Peter Haworth wrote:
Grouping and ungrouping objects by selecting them on a card works great in simple situations but when you have multiple levels of nested groups or hidden fields or even hidden groups (as recommended for tab controls for example), it can be a nightmare to add or delete an object. I'm wondering if I'm missing something and perhaps there's another way to add an object to a field without ungrouping and regrouping?
This is where a good object browser is worth its weight in gold (well, more so actually, since software has no weight <g>).
The App Browser isn't bad, but I find it a bit cumbersome. Geoff Canyon's RevNavigator plugin is included in the Rev installation (see Development-Plugins->RevNavigator) and is a more nimble companion.
It's modeled somewhat on the MC IDE's Control Browser, far simpler and faster than Rev's. Geoff's makes better use of space than MC's, and includes some handy options MC's doesn't have like changing the layer order of objects.
I've written four object browsers over the years, and only recently started in on one I like. :) It's one of those things that seems deceptively simple, but there's a bit to it to be able to get around efficiently, esp. in layouts with lots of nested groups.
When you're used to direct manipulation it's easy to overlook the value of an object browser, seeming as they do rather like building a ship in a bottle, where you can "touch" it only with tweezers.
But a good object browser can make it easier to work with objects than even by direct manipulation. I think you'll find Geoff's delightful to work with.
One thing about Geoff's though, which is a point in favor of Rev's App Browser: RevNavigator was written before groups had their own selectGroupedControls property, which is not only a useful way to shield the developer from accidentally altering a custom object like a DataGrid, but can also be used by an object browser to avoid having to list controls that you probably don't want to be mucking with anyway.
A typical DataGrid can add hundreds of controls to your card, bringing an object browser to a crawl as it updates. But when written to exclude such things, an object browser can be quite nimble even with multiple DataGrids and other custom controls.
As soon as mine gets debugged I'll roll it out with a new set of devolution tools. In the meantime, Rev's or Geoff's may help you get through the day well.
Mention of the new property for groups also reminds me to ask if there is a single place where all the changes that have been made in a Rev release are documented? I haven't managed to find anything like that for 4.0 and seems like that's kinda basic doc for a new release.
See the Engine Change Log and IDE Change Log files included with each Rev installation.
-- Richard Gaskin Fourth World Rev training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com Webzine for Rev developers: http://www.revjournal.com revJournal blog: http://revjournal.com/blog.irv _______________________________________________ use-revolution mailing list use-revolution@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution
