Thread: "Macros"

From: <thesamer@interia.pl>
Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2006 09:30:01 +0200
Subject: Macros



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Hello Melinda!

Thanks for your time and work on macros.

I tested program and here are few notes:

-I can save macros and use them but after closing program I can't read the =
file...and macros are gone (there is some bug)

-reverse macro should be done just by clicking on the name macro with (for =
example) SHIFT holded;

-three reference pieces..hmmm During hyperspeedsolving I noticed that I los=
e a lot time for clicking so I choose 1.First Piece (24), 2.Second (27), 3.=
Third (27). SO there is a question. Are three pieces are necessary? Maybe t=
wo (but very specific) are just fine? I don't know

-for funcionality -> I suggest looking on linux version:
http://genezis.autko.net/Hypercubes/During%20work/slides/hyperspeedcubing.=
html

It's really good. (Macros on the right/left side. As I say 'Reverse' should=
be just by clicking on macro name with Shift holded). Panel with macros wi=
ll take a little space.

I really like idea with using last macro ->(Ctr+A).


Best regards,
Remi



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>




Hello Melinda!

 

Thanks for your time and work on=20
macros.

 

I tested program and here are fONT=20
face=3DVerdana size=3D1>ew notes:

 

-I can save macros and use them but afte=
r closing=20
program I can't read the file...and macros are gone (there is some=20
bug)

 

-reverse macro should be done just by cl=
icking on=20
the name macro with (for example) SHIFT holded;

 

-three reference pieces..hmmm During=20
hyperspeedsolving I noticed that I lose a lot time for clicking s=
o I=20
choose 1.First Piece (24), 2.Second (27), 3.Third (27). SO there is a quest=
ion.=20
Are three pieces are necessary? Maybe two (but very specific) are just fine=
? I=20
don't know

 

-for funcionality -> I suggest lookin=
g on=20
linux version:

 href=3D"http://genezis.autko.net/Hypercubes/During%20work/slides/hyperspeed=
cubing.html">http://genezis.autko.net/Hypercubes/During%20work/slides/hyper=
speedcubing.html

 

It's really good. rdana=20
size=3D1>(Macros on the right/left side. As I say 'Reverse' should be =
just by=20
clicking on macro name with Shift holded). Panel with macros will take=
a=20
little space.

 

I really like idea with using last macro=
=20
->(Ctr+A).

 

 

Best regards,

Remi

 

 

 



12px Courier New, Courier, monotype.com; padding: 3px; background: #ffffff;=
color: #000000">----------------------------------------------------------=
------------=0D

PS. Fajny portal... >>> h=
ttp://link.interia.pl/f196a


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From: Melinda Green <melinda@superliminal.com>
Date: Fri, 04 Aug 2006 22:05:39 -0700
Subject: Re: [MC4D] Macros



Hello Remi!

Thank you very much for testing the macro implementation. I also noticed
that you used it in to achieve your recent shortest 4^4. Excellent!

Regarding your problem saving, Did you select the "Macros->Write Macro
File" or "Macros->Write Macro File As" option after defining them but
before closing the program? Macros are only saved when you explicitly
tell it to. They should automatically load from the last file you
successfully saved or opened but you will need to save them at least
once to get them to automatically reload. If you did try to save them,
did you see any sort of error message in the status area at the bottom
of the window or in the Java console?

Thanks for posting the screenshot of the Linux version. I like your
suggestion for the shift-click; Or perhaps I'll just do an extra row of
buttons though since that is clear. I'm still not clear how to do the
reverse moves but I'll fool around with that a little more. Perhaps I
just did something stupid.

I also intend to let users specify a hot-key for each macro so that they
can access all of them from the keyboard and not just the last one.

About the possibility of using fewer reference stickers, I think that
you would need 3 noncolinear stickers to identify a unique reference in
general but perhaps there are special cases where you don't really need
that. I don't really know. That is a question for Don or Roice.

-Melinda

thesamer@interia.pl wrote:
> Hello Melinda!
>
> Thanks for your time and work on macros.
>
> I tested program and here are few notes:
>
> -I can save macros and use them but after closing program I can't read
> the file...and macros are gone (there is some bug)
>
> -reverse macro should be done just by clicking on the name macro with
> (for example) SHIFT holded;
>
> -three reference pieces..hmmm During hyperspeedsolving I noticed that
> I lose a lot time for clicking so I choose 1.First Piece (24),
> 2.Second (27), 3.Third (27). SO there is a question. Are three pieces
> are necessary? Maybe two (but very specific) are just fine? I don't know
>
> -for funcionality -> I suggest looking on linux version:
> http://genezis.autko.net/Hypercubes/During%20work/slides/hyperspeedcubing.html
>
> It's really good. (Macros on the right/left side. As I say 'Reverse'
> should be just by clicking on macro name with Shift holded). Panel
> with macros will take a little space.
>
> I really like idea with using last macro ->(Ctr+A).
>
>
> Best regards,
> Remi
>
>




From: Melinda Green <melinda@superliminal.com>
Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2006 11:44:34 -0700
Subject: Re: [MC4D] Macros



Remi,

Thank you for sending me screenshots showing the problem. That was very
helpful. It was a puzzling problem but I believe that I have fixed it.
Please try version 3.1.1 which is now posted and let me know if you find
any more problems.

