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September 11, 1989 WINDOID #9 (Part 1) A Publication for the Informed HyperCard User and the Newsletter for the Apple HyperCard User Group EDITOR: DAVID LEFFLER -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- IN THIS ISSUE: Part 1 • Editor's Corner • HyperCard User Tips • Corrupted Stacks • ChangeFont • Stack Evaluation Guidelines Part 2 • Command Synthesis Exotica • HyperEducation • Message History • Internationalizable StackWare • HyperCard Novice Corner -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- EDITOR'S CORNER By David Leffler Well, here we are again. This issue of WINDOID is very much overdue, and I apologize for the delay. We have gone through many changes in the AHUG organization, and I have been extremely busy with the next revisions of HyperCard. However, I think you will find that the time this issue has taken to prepare has been time well spent. Additionally, we are taking steps to ensure that subsequent versions of WINDOID are delivered regularly. When I started AHUG and WINDOID I had no idea that it would grow so fast. Our first AHUG meeting at Apple was in a little conference room on the second floor of DeAnza III before HyperCard even shipped. About ten people showed up and were really excited about showing off their first stacks. Since then AHUG has grown at a phenomenal rate, and we have been caught unprepared to handle the group's meteoric growth. Due to this unexpected growth, we have not been able to give the many AHUG members all the support and services they expected. Therefore, the AHUG Board of Directors met recently and decided that all AHUG memberships will be extended through the next year for no additional charge. We are commited to providing you with an outstanding HyperCard User Group experience. To further ensure that we will not be caught unprepared again, we have a new AHUG President to introduce to you. I'd like to introduce Jack Hodgson. Jack comes to us from the Boston Computer Society where he was one of the founding members of the Mac SIG. As Director of New Member Enrollment and Volunteer Services, Jack enrolled over 5,000 Macintosh users and provided services we never dreamed of. He recently moved to the Cupertino area and comes to us with the necessary experience and zeal that typifies what we need in our AHUG President. Jack will take control of the WINDOID publication schedules. We have determined that WINDOID issues will go out on a REGULAR basis. We will have specified delivery dates and you will know when to trot out to your mailbox for the latest. I will continue to be Editor, and together we will provide you with up-to-date HyperCard articles from the team. Under Jack's leadership, we will provide you with information fast and professionally. Additionally, Jack is assisting in the creation of a BBS for members to call and download any of the 200 megabytes of stacks we have available. He is dedicated to providing services to you that will spark your interest and continue to fan it to flame. Starting next issue, Jack will begin a regular column in WINDOID and let you know how we are doing and where we are going as a user group. I'll continue to let you know what the team is doing and where we are going with HyperCard. You will still be first to know about any new HyperCard versions and get the latest on new feature functionality. Together we will continue the journey, and, as always, AHUG will light the way to provide you with the best in HyperCard information from the HyperCard Team. In this issue, I bring you a wealth of information from the team and from our good HyperCard friends. I hope that you will find that the wait for this issue, although lengthy, was worth it. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- HYPERCARD USER TIPS by Phil Wyman 1. I was having trouble putting the contents of the "target" into a variable. I knew that the target was going to be a field, and I wanted to put the contents of that particular field into a variable. So I tried put the target into <variableName> However, when I looked at the variable, it was not the contents of the target at all. Rather the variable was the name of the target, something such as "background field ID 12". Gary Bond suggested that I say instead put the value of the target into <variableName> which works just fine, putting the contents of the field into the variable. To see how this works, create a field. Put a line of text in a field. Lock the field. In the card script put: on mouseup answer the value of the target end mouseup When you click on the field, you should get an answer box with your text in it. 2. When I am developing Stacks, I often need to lock and unlock fields. Since I have an extended keyboard with function keys, I made a function key which locks and unlocks fields. This makes my job a lot easier. I modified Sioux Lacy’s "HitTest" function which I borrowed from her Groupies Stack. What the following functionKey handler and "MyHitTest" function do is to allow me to point to the field with my mouse, hit the number 7 Function Key, and lock or unlock the field. If the field is locked, it becomes unlocked. If the field is unlocked it becomes locked. If you don’t have functionkeys on your keyboard, you could create a handler called "L" instead of the "on functionkey" handler. You will have to remove the "if var = 7" loop. Then, with blindtyping on, you would just have to point at a field with the mouse and type the letter "L" and "return". (Be sure you’re not