Webtalk is a web-implementation of HyperTalk. That doesn't mean you have to be online to run it. You can download it and run it from a computer with no internet connection.
That's another topic, which I'll expand upon a bit further down. If you never had a chance to get into the hypertalk language, you really are missing out. HyperTalk was the scripting language used in HyperCard. There's lots of ways you can experience what HyperCard was (is) today.
Webtalk is loosely based on the HyperTalk scripting language, and the goal is to be compatible in most major respects. There are additions to it and perhaps things missing from it. The boring bit is I'm not implying it's fit for any particular purpose, and there's no guarantees implied or otherwise about how it might run on your system. (Being based on Javascript and CSS, it heavily relies on what your browser is capable of).
The point of it is it's a programming language that's easy to type and understand. For example, If I wanted to output the current date in javascript, I'd have to type:
const now = new Date();
const days = ["Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday"];
const dayName = days[now.getDay()];
const dateTimeString = now.toLocaleString();
document.getElementById('datetime').textContent = `${dayName}, ${dateTimeString}`;
And although to do that in Python is simpler, it's not as readable:
from datetime import datetime
now = datetime.now()
formatted = now.strftime("%A, %d/%m/%Y, %H:%M:%S")
print(formatted)
Which again, gives us this:
Whereas, if I want to do that in HyperTalk, I'd be able to use:
put item 1 of the long date & "," && the date & "," && the time
However, the great thing about hyperTalk (and webtalk), is that it can also be quite flexible:
put item 1 of the long date & "," && dateFormat(the dateitems, "%d/%m/%Y") & "," && the timeHyperTalk was the programming language created in 1987 by Dan Winkler, and used in the HyperCard application, created by Bill Atkinson. Creating programs in HyperTalk was known as "scripting". HyperTalk scripts were much more similar to written English than many languages available at the time.
A simple example of webtalk scripting:
This gives you an idea of what I'm aiming for here, to have something that is platform-agnostic which is capable of running HyperTalk scripts.
I'm trying to give a comparable set of features that were available in Hypertalk, but in Webtalk - so they are available to everyone. As such, there won't be specific Mac-only, Windows-only or Linux-only features implemented on this project. If I add a feature, it will be supported across all platforms.
The current documentation containing the release notes are here, as a PDF
You might also want to read the license agreement on that last page of the documentation too.
Webtalk, (current version), is available here: Download
You don't need anything special to run it. Just a recent browser (if you are using Safari, needs to be version 17 or above).
There's also a "rolling-release" version available which is what I'm currently working on as a preview.
Alternatively, you can run it in hosted mode. This is a method where you download Webtalk normally, and you additionally download a companion "WebtalkHost" program. Running these together allows Webtalk full access to the filesystem. See more about WebtalkHost here.
Or lastly, if you prefer, you can try it as an online live demo here. You might also want to check out the testing pages, which give you a list of commands and handlers that are currently implemented.
A project overview (text file) is also available, which covers how this all works at a quick glance.
I should really mention, you can load JSON stacks with:
load stack "" -- if it can't find the file, it will ask youSee the archives (release 141-180, 181 to 220 and 221 to 260) for earlier notes.
New visual effects in this version, amongst other things:
dynamic-effects
static-effects
legacypict
pendingmessages-cancel-by-string
inherit-font
imageGrid
I also made a chess stack. The main purpose of this was to check that if else statements are working as I'd expect:
chessDon't expect it to be much of an opponent though!
Documentation for this begins on page 189.
In this version, I've implemented the following new features:
answer-multiline -- demo of the new multiline answer dialog.
char-at-loc -- find a character at an x,y loc on the card.
custom-group-bits -- group label and group border can now have colours
focus-on -- like tabbing to a field, but in script
gamepads -- gamepad support in Webtalk
gif-control -- gif control (current frame, previous frame, next frame, looping)
handlers-as-vars -- execute a handler as a variable
marqueeText -- horizontal scrolling text
matched-control -- find a matched control by param lookup
menu4 -- the menuText uses the answer-multiline now
radial-text -- text on a curve
static-effects -- added both drop shadow variants
tab-tests -- tab palette and groups
text-formatting3 -- formattingCommands cleanup
As normal, documentation for this has been updated and begins on page 193.
A few small additions which are detailed on page 199 of the documentation.
I also made a game called "Got it". This is similar or inspired by the game "Dobble" (and other spin-offs):
Changes are detailed on page 200 of the documentation.
Notable changes to tell you about include a much more helpful overview palette, a "Search all scripts" window, and a new module: "Accordion".
You really (really) will need to refresh your cache for this version. Quite a lot changed behind the scenes.
Fixes to hiding and showing groups, fixes to message propagation, added mousedouble-messages, text formatting (removing html). Oh, and also additionalpendingMessage commands.
-- Get ID 1 of the pendingMessages
put the ID of line 1 of the pendingmessages
-- Get ID of the 'first' pendingMessage
put the ID of first line of the pendingmessages
-- Get ID of the 'last' pendingMessage:
put the ID of last line of the pendingmessages
-- Get ID of line (variable) pendingMessage
put 3 into myLine
put the ID of line myLine of the pendingmessages
Changes are mentioned on page 201 of the documentation.
In this version, my focus has been on adding disk and file access. Previously, you would have had to do this via a wrapper. I'm not 100% happy with the performance (or lack of) which you get from wrappers, when compared to a native browser. So, an alternative is needed.
WebTalkHost is a command-line background application. When first run, it tries to find the Webtalk folder. If it can't, it'll prompt you:
After selecting the Webtalk folder, it'll open your browser on a locally hosted port. (Don't worry too much about that if you are unsure), it means that it runs via a permissive file-access mode.
It means that you can turn on allowShell (shell command access) directly from your browser:
This also opens up access for the disk-and-file commands I've been adding in Webtalk v266:
I also added a new module (fileTree) which can be used to query files and folder directories:
-- get the file size of a file, with automatic units
put fileSize(tFilename, auto)
These disk and file changes are mentioned on page 202 of the documentation onwards. There will be more to follow in the next release where I will expand upon what they can do, adding additional commands.
This was quite a big addition to Webtalk behind the scenes. You may need to make executable in Linux/MacOS:
chmod +x [path to WebtalkHost program]
icacls [path to WebtalkHost program] /grant "%USERNAME%":RX
From this point on, these replace the 'Wrappers' with this more performant version.
Changes are detailed on page 204 of the documentation.
file-utilities-extended.json (this stack is a download, instead of an inline browser preview, because it needs to be run through the WebtalkHost program on a computer).
Previously, I've mentioned that there's just too much to cover in a particular release for this page. I really mean it this time. Hopefully a picture paints a thousand words, but I'd really encourage you to read page 204 of the documentation onwards.
Also, please note: the WebtalkHost application below has also had a few behind-the-scenes changes: you'll need to download fresh versions of that if using these new commands.
If you are unsure what WebtalkHost is, please read page 202 of the documentation where it's explained in greater detail.
WebTalkHost Linux 64-bit
WebTalkHost Haiku 64-bit
WebTalkHost Windows 64-bit
WebTalkHost Mac Intel 64-bit
WebTalkHost Mac ARM 64-bit
Please ensure you fully refresh your browser cache between testing various versions of webtalk. Here's a great little firefox extension I use for this. In fact, once installed, 
refresh the page you run webtalk in a few times - I've also tried implementing a few methods of cache-blocking recently in the interpreter.