[PD] implementing tooltips WAS: Pd-extended 0.43 updates: lots of new editing features

[Jonathan Wilkes]

--- On Tue, 7/12/11, Hans-Christoph Steiner <hans at at.or.at> wrote:

> From: Hans-Christoph Steiner <hans at at.or.at>
> Subject: Re: implementing tooltips WAS: [PD] Pd-extended 0.43 updates: lots of new editing features
> To: "Jonathan Wilkes" <jancsika at yahoo.com>
> Cc: "Mathieu Bouchard" <matju at artengine.ca>, "Martin Peach" <martin.peach at sympatico.ca>, "pd-list" <pd-list at iem.at>
> Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2011, 8:16 PM
> On Tue, 12 Jul 2011 10:33 -0700,
> "Jonathan Wilkes" <jancsika at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > --- On Tue, 7/12/11, Hans-Christoph Steiner <hans at at.or.at>
> wrote:
> > 
> > > From: Hans-Christoph Steiner <hans at at.or.at>
> > > Subject: Re: implementing tooltips WAS: [PD]
> Pd-extended 0.43 updates: lots of new editing features
> > > To: "Jonathan Wilkes" <jancsika at yahoo.com>
> > > Cc: "Mathieu Bouchard" <matju at artengine.ca>,
> "Martin Peach" <martin.peach at sympatico.ca>,
> "pd-list" <pd-list at iem.at>
> > > Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2011, 6:39 PM
> > > 
> > > On Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:57 -0700, "Jonathan
> Wilkes" <jancsika at yahoo.com>
> > > wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > --- On Tue, 7/12/11, Hans-Christoph Steiner
> <hans at at.or.at>
> > > wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > > From: Hans-Christoph Steiner <hans at at.or.at>
> > > > > Subject: Re: implementing tooltips WAS:
> [PD]
> > > Pd-extended 0.43 updates: lots of new editing
> features
> > > > > To: "Jonathan Wilkes" <jancsika at yahoo.com>
> > > > > Cc: "Mathieu Bouchard" <matju at artengine.ca>,
> > > "Martin Peach" <martin.peach at sympatico.ca>,
> > > "pd-list" <pd-list at iem.at>
> > > > > Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2011, 4:40 AM
> > > > > 
> > > > > On Jul 11, 2011, at 10:03 PM, Jonathan
> Wilkes
> > > wrote:
> > > > > 
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > --- On Tue, 7/12/11, Mathieu
> Bouchard <matju at artengine.ca>
> > > > > wrote:
> > > > > > 
> > > > > >> From: Mathieu Bouchard <matju at artengine.ca>
> > > > > >> Subject: Re: implementing
> tooltips WAS:
> > > [PD]
> > > > > Pd-extended 0.43 updates: lots of new
> editing
> > > features
> > > > > >> To: "Hans-Christoph Steiner"
> <hans at at.or.at>
> > > > > >> Cc: "Jonathan Wilkes" <jancsika at yahoo.com>,
> > > > > "Martin Peach" <martin.peach at sympatico.ca>,
> > > > > "pd-list" <pd-list at iem.at>
> > > > > >> Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2011,
> 3:28 AM
> > > > > >> On Mon, 11 Jul 2011,
> Hans-Christoph
> > > > > >> Steiner wrote:
> > > > > >> 
> > > > > >>> IMHO, I don't think we
> should
> > > support other
> > > > > ways of
> > > > > >> specifying the help file.
> There are very
> > > few
> > > > > objects that
> > > > > >> use it, those are fixed in
> Pd-extended,
> > > it'll add
> > > > > a lot to
> > > > > >> the work of doing this, etc.
> etc.  So I
> > > say
> > > > > just take
> > > > > >> the object name and add the
> '-help' to
> > > it. 
> > > > > That covers
> > > > > >> 99.5% of objects.  Then once
> its
> > > working, it
> > > > > should be
> > > > > >> possible to go back and add
> hacks to
> > > support hacks
> > > > > ;)
> > > > > >> 
> > > > > >> c_helpname is not a hack, it
> doesn't
> > > need to be
> > > > > «fixed»,
> > > > > >> and it shouldn't be «fixed».
> It's
> > > there for a
> > > > > reason.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > One thing I'm running into is
> that
> > > c_helpname doesn't
> > > > > help with abstractions-- it obviously
> just
> > > returns
> > > > > "canvas".  I guess I could then
> compare to the
> > > first
> > > > > atom in te_binbuf and if it's not "pd"
> then it's
> > > the name of
> > > > > the abstraction.  But that still
> doesn't get me
> > > the
> > > > > dir.
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > You could look for the standard help
> patch
> > > location first,
> > > > > and if that fails, use c_helpname to
> solve the
> > > issue that
> > > > > Matju brought up.
> > > > 
> > > > That still doesn't help with abstractions,
> because
> > > c_helpname is still
> > > > "canvas".
> > > 
> > > It helps if it first finds the help patch right
> next to
> > > the
> > > abstraction's file in the same folder.
> > 
> > Given a t_object, what's the best way to tell if it's
> an abstraction,
> > and-- if it is-- how can I query its glist members
> (gl_name and the
> > canvasenvironment ce_path?)
> > 
> > >  Then it
> > > wouldn't even check
> > > c_helpname.
> > >  
> > > > Additionally, internal objects don't have a
> > > c_externdir in 0.43 vanilla,
> > > > but I guess even the vanilla objects are
> going to be
> > > in their own lib so
> > > > that won't matter going forward, right?
> > > 
> > > This is the case where it would fall back to
> using
> > > c_helpname.  Like
> > > this:
> > > 
> > > - build helpfile path using c_externdir,
> classname and
> > > '-help.pd'
> > > - else if above file does not exist, try
> c_helpname
> > > - else, use built-in defaults (or not).
> > 
> > Is there a tcl variable for the built-in default doc
> directory?
> 
> In Tcl/pd-gui:
> $::sys_libdir/doc

Oh thanks.  Wouldn't it be $::sys_libdir/doc/5.reference, though?

> 
> In C/pd:
> 
> char docdir[MAXPDSTRING];
> strcat(docdir, sys_libdir);
> strcat(docdir, "/doc")
> 
> But you probably want to use strncat() to be safe. 
> 
> .hc
>