editing text in a field at the time or else blindtyping won’t work.) on functionkey var --or on L if var = 7 then --Delete for standard KB put myHitTest (the mouseloc) into what if what is not empty then set the locktext of what to (not the locktext of what) end if end if --Delete for standard KB end functionkey--or end L -- When typing in the myHitTest function, -- be sure to leave a space after the -- quoted literals "card field id " and -- "bkgnd field id ". function myHitTest where repeat with i = the number of card fields down to 1 if where is within rect of card field i then if visible of card field i then return "card field id " & the id of card field i end if end repeat repeat with i = the number of bkgnd fields down to 1 if where is within rect of bkgnd field i then if visible of bkgnd field i then return " bkgnd field id "& the id of bkgnd field i end if end repeat return empty end myHitTest Along the same lines, you could make a functionKey which will give you the info dialog of the field or button that you are pointing at. Or how about a Hide/Show feature for buttons or fields that you are pointing at? HyperCard is alive with possibilities. 3. A tip from Paul Foraker of HyperPro... If you don’t like keeping track of your "pushes and pops" there may be a way out of it in certain situations. Try popping the card into a variable. push card pop card into <variableName> Now, whenever you want to go back to that card you can just say go <variableName> Don’t make the mistake however of saying go card <variableName> which will not work because the word "card " is included in <variableName> 4. Another Paul Foraker tip. With James Redfern’s help, Paul discovered this mistake in his HyperTalking that looks like a bug but isn’t: --example A (to produce a list of the --backgrounds in a stack) repeat with i = 1 to the number of backgrounds put the short name of background i & return & return after temp --wrong! end repeat You’ll get the short names of the backgrounds, but you won’t get any returns. Here’s the correct way of writing it: --example B repeat with i = 1 to the number of backgrounds put (the short name of background i) & return & return after temp --right! end repeat Get it? HyperCard evaluates Example A as: put the short name of background (i & return) after temp Since return characters do not evaluate as numbers, HyperCard strips them off, evaluates the "i" and returns the correct background name, without the returns. I had a similar problem. I started an "if then" loop with: If the cantmodify of stack "data stack" is false then When I tried to run it, HyperCard asks "where is false?" with the Standard File dialog. I hit "Cancel" and HyperCard says it can’t get that property. I believe HyperCard was looking for a stack named "data stack" is false which it couldn’t find. I had to put parentheses in to force HyperTalk to evaluate each side of the "is" condition: If (the cantmodify of stack "data stack") is false then That works fine. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- CORRUPTED STACKS by Sioux Lacy Atkinson Occasionally, users and developers have reported that HyperCard suddenly cannot open a particular stack or cannot access certain cards in the stack. When this occurs, the user will see a message that says "Can’t read card or bkgnd id <an ID number> at location <another number>" or simply "Can’t open stack", and then HyperCard will quit. It’s regrettable that this occurs, and certainly frustrating for the user, but we want to make all of you aware of certain measures that you can take to prevent stack corruption, and a project that is currently underway at Apple to recover broken stacks. Preventative Measures: From the number of broken stacks that we’ve seen, it appears that the primary cause of corruption is HyperCard being interrupted partway through its execution. An interruption could be a system crash, an XCMD that crashes, a HyperCard Unexpected Error, the power being turned off, the Macintosh being rebooted from Macsbug or the machine being restarted with the programmer’s switch. HyperCard writes data back to disk whenever it has an opportunity, but if its execution is interrupted, there is a very good chance that some data is still in RAM, and that the disk file contains some internal inconsistencies. Of course, there is little a user can do about a system crash or an error caused by HyperCard itself. However, a number of users have said to me that they got impatient when a script was taking an extraordinary amount of time to run, or the file server was extra slow, and they simply rebooted their machines. Please don’t do this. The chances of the stack being damaged are very high. If a HyperTalk script is running, abort it with command-period, or simply be patient. If you are running a stack that calls XCMDs or XFCNs and you experience a crash when one of those externals is called, tread cautiously. Comment out the call to the external and see if the crash still occurs. Inquire of your XCMD distributor whether other users have had difficulties with that code. If you’re the author of the XCMD, back up your stack and continue testing to see if you can uncover the source of the bug. A couple of other safety measures that you can take: 1) When you’re working on a stack, periodically save off copies. Then if something goes wrong, you’ve only lost a small amount of work rather than an entire stack. 2) Compact your stacks frequently, especially if they constantly accumulate free space. Compaction will almost always detect stack corruption, and save you from putting further effort into a stack that has been damaged. 