[Divunal-devel] Random stuff...

[Glyph Lefkowitz]

On Mon, 14 Jun 1999, James Knight wrote:

> -Sentence makes too many new exceptions when there is no need (new is slow)

OK, if you can figure out some way around that, great.  I don't agree, as
it almost always throws only one.

> -Hacks for updating stuff when setting specific properties in Thing is bad
> and should be fixed to a better mechanism at some point (ie registering for
> updates or something) (added to TODO)

This is true, but I was doing it that way because I wanted the API to
function that way initially.  In the future (TR 1.2 perhaps -- we ARE
getting 1.0 out the door as a FULL RELEASE before making any changes like
this!) we will have the ability to "watch" an arbitrary property, and also
use that facility internally so we can have properties that work
"correctly".

However, for the time being, I believe that this system is satisfactory,
and will make no difference to the verb developer when we do change it, so
the API and all the verbs written for it may safely stay the same (and
let's keep track of what's really important for an engrossing game
here...) so you should leave it for now.

> -JavaDoc comment format should be followed for all members/methods, not
> just public ones. When generating the docs you can specify whether or not
> to include package and private members, so it isn't necessary to avoid
> using a javadoc comment just so it doesn't show up in external docs.

I actually didn't know this.  Feel free to javadoc all the internal stuff
you want then, I'll go and read the help for javadoc.

> -addSyn should maybe recurse for singlesyn'ing stuff. What happens if you
> have an open chair in an open box with someone sitting on it?

That was a design decision, actually.  addSyn should not recurse because
isHere should not recurse.  You have to be looking at something to operate
it.

It would make the list too clunky to look at, and it's not realistic for a
person to take in that much with just a cursory glance at a room.  I would
like you to have to look around first.

> And my pet peeve: remember, Age.log(blah) goes to the logfile. Putting a
> completely generic message like "Removed non-equivalent verb." in the
> logfile is not very useful for whoever goes and reads it later. Also having
> a completey normal failure of a verb (allow) generate log messages is
> silly. (not finding the verb when adding it to an object should send a
> message to the person adding). I've fixed most of these problems in the
> copy on my HD, after I test it against the new sources i'll commit it.

OK, OK.  You're right, and I'm glad you've fixed those things.

> Please Please Please use the tab-width and indentation of 4 that is
> standard in the source files now. Excerpts from my .emacs file might help
> you. The offsets-alist was sorta made by guess-and-check so there might be
> some missing things or something. But it seems to work for me:

I also have a .emacs files which many of the other developers are using...
it also includes some junk like a pump-compile and faucet-compile macro
for building individual Java source files using javac.

> -James

-Who else?