[ANN] bnGuides alignment tool on livecodeshare

[stam]

OK loving this plugin even more now, thank guys...
Really gotta wonder why this isn't built into the IDE already...

[bogs]

I have often wondered the very same thing myself. I wish I could tell you why, but have no idea.

[bobcole]

Bernd:
This is a brilliant tool!
Many thanks for making it available.
Bob

[stam]

@bernd - re: error with groups.

Not infrequently when working with groups an error is thrown by bnGuides - something about the selected object not found.

To get rid of this I have to close down bnGuides, ensure no object is selected then relaunch bnGuides and select something. Then it tends to work ok. Tho is only something I’ve semi-regularly experienced using groups (as in moving or editing and then stop editing and moving.

I’ll be honest I haven’t paid exact attention to the recipe to reproduce this error but will post here if I do, with screenshots etc.

Stam

[bn]

@bernd - re: error with groups.

Not infrequently when working with groups an error is thrown by bnGuides - something about the selected object not found.

To get rid of this I have to close down bnGuides, ensure no object is selected then relaunch bnGuides and select something. Then it tends to work ok. Tho is only something I’ve semi-regularly experienced using groups (as in moving or editing and then stop editing and moving.

I’ll be honest I haven’t paid exact attention to the recipe to reproduce this error but will post here if I do, with screenshots etc.

Stam

I would be interested in a recipe. I tried all kind of things with groups, in edit mode or not and have not yet seen that.

Kind regards
Bernd

[mwieder]

Stam-

You may be running into something with behaviors. Some time back I tried modifying bnGuides to be in the background all the time because it's so useful I didn't want to be without it.

But bnGuides assigns a behavior script to the object(s) being moved and then removes that behavior afterwards. If you've got a chain of behaviors then this can mess things up if you use it too much. Enabling bnGuides when needed and then closing it afterwards seems to work fine.

I haven't found a good way around this. Possibly assigning the behavior temporarily at the end of the behavior chain, but I haven't looked into that.

[stam]

Yes that sounds about right. Behaviours are probably the issue as I use them liberally.

I’m currently on a Greek island so can’t investigate further right now (more for business that for vacation, but it’s hard not to go into vacation mode on a Greek island!) but will confirm when I’m back.

[mwieder]

Heh. Enjoy the "business" then.

[stam]

I would be interested in a recipe. I tried all kind of things with groups, in edit mode or not and have not yet seen that.

Kind regards
Bernd

I have replicated the error i get by doing this:
I have this group on a card. It has a behaviour script attached to it (as i have several such groups on the card, it makes sense to centralise the script)

If i move the group no problem, alignment works as expected.. If i 'edit group', so some aligning of the controls inside it again, no problem.
If I then 'stop editing' and try to move the group, the first thing that happens is this:

then unless i kill the handler in bnGuides that is causing the problem (possibly drawLeftX), these error messages constantly pop up:

Happens with enough frequency that it's become a slight annoyance...
This doesn't happen with devguides...

Hope that helps narrow down the issue - as @mwieder mentioned this may well be due to the existing behaviour script as it I can't replicate this with simple groups without a behaviour attached.
Stam

[stam]

I would be interested in a recipe. I tried all kind of things with groups, in edit mode or not and have not yet seen that.

Hi Bernd,
I attach a stripped down stack that can reproduce the issue.
The peculiarities in this case are that group contain sub-groups (although I haven't tested to see if this happens if that's not the case), and you have to at least select or move a sub-group to trigger the issue.

The stack contains explicit instructions on how to reproduce the error...

Hope this helps!
Stam

[bn]

I would be interested in a recipe. I tried all kind of things with groups, in edit mode or not and have not yet seen that.

Further to this i attach a stripped down stack that can reproduce the issue.
The peculiarities in this case are that group contain sub-groups (although I haven't tested to see if this happens if that's not the case)

The stack contains explicit instructions on how to reproduce the error...

Hope this helps!
Stam

Thank you for that stack. I will investigate it and try to find a remedy. (If I ever come back from the nested behavior land)

KInd regards
Bernd

[bn]

Hi Stam,

I have a hard time debugging the problem you describe when coming back from "Edit Group" to normal editing via "Stop Editing". However you can avoid the problem of the debugger popping up by deselecting any selection when you come back from "Edit Group" and reselecting the group you are targeting.
Also in case the debugger pops up clicking on the blue debugger button stops the debugger and you can resume your work normally. No need to quit Livecode.

The problem is that there is no message I have found to know when the user returns from "Edit Group" and take action.

I will investigate further but can not make any promises.

Kind regards
Bernd

[stam]

Thanks Bernd, will keep in mind….

[bn]

In response to @Stam who reported a bug when using bnGuides 0.5.0 after "Editing Groups" I think I have found the reason.
When in "Edit Group" mode and using bnGuides the guides are created within the group that is edited. After "Stop Editing" the guides are within the group and the attempt to set the layer of the guides to Top resulted in an error.

Here is version bnGuides 0.5.2 which in my testing avoids the error described above.

I would be grateful if this could be tested before I upload the new version to Livecodeshare/Sample Stacks

Kind regards
Bernd

[stam]

Thanks Bernd, will give it a test when possible!