3) Be sure that you’re using the most current version of HyperCard (1.2.2). It contains some fixes for bugs that were causing corruption. If you don’t have 1.2.2, contact your Apple dealer. Scavenger Project: The reason I’m writing this article, and have such an interest in damaged stacks, is that I am working on a utility that the HyperCard team hopes to provide to our users and developers that can repair corrupted stacks. For this project to be successful, I need to collect and examine as many broken stacks as possible, so I’m asking for your help. If you have a stack that’s gone bad, please send it my way. I can’t guarantee that it can be fixed, but many of them can be, and I will return a good copy to you if it is. (Note that "fixing" sometimes involves removing a bad card or bad background, so sometimes the repaired stack is accessible, but lacking some of the original cards.) Please describe, if you can, what was happening at the time the stack was damaged, including what version of HyperCard, and system software you were running, and what special INITs you had installed. Stacks can be sent to: Sioux Lacy Atkinson Apple Computer, Inc. 20525 Mariani Ave. Mailstop 22-AE Cupertino, CA 95014, or AppleLinked to LACY1 Please don’t expect immediate turnaround. I usually work on the stacks in the order that I receive them, and some take quite a lot of detailed cross-examination to completely determine the problem. (Let me know if you don’t want the stack back if it’s fixed. You can save me the time and postage cost. Thanks.) (And if you compress the stack, let me know what version of the compression utility you used.) The data that we compile from these stacks will also help us in making HyperCard more bullet-proof in the future. But remember, there isn’t much that HyperCard can do to recover if the Macintosh is turned off while it’s running. So unless you are very certain that your machine is hopelessly hung, or crashed, don’t reboot. Thanks. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- CHANGEFONT by Robertson Reed Smith One thing I always wanted to see in HyperCard was an elegant solution to manipulating the text attributes of button titles. I tried several ways since the early days of Stack Starter B.201. Including building a working mock-up of a button text attributes window, and smart pop-up menus, but it wasn’t until I found a way to share the same text attributes window for graphic text, buttons, and fields that I was really satisfied. The result was ChangeFont, a script which when loaded into your Home Stack offers font options for any object under the cursor when the Tab and shift keys are depressed simultaneously. I’ve been using and refining it for awhile, so it works with not only buttons, but fields (locked and unlocked), cards, and background layers as well as any version of HyperCard. Also I find it faster, and more convienent than using the conventional means because the method doesn’t change for different objects. Upon reading Jim Palmer’s article "Four Button Properties in Search of a Script" in Windoid issue #7, I discovered Jim and I had come up with a similar solution to text attributes manipulation although the features and error checking differ substantially, so I’m offering ChangeFont here as the next logical refinement on his. Hope you enjoy it, and find it useful. ---------- ChangeFont 1.2 by Robertson Smith ---------- --------------- AppleLink: HyperZealot ------------ --ChangeFont may be distributed freely, but is not for resale. Thanks.-- -- on mouseWithin --Gets name of button or field cursor is over. global TargetName put word 1 to 2 of name of target && "id" && id of target into targetName pass mouseWithin end mouseWithin -- on mouseLeave --Forgets name of button or field cursor was just over. global TargetName put "" into targetName pass mouseLeave end mouseLeave -- --Chose tab and shift keys because other key combinations taken on tabKey global TargetName, UserLevel if the optionKey is up and the shiftKey is down and the commandKey is up then put the UserLevel into saveLevel --Saves preset UserLevel. set lockScreen to true set the userLevel to 4 set cursor to 4 --So user will know somethings happening. --Check to see if cursor is over a card or background. if targetName = "" then choose text tool doMenu "Text Style..." if saveLevel > 2 then set the UserLevel to saveLevel else set the userLevel to 3 --Leaves user in graphic text mode exit tabKey --Check to see if if cursor is over a button else if word 2 of targetName = "Button" then --Check to see if button title is showing. if showName of targetName is false then --Gives user option to show button title. answer "The button title is turned off on this button." ¬ with "Show Title" or "Cancel" if it is "Show Title" then set showName of targetName to true else set the UserLevel to saveLevel exit tabKey end if end if --Check for presence of a button icon. if icon of targetName <> 0 then --Gives user the option to remove button icon. answer "You can’t change fonts on a btn with an icon." ¬ with "Remove Icon" or "Cancel" if it is "Remove Icon" then set icon of targetName to 0 else set the UserLevel to saveLevel exit tabKey end if end if end if --Stores preset graphic text attributes. choose text tool put the textAlign into defaultTextAlign put the textFont into defaultTextFont put the textSize into defaultTextSize put the textHeight into defaultTextHeight do ("put the textStyle into