grouping

[Dar Scott]

On Sunday, April 25, 2004, at 05:15 AM, Jim Hurley wrote:
> it is a mystery to me why
>      do "group" && controlList
> might work, and why the execution of a single statement like:
>      group controlList
> does not.

I wondered the same kind of thing when I first tried to do special 
effects with the effect specified with a variable.

Though there are special cases where this can and is done, in general 
it cannot be.

Consider these:
      put 1+2 into c
      put "1+2" into c

In the latter case we expect c to contain "1+2", not 3.  We do not 
expect the 'put' command to penetrate the first parameter and evaluate 
it.

But consider these:

      disable button "x"

      put the name of button "x" into y
      disable y

Disable a string does not make sense.  Here as you might expect, 
disable works both places.  However, many folks familiar with other 
languages might be surprised at this.  I don't understand all the 
nuances, but I use this..  Allowing string expressions to specify 
objects might put a greater load on runtime.

(This kind of thing often works with color but not special effects.)

Another way to think about it is that an object may be specified by a 
string expression.

I guess that may be the limit.  Though an object may be specified by a 
string value, a group of objects cannot.

Dar Scott