Strype has a new way of inserting frames: typing for frame insertion.

Frame-based editing has been around for some years, and was first implemented in the Stride language, within the Greenfoot environment. Strype inherited most of the semantics of user interaction for the insertion and manipulation of frames from that system.

The latest release of Strype, however, introduces a significant departure in how frames are inserted. There are now three ways to create a new frame at the location of the frame cursor: clicking with the mouse, using a shortcut key sequence, or just typing the frame keyword.

The second option – which was achieved by just typing a shortcut key previously – now requires a key sequence. Where a user typed [i] for an if-statement before, they now type the sequence [space]-[i] ([TAB] will work as well as the space key).

The most interesting option is the third: Users can now just start typing “if “ and the text will be recognised and automatically be converted into an if-frame.

Look out for discussion of this new feature in the forum discussions. More detail will be available there.

The new Strype Teachers’ Lounge has now opened with new functionality.

We have migrated the teachers’ forum to a new software platform to better support our user community. Most importantly, the forum now supports sharing of resources, which we hope will become a valuable source of material for our community members.

In the resource section, you are encouraged to share any material you have, including worksheets, Strype projects, project ideas, and anything else that might be useful.

You can also edit or add to resources (resources are based on a wiki model – everyone is encouraged to contribute), and you can leave comments for resources. Leaving comments provides valuable information for other users who might consider using it.

There is, of course, also a discussion forum for you to leave comments and ask questions.

The new forum software is written and maintained by the Strype team, and no users data is (or will be) shared with third parties.

Enjoy the new forum!