Blocks Editor Warning Message Hinders Editing

[Chris Metropolis]

I've only just noticed this happening, sometime this week, but I add in a new block, and before I can plug stuff in, I get a pop-up warning that the block isn't complete. And this will happen every 5 seconds, until I can manage to plug the holes.

Is this a new bug, or am I at fault, somehow?

Thanks!

[SteveJG]

Have not heard this one before Chris.  Could you please tell us more about your project. We might ask you to post a copy of your aia file to see if we can replicate this.

Are you using the emulator or the device for development?

Are you using Compannion 2.35 or an earlier version.

How many screens do you have?

Does your project have lots of blocks or is it a small project.

Do you have lots of windows open on your browser in addition to AI2?  or are you streaming music?

Does this happen with all blocks or just certain ones?  Which ones?

Do you have lots of blocks collapsed anywhere? Are there disabled blocks inside the collapsed blocks?  I ask this because we know that in certain situations, having one or more blocks like this will affect the snapping of puzzle pieces into one another.  The behavior you relate seems similar.

Here are some things you might try:

1) Clear the browser cache.

2) Try Firefox instead of Chrome

3) If you have collapsed blocks inside of disabled blocks try this.   Make a copy of your Project.  On the COPY, either delete the collapsed blocks or uncollapse them and see what happens to your display.  any improvement?     Also just delete these blocks ...yes, doing this makes the copied project 'useless' however, we want to know it you can now snap the blocks properly ... this is a huge guess.

4) how large is your aia and do you use an Adblocker.   Possibly disable the adblocker for the AI2 website.

Any of this help Chris?

Regards,

Steve

[Taifun]

probably you have a clock running and an error in the clock.timer event, so the error will happen again and again until you fix it

It would really help if you provided a screenshot of your relevant blocks, so we can see what you are trying to do, and where the problem may be.

Taifun

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Trying to push the limits of App Inventor! Snippets and Tutorials from Pura Vida Apps by Taifun.         

[Chris Metropolis]

Hey Steve,

Wow, lots to sift through there. As Taifun surmised, I do have a clock, and possibly it might be part of it. I believe the block that was troublesome was a Notifier, but it happened a good 5-6 times in different places (where I doubt the clock was affecting things - who knows). Also, you are correct that I had many tabs open. I did switch to Firefox at one point, but now I can't recall if it also happened there ( my old guy brain). It is a big-ish project, and I'll attach it. And I use the 2.35 companion. No collapsed blocks.

However, today I'm not getting the problem. So maybe it was just Chrome freaking out?

Since I have your attention, I have a bigger issue: collision detection. If you get a chance to run the app, you will notice that "steve" needs to select numbers for an equation to solve. However, it is a haphazard experience to "get" the numbers. I have a method called "resetSprites2" that spreads the numbers out evenly, but most don't react at all to the collision. "resetSprites" just randomly plops them down, often overlapping, but the detection seems to be better, but still not what I'd expect. Maybe it's my code, but the collision can last a fraction of a second, even though "steve" is still touching a number. Other times it works as expected; but the lack of consistency is frustrating.

Am I just taking this too far for AI2?

Thanks!!!!

[Taifun]

If you are asking for help, I recommend you to make it as easy for others to be able to help you ...

You probably will get more feedback then...

which means in your case post a screenshot of your relevant blocks...

To download the aia file, upload it to  App Inventor, open it, do some bug hunting for you, etc... this takes time, and most people will not do that...

Thank you.

[Chris Metropolis]

Fair enough - just that there are many blocks. Here are some:

I do appreciate everyone's time - thanks, Taifun

[Scott Ferguson]

Also, if you have the Companion app running you will get a popup every five seconds or so until the error is corrected or you can choose Reset Connection from the Connect menu to stop the message from popping up.

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sf

[Chris Metropolis]

Is that what it was? Hmmmm, I was running the companion, but I think my phone screen was off. I didn't explicitly disconnect (happens enough on its own), but if I get this issue again I'll certainly try that. My usual routine is to tinker in the code while the companion is running. Maybe that's all it was; though it did seem more pervasive than normal. 

Thanks for all the tips, Steve/Taifun/Scott. If I get it happening again, I'll see if any of your tips do the trick.

[Chris Metropolis]

Ok, sorry I bugged everyone - it was all me: I worked out the collision detection, after finally getting what was happening. Thanks for helping so quickly.