AutoHyperEdit
Volume Number: 4
Issue Number: 7
Column Tag: HyperChat™
Auto Hyper Edit Moves in Groups 
By Fred Stauder, HyperChat Editor, Zurich, Switzerland
Over the last few months we have seen the evolution of Hypercard Stacks. We
have also been evolving AutoScriptEdit by showing you how to increase the
functionality while retaining simplicity. I have had a lot of feedback about ASE and
most people prefer it to the inbuilt shortcuts in Hypercard 1.2.
So what was I to do for an encore, well I always wanted to group and move buttons
etc. Souix Lacey did a great job with Groupies, and I wondered if I could make
Hypercard act more in a Mac way. I decided to write AutoHyperEdit.
Well I started experimenting and I was thoroughly addicted to solving the
problem. Even half way throug writing it I thought it would be impossible to get around
some obstacles that would make it work. The script basically allows the user to shift
and click on objects to group them. The problem was if you clicked on a button for
example after my stack had done it’s stuff it would then execute the button that was
clicked on. So I couldn’t use nice things like target. The way I got around that was to
check what objects were under the mouse at the time of the shiftKey.
After I had the scripting finished I decided I would make a model Installer and
Demo Stack. I will first take you through the Stack and then get into how and what was
done.
figure 1. AutoHyperEdit
The opening card shows what a little shading can do to add depth to your stack. The
buttons I created to give as much feedback as possible. When you click on a button it
appears to move in and the center black square turns to white. This is done by
switching icons. Also to implement more feedback a click sound is heard.
I can’t stress the importance of a good user interface particularly in Hypercard.
At least half of my time in this project was spent on the interface. Apple is spending a
lot of dollars on interface technology and have recognised the need for using it to aid in
the smooth information flow between computer and machine. There is a group at Apple
called the Human Interface Group, their sole job is to work on interface ideas and
guidelines. If you have not read the Human Interface Guidelines do so immediately. It is
a must. The guidlines are available through APDA and in some Bookshops and Computer
Stores.
If you go to the examples card you will see three new buttons; “Script Tools”,
“Object Tools” and “Aligning Tools”.
figure 2.
The Script Tools are the tools found in AutoScriptEdit-III. I use an interesting
way to demo how the tools are to be used. There is part of a keyboard and part of a
mouse pad and a mouse in the bottom left of the card, see figure 3.
figure 3.
When you click on a selection, you also get visual and auditory feedback, a field
pops up along with two buttons; “Close” and “Show Me”.
figure 4.
Clicking on “Show Me” Starts the demo. First the cursor dissapears and an icon
that is identical to the cursor is shown at the point of interest. To attract the attention
to the moving parts I “flash” (hilite/unhilite) both the cursor and the the mouse icon.
now I play the tune:
play harpsichord tempo 1200 c5 c6 c7
This signifies the start of what you should do. I then play the word “mousedown”
which has been digitized. The icon changes showing a mouse with the button down. I
showed the original demo’s to non Mac users and they could follow how to do it easily.