Groups in the message path: Trapping Mouseup

[Richard Gaskin]

Mark Wieder wrote:
 > The syntax for describing the message path gets
 > pretty gnarly.

It gets somewhat simpler when we consider the origins of the object 
model, though admittedly this is help more for us ol' timers than 
newcomers.

For newcomers I just don't mention backgrounds at all unless there's a 
specific need for it, and as long as I do that the message path is 
pretty easily learned,


HISTORY
-------

HC didn't have groups, and its background was a layer that filled the 
entire card.  For what it was, its message path was reasonable 
straightforward once you learned what the background layer is and how to 
use it.

MC had groups, far more flexible than backgrounds, and their place in 
the message path is consistent with everything else: starting at the 
control, moving on to containers the control is within.

MC's groups were super-awesome for many of us HC fans who'd dreamed of 
such a feature for years, BUT -

The MC object model had no background layer, so importing HC stacks 
would be a non-starter.

So Dr. Raney adapted the group object so that it could also serve the 
role of an HC background.  Once a group is made sharable, it acts like 
an HC group.

Sounds good, but -

It's counter to the rest of the MC object model's message path.

So, after MC became LC, Mark Waddingham explored ways to both retain the 
compatibility with HC while respecting that LC is inherently a different 
model, and split the way shared groups are handled into two properties:

sharedBehavior: allows a group to be automatically copied to new cards, 
retaining the simplicity of the object model in the message path, in 
which messages flow from the control through its containers in visual 
order (group then card then stack).

backgroundBehavior: emulates HC by altering the position of the object 
in the message path per HC's convention for backgrounds (card then 
background then stack).


CURRENT USAGE
-------------

As long as we think of backgroundBehavior as a sort of HC compatibility 
mechanism, distinguishing its affect on the message path becomes easier.

For newcomers, I don't even mention backgroundBehavior at all, 
introducing them only to sharedBehavior.  With this orientation I find 
they enjoy the benefits of shared groups and they never get confused.

-- 
Richard Gaskin
Fourth World Systems