Frequently Asked Questions About Sprog
If you have questions that aren't answered here, the mailing list is the best place to ask.
What does the name 'Sprog' mean?
Nothing really - it's just a fun word. There are a couple of rationalisations though:
- As a contraction1 of the words sprocket and cog, Sprog fits well with the 'machine' metaphor.
- In some parts of the english-speaking world, sprog is a colloquial term for child. Sprog is my 'brain-child' - an idea I've carried around for a long time that's finally getting to see the light of day.
The fact that 'sprog' is also the Danish word for 'language' probably won't help the project's google ranking :-)
1. 'Matt' kindly pointed out that I probably mean portmanteau rather than contraction.
Is Sprog inspired by Apple's Automator?
No, Sprog is not 'inspired' by Automator. The gestation period for Sprog was six or seven years but the first public release was in late 2004.
Automator does look cool though and there are some uncanny similarities in the user interfaces of the two apps. Of course automator is streets ahead in actual functionality - I'm really just getting started with Sprog.
How Do I Connect Gears Together?
Oh dear, the fact that people are having trouble working this out clearly shows it's a shortcoming in the design. This will be fixed in a future release. Until then, here are the two secrets you need to know...
- If you want to connect Gear B onto the output of Gear A, then you need to drag B and drop it on A - moving the connectors close together won't work and moving Gear A won't work.
- When you drop Gear B, it's top left corner must fall within the outline of Gear A - it won't work if you drop it even slightly to far to the left.
Once again, sorry for the frustration this has caused people. I will rework the code so that gears snap together when moved close.