Note that I also implemented your shift-click suggestion. If you hold
down the shift (or any other modifier key) when you select a macro from
the sub-menu, it will execute in reverse. I plan to add the macro
buttons similar to the Linux version later.

-Melinda

thesamer@interia.pl wrote:
> Hello Melinda!
>
> Thanks for your time and work on macros.
>
> I tested program and here are few notes:
>
> -I can save macros and use them but after closing program I can't read
> the file...and macros are gone (there is some bug)
>
> -reverse macro should be done just by clicking on the name macro with
> (for example) SHIFT holded;
>
> -three reference pieces..hmmm During hyperspeedsolving I noticed that
> I lose a lot time for clicking so I choose 1.First Piece (24),
> 2.Second (27), 3.Third (27). SO there is a question. Are three pieces
> are necessary? Maybe two (but very specific) are just fine? I don't know
>
> -for funcionality -> I suggest looking on linux version:
> http://genezis.autko.net/Hypercubes/During%20work/slides/hyperspeedcubing.html
>
> It's really good. (Macros on the right/left side. As I say 'Reverse'
> should be just by clicking on macro name with Shift holded). Panel
> with macros will take a little space.
>
> I really like idea with using last macro ->(Ctr+A).
>
>
> Best regards,
> Remi
>
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> PS. Fajny portal... >>> http://link.interia.pl/f196a
>




From: Don Hatch <hatch@plunk.org>
Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2006 11:38:29 -0700
Subject: Re: [MC4D] Macros



Regarding an arbitrary number of reference stickers... it would make sense.
3 is always sufficient, so in the original
implementation I made it always 3 for simplicity-- if you want 2 or 1 instead,
you can just click one of the reference stickers twice
(e.g. 24, 27,27 as Remi described), or 3 times, which is kind of ugly
but it works.
Even a 0-reference-stickers macro makes sense, since
sometimes the orientation of the cube doesn't matter at all--
e.g. a checkerboard macro.

I think allowing a variable number of reference stickers
would make the concept a bit harder to learn initially
("click 3 reference stickers" is a nice clear non-intimidating
solid chunk for a newbie to bite off;
"click reference stickers and hit ctrl-m when you're done"
is a more confusing by comparison). But, once the concept and
workflow is learned, I think variable number of reference stickers
would be nicer to use.

Bugs and enhancement requests for the version I just downloaded:
- should say "Hit ctrl-m when finished" instead of
"Hit 'm' when finished"
- I think it always applies in reverse,
whether or not I have shift down?
- after I cancel instead of naming the macro,
it makes a macro named "null"
- would be nice to have a keyboard-only way
to invoke a macro (menus are really tedious)
- menus "remove macro definition" and "rename macro definition"
would be nice-- I seldom get the macro right the first time,
and so I end up with a lot of garbage macros in the list.
- macro names with '@' in them are silently lost when saved/loaded,
I think

Don

On Fri, Aug 04, 2006 at 10:05:39PM -0700, Melinda Green wrote:
> Hello Remi!
>
> Thank you very much for testing the macro implementation. I also noticed
> that you used it in to achieve your recent shortest 4^4. Excellent!
>
> Regarding your problem saving, Did you select the "Macros->Write Macro
> File" or "Macros->Write Macro File As" option after defining them but
> before closing the program? Macros are only saved when you explicitly
> tell it to. They should automatically load from the last file you
> successfully saved or opened but you will need to save them at least
> once to get them to automatically reload. If you did try to save them,
> did you see any sort of error message in the status area at the bottom
> of the window or in the Java console?
>
> Thanks for posting the screenshot of the Linux version. I like your
> suggestion for the shift-click; Or perhaps I'll just do an extra row of
> buttons though since that is clear. I'm still not clear how to do the
> reverse moves but I'll fool around with that a little more. Perhaps I
> just did something stupid.
>
> I also intend to let users specify a hot-key for each macro so that they
> can access all of them from the keyboard and not just the last one.
>
> About the possibility of using fewer reference stickers, I think that
> you would need 3 noncolinear stickers to identify a unique reference in
> general but perhaps there are special cases where you don't really need
> that. I don't really know. That is a question for Don or Roice.
>
> -Melinda
>
> thesamer@interia.pl wrote:
> > Hello Melinda!
> >
> > Thanks for your time and work on macros.
> >
> > I tested program and here are few notes:
> >
> > -I can save macros and use them but after closing program I can't read
> > the file...and macros are gone (there is some bug)
> >
> > -reverse macro should be done just by clicking on the name macro with
> > (for example) SHIFT holded;
> >
> > -three reference pieces..hmmm During hyperspeedsolving I noticed that
> > I lose a lot time for clicking so I choose 1.First Piece (24),
> > 2.Second (27), 3.Third (27). SO there is a question. Are three pieces
> > are necessary? Maybe two (but very specific) are just fine? I don't know
> >
> > -for funcionality -> I suggest looking on linux version:
> > http://genezis.autko.net/Hypercubes/During%20work/slides/hyperspeedcubing.html
> >
> > It's really good. (Macros on the right/left side. As I say 'Reverse'
> > should be just by clicking on macro name with Shift holded). Panel
> > with macros will take a little space.
> >
> > I really like idea with using last macro ->(Ctr+A).
> >
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Remi
> >
> >
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

