Re: Facespan 3.5.1: Is it good, or bad, for you?
Re: Facespan 3.5.1: Is it good, or bad, for you?
- Subject: Re: Facespan 3.5.1: Is it good, or bad, for you?
- From: "Mike Miller" <email@hidden>
- Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 14:02:27 -0600
Squishing email@hidden (Douglas Wagner)'s two responses together:
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I said:
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>> 1 Some ICN# resources will display in a list box other,
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>> apparently identical items will not.
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"Mike Miller" <email@hidden> responded with:
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>Hmm...odd. I haven't had any problems along these lines, but I
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>haven't used these forms very often, and when I have I've used cicns.
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I've tracked that one down. In the listbox info window, there was a
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decimal 32 (space) character just before the return at the end of
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each line which didn't display.
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I expect this was self inflicted. Still, I think FS ought to be able
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to spot that sort of error.
I'm not sure if the way forms work has any way to return an error message to you. All of the form types except key filters are defined by Apple, and key filters don't appear to have any way to return an error.
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I said:
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>> 4 Changing window 'forms' seems unreliable in edit mode.
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"Mike Miller" <email@hidden> responded with:
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>Can you give an example of what you mean? In the strictest FaceSpan
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>sense, windows don't use forms, so I'm confused. I haven't had any
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>problems editing windows in the couple years I've used FS.
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"form" is the window "type": modal, document, floating, etc (See the
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label in the FS window info ).
Whoops! You are correct. I apologize. (I guess I always just think of windows as fixed to a type set during design.)
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Apparently FS doesn't like window types to be changed at run time. I
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have a nav bar which can be either "fixed" or "floating". Rather than
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use two windows, I thought I'd use one and switch the type at run
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time. That approach works but not reliably. Now I use two windows and
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hide the one I don't need.
Ahh...at runtime, not in the Development Environment. Yup, there's a couple properties that don't work very well when you try to use them at runtime, like form and titled. They probably work just fine during Development, and are there so you can write tools to speed up your own design work.
The ESG Framework does the same thing for its dialog commands (it either opens an alert or a normal modal dialog, based on the settings). Of course, it only opens the one you want opened. I haven't decided whether to add titled dialog templates or just leave them with no title.
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I've also discovered deleting resources can lead to instability.
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Shirley's advice is to have a working project and a final project.
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The former contains all resources one might use. The latter contains
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only those resources one will use in the finished project. That way
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there is no need to delete.
I've been using ResEdit or Resorcerer when deleting data resources (usually things like icons and PICTs) from my apps, and don't seem to have any problems. I don't believe I've ever done any major deleting of windows, menus, or storage items, and I try to avoid adding forms or OSAXen to my apps. I know I've done some editing work on the Framework and it's been holding up.
Editing applications has problems as well, which is why everyone should stick to project documents for their source files. This might be related.
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I've not discovered any way to manage tab panels with many layers and
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many items. Working with them is truly frustrating.
Not sure what to tell you. The most complex tab panel I've ever done has 5 panels and 100 window items, and I didn't have too much of a problem setting it up. The Automation Station's Options panel is 3 panels and 39 window items, and I thought it was easy to do.
Good luck!
Mike Miller
ESG Labs
http://www.esglabs.com/