Family Forum 261/SOMC Family Forum 261.iso/Xtras/Widget Wizard/Widget Wizard Read Me

Text File | 1997-05-10 | 12KB | 215 lines

Widget Wizard: Read Me
April 1997

-What is the Widget Wizard?
-How to use this tool
-Getting started
-What are behaviors?
-What to look out for
-How to make your movies cleaner
-Who made the Widget Wizard?

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What is the Widget Wizard?

The Widget Wizard is a browser of frequently used buttons and devices.

While authoring your own movie, choose the Widget Wizard from the Xtras menu to browse the
widgets and then paste any of them into your movie. You can also open the Widget Wizard in
authoring mode. Widgets cannot be inserted directly into another movie when opened in
authoring mode, but you can select and copy any of the elements such as cast art,
behaviors, or score elements.

You can also copy buttons from the Button Library.

How to use this tool

Use the Widget Wizard to quickly add functionality to your movie, or use it as a way to see
how the different widgets are built using screen elements and Macromedia's packaged
behaviors. You can also add your own behaviors to the Widget Wizard.

When selected from the Xtras menu, the Widget Wizard plays as a movie in a window (MIAW),
and displays using the default palette of the stage. Therefore, if you open the Mac Widget
Wizard while authoring a movie using the Windows palette, you will see a palette whack if
your monitor is set to 8 bits. If your monitor is set to a higher bit depth, you will
insert cast members with a different palette than the default palette of your movie. In
that case reinsert the widget (you can try remapping the pixels to the proper palette as
well)

Use the Widget Wizard as a starting point. Exchange art customized to your interface.
Examine the behaviors and enhance them for your needs.  If you make changes to scripts or
art, be sure to open the parameters to be sure that they are properly customized.

Getting started

1. Open a new or an existing movie.

2. Select the Widget Wizard for the desired platform (default palette) from the Xtras menu.

3. Browse through the wizard until you see a widget you'd like to insert in your movie. The
text field in the wizard will tell you how many channels the widget uses.

4. Click a frame in the score of your movie that has at least 5 open frames following and
enough channels below to accommodate it. If you have not clicked in a usable frame, a
message will tell you to do so.

5. Click the Insert Button, and wait for the beeps. The instruction window will pop open if
it is not already open. If you accidentally close it, click the ? button.

6. Follow the instructions in the window to finish customizing the behaviors used in the
widget.

Many widgets will play without any customization. However, if you change the score
location, score layout, cast member location, or cast member name of any part of the
widget, you need to re-customize the parameters for the behaviors used in that widget.

What are behaviors?

The widgets in this wizard take advantage of Director's packaged behaviors. Many of them
were adapted from the Behavior Library located in the Xtras folder.

A behavior is a encapsulated piece of code. A behavior can control either a sprite or a
frame. In this wizard's widgets, the only frame behavior that gets used is called "loop
current frame"; it is a simple "go to the frame" script.

The rest of the behaviors control the sprites they are attached to.  Many behaviors perform
tasks that take into account details that are unique to the sprite being activated at that
instant. These details are called "parameters."

Many sprites can use a single behavior, and yet perform differently. Just as each child in
a classroom will answer the question: "What is your name?" differently depending on the
parameter that is her or his name, different sprites may display different castmembers on
mouseDown when clicked. That is because they each have different "down state" parameters
stored.

Access parameter information by opening the Behavior Inspector and then selecting a sprite.
You will see a line in the top pane of the window that decribes the behavior's parameters.
The Beep widget sprite displays this line:
33:beep-2pict (WidgetBehaviors)DownCM: "SoundButton.Down", whichevent:mouseUp

The changeable parameter for this behavior is the mouseDown pict: "SoundButton.Down", and
it is displayed in quotes.

The individual behavior cast is not altered by customizing the parameters for a sprite.
Conversely, you must enter the parameters for every sprite using the behavior in your
movie. To better understand this, open the widget wizard in authoring mode, open the
Behavior Inspector and look at a widget that uses the same behavior for several sprites:
the Menu widget. Click each sprite to see the editable parameters:
the down pict (DownCM) and the marker to jump to (whichLabel). If you open the script by
clicking the script icon, you will notice that only the parameter names, not the entered
details (or descriptions) are in the script.

Another way of adding behaviors to sprites in your movie is to drag a behavior from the
cast directly onto the sprite in the score, or the stage. When you do this, a dialog box
usually opens, prompting you to customize the parameter information for the particular
sprite that you have dragged the bevavior to.  You can also attach multiple behaviors to
the same sprite. Drag behaviors to the sprite in the order you want them executed (or
reorder them in the Behavior Inspector.)

To make the Widget Wizard as simple as possible to use, we have combined multiple behaviors
into a single script, and customized the defaults to enter the most likely parameter
details into the behavior before it is even opened.

What to look out for.

The Widget Wizard pastes widgets into your movie in sprites of15 frames (or as few as 5
frames if less open space is available.) This allows you to take advantage of the new score
display features in Director 6.

If you move a widget, or change the dimensions of the stage, you may need to update the
parameters. Always check the parameters whenever you move sprites with behaviors.Widget
cast members are pasted every time the widget is inserted. The Widget Wizard only checks
for duplicates within the widget. If you have inserted this or a similar widget before,
scripts will be duplicated. See section: How to make your movies cleaner, below.

The behaviors calculate default parameters based on information it gathers as the behavior
is attached (either when the widget is inserted, or when it is manually attached). In this
way many behaviors will work without customizing the parameters. These are typically
calculated default parameters:

mouseDown Pict: the name of the cast memeber that is in the cast location following the
sprite's castMember. If there is another cast member with the same name, then the first
castMember found will be displayed on mousedown.

Sprite numbers: when multiple sprites work together, (in widgets like the QT controller and
the text scroller) the behavior looks at a sprite number to control. The default is
calculated on the difference between the sprite number where the behavior is located, and
the sprite number to be controlled. If you change these relationships after inserting, you
will need to update the behaviors parameters. Check the parameters any time you move a
widget in the score.

Performance of pasted widgets is generally slower in your movie when the widget wizard is
open. Close the Widget Wizard and save your movie to improve performance.

The Image Mover Widget displays a "jump" when the drag bar is clicked on if a MIAW is
opened. This does not seem to happen in projectors however. Use with caution.

QT movies persist on the stage when played Direct to stage (which offers the best
performance.) This means that the QT movie will stay visible on the stage untill it is
covered by something else. Overcome this by placing a bitmapped image in the same location
on the stage for one frame at the beginning of all sections that can be accessed from the
frame with the QT movie. The cast member "QT mask" is provided with the widget for this
purpose.

Widget cast members will be pasted into your movie at the same bitdepth as your monitor.
For best results, set your monitor to 8 bit (256 colors) to avoid having to transform the
bit depth later. If you do find 16-bit or 32-bit cast members, transform them with the
Remap Colors option checked. If you must transform widget art, generally select Remap
Colors rather than Dither since all art in the Widget Wizard is already 8 bits in depth.

You will get a script error if a widget attempts to display a cast member that is not
available in the cast. Be sure that cast members are not needed before deleting them.
Always save your movie as a new version when you delete any cast members. Then retest.

You will get odd behavior if you do not complete parameter custonization for many widgets.
The first paragraph of the instructions will identify the parameters that need
customization, and other work that is needed to make the widget work properly.

The buttons in the Buttons tab have only mouseDown behavior, and will work immediately.
Complete their functionality by dragging additional behaviors to them. In this way you are
stacking behaviors. Because most behaviors in the Widget Wizard have multiple behaviors
within them, they are not suitable for combining with other behaviors. Use the behaviors
found in the Behavior Library located in the Xtras menu. Copy the behavior into your cast
for best portability.

How to make your movies cleaner.

If you paste many widgets into your movie, you will notice that some scripts are
duplicated. Generally, it is desirable to use the same script many times, rather than to
duplicate the script for each use.

Because scripts can be changed without being renamed, we decided to err on the side of
safety, and give you every element needed for each paste. To clean out redundant "loop
current frame" frame scripts, select one script to remain (non redundant), and exchange the
others for the desired one. To do this:

1. Select the frame script to be exchanged in the script channel of the score.

2. Select the desired non-redundant "loop current frame"

3. Select Exchange Cast Memebers from the Edit menu.

4. When you are done, delete the frame script that is no longer used.

5. Search the score to make sure it is not being called anywhere:
-Select the redundant frame script in the score.
-Choose Find Selection from the Edit menu.
-Use caution. Only frame scripts can be searched for in the score.
-If the frame script is not found, (Director will beep), delete the script.
-Then, select Save As... from the File menu to save a new version of your movie.



Who made the Widget Wizard?
The Widget Wizard was commissioned by Diana Wynne at Macromedia to help people make better
use of the behaviors they developed.

Design, writing, and production by Lisa Coen ([e-mail])
Programming for the tool by Frances Killam ([e-mail])
All behavior scripting by Andy Rose at Macromedia.

Additional technical consultation was provided by Kevin Mullet, David Calaprice, Tracy
Stampfli, Buzz Kettles, and Mike Seery at Macromedia, and by Tom Ransdell at Digital Muse.

Please send comments and ideas to us: [e-mail]