The Dictionary

First stop should probably be the built in documentation. This includes the searchable language Dictionary, the User Guide pdf, and the Resource Center containing video tutorials and pdfs on a wide range of topics. Also built right in to Rev is the newly revamped revOnline, which has now become a lot more user friendly. There are various situations in which one or other of these is a more appropriate place to refer to. For example, if you just want to know the correct syntax to use in a given circumstance, the Dictionary is your friend. A quick search on terms you think might be relevant is likely to get you your answer in short order. It contains examples of use, links related terms, and gives you quite a bit of information on how Revolution works. A new feature with 3.5 in the Dictionary is the ability for users to add notes and examples. This should lead to it being an even greater resource in the future, with richer examples of use in the real world. You will find the Dictionary under the Help menu, or if you have the toolbar icons displayed, its right there at the far right of the bar.

The User Guide

If you're wondering, how would I start to design a particular feature in Revolution, you might do well to take a look at the User Guide. This has comprehensive chapters on all the main programming areas, so if you've never used Revolution with databases before, a skim through chapter 8 "Working with Databases" should get you headed in the right direction. If you're not sure how Revolution handles multimedia, chapter 14 "Working with Media" covers the basics. You will find the User Guide listed at the bottom of your "Resources" panel, or under the Help menu.

The Resource Center

The Resource Center is perhaps the best destination for the Revolution Newbie. It contains walkthrough videos on the basics, as well as some more advanced topics. A note about the operation of these videos and stack examples. You open the Resource Center from the icon toolbar (1) or under the Help menu. One of the faqs that comes through to support is "I couldn't find the associated stack code for tutorial x". If you look at the screen for your tutorial you will see at the bottom of this screen, two icons. On the right (2), "launch stack" and on the left (3) "launch pdf" or "launch video" depending on whether you are viewing a video or a stack based tutorial. If you click them you will find they do what they say on the tin. They will either download your pdf, launch the video, or open the stack for you.

revOnline

I'd like to say a few words about the new revOnline. Firstly, congrats to the hardworking programmers who produced it. Its now really pretty to look at and more importantly much much easier to use. To access revOnline you must have a current Revolution license. This is a very obvious safety precaution, to prevent malicious uploads by untraceable users. You access it either from under the "development" menu (1), or in the icon toolbar. You can order the available stacks alphabetically, by date or by popularity (2). You can sign up for an account and upload your own stacks to share, complete with images, description and tags. You can rate other users stacks. There is a search box (3) you can enter a term in you are interested in and get relevant results. Information is only as useful as your ability to access it, and the new revOnline makes it much more accessible. I'd also like to say a big thank you to all the contributors who are uploading and sharing their stacks here. You guys (and gals) are great. This kind of resource is invaluable for someone who is looking for different ways to do things, wants to see what might be possible to create, needs a fresh insight on a problem or simply wants inspiration. If you're wavering about joining in here, and sharing something, don't be shy. Walk right up and upload that stack. It's easy, its fun, and it just might help someone else. It doesn't have to be perfect, it doesn't have to be the "right" way to do something. In fact, there is no "right" way. If it works for you, cool! There are so many different ways to achieve things in Revolution, its fascinating to see all the different approaches.

Other resources

So, what else is out there? You've read the docs, you've browsed revOnline and you still have a question. Next stop, our website. Right here you will find a bunch of resources. Not least, the archives for this newsletter! In the "tutorials" section, you will find no less than 24 articles on a wide range of subjects, including Unicode, Externals, SQlite, and Datagrids, to name just a handful. Under "Exploring Revolution" you will find four excellent workshops, which are superb for getting you started on the particular topics. You can download and play with these, try out examples, see how it all works.

revUp itself is a great resource, with archives going back to May 2006 - yes, we have really just passed our third anniversary! I would very much like to arrange the archive page so that it is easier to find specific articles. If you have suggestions on how the archives should be organised, I'd love to hear them.

Located in this area is also our "related sites" page. Here we try to list the best Revolution related sites maintained by you, the users. If you know of a great site that's not listed here, let me know and I'll add it.

Brand new since the advent of on-Rev, we have the on-Rev samples site and the demo videos.

While we're on the subject of videos, our site is beginning to sprout some of these. I think you can look forward to more in the future, as the feedback we've had has been very positive. You can find the popular Datagrid video here and a walkthrough of FMPro Migrator here.

Don't miss our next Webinar on Tuesday, where we'll spill the beans about Rev 4.0!

The Forums

We've made this really easy for you. You can see what's going on in the forums right from inside Revolution! If you don't habitually allow the Start Center screen to display when you open Revolution, maybe you should take a fresh look at it. You can open it under the Help menu (1), sign up to the forums (2) and check out the latest topics and threads with your morning coffee. With any luck, you'll have your own Revolution Epiphany.