LiveCode Forums.

How long should a person wait before asking for help?

There is a lot of available helps out there, but they remind me of the cryptic IBM manuals, i.e., they are great for operators who already know how to run the IBM machines, but anyone who is unfamiliar with the device will not gain anything useful at the outset. To date, every new thing I have faced in learning LC has required a visit to this forum, but only after several hours to two days (no kidding) of trying to find something which made sense. Given how many new things I will have to learn adds up to a lot of calendar.

So, how long do *you* wait before asking a question? How many minutes, hours, days, etc. should one wait before seeking assistance on the LiveCode forum?

FWIW - One of my pet peeves is seeing questions on forums that clearly indicate the poster didn't even read "Chapter 1" of the tutorial for [Fill-in-the-Blank]. In case you are wondering, I have been reading the "Getting Started" articles, but I keep coming up with oddball things like trying to have the text in a box automatically selected when I click in it. So, how do I search for something like that? Well, I started by examining every item in the dictionary which had "select" in the term. Nope, no joy. It took me over an hour to examine each one. Am I just dense or is it not reasonable to assume "select"-ing text *should* be listed in the search results for the string "select?!?"

[Calvin hides under the credenza.]

Hi Calvin,
I did write a paragraph on the first part of your ? but decided that it was too questionable.

For the second part;

...but I keep coming up with oddball things like trying to have the text in a box automatically selected when I click in it.

Yes, you have to have "lock text" selected for the field and that is not clearly explained. But trust me, before your post I didn't know how to do it, not saying I'm smart, I just fudged around a bit.
The key to figuring that out was that the "selection bar cursor" shows up if you don't have "lock text" selected for the field (also mouseUp does not get passed to the field without it).

I wonder if HyperCards attraction was it was a playground for discovery.

Simon

If you want a more rapid response to questions the Use-List is a better bet.

After about 12 years I am still asking "goofy" questions there, and the other members of the Use-List are usually kind enough to respond with helpful suggestions really rapidly.

I tend to post when I have exhausted all my ideas and need an answer immediately. I do this because immediately after posting I usually manage to realize that I was doing something dumb, thereby solving the problem.

Well done, 'edgore', that is SO true.