Can I import custom preferences from AlphaX ? I have been using AlphaX for many years and have custom preferences,
code modifications, or personal bindings and procs which are stored in the
prefs.tcl file (or in some mode specific preferences file like TeXprefs.tcl, HTMLprefs.tcl, etc). Can I copy them over to
Alpha's prefs.tcl file ?
Answer
Most likely, your custom code coming from the old AlphaX won't run on the
new Alpha. The AlphaCocoa project is a complete rewrite from scratch of
the application and many Tcl core commands defined by Alpha have
undergone substantial changes.
On the other hand, converting your old code to Alpha's new syntax
should not be very difficult. Ask on Alpha's Mailing Lists for
assistance: many developers there will be glad to help.
Here are a few remarks and recommendations for users transitionning from
AlphaX to Alpha:
the set of core commands has changed: some commands have been
obsoleted, others have been renamed or have undergone syntax changes. The
following file gives you an overview of what has changed exactly:
Commands Status.
You may not just copy user-defined procs coming from AlphaX because they are probably using obsolete commands.
for the same reason, you must not copy your old preferences or
settings (made in AlphaX) to Alpha. They will most certainly break
things and raise all sorts of erros, possibly leaving Alpha in an
inconsistent state.
all the core commands are thoroughly documented. See the menu item Help ↣ Developer Help ↣ Commands Syntax… and the
help files Alpha Commands and Commands Syntax.
the AlphaTcl library is now encoded in UTF8 and
expects in particular your package files to be also UTF8 encoded.
The old AlphaX used the MacRoman encoding.
don't hesitate to enter bug reports (aka tickets), even if they
concern a missing functionality which still has to be implemented. See Alpha's Bug Tracker.
finally, read the release notes which are displayed the first time
you launch Alpha and can be accessed later from the Help menu
(Help ↣ Developer Help ↣ Release Notes).