Storing an Array as a Custom Property

[Gregory Lypny]

Hi Jacqueline,

Yes, I will.  But the documentation problem, both with the user guide and built-in help or dictionary, goes far beyond updating.  Good writing, examples, organization, and consistency in design take time.  If you type the word Array into the built-in help, the only hits you will get is for ArrayEncode and ArrayDecode but nothing for an array itself.  Someone new to LiveCode, who perhaps coincidentally got far enough into the user guide to come across arrays, would be hard-pressed to get any information about their uses or properties.  A benchmark for good documentation in my mind is the original HyperCard User Guide and HyperCard Reference Manual.  The writing is clean and the example code statements and handler snippets are carefully chosen to give the fullest scope of usage of the item in question.  Another is Mathematica's built-in documentation (and even their online documentation), where what they lack in Apple's writing and publishing suave, they make up for in comprehensiveness.  My recommendation for the Rev team would be to spend less time on rebranding and promotional splash screens and more polishing the software.

Regards,

Gregory


On Sun, Oct 3, 2010, at 10:39 AM, Jacqueline wrote:

> Message: 6
> Date: Sat, 02 Oct 2010 16:06:45 -0500
> From: "J. Landman Gay" <jacque at hyperactivesw.com>
> Subject: Re: Storing an Array as a Custom Property
> To: How to use Revolution <use-revolution at lists.runrev.com>
> Message-ID: <4CA79EE5.90308 at hyperactivesw.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
> 
> On 10/2/10 3:30 PM, Gregory Lypny wrote:
>> Thank you for your responses.  It's an interesting thread.  So, if
>> I've understood correctly, the LiveCode manual is incorrect because
>> arrays can, in fact, be stored as custom props.   Not one to
>> complain, but probably the only thing that saps my productivity in
>> working with Rev or LiveCode is the poor documentation and built-in
>> dictionary.  This list, however, is indispensable!
> 
> It would be good to report this in the QCC as a documentation error. 
> They try to find everything and update it with each new release, but 
> sometimes entries are accidentally overlooked. Documentation bugs almost 
> always get fixed quickly because they are so easy to fix.
> 
> -- 
> Jacqueline Landman Gay         |     jacque at hyperactivesw.com
> HyperActive Software           |     http://www.hyperactivesw.com