🚀 go-pugleaf

[Warning: Hypercard is addictive. Warning: Hypercard is addictive.  Warning:]

I want to thank everyone for their ideas and feedback on my previous
questions. I now have radio buttons up and working, and also have a
heterogenous stack with linked lists in it working. If there is interest,
I'll post the code that handles linked lists (it can probably be cleaned up
pretty well, but it works). The stack I'm working on is shaping up better
than I'd hoped! I wasn't sure Hypercard could handle what I want it to do
(I'm building a stack that will handle my book collection, all my review
copy information, books received for OtherRealms and a full review Index,
plus report generation facilities for various things to interface to
ReadySetGo for layout into OtherRealms) but I'm now sure that I'm STILL
underestimating what it'll do when I figure it out.

People should be warned. Hypercard IS addictive. For the first time, I can
simply point and push buttons and get the mac to do what I want it to do --
without having to hassle trying to write the code or understand Inside Mac.
Whew. I've even figured out a way where I can (I think) write Rogue in
Hypercard. It wouldn't be neat, it wouldn't be fast, but by damn it would
work. I think. (No, I'm not planning on it).

Anyway, I've got (of course) a few more questions. My thanks in advance to
the group mind!

(1) Is there any way to realiably and completely trap out cloverleaf
    commands? I want to keep the user from doing things like creating 
    new cards, deleting things, or using the clover-{1,2,3,4} keys because
    it really hoses out the linked lists (and EVERYTHING in this stack is
    linked). I've got buttons on the various backgrounds to do the
    equivalents, and the menubar is hidden, but if the user types %N it'll
    create a card that won't get linked in to any of the lists and get lost.
    God forbid they delete a card when I'm not looking, and
    First/Next/Prev/Last have little usefullness when you're talking about
    lists of lists. I've tried trapping newCard at the stack level to see if
    commandKey is down, but if they have quick fingers this isn't reliable.
    I still need things like New Card, but under program control. I suppose
    I can set global flags and refuse the newcard if the flag isn't set, but
    trying to do that for everything I wnat to control on the menu seems
    grotty. Since I want to release this thing to the Real World, I want to
    monkey proof it as much as possible.

(2) Hypercard seems pretty weak with invisible toys. Say I create a button
    or a field and make it invisible. How do I get HC to let me select it?
    It disappears, and HC doesn't seem to want to let me play with it unless
    I use the message box to make it visible again -- which is very tough if
    you forget the name you gave it....

One suggestion for a future enhancement. When you're in button or field
mode, and a new menubar item, either "Button" or "field" (or, if possible,
leave them both up all the time!). the items under the menu will be the
appropriate card/background items of that type for the current
card/background. Why? two reasons. First, you can then select fields or
backgrounds off the menu, even if they are invisible, obscured, hidden, or
hiding. Second, if you're editing a script, you can click the menu and
refresh your memory of exactly what you called the silly thing you're trying
to stuff a value into.

I hope the next release of HC has strong script editing facilities. This
area is still a bit weak, which I find disappointing. But the thing is so
neat! Like, wow! 

chuq
Chuq Von Rospach					chuq@sun.COM
Editor, OtherRealms					Delphi: CHUQ

Bye bye life!  Bye bye happiness! Hello, loneliness, I think I'm gonna die.