bl791/IFDB / programming /editors /InformEdit2200ReadMe.htm
bl791's picture
download
raw
19.4 kB
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type"
content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage Express 2.0">
<title>Inform Edit - Read Me</title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFF00">
<h1><font face="Arial"><u>Inform Edit</u></font></h1>
<p><a href="#Amendments"><font face="Arial">Amendments</font></a><font
face="Arial"> | </font><a href="#Installation"><font face="Arial">Installation</font></a><font
face="Arial"> | </font><a href="#Notes"><font face="Arial">Notes</font></a><font
face="Arial"> | </font><a href="#Conversion Issues"><font
face="Arial">Conversion Issues</font></a><font face="Arial"> | </font><a
href="#Known Problems"><font face="Arial">Known Problems</font></a><font
face="Arial"> | </font><a href="#Suggestions Wanted"><font
face="Arial">Suggestions Wanted</font></a></p>
<h5><font face="Arial">Version 2.2 - 21st January 2000</font></h5>
<p><font face="Arial">Inform Edit is a simple text editor written
specifically to cater for Inform story source files, making the
job of creating and amending story files easier by the use of
colour-coded text and a visual representation of the objects and
functions that make up the story file:</font></p>
<p><img src="InformEdit2200Screen.gif" width="867" height="644"></p>
<p><font face="Arial">The current version supports the following
features:</font></p>
<ul>
<li><font face="Arial">Colour-coded text for normal text,
comments, keywords and identifiers.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Text is colour-coded 'on the fly'.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">User-definable font and font size.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">User-definable text and background
colours.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Usual editor functions, such as Cut,
Copy and Paste, and Find.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Work in Full View (all source
displayed in main window) or Modular View (only one
object's source is displayed in main window).</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Class/object/location hierarchy
display (only in Modular View).</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Relative locations of objects are
replaced with absolute locations (e.g. Object -&gt;
Car_Keys; (with -&gt; referring to the previous level 1
object of 'Car') replaced with Object Car_Keys Car;).
This is done because working in Modular view, the '-&gt;'
loses its meaning.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Compile and run options.</font></li>
</ul>
<p><font face="Arial">Future enhancements may be made to include
the following:</font></p>
<ul>
<li><font face="Arial">User-definable keywords.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Help Text (you're on your own, for
now!).</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Movement of objects from one initial
location to another (by drag and drop).</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Movement of objects from one class to
another (by drag and drop).</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Movement of sub-classes from one class
to another (by drag and drop).</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Print and print preview with
formatting options.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Updating tree view information as and
when the object's main definitions are changed in code.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Object Wizard allowing a fuller
definition of a new object using a template.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Copying modules via the tree view.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Search across modules.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Find All results displayed in tree
view (i.e. all modules in which the search criteria was
found).</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">'Include' files to be loaded when
loading a source file (user prompted first) and included
in tree view (not available in full view mode) so that
'huge' games can be worked on at the same time.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Find and Replace feature.</font></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<h3><a name="Amendments"><font face="Arial">Amendments</font></a></h3>
<table border="0">
<tr>
<td><font size="2" face="Arial"><strong>2.2</strong></font></td>
<td><font size="2" face="Arial"><strong>21st Jan 2000</strong></font></td>
<td><ul>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Bug: Adding a new
object with a class did not leave a space between
the class declaration and the object name.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Bug: Popup menu on
the tree view kept appearing when navigating
using the cursor keys.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Bug: Changing the
object tree view did not save any amendments to
the current object code.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Bug: Deleted classes
still showed in the Class drop-down list when
creating a new object.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Clicking in the
object tree on the module that is currently
displayed no longer refreshes the code window.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Tree View font can
now be changed to the user's own preference.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Deleting objects no
longer re-draws the object tree.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Compilation results
window now stays on top and retains its prevoius
size and placement.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Compiler errors and
warnings can be located by double-clicking on the
results window.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Spawned compiler and
interpreter windows are now shut down so that
multiple copies are not active, cluttering up
memory.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Compile and Run
toolbar buttons implemented.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">'Run' changes to
'Compile and Run' if the file has changed and
needs compiling.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Object tree is now
sorted alphabetically within Class or Location or
Type.</font></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font size="2" face="Arial"><strong>2.1.15</strong></font></td>
