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The story of a teenage scripter
Monday, April 14, 2014
Last week I was just browsing the TMS site, looking at the version numbers of existing products, when I saw TMS Scripter current version: 6.3. I see those numbers often and I’m used to them, but this time, I was a little bit shocked. Just like a father whose son is born and, in the blink of an eye, watches this son going to college in his eighteen, I was astonished to see how far TMS Scripter went, and for so long. It’s true that my oldest son is just about to turn 5 years-old, but for that my eyes didn’t even have to blink – they were wide open – so I can imagine how it might be for a father of a grown-up son. My second son is only 12 days old, and got me so worried last week to the point I went to the gym with a different tennis shoe in each foot and only noticed it when I came back home. I’m trying not to blink an eye. But I digress.Thing is TMS Scripter is already a teenager. I have to face it. First version was released in 2001, but it was being already used in internal projects for at least three years. It’s interesting to see old family pictures, and the following one shows version 1.5 from November, 2001, when it was still called TatPascalScripter and had just a new featured added: COM interfaces support.
Since then, it had fourty-six – fourty-six! – releases, which added the following main features (in chronological order) that transformed TMS Scripter over the years:
- Support for COM Interfaces
- Basic Syntax
- Delphi classes import tool
- Debugger
- Syntax highlight memo with breakpoints, etc.
- Events support
- Code completion
- WebScripter
- Watches
- Thread support
- Script-based libraries
- DLL importing from script
- Source explorer
- Script-based forms
- Complete IDE with form designer and object inspector
- Automatic class import using new RTTI
- Parameter hints
- Script-based classes
- Undo/Redo in form designer
- Windows 64-bit support
- Firemonkey Forms
- Mac OS support
Besides, of course, constant language improvements, introduced over the releases, and support to all the new Delphi versions released, until the latest one, XE6, with no exception.
Over all those years and versions, full backward compatibility was kept, regression bugs were minimized and fixed, and I believe most of TMS Scripter users had a safe and peaceful life like, with full support and compatibility – including the famous migration from ANSI to UNICODE.
But what brings more satisfaction is to see the different way TMS Scripter affects many users. Yes, TMS customers are overall satisfied, enjoy the high number of features in our products, and appreciate the support we provide. But TMS Scripter is, of the products I manage, the one that receives more “emotional” comments. Users mention to be surprised every day with it, and comment how it constantly opens new doors in their applications. I believe one of the reasons for that is the fact that TMS Scripter is an “open” product, with so many different ways to use and applications, that it often requires (and allows) a great amount of creativity from its users, making them a kind of “artist” of their own software.
Yes, TMS Scripter is already a teenager. But more exciting things will come and its story doesn’t end here.
Wagner Landgraf
This blog post has received 3 comments.
2. Friday, June 6, 2014 at 8:36:22 AM
We don''t have a short-term plan for that. Scripting itself will work cross-platform, but currently, no plans for form designer/object inspector.
Wagner Landgraf
3. Wednesday, August 3, 2016 at 9:57:40 AM
Maybe time to look at bringing the form designer to FireMonkey now?I would very much like to use this product, but this is still a detrimental factor for me.
Johan Swart
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