Hi,
At 12:12 PM 5/15/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>>>There is nothing preventing you from putting 10 QT sprites in a frame,
>>>but in the specific cases of QuickTime and Flash, it's not a good idea
>>>to do so, because there will be performance problems on slower
>>>computers. This can result in jerky animation or audio stutters.
>>
>>Does that mean that the music will not play properly?
>
>It might not.
>
>>But aren't you playing a QT file at a time?
>
>If your user has several of them going at once, no. If you have several of
>them appear at once and have not explicitly paused them, no; or at least
>not necessarily.
Again I do not understand. How does the user have several of them going at
once?
Why do you write, 'at least not necessarily'? Users don't do such things.
>>>It was simply the way I chose to do that part of the behavior; there is
>>>no deeper mystery involved. I mean there is no technical reason to
>>>prefer doing it that way, just as there is no technical reason to us 'n'
>>>for integer variables. It's a question of style.
>>
>>Am I to understand that you can do it with variables with spaces?
>
>You can put almost anything you want to into a variable, including spaces
>-- but some data types won't accept some things, such as number or symbol
>formats. They won't lat you use spaces. Symbols won't allow punctuation either.
The purpose of using variables then is to achieve a certain outcome? Which
you wish to have?
>>> on MakeRandomPhrase
>>>
>>> lSubjects = [ "Noelle", "Howdy", "Lingo" ]
>>> lVerbs = [ "sleeps", "eats", "creates" ]
>>> nSubj = random ( lSubjects.count )
>>> nVerb = random ( lVerbs.count )
>>> sSubj = lSubjects[nSubj]
>>> sVerb = lVerbs[nVerb]
>>> put sSubj && sVerb & "."
>>>
>>> END MakeRandomPhrase
>>
>>How would I use this script? As a parent script?
>
>No, it's just a movie script. Nothing elaborate about it. After entering
>it you can call it in the message window.
Yes, it works as you said it would.
>>>This creates two lists of words, one of nouns (subjects) and the other
>>>of verbs. The simplest syntax for a legitimate English sentence is
>>>subject and verb, and what this does is make very simple, but randomly
>>>selected and grammatically valid, sentences -- which it then puts into
>>>the message window. (Of course some of those sentences -- "Lingo eats"
>>>-- are nonsensical, but they're still syntactically valid.)
>>
>>So the stringing of variables occur only at author-time?
>
>No, it occurs when the handler is called, whether in a projector or not.
>But generally the only place you'll have a message window is in authortime.
When is this type of handler normally called?
>>>As you can see the 'put' statement uses both forms of concatenator, the
>>>first to string together the subject and verb into a phrase, the second
>>>to add a period to the end of the sentence.
>>>
>>>The script would be entered as a plain movie script, after which you
>>>could call it from the message window to see the sentences it builds.
>>
>>What is the purpose of a string in this context?
>
>I was using the term to imply the way one places beads on a string to make
>a necklace. In programming specifically, a string is any variable that is
>made of words or sentences (braodly speaking). Strings are indicated by
>double-quotes.
But in the code you wrote,
on InitializeMyProps me
if voidP ( psMyName ) then
psMyName = "no_sprite_" & (me.spriteNum)
end if
END InitializeMyProps
> >Should there be two && here? Your answer was :
No, I wanted the variable to concatenate without a space, so I used the
single &, not the double.
So the above is not a string? What is it then?
>>>The QuickTime behavior, it would seem, was not attached to the QuickTime
>>>sprite, which prevented it from sending its own reference to the
>>>communication behavior, thus preventing the communication behavior from
>>>registering it as a QuickTime sprite.
>>
>>How may a behavior not be attached to a sprite?
>
>The simplest way is for it to not have been attached in the first place.
So how do I attach it in the first place?
>>>It's good practice to do so. Theoretically one does not have to
>>>initialize variables like this, at least not especially rigorously, but
>>>I've found it's a good habit to do so.
>>
>>To initialize a variable, I set it to zero? Is it possible to initialize
>>it to other than zero?
>
>You can initialize a variable to contain anything, as long as you're
>taling about a valid type of data Director can handle. When I start with a
>zero value it generally means I'm about to do something else with the
>variable, such as put a nonzero in it. But I don't stick to zero. I do my
>initialization based on what is more or less the null value for the data type.
>
>That is, a list variable's "empty" state would be to contain an empty
>list, [] (or [:] for a property list). Hence these variables all have
>conceptually the same value -- null or empty -- but their initialization
>indicates the kind of data they're expected to hold later on:
>
> lOneList = []
> lAnotherList = [:]
> sName = ""
> nDay = 0
> fBankBalance = 0.0
> yIndex = #null
Why does lOneList = [] look like this while lAnotherList = [:] looks this ?
Or rather, an empty list does not contain properties as you define it?
There are other types of lists you have not mentioned?
>>When I set the breakpoint in the mouseUp handler, this is the message I
>>receive:
>>
>>me = <offspring ''''' 34802b8>
>>
>>psTargetName= "a"
>>pyMyDirection = #up
>>spriteNum =11me = <offspring ''''' 34802b8>
>>
>>psTargetName= "a"
>>pyMyDirection = #up
>>spriteNum =11me = <offspring ''''' 34802b8> psTargetName= "a"
>>pyMyDirection = #up spriteNum =11
me = <offspring ''''' 34802b8> psTargetName= "a" pyMyDirection = #up
spriteNum =11
>>on the left, it says onMouseUp
>>
>>This is for the increase volume button.
>>
>>Where is the error? The code does execute.
>
>You need to step through the code to see where it goes from there. Getting
>the debugger to open is only the first part of that process.
Sorry, what do you mean?
If I set the breakpoint at
on InitializeMyProps me
if voidP ( pyMyDirection) then
pyMyDirection = #down
end if
if voidP ( psTargetName ) then
psTargetName = "no_sprite"
end if
END InitializeMyProps
this is the message I receive:
me = <offspring ''''' 4 47d89c>
psTargetName= "a"
pyMyDirection = #down
spriteNum =12
( breakpoint is at if voidP ( pyMyDirection) then)
beginSprite and InitializemyProps appears in the left window.
if I set the breakpoint at
if voidP ( psTargetName ) then
his is the message I receive:
me = <offspring ''''' 4 480 614>
psTargetName= "a"
pyMyDirection = #down
spriteNum =12
beginSprite and InitializemyProps appears in the left window.
Is there any difference between this 4 47d89c and this 4 480 614?
I know that one contains alphabets, the other does not.
Please advise me. What do I do next?
Do I need to set any more breakpoints?
I am lost.
Noelle
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