<td align="center"><font size="2" face="Arial"><strong>12th
Jan 2000</strong></font></td>
<td><ul>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Inform Edit now loads
the .inf file double-clicked on in Explorer
(after associating .inf with Inform Edit).</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Adding a function now
allows the entry of the function's parameters.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Edit menu now
expanded to include Add Class/Object/Function
options (some people didn't find the popup menu
that appears when 'right-clicking' on the tree
view).</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Delete... menu option
is now disabled when the selected module is one
that should not (or could not) be deleted.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Bug: Amending the
font size without selecting the font itself
caused the program to crash.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Bug: After adding a
new module, the new module's code is now
displayed straight away.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Bug: Adding a new
module with the same name as a previously deleted
module was not being allowed.</font></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap><font size="2" face="Arial"><strong>2.1.8</strong></font></td>
<td align="center" width="130" nowrap><font size="2"
face="Arial"><strong>11th Jan 2000</strong></font></td>
<td><ul>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Added option to set
the tab widths in the main editing window
(defaults to 0.5inch).</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Main editing window
now supports persistent indents.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Compiler output is
now displayed in a separate results window.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Bug: Closing a file
while in Modular View did not disable the view
drop-down, resulting in a program crash.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Bug: Splash screen
and About screen typos corrected.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Bug: Switching from
Full to Modular view after creating a new Object
in a new file crashed the program.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Bug: Running the
story having compiled to a version other than V5,
did not find the story file.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Bug: Switching
background colour in main editing window was not
being applied.</font></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap><font size="2" face="Arial"><strong>2.1.0</strong></font></td>
<td align="center" width="130" nowrap><font size="2"
face="Arial"><strong>7th Jan 2000</strong></font></td>
<td><ul>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Compiler and
Interpreter Options implemented.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Compile and Run menu
options implemented.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Splitter Bar added to
allow the resizing of the tree view and main
editing window.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Fixed bug whereby the
last changed module was not saved when switching
between Full and Modular views.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Removed Window menu
as it was inappropriate at this time.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Fixed bug where
opening and closing the Options window when no
file was loaded crashed the program.</font></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap><font size="2" face="Arial"><strong>2.0.0</strong></font></td>
<td align="center" width="130" nowrap><font size="2"
face="Arial"><strong>1st Jan 2000</strong></font></td>
<td><ul>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Full/Modular views
implemented</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Quoted text that fit
on one line and was followed by other, non-quoted
text, was not imported. This has been fixed.</font></li>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Library files (*.h)
now load and display correctly (at least those
that I have tried!).</font></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap><font size="2" face="Arial"><strong>1.0.1</strong></font></td>
<td align="center" width="130" nowrap><font size="2"
face="Arial"><strong>1st Dec 1999</strong></font></td>
<td><ul>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial">Closing down Inform
Edit now prompts to save amendments.</font></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<hr>
<h3><a name="Installation"><font face="Arial">Installation</font></a></h3>
<ul>
<li><font face="Arial">If you have already installed an
earlier version of Inform Edit, then download
InformEdit2200Upd.ZIP (337k).</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">If you already have MSVBVM50.DLL on
your system then download InformEdit2200Partial.ZIP (1340k).</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">If you do not have MSVBVM50.DLL then
download InformEdit210Full.ZIP (2147k).</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Unzip the downloaded files into a
temporary directory.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Run Setup.exe and follow on-screen
prompts.</font></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<h3><a name="Notes"><font face="Arial">Notes</font></a></h3>
<p><font face="Arial">When loading Story files created outside of
Inform Edit, Inform Edit may make amendments to ensure that it
will compile cleanly when saved.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">The changes that may be made are:</font></p>
<ul>
<li><font face="Arial">The source will be split into modules
(which means that some or all lines will not be where
they were originally) thus:</font><ul>
<li><font face="Arial">Definitions (anything prior to
the first Class or Object definition, plus any
Constant or Global declarations or Compiler
Directives found elsewhere in the file).</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Classes</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Objects</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Functions</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Grammar Extensions (any
non-object code found after the 'Include
&quot;grammar.h&quot; line, as well as any Verb
or Extend lines).</font></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><font face="Arial">Objects without a textual name (i.e.
