Ken Apthorpe wrote:
I wanted a pulldown menu button to go into a stack menu; the submenu items
are to open cards in the mainstack. The here is what the Docs say about the
message for a submenu item:
menuPick chosenItem[|submenuName],previousTab
on menuPick theItem -- in a pulldown menu
if theItem is "Close" then close the defaultStack
else if theItem is "Quit" then quit
end menuPick
This message is obviously for a main menu like File, where you want Close or
Quit. But its no help to me when I just want to open a card in the
mainstack. Also, do I insert it exactly as shown with [ ] around
submenuName? The docs don't say. And the vertical slash. It said
somewhere that on Mac I should do this with option-shift-L. But my keyboard
has a vertical slash key. When I do option-shift-L on my keyboard I get Ò.
So, do I use my slash, or not? And, what's that previousTab thing on the end
for??
Good points. The docs need to clearly describe the conventions that are
being used when documenting the dictionary entries. As you point out,
many of us are so used to these conventions that we don't even think
about it any more. What you are seeing is pretty standard for xtalk
documentation, but of course if you are a newcomer there is no way you'd
know that.
For reference:
Italics are used for parameters. Square brackets [] enclose optional
terms. You can either include or ignore them. Curly braces {} enclose a
group of terms from which you must pick one. In any group of terms, the
choices are separated from each other by a vertical bar | surrounded by
spaces. This last is important, because in the example you chose, there
is a vertical bar that is actually part of the parameter. (So good
choice. :))
These are for informational purposes only, and should not be included
when you are actually writing scripts. In the above example:
menupick -- is the name of the message that is sent
chosenItem -- is the placeholder for the first parameter that is sent
submenuName -- is enclosed in square brackets, so is optional. It may or
may not be sent, depending on if there are any submenus. It is separated
by a vertical bar, which normally would indicate one of several choices,
but because there are no spaces here, it is actually included along with
the text of the submenu parameter. Note that the descriptive text of
this particular dictionary entry also indicates that the vertical bar
itself will be included in the parameter if a submenu is chosen by the user.
previousTab -- is the placeholder for the last parameter that is sent.
The text of the dictionary entry indicates this one is only sent if the
menu object is a tabbed button -- that is, it is never sent by a regular
pulldown menu choice.
So, say I have a menu called "Colors". There are lots of color names in
there. But because there are 100 grays, I make "Gray" a single menu item
with a submenu of all the 100 gray levels. When I choose "Gray90" from
the submenu, my menupick message will be this:
menupick "Colors|Gray90"
The parameter shows that the Colors menu was chosen and the submenu
choice is separated from it by the bar.
All that being said, I usually just look at the examples and figure it
out. :)
--
Jacqueline Landman Gay | [EMAIL PROTECTED]
HyperActive Software | http://www.hyperactivesw.com
_______________________________________________
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