--
Don Hatch
hatch@plunk.org
http://www.plunk.org/~hatch/




From: Melinda Green <melinda@superliminal.com>
Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2006 13:05:20 -0700
Subject: Re: [MC4D] Macros



Don Hatch wrote:
> Regarding an arbitrary number of reference stickers... it would make sense.
> 3 is always sufficient, so in the original
> implementation I made it always 3 for simplicity-- if you want 2 or 1 instead,
> you can just click one of the reference stickers twice
> (e.g. 24, 27,27 as Remi described), or 3 times, which is kind of ugly
> but it works.
> Even a 0-reference-stickers macro makes sense, since
> sometimes the orientation of the cube doesn't matter at all--
> e.g. a checkerboard macro.
>
> I think allowing a variable number of reference stickers
> would make the concept a bit harder to learn initially
> ("click 3 reference stickers" is a nice clear non-intimidating
> solid chunk for a newbie to bite off;
> "click reference stickers and hit ctrl-m when you're done"
> is a more confusing by comparison). But, once the concept and
> workflow is learned, I think variable number of reference stickers
> would be nicer to use.
>

What are the ramifications when using fewer reference stickers with your
PolygonManager API? Would I simply copy the last reference however many
times needed to supply 3 refs or what?

> Bugs and enhancement requests for the version I just downloaded:
> - should say "Hit ctrl-m when finished" instead of
> "Hit 'm' when finished"
>

Done.

> - I think it always applies in reverse,
> whether or not I have shift down?
>

Good eyes. It worked OK when triggered via the Macros sub-menu but it
was my fault that I broke it when triggered via a. Should be fixed
now.

> - after I cancel instead of naming the macro,
> it makes a macro named "null"
>

Thanks again. This too should now be fixed.

> - would be nice to have a keyboard-only way
> to invoke a macro (menus are really tedious)
> - menus "remove macro definition" and "rename macro definition"
> would be nice-- I seldom get the macro right the first time,
> and so I end up with a lot of garbage macros in the list.
>

I intend to implement these and other niceties in subsequent versions. I
just wanted to get feedback on the basic functionality first to make
sure that I'm not building on top of a stupid or broken design.

> - macro names with '@' in them are silently lost when saved/loaded,
> I think

I kept the '@' delimiters that were used in the original C
implementation that you or Jay wrote though I suppose I could remove
that but then you would not be able to use the '(' key that denotes the
beginning of the reference data. It seems like there needs to be some
forbidden character so I suppose that '@' is as good as any but I'm very
open to suggestions.

Thanks for the detailed feedback Don,
-Melinda




From: Don Hatch <hatch@plunk.org>
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2006 11:19:16 -0700
Subject: Re: [MC4D] Macros



On Sat, Aug 12, 2006 at 01:05:20PM -0700, Melinda Green wrote:
> Don Hatch wrote:
> > Regarding an arbitrary number of reference stickers... it would make sense.
> > 3 is always sufficient, so in the original
> > implementation I made it always 3 for simplicity-- if you want 2 or 1 instead,
> > you can just click one of the reference stickers twice
> > (e.g. 24, 27,27 as Remi described), or 3 times, which is kind of ugly
> > but it works.
> > Even a 0-reference-stickers macro makes sense, since
> > sometimes the orientation of the cube doesn't matter at all--
> > e.g. a checkerboard macro.
> >
> > I think allowing a variable number of reference stickers
> > would make the concept a bit harder to learn initially
> > ("click 3 reference stickers" is a nice clear non-intimidating
> > solid chunk for a newbie to bite off;
> > "click reference stickers and hit ctrl-m when you're done"
> > is a more confusing by comparison). But, once the concept and
> > workflow is learned, I think variable number of reference stickers
> > would be nicer to use.
> >
>
> What are the ramifications when using fewer reference stickers with your
> PolygonManager API? Would I simply copy the last reference however many
> times needed to supply 3 refs or what?
Yeah, I think that would work fine if the underlying function
wants 3. And for a zero-reference-sticker
macro, just pick any canonical sticker and repeat it 3 times.

> I intend to implement these and other niceties in subsequent versions. I
> just wanted to get feedback on the basic functionality first to make
> sure that I'm not building on top of a stupid or broken design.
It looks good to me.

>
> > - macro names with '@' in them are silently lost when saved/loaded,
> > I think
>
> I kept the '@' delimiters that were used in the original C
> implementation that you or Jay wrote though I suppose I could remove
> that but then you would not be able to use the '(' key that denotes the
> beginning of the reference data. It seems like there needs to be some
> forbidden character so I suppose that '@' is as good as any but I'm very
> open to suggestions.
Ooh that sucks. I forgot we had that limitation in the C version.
I'd do some escapification thing, e.g. encode @ as two @'s maybe.

Don





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