IFmapper Manual

Why?

The palm is a nearly ideal platform for IF. It is small, light weight, has more than enough memory for the interpreter and a couple of games and lasts 10h+ on a pair of AAA rechargables.

The only problem is, that I keep loosing my way without a map and juggling a notebook and the palm while waiting in line is hardly convenient. So some sort of mapping program was needed and the idea for IFmapper was born.

What can it do?

A map is organized in sections and consists of locations, connections and text. With IFmapper you can create and manipulate these elements in an object oriented fashion. Here is a sample from the map of Zork I

Overview

Del

Deletes the selected map. Watch out, for now no questions asked.

New

Creates a new map. IFmapper has a versioning system, so you don't have to add the number at the end. The versioning was added to avoid data loss during development and protection against user mistakes.

Edit

Starts the editing process

Dump

This function exports the selected map in a version independent but less space efficient format. This was introduced as a safeguard against changes in the save file format in future versions of IFmapper due to new features (this has already happened during development). I'm pretty sure I catched all the bugs in the Load/Save functions, but it is probably a good idea to dump your maps occasionally

Dumped maps can be reimported via the menuitem

Editing

For now you have to figure out for yourself how things work. Just a few quick tips:

• Move mode is also for resizing
• All selected items are moved simultaneously, tap an item to toggle selection
• You can't move connections, the endpoints move with the locations
• Touch the pen close to the borders of the drawing areas and hold it there for scrolling. Watch out: the normal function is still performed, this can be especially confusing in move mode, when som offscreen items are still selected. My advice is to use edit mode for scrolling until you are a little more experienced

Caveats

This program has bugs! I've never had to hard reset my pilot due to a bug in IFmapper, but there is the occasional soft reset without damage to other data. If you are a person thats afraid of soft resets you probably shouldn't use this version. This means also, that you should save your maps often.

The user interface is still inconsistent in some places!

Todo

• Startup is to slow on large maps
• Redraw bug while displaying menus
• Crashes while freeing empty sections?
• Option form
• Implementation of cut&paste
• Minifont
• Faster table update in map select form
• Converters (probably xfig and postscript)
• Parameter form doesn't reflect real state of object

License

THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.

IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

IFmapper V0.5 is provided free of charge. Though I have no plans for this, later version might be released as shareware.

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