Inform Edit

Amendments | Installation | Notes | Conversion Issues | Known Problems | Suggestions Wanted

Version 2.2 - 21st January 2000

Inform Edit is a simple text editor written specifically to cater for Inform story source files, making the job of creating and amending story files easier by the use of colour-coded text and a visual representation of the objects and functions that make up the story file:

The current version supports the following features:

Future enhancements may be made to include the following:


Amendments

2.2 21st Jan 2000
  • Bug: Adding a new object with a class did not leave a space between the class declaration and the object name.
  • Bug: Popup menu on the tree view kept appearing when navigating using the cursor keys.
  • Bug: Changing the object tree view did not save any amendments to the current object code.
  • Bug: Deleted classes still showed in the Class drop-down list when creating a new object.
  • Clicking in the object tree on the module that is currently displayed no longer refreshes the code window.
  • Tree View font can now be changed to the user's own preference.
  • Deleting objects no longer re-draws the object tree.
  • Compilation results window now stays on top and retains its prevoius size and placement.
  • Compiler errors and warnings can be located by double-clicking on the results window.
  • Spawned compiler and interpreter windows are now shut down so that multiple copies are not active, cluttering up memory.
  • Compile and Run toolbar buttons implemented.
  • 'Run' changes to 'Compile and Run' if the file has changed and needs compiling.
  • Object tree is now sorted alphabetically within Class or Location or Type.
2.1.15 12th Jan 2000
  • Inform Edit now loads the .inf file double-clicked on in Explorer (after associating .inf with Inform Edit).
  • Adding a function now allows the entry of the function's parameters.
  • Edit menu now expanded to include Add Class/Object/Function options (some people didn't find the popup menu that appears when 'right-clicking' on the tree view).
  • Delete... menu option is now disabled when the selected module is one that should not (or could not) be deleted.
  • Bug: Amending the font size without selecting the font itself caused the program to crash.
  • Bug: After adding a new module, the new module's code is now displayed straight away.
  • Bug: Adding a new module with the same name as a previously deleted module was not being allowed.
2.1.8 11th Jan 2000
  • Added option to set the tab widths in the main editing window (defaults to 0.5inch).
  • Main editing window now supports persistent indents.
  • Compiler output is now displayed in a separate results window.
  • Bug: Closing a file while in Modular View did not disable the view drop-down, resulting in a program crash.
  • Bug: Splash screen and About screen typos corrected.
  • Bug: Switching from Full to Modular view after creating a new Object in a new file crashed the program.
  • Bug: Running the story having compiled to a version other than V5, did not find the story file.
  • Bug: Switching background colour in main editing window was not being applied.
2.1.0 7th Jan 2000
  • Compiler and Interpreter Options implemented.
  • Compile and Run menu options implemented.
  • Splitter Bar added to allow the resizing of the tree view and main editing window.
  • Fixed bug whereby the last changed module was not saved when switching between Full and Modular views.
  • Removed Window menu as it was inappropriate at this time.
  • Fixed bug where opening and closing the Options window when no file was loaded crashed the program.
2.0.0 1st Jan 2000
  • Full/Modular views implemented
  • Quoted text that fit on one line and was followed by other, non-quoted text, was not imported. This has been fixed.
  • Library files (*.h) now load and display correctly (at least those that I have tried!).
1.0.1 1st Dec 1999
  • Closing down Inform Edit now prompts to save amendments.

Installation


Notes

When loading Story files created outside of Inform Edit, Inform Edit may make amendments to ensure that it will compile cleanly when saved.

The changes that may be made are:


Conversion Issues

Inform allows the programmer to specify the initial locations of objects in one of two ways:

Relative

Putting '->' between the object declaration and the object's name indicates that this object will start 'inside' the previous 'stand-alone' object (i.e. one not defined inside another).

Putting '-> ->' between the object declaration and the object's name indicates that this object will start 'inside' the previous object that was defined 'inside' another 'stand-alone' object. This may not be the object defined immediately before this object, which can sometimes cause confusion (especially with Inform newcomers).

e.g. from the Inform Designer's Manual:

Object "bucket" ...
Object -> "starfish" ...
Object -> "oyster" ...
Object -> -> "pearl" ...
Object -> "sand" ...

(where the bulk of the definitions are here abbreviated to "..."), sets up the tree structure 

     "bucket"
	!
    "starfish"> "oyster"> "sand"
		   !
		"pearl"
Absolute

Inform also allows for absolute definition of an object's initial location by putting the name of the location after the object's textual short name.

e.g., the above example can be defined as:

Object bucket "bucket"...
Object starfish "starfish" bucket...
Object oyster "oyster" bucket...
Object "pearl" oyster...
Object "sand" bucket...

As Inform Edit allows the author to work at the object level, the '->' loses its meaning because the previous objects are not visible. Because of this, when Inform source is imported, all '->' are converted to absolute location names.


Known Problems


Suggestions Wanted (email:paul@jcls.freeserve.co.uk)

Please feel free to report any problems that you may experience with Inform Edit, as well as any ideas that you'd like to see in an editor for Inform.

Enjoy.

Paul de Valmency

Inform Edit is distributed as Freeware, however full copyright is retained by the Author.