Hi all. This is my first post here, so please pardon me if I'm addressing an issue
inappropriate for this forum...
I have developed a way of addressing sprites without using their channel number.
Instead, I use a sendAllSprites command,
and have the receiving scripts filter out extraneous messages using an addressing
scheme as follows.
Each sprite has a script attached called "Sprite Msg Filter". This script has a
property list dialogue in which the user,
during authoring mode, assigns a Function, Group, Name, and Index to the sprite. For
example, a custom slider that
controls Music Volume might have Function="Slider", Group="Options", Name="Music
Volume", Index=1. If the
"Sprite Msg Filter" script verifies that the command is intended for its sprite, it
passes the command to the sprite using
sendSprite(me.spriteNum)
Here is an example to set the above mentioned volume slider to the maximum value
(please excuse any typos, there
may be a character missing somewhere):
-- "Sprite Msg Filter" receiving syntax
-- myFunction, myGroup, etc. are set via a property dialogue during authoring mode
-- note: this is a simplified version of the filtering logic
on SpriteMsg(me, strFunction, strGroup, strName, nIndex, strMsg)
if (strFunction=myFunction and strGroup=myGroup and strName=myName and
nIndex=myIndex) then
msg = "sendSprite(me.spriteNum, " & strMsg & ")"
do msg
end if
end
-- calling syntax
-- note: the 0 in "msg" is simply to demonstrate that arguments can be part of the
message conveyed
msg = "Slider_SetToMaximum, 0"
sendAllSprites(#SpriteMsg, "Slider", "Options", "Music Volume", 1, msg)
Additional logic allows the specification of wildcard values, to address multiple
sprites: the argument "any" will
match any value for Function, Group or Name, and the argument 0 (zero) will match any
value for Index.
"Sprite Msg Filter" also contains logic to allow indices to be specified (via the
property dialogue) for an
entire group of sprites, such as assigning the 52 cards in a deck the indices 1 to 52,
as long as they are in
consecutive sprite channels.
Not all sprites have a "Sprite Msg Filter" attached -- just the ones that need to be
addressed. Note that by
externalizing the filter (not putting it in the functional script itself) I can even
use this method with behaviors
from the standard library. (My first iteration included the filtering in the
functional behaviors -- very ugly!)
I have experimented with this method a fair amount, and found that it doesn't impose
any significant overhead.
The reason I use this method is so that I don't have to hardcode in sprite indices --
I tend to move sprites
around in the score a lot.
Okay, having explained my own method, here is my question: Is anyone doing something
different that
achieves the same ends, i.e., "logical addressing" that embodies domain-related
concepts rather than using the
default addressing provided by the IDE? I think my method is pretty elegant, but it
does have overhead, and
the indirection entailed can make debugging a bit trickier.
Thanks!
--
Michelle Elliott
Director of Game Development
WickedWare, LLC.
[To remove yourself from this list, or to change to digest mode, go to
http://www.penworks.com/LUJ/lingo-l.cgi To post messages to the list,
email [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Problems, email [EMAIL PROTECTED])
Lingo-L is for learning and helping with programming Lingo. Thanks!]
