[Newbies] Method Finder puzzles

tjohnson at iwu.eduSat Dec 20 03:31:10 UTC 2008

Hi,

Could be a pointless question, but maybe an answer would teach me something about syntax.

I found some things that I can type into Method Finder which show up as results, but have no senders and no implementors. These things are ~, ^, #, %, (, <>, and ** . I understand why the single-character entries could be exceptional, but the <> and ** puzzle me.

Why is this? I can type in >>>, ***, &%, or ^^ and not get them back as a result.

) is in a league of its own -- it shows up as a result, and when you click on it, you get a subscript out of bounds error.

Maybe this is all just Method Finder magic and I should slowly step away.

I played with Method Finder very lightly. Then I found that Message Names Finder was much easier to use. 5 years after that discovery I found the short cut to use it. Selected a phrase fragment and type Cmd-Shif-W. The Message Name Finder will appear with all the selectors containing that fragment. It is not as focused as Method Finder. Still, personally, I would rather make a guess at the name of a selector and take my chances with the list I get.

The Method Finder takes maintenance and updating to work. And there doesn't seem to be anyone who cares to do that.

I think there is a rule that anything with complicated dependencies in squeak (our branch) tends to break.

Consequence of too many cooks who add ingredients w/o understanding the previous makeup of the stew.

Anyway try the Message Name Finder and see if it serves.

Yours in curiosity and service, --Jerome Peace