defaultTextStyle") --Gets text attributes of object cursor is over. choose Browse tool set the textAlign to (the textAlign of targetName) set the textFont to (the textFont of targetName) set the textSize to (the textSize of targetName) set the textHeight to (the textHeight of targetName) do ("set the textStyle to" && (the textStyle of targetName)) choose text tool --Displays text attributes of object cursor is over, and --offers options to change text attributes of that object. doMenu "Text Style..." --Makes text attributes changes to object cursor is over. choose browse tool set the textAlign of targetName to the textAlign set the textFont of targetName to the textFont set the textSize of targetName to the textSize set the textHeight of targetName to the textHeight do ("set the textStyle of" && targetName && "to" && the textStyle) --Resets preset graphic text attributes. choose text tool set the textAlign to defaultTextAlign set the textFont to defaultTextFont set the textSize to defaultTextSize set the textHeight to defaultTextHeight do ("set the textStyle to" && defaultTextStyle) choose browse tool set the UserLevel to saveLevel--Restores preset userlevel set lockScreen to false else pass tabKey end tabKey ---------- End of ChangeFont ---------- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- STACK EVALUATION GUIDELINES by Robin Shank Apple Computer, Inc. 20525 Mariani Ave. M/S 22-Q Cupertino, CA 95014 408-974-2370 AppleLink: ROBIN The goal in creating a HyperCard stack is to give your user the power to do something that would otherwise be beyond their reach. But a stack is more than an implementation of an idea, a body of information, or a collection of functionalities. If you want your stack to be used by your audience, it must be well designed, convenient to use and appealing to look at. Poorly designed stacks frustrate the user and can ultimately end up in a never opened folder. What makes a good quality stack? The process of creating a stack can be a difficult and multifaceted task. There are many different things a stack designer should take into consideration as the stack evolves. Evaluation of the stack should be an integral part of the development cycle. First, review and document your objectives. If you don’t know what it’s supposed to do, it is difficult to tell when it’s not working. Feedback from users is an important part of shaping the interface. Finally, take the time to make sure everything works. The following outline is an exploration of all the considerations involved in creating stacks. It incorporates issues discussed in The Stack Design Guidelines and Human Interface Guidelines, as well as my own experiences with stack design and testing. Comments and feedback are welcome. A. Documentation Document, outline, or at least think about the following considerations. Addressing these issues early will save you resources and headaches later in the development cycle. 1. What is the general scope of the project, including... Description of the objectives of the project Integration with other products such as: books, stacks, software, hardware etc. Size limitations of the stack Distribution method of the stack Such as: floppy, CD, fileserver Are you distributing anything else with the stack? Outline the people and their expertise or responsibilities. Who will be doing the writing, editing, graphic design, illustration, scripting, programing, and, of course, testing. 2. What is the content of the stack? Is there an existing model for the stack? such as: an existing book, document Where are the sources of the information in the stack? What does the content cover? What does the content not cover? 3. What are your assumptions about the users of the stack(s)? Familiarity with HyperCard Familiarity with HyperTalk Familiarity with the Macintosh Familiarity with the Computers Familiarity with the subject matter or context of the stack International, cultural or social issues Is there anything special about the users of the stack? 4. What kinds of environments is the stack expected to run in? Do you need to restrict them to a version of HC? Will the stack run in all userLevels? Which CPU’s is this stack designed for? Do you need more than 1 or 2 Mb Ram? Do you require a harddisk? Does the stack depend on any special hardware? such as: input devices, printers, scanners, other peripherals. Does the stack depend on any special software? Such as: applications, system inits, Multi/Singlefinder Does the stack integrate with or rely on other stacks? such as: the phone stack Are special resources attached or needed? such as: fonts, icons, sounds, XCMD, XFCN, cursors, picts Are there special user considerations? such as: disability, age, cultural or educational background Are there International considerations? Will the stack be running on international Systems? Will the stack be internationalized? 