[Squeakland] Please help us test "Squeakland05"

[Scott Wallace]

Hi, Randy,

Whether or not a phrase gets automatically expanded into a new Script 
when you drop it into a container depends on what the *container* 
decides is the right thing to do.  This is governed by the "playfield 
option" named "auto-phrase-expansion", which you can see and set from 
the "playfield options" menu of the container.

By default, BookPageMorphs, which are what the pages of a "Book" 
consist of, do *not* have the "auto-phrase-expansion" flag set, which 
is why when you drop a phrase in such a container, it does not 
automatically expand into a Script.

If you want a particular BookPage or Playfield to *have* that kind of 
behavior, bring up its Playfield Options menu, find the relevant 
checkbox, and check it.  Thenceforth, it will have that behavior.

Conversely, if you should happen *not* to want that kind of behavior 
on your "desktop" (aka the "world"), you can bring up the "playfield 
options" menu for the "world" and *uncheck* the auto-phrase-expansion 
option.

Experience has proven that both alternatives are really necessary, 
and we've set the defaults the way they are (on for the World, on for 
a "Scripting Area", off for a generic Playfield, off for a Holder, 
off for a default BookPage) based on perceived needs over the years.

So... what recourse do you have?

(1)  You can set the "auto-phrase-expansion" option of your book 
page(s) to true.

(2)  Or, whenever you want a phrase to be automatically expanded into 
a script, you, simply drop the phrase on the *desktop* to get the 
script created.  Once it's created, you can pick it up and place it 
on a book-page if you wish.

(3)  Finally, if, for whatever reason, you have a bare phrase, and 
you want to get it directly converted into a new script consisting of 
that phrase, there's an option at the bottom of the PhraseTile's halo 
menu to do just that -- look for "Sprout a new scriptor around this 
phrase."

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

   -- Scott

PS:  Looking forward to seeing you in Chicago in just a few days!

At 1:32 PM -0500 8/3/05, Randy Heiland wrote:
>Perhaps I'm losing my mind, but...
>Today as I continue to add more pages to a 'Book' project, I paint an object
>on the page, open its viewer, drag one of the assignment tiles (e.g. obj x's
>position) into the page and, to my surprise, it doesn't automagically create
>a script and put the assignment tile into it.  This is unlike the behavior
>of the old image and, I thought, even the new image from my using it
>yesterday.
>
>--Randy
>
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