[I7] 9 features you may not know about in OS X Inform
Andrew Hunter
I've written an article describing some of the less well known features
found in the OS X version of Inform. You can read it here:
<http://logicalshift.co.uk/rotate/2007/06/11/9features/>
Andrew
Kathleen
wrote:
> I've written an article describing some of the less well known features
> found in the OS X version of Inform. You can read it here:
>
> <http://logicalshift.co.uk/rotate/2007/06/11/9features/>
Nifty! I didn't know about many of those and am looking forward to
giving them a whirl. It really is anexcellent interface.
FWIW: In case you get bored, here's a few things to consider:
* Collapsable headings: I adore the headings/drop down menus/
breadcrumbs and I'm quite surpised that I'm not really missing having
multiple files with the lone exception of exclusivity. I would love to
have a "collapse all" feature that would leave just the headings and
then I could open up whatever bits I'm working on. Like you see in
some XML viewers.
* Key word definitions: I'm dying on the whole grammar/syntax
thing and would dearly love to be able to click (shift click,
something...) on a key words in my text (ex: "repeat" ) and have it
bring up a list of likely ways to phrase it . I know that info is
somewhat available in the index, but having it "at your fingertips"
would make things sooo much easier.
* Alphabetical list of rooms/objects in the index: I've been bit
several times by my poor spelling/typing skills and end up
automagically creating a "typewriter" and a "typewritter", then wonder
why my rules aren't behaving like I thought they should.
Many thanks for making this lovely tool available,
Kathleen
James Jolley
Very interesting to see what the mac is doing. I wonder if Dave Kinda
could add some of these things into the windows build?
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Andrew Hunter
On 2007-06-14 17:06:24 +0100, Kathleen <mfis...@aol.com> said:
> On Jun 13, 12:41 am, Andrew Hunter <and...@logicalshift.demon.co.uk>
> wrote:
>> I've written an article describing some of the less well known features
>> found in the OS X version of Inform. You can read it here:
>>
>> <http://logicalshift.co.uk/rotate/2007/06/11/9features/>
>
> Nifty! I didn't know about many of those and am looking forward to
> giving them a whirl. It really is anexcellent interface.
>
> FWIW: In case you get bored, here's a few things to consider:
> * Collapsable headings: I adore the headings/drop down menus/
> breadcrumbs and I'm quite surpised that I'm not really missing having
> multiple files with the lone exception of exclusivity. I would love to
> have a "collapse all" feature that would leave just the headings and
> then I could open up whatever bits I'm working on. Like you see in
> some XML viewers.
Yes, this has been suggested a few times. It's something that's a bit
tricky to implement properly - there are problems with Cocoa that might
make this a bit awkward, and we'd have to work out what to do when a
single " is typed without a closing quote as we'd probably want to
avoid turning all the headings into strings and expanding them.
> * Key word definitions: I'm dying on the whole grammar/syntax
> thing and would dearly love to be able to click (shift click,
> something...) on a key words in my text (ex: "repeat" ) and have it
> bring up a list of likely ways to phrase it . I know that info is
> somewhat available in the index, but having it "at your fingertips"
> would make things sooo much easier.
I think I like this idea quite a lot. I'm thinking about something that
works along the lines of the cmd+ctrl+d dictionary built into OS X but
which gives Inform syntax definitions instead. It probably couldn't be
something that was too smart about context, but could probably be very
effectively nonetheless.
Of course, the syntax highlighter sudddenly has to get a lot cleverer
to spot these things, but I don't think it's completely impossible :-)
> * Alphabetical list of rooms/objects in the index: I've been bit
> several times by my poor spelling/typing skills and end up
> automagically creating a "typewriter" and a "typewritter", then wonder
> why my rules aren't behaving like I thought they should.
Hmm, yes, this also seems like a good idea. It's actually a suggestion
better given to Graham as it's the compiler that actually produces the
index. I think that there are some improvements planned in this area,
so perhaps this is something that could be incorporated.
Andrew.
Madoc
> single " is typed without a closing quote as we'd probably want to avoid
> turning all the headings into strings and expanding them.
That's the easiest part, I believe. Just do it like, for example, the Eclipse
IDE: Wait a few seconds. Unless the user is inactive for a longer time or
closes the string, don't re-parse the syntax.
> I think I like this idea quite a lot. I'm thinking about something that
> works along the lines of the cmd+ctrl+d dictionary built into OS X but
> which gives Inform syntax definitions instead. It probably couldn't be
> something that was too smart about context, but could probably be very
> effectively nonetheless.
What about something like code completion? You type, then hit Ctrl+Space, and
the computer suggests some possibilities. Also, You could have user defined
code templates with the same mechanism.