5. How is the stack organized and designed? Does the stack use a metaphor? Outline the different parts or sections. What they do What they look like Navigation methods - within section - between sections - feedback User orientation What graphic elements is the stack going to use? such as: fonts, icons, pictures, animation What are the sources of the art? Will the stack need to be enhanced or maintained? How, and by whom? B. Evaluating the stack(s) Use the documentation outlined in the first section as the basis for knowing how things should work, look and feel. 1. Functionality and performance: Insure functional integrity (ie: TEST IT!) Take the time to make sure everything works. No script errors No "dead-end" scripts Feedback, forgiveness, flexibility, and limit checking Is there feedback for long operations? Is the user allowed to exit and abort at any time? Test the limits Navigation Can the user move through the stack effectively and easily? From any card... - is it clear where the user is in the stack? - is it clear how the user got there? - is it clear where to go next? - is it clear how to go back? - is it clear how to leave the stack? What is the stack’s performance under... - different versions of HyperCard - different userLevels - different system versions - different CPU’s - alternative environments User Testing Get feedback from real users 2. Written Content Style Is the textual information well written? Is the style appropriate for your projected user? Does the content or writing style portray any cultural, or gender biases? Is there editorial integrity? check for: spelling, grammatical errors Trademark and copyright notices Consistency 3. Visual Content and Interface Considerations Fields Is there consistency in location of similar fields between cards, sections? Are the typefaces used appropriately and consistently? Are the properties of the fields in appropriate states? Such as: locked or unlocked, visible or hidden. Buttons Is there consistency in location of similar buttons between cards, sections? Are the buttons arranged in logical groups or areas? Do buttons give feedback where ever possible or appropriate? Is the button implementation consistent within the stack? Is the button implementation consistent with the Macintosh interface? Are the typefaces used appropriately and consistently? Are icons used appropriately and consistently? Are the icon symbols understandable? Pictures, images, illustrations Do the pictures and illustrations promote the metaphor of the stack? Is there consistency in the placement of the images? Are the pictures of good quality? Are they appealing and understandable? Are the images appropriate? Are there areas where words, titles or captions would be clearer? Do any of the images have cultural or gender biases? Is there excess opacity on any of the cards? Hold down Option-O while in a paint tool to see the mask. Cleaning up excess opacity can shrink the stack. Are there copyright considerations for the images? Visual effects Do the visual effects relate appropriately to the navigation in the stack? Are the visual effects used consistency with the stated metaphor? Are there any areas that might need more visual effects? Are there any areas that might need less visual effects? Overall aesthetic appeal of the stack Do the background and/or card pictures blend with their elements? Does the stack consistently adhere to its stated metaphor? Does the stack follow the Stack Design Guidelines? Does the stack follow the Human Interface Guidelines? 4. Scripts Are the scripts well written and implemented? Are the scripts well organized within the structure of the stack? Does everything work? Is there feedback and forgiveness for user errors and aborts? Scripting style: Does the scripting style adhere to any established conventions? Are the scripts well documented or commented? How long would it take another HyperTalker to read the scripts and understand the stack’s implementation and structure? Are there any special authoring tools built into the stack? What do they do? Are they commented? 5. Sound Are the sounds used appropriately and consistently in this stack? Are the sounds used consistently with the stated metaphor? Does the user have the ability to control the sound? (on/off, volume?) What are the sources of the sounds? Are there any copyright considerations? 6. Misc. Does or should the stack have: - An area that explains the purpose of the stack? - A Help section? Does it need one? - Credits for authorship, who to contact with praise or bugs? - Colophon; information on how the stack was made, what’s special about it? - Trademark and copyright notices in all the right places? - Listings of relevant references for your context? - Version and Date stamp? C. User testing "Can users understand what to do and can they accomplish the task at hand easily and efficiently? The best way to answer these questions is to put them to the user." – Human Interface Guidelines Guidelines: Define your typical users, find some to test with. Design the stack to the least experienced user. Types of users: Naive users the value of being naive Experienced users have HC experience, preconceptions and/or, have experience within your context Techniques of User testing Strive to be objective and to avoid prompting. Tasks Freeform use, you figure it out Questions - How would you use this? Give the user specific tasks to accomplish Getting the feedback Observation Videotaping Audiotaping Timbuktu, a remote screen viewing program from Farralon. D. References for this document HyperCard Stack Design Guidelines Author: Rachael Rutherford, Apple Computer Copyright 1988 by Addison Wesley Apple Human Interface Guidelines: The Apple Desktop Interface Author: Human Interface Group, Apple Computer Copyright 1988 by Addison Wesley Using HyperCard, from Home to HyperTalk Author: Tay Vaughan Copyright 1988 by Que Corporation Promotional Product Test Group's HyperCard Stack Evaluation Guidelines Author: Susan McLaughlin, P, Q & S, Apple Computer Writing Internationalizable StackWare (Appendix B) Author: Susan Razura, International Engineering, Apple Computer -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --