Plug ins in MC 2.6b1 and other questions

[Richard Gaskin]

Dr.John R.Vokey wrote:

> Metacardians,
>   I see that the new MC IDE 2.6 has a plug-ins menu.  Having never used 
> one, what constitutes a plug-in?  Is it just a main stack that serves a 
> particular function?  It is anything other than a stack being put in 
> use, or do all scripts and properties of the plug-in stack become 
> available to the stack using the plug-in?  Do the plug-in properties 
> apply only within the IDE, or do they migrate automagically to 
> stand-alones?

In its simplest form, a plugin is merely a stack file you want easy 
access to from within the IDE.

You can also add your own plugin system to a standalone (WebMerge does, 
for example) but the MC IDE offers no provisions to assist with that, 
primarily because plugins designed for IDE use will usually have little 
value in another application and vice versa.

>   And, more generally, how are we to distinguish between properties, 
> procedures and functions of the engine, the MC IDE, and the RR IDE?  
> Should we (yes us) be updating the MC help files so that they reflect 
> the engine and the MC IDE?  As it stands now, one is forced to use the 
> RR documentation for new features of the engine amidst a plethora of RR 
> IDE specific stuff.  RR staff could help if all engine additions and 
> changes were published as such, distinct from RR IDE specific changes.

There is a simple plug-in available which is a shell that imports the 
content from the Rev Transcript Dictionary into a nimbler format for use 
in MC.  I had written the original version of this shell, and someone 
else added a great search facility for it.  Unfortunately while moving 
files between machines I seem to have misplaced it, so if someone has 
the version with the search facility please send it to me.  Thanks.

This raises the obvious question:  should we replace the Dictionary 
stack with the one in the MC IDE now?

We can't disribute the copyrighted content, but since the Rev package is 
needed to get the engine anyway this one-time import should be a good 
second.  It takes only a few seconds, and by having an importer shell 
instead of the dictionary itself we get two benefits:

- the download for the MC IDE is smaller
- you always have the most current dictionary content

Jacque likes the old one because it loads faster (has about 10-15% fewer 
tokens), which is useful for quick syntax checking while scripting.

But I wonder if it would be worthwhile making another utility for that, 
a very lean index of tokens with just the params and a one-line summary 
of its use, with a button to open the full entry in the Dictionary if 
needed.

Would that be useful?
Anyone want to make it?

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Media Corporation
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