Is this a bug or is it just me?

Richard Gaskin ambassador at fourthworld.com
Thu Mar 10 16:02:03 EST 2005


Kevin J wrote:
> Your right as soon as I put a space in to the line it will wrap at
> that space. So I could type in say 3 letters then put a pace and type
> in the rest of the line with out a space and it will wrap it that
> space. Hmmm That kinda sucks!

But not very hard.

How many times do you want users to read data that has no natural breaks?

Fields are great for info you want to display to the user, but if you're 
just using them for general storage you might consider using a custom 
property anyway.

To get data in and out of a field, given the various style run 
mechanisms and other special considerations, the process is a lot more 
work under the hood than using a custom property.

For the benefit of anyone who's never had to deal with the tedium of
low-level languages, you can visualize what's happening by imagining
needing to alter the contents of two buckets:

1. PROPERTY: This bucket is on the floor right in front of you.

2. FIELD: This bucket is in a room down the hall and around the corner, 
turn left, then go through the first door, turn right, go through the 
double-doors, then take the hall on the left to the staircase, go 
downstairs, and on your right you'll find a storage bin -- the bucket is 
in the bin, behind a mop. Before you can pick up the bucket you'll need 
to move the mop, but the mop is wet so you'll need to put some rags on 
the floor in front of you to catch the moisture so it doesn't make the 
floor unsafe. You'll find some rags in the next room through the door on 
the right, inside a metal box. Be sure to put the lid back on the box 
after retrieving the rags so you don't let mice nest there. Back in the 
storage room spread the rags out sufficiently to catch the moisture but 
not so many that you trip over them, then put the mop on them, and then 
get the bucket. After changing the bucket's contents you'll want to put 
it back first, then the mop, then collect all of the rags and put them 
in the laundry hamper in the room on the left. To make sure the cleaning 
crew knows to wash the rags you'll need to fill out the laundry request 
form you'll find on a clipboard hanging on the wall next to the light 
switch. After it's filled out be sure to turn off the light in the 
laundry room and the one in the storage room, and then return to where 
you started.

In terms of the number of instructions to access the contents of a 
property vs. a field, this comparison with buckets is probably missing a 
few steps in #2. And if there's a scrollbar attached to the field then 
double the number of steps. :)

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Media Corporation
  __________________________________________________
  Rev tools and more: http://www.fourthworld.com/rev


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