How to set modality within IDE

[Judy Perry]

Hi,

After testing out my Rev Tour stack on a bunch of Master's Candidates in
Reading (well, okay, 5 or 6 of them), it became apparent that they (and,
presumably, other novice programmers) have problems with modality.

That is to say, the Rev interface interferes with their ability to peruse
the stack (for instance: the IDE defaults into edit mode and so I had to
run around and reset it to browse mode).  Sometimes they would
accidentally get themselves back into editing mode and would be frustrated
that clicking on things didn't do anything (or, at least not what they
expected).

So, here's my question:  Is there a way to turn off the tools palette,
etc. leaving only the menu bar visible via a script, and then turn them
back on via script when it is time for them to "peek under the hood" at
some button script?

Thanks for all the help! Acknowledgements will be found in my thesis :-D

Judy