(setup) // Insert your code here DoImage (sky) Button(exit) End (setup) Scene(secondSlide) Button(exit) End (secondSlide)

> 5. Teach the Platypus about the photo called Walk2.jpg. Call this image "forest "and have the Platypus show it in the second scene. Do this exactly the same way as you did in the first scene.

> 6. Put a back button in secondSlide using the SquareBack set. When this is pressed you should go back to the first slide.

The result should look like this.

// Created on Tuesday, February 9, 1999 <APP> NAME = "Activity One" VERSION = 2.0 AUTHOR = "A. Student" COMMENT = "Yr 8 Ms Smith" MEDIA = "MediaOne" // Place all the resources into this folder CLICKSOUND = "Click.wav" </APP> <LEARN> <FRAME NAME ="base" SIZE = 640,480 COLOUR = cyan> <SCENE NAME ="setup"> <BUTTON NAME ="exit" SET=SquareExit POSITION = 10,10> <BUTTON NAME = "NextBUT" POS = 552,400 SET = SquareNext> <IMAGE NAME = "sky" SRC = "walk1.jpg" POS = 0,0> <SCENE NAME ="SecondSlide"> <BUTTON NAME = "BackBUT" POS = 552,360 SET = SquareBack> <IMAGE NAME = "forest" SRC = "walk2.jpg" POS = 0,0> </FRAME> </LEARN> <DO> Scene(setup) // Insert your code here DoImage (sky) Button( NextBUT) ACTION = DoScene(secondSlide) Button(exit) End (setup) Scene(SecondSlide) DoImage(forest) Button(BackBUT) ACTION = DoScene(setup) Button(exit) End(SecondSlide) </DO>

Press "Tiny", to run your application. You can now press the Next and Back buttons to move between the scenes as you please!

Exercise:

The ClipArt\Images folder contains many other slide images; Walk1.jpg to Walk6.jpg. Make new scenes for each one and buttons to make it easy to move between them. Realise that the Platypus has already learned about the next, back and exit buttons, so they do not need to be redefined in each scene, just place them in the DO section.

Activity Two

Using state buttons

Buttons have a number of uses. Activity One showed you simple command buttons; next, back and exit. Command buttons just do one thing.

Here we look at state buttons; buttons which have an UP state and a DOWN state. State buttons are used to turn things ON and then to turn them OFF, so they do two things.

In this lesson we

1. remind you how to start a project
2. show you how to create a state button

Step one: How to start a new project

Launch the Platypus Project and press "New".

You will then find yourself in the Platypus Wizard. Choose "Standard Application", and then press "Next".

Answer the questions in the dialog box.

Press Finish

You will find yourself in a save dialog box. You are asked to name the new project and to decide where to save it. Make sure that you save it in a place on the hard disk, or on the network, that you are allowed to use. Name the project with your name and then "Two" eg SarahJonesTwo (Please, no spaces)

Press Save

Platypus Project will open PlatyEd and place in it your starting script.

Test it if you like!

Step Two: How to create state buttons

To create state buttons we need to

1. Teach the Platypus about the buttons we want to use and set their TYPE to state. Select Button from the

Add menu and add the following buttons.

<BUTTON NAME ="btCartoon" SET=RoundBullet POSITION = 100,360 TYPE=state> <BUTTON NAME ="btMusic" SET=RoundBullet POSITION = 100,390 TYPE=state> <BUTTON NAME ="btWaterfall" SET=RoundBullet POSITION = 100,420 TYPE=state>

2. Add the following objects to give the buttons something to DO. Select the appropriate objects under the Add menu and find the corresponding files in the Platypus CD-ROM. These are added into the Learn Section.

<FRAME NAME ="base" SIZE = 640,480 BACKGROUND = "button.BMP> <SCENE NAME ="setup"> <BUTTON NAME ="exit" SET=SquareExit POSITION =10,10> <BUTTON NAME ="btCartoon" SET=RoundBullet POSITION = 100,360 TYPE=state> <BUTTON NAME ="btMusic" SET=RoundBullet POSITION = 100,390 TYPE=state> <BUTTON NAME ="btWater" SET=RoundBullet POSITION = 100,420 TYPE=state> <ANIM NAME = "anCartoon" SRC="Bw1.avi" POSITION = 100,100> <SOUND NAME = "sdMusic" SRC="wrapoor.mid" SYNC=no > <IMAGE NAME = "imWaterfall" SRC="forest.bmp" POSITION = 100,100> </FRAME>>

3. Tell the Platypus when and how to activate these buttons by adding them into the DO section with their added ACTIONS.

Here is an example

Scene(setup) // Insert your code here Button (btCartoon) ACTION = doAnim (anCartoon) Button (btMusic) ACTION = doSound (sdMusic) Button (btWaterfall) ACTION = doImage (imWaterfall) Button(exit) End (setup)

Test it!!

Notice that when a state button is pressed it stays in a down state.

Pressing the button again will stop the event that the button caused. The scene and the button go back to the way they were.

Exercise:

Look at the effect of adding GROUP = 1 to each of the button definitions in the LEARN section. (Radio button groups - see Radio button demonstration in the Tutorial)