usableDesktop

[Richmond]

On 04/02/2013 12:13 PM, Jacques Hausser wrote:
> Richmond,
>
> Sorry for being slow, I tried one of my old stacks to check if it was using "effective screenrect", and got stuck with a full screen display impossible to leave without a password - and of course I have forgotten the password !
>
> For the effective screenloc:
>
> intoduced: 1.0
> changed: 5.5.3

That is a bit misleading:

'effective' was introduced in version 1.0

'effective screenLoc' was introduced in version 5.5.3

and where this leaves you 'effective screenRect' I just don't know.

now, in LC 4.5 if I write:

put the screenLoc I get a pair of numbers that tell me where on
my desktop my stack's centre is . . .

I assume (???) that 'effective screenLoc', similarly, will present one
with a pair of numbers that differ slightly.

Those 2 numbers, either way, will tell me bu**er all about whether I have
screen furniture left, right, top or bottom, or how much my screen furniture
obtrudes on the desktop.

If (using LC 4.5) I have a script like this:

on mouseUp
    put the screenRect & " - " & the screenLoc into fld "SKREEN"
end mouseUp

I get a quad of comma delimited numbers (the 3rd and 4th being useful as 
they tell me the
screenRect) followed by my dash, followed by a pair of comma delimited 
numbers telling me
where my stack is centred.

Now . . .

IFF later versions of LC (pace 5.5.3) have BOTH 'effective screenRect' 
and 'effective screenLoc'
that would be very useful

---- pause for parenthetic bitchiness ----

I wonder why the 'userguide.pdf' available for download from the RunRev 
website has not
been updated since 2010 ????

---- end of pause ----

as one could use those 2 in tandem for all sorts of resizing and 
repositioning exercises.

I assume (???) that, on most computers, 'effective screenRect' will 
yield a smaller pair of 3rd and 4th numbers to 'screenRect',

and I assume (???) that 'effective screenLoc' will do likewise as it 
will count the bottom of any
top-located startbar/taskbar/menubar/dock as the top of the 'effective 
screenRect', and so on
with stuff along the sides and bottom of one's desktop.

I suppose, if one were very clever (???) by comparing 'screenLoc' and 
'effective screenLoc' one could
work out the difference in width and height of one's usable desktop 
versus one's actual desktop, but
that would still NOT tell one if, for instance, one had a taskbar at the 
top and a taskbar at the bottom, or only one at one of the two locations.
>
> I suppose it was first introduced for the version 5, without some subtleties for mobiles (I do not keep old docs) . So you have to wait for 6 more days …

Not really, as I would like to keep control of my program's code.

I will have to wait and see what gives with my projected Kickstarter 
campaign that is meant to run from
1 May to 1 June (attempting to raise about 5-6000 pounds); which, should 
it work would finance a shopping list that looks like this:

1. Lifetime licence to Commercial Livecode.

2. The ability to cut down my teaching duties at my EFL school to 1 day 
a week (rather than 4) for
about 6 months so that I can get through my next 3 system development 
lifecycles in 6 months
rather than 3-4 years.

------ Relatively boring, non-coding stuff following; if you are only 
interested in coding stop
          readong now. ------

I will, obviously, be interested (and about buckets more than just 
'effective screenLoc') to get my sweaty paws on Open Source Livecode 
6.0; and, although my pledge was not on the monster scale
that some others generously gave, I do like to believe I have some stake 
in the thing.

However, I am well aware of the 'price' of using Open Source Livecode: 
that one cannot hide one's
code, and, in fact, one has to make it available in such a way that 
anybody can run off with it,
twiddle it about a bit, and start pumping it out as their own.

As such that does not fuss me for stuff like the EFL standalones I keep 
making for my school, as my
income is based on my teaching and not on that software. In fact if one 
wants to be fairly crude,
that EFL software is designed for 2 reasons:

1. When the kids are using it Richmond gets enough time to pop out of 
the room and put the kettle
on for a cup of tea.

2. For some odd, inexplicable reason, kids focus far better on some 
fairly crappy, predictable grammar
exercise when it is presented in "polychromic glory" on a computer 
screen than when it is printed out
as a monochrome handout to be worked on with a pencil.

What DOES fuss me is that my 'Devawriter Pro' is not some sort of 
simplistic EFL squib pumped out
on a spare afternoon, but a lovingly crafted thing that, so far, has 
taken me about 3 and a half years
of my spare time, involving alot of thought, planning and all the other 
crap associated with developing serious software. And for that I feel 
I'd like the odd bit of financial recompense.

HOWEVER: if my Kickstarter campaign works (i.e. I raise the sum) I am 
wondering about releasing the
finished product both FREE and Open Source, on the understanding that 
there will be no further
work done on the thing subsequently. IFF I do decide to do that I will 
be able to continue development using the Open Source version.
------

Richmond.