Peter Reid
Mon, 11 Sep 2000 14:41:37 -0700
>On Mon, 11 Sep 2000, Peter Reid wrote: > >> Here are some questions that have occurred to me during my >> development work using MetaCard. I'm not sure whether I'm simply >> missing a few tricks (not unheard of!), or whether these are genuine >> feature holes. >> >> Some 'constant' questions: >> 1) Is it possible to declare global constants or are all constant >> declarations limited in scope to the script in which they are >> contained? > >They're limited to one script. Suggestions about how to do it >globally (like a #include in C) are welcome, but the discussion about >this on the xtalk mailing list awhile back broke down before any >suitable method was proposed (the big problems are establishing *when* >the definition is to be done and what to do if the #included script >isn't found). > >> 2) Is it possible to declare a non-printing (special) character as a >> constant, e.g. something like "constant CRLF = $013$010" to declare a >> end of line constant? > >No, but "crlf" already is a pre-defined constant ;-) > >> 3) Is it possible for a constant declaration to include expressions, >> e.g. something like 'constant padding = tab & "|" & tab'? > >No, they must be either strings or numbers. Allowing escapes (like C >strings) is something we considered but rejected. > >> Some script debugging questions: >> 5) Is it possible to insert some special breakpoint or trap command >> that let's you run scripts at near normal speed (without having the >> script debugger open), but that will suspend the execution and allow >> you to look at variable values etc. single step etc. - i.e that will >> throw you into the script debugger ONLY when you reach a breakpoint? > >No, but this is on the feature-request list. > >> 6) Is it possible to 'watch' a variable, i.e. set up a monitor that >> only kicks in when a named variable's value changes? > >Theoretically, yes. But there is no UI that supports this now so >you'd have to hack up the debugger scripts, which is not an endeavor >to be taken lightly. > Regards, > Scott Thanks for the answers Scott - now I know (I'm not missing any tricks this time!). Cheers Peter -- -------------------------------------------------------- Peter Reid Reid-IT Limited, Loughborough, Leics., UK Tel: +44 (0)1509 268843 Fax: +44 (0)870 052 7576 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.reidit.co.uk Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/metacard%40lists.best.com/ Info: http://www.xworlds.com/metacard/mailinglist.htm Please send bug reports to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, not this list.