in quotes) are given one.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Objects' initial locations are changes
to be absolute if they are relative (see </font><a
href="#Conversion Issues"><font face="Arial">Conversion
Issues</font></a><font face="Arial">, below).</font></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<h3><a name="Conversion Issues"><font face="Arial">Conversion
Issues</font></a></h3>
<p><font face="Arial">Inform allows the programmer to specify the
initial locations of objects in one of two ways:</font></p>
<h5><font face="Arial">Relative</font></h5>
<p><font face="Arial">Putting '-&gt;' between the object
declaration and the object's name indicates that this object will
start 'inside' the previous 'stand-alone' object (i.e. one not
defined inside another).</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Putting '-&gt; -&gt;' between the object
declaration and the object's name indicates that this object will
start 'inside' the previous object that was defined 'inside'
another 'stand-alone' object. This may not be the object defined
immediately before this object, which can sometimes cause
confusion (especially with Inform newcomers).</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">e.g. from the Inform Designer's Manual:</font></p>
<pre>Object &quot;bucket&quot; ...
Object -&gt; &quot;starfish&quot; ...
Object -&gt; &quot;oyster&quot; ...
Object -&gt; -&gt; &quot;pearl&quot; ...
Object -&gt; &quot;sand&quot; ...
(where the bulk of the definitions are here abbreviated to &quot;...&quot;), sets up the tree structure
&quot;bucket&quot;
!
&quot;starfish&quot;&gt; &quot;oyster&quot;&gt; &quot;sand&quot;
!
&quot;pearl&quot;</pre>
<h5><font face="Arial">Absolute</font></h5>
<p><font face="Arial">Inform also allows for absolute definition
of an object's initial location by putting the name of the
location after the object's textual short name.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">e.g., the above example can be defined as:</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Object bucket &quot;bucket&quot;...<br>
Object starfish &quot;starfish&quot; bucket...<br>
Object oyster &quot;oyster&quot; bucket...<br>
Object &quot;pearl&quot; oyster...<br>
Object &quot;sand&quot; bucket...<br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">As Inform Edit allows the author to work at
the object level, the '-&gt;' loses its meaning because the
previous objects are not visible. Because of this, when Inform
source is imported, all '-&gt;' are converted to absolute
location names.</font></p>
<hr>
<h3><a name="Known Problems"><font face="Arial">Known Problems</font></a></h3>
<ul>
<li><font face="Arial">Inform Edit will try to close down the
DOS box used to run the compiler. However, if the
compiler is one of the DOS applications (i.e. Inform.exe)
the window cannot be shut down, resulting in multiple DOS
windows on the task bar. If at all possible, you should
use Infrmw32.exe as this is a Windows program (even
though it runs in a DOS box!), and does close down
successfully.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Quoted text is 'Normal' text (default
colour of blue), and when amending quoted text that has
been split over more than two lines, the amended line is
re-parsed as if it were not in quotes. When this happens,
pressing F5 to refresh the display clears the problem.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">On importing some source files, the
characters used to terminate lines are not always correct
and, although Inform Edit tries to correct this, it
sometimes fails to do so correctly, and the display is
full of RTF codes. Sometimes running the source file
through another text editor (Wordpad, say) cures this
problem.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">When at the end of the last line of
source, pressing Enter does not allow you to add a new
line. To get around this, type one or two characters for
the next line, back up to the beginning of these
characters and THEN press Enter.</font></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<h3><a name="Suggestions Wanted"><font face="Arial">Suggestions
Wanted</font></a><font face="Arial"> (email:</font><a
href="mailto:paul@jcls.freeserve.co.uk"><font face="Arial">paul@jcls.freeserve.co.uk</font></a><font
face="Arial">)</font></h3>
<p><font face="Arial">Please feel free to report any problems
that you may experience with Inform Edit, as well as any ideas
that you'd like to see in an editor for Inform.</font></p>
<p align="right"><font face="Arial">Enjoy.</font></p>
<p align="right"><font face="Arial">Paul de Valmency</font></p>
<p><font size="1" face="Arial">Inform Edit is distributed as
Freeware, however full copyright is retained by the Author.</font></p>
</body>
</html>

Xet Storage Details

Size:
19.4 kB
·
Xet hash:
c74b1f6da559219242a602e2a9a6a565b5c7abcbc6b482163f16e27eec380a64

Xet efficiently stores files, intelligently splitting them into unique chunks and accelerating uploads and downloads. More info.