AppleScript questions/issues

[Brian C.]

We're currently doing a lot (by which, I mean a LOT) of work on 
applescript for OO3 - keep the annoyances coming. I can't guarantee 
that they'll all be fixed for three-point-oh, but it should be much, 
much better...

Sincerely,

Brian C.
Localization Czar
Omni Group

On Tuesday, Mar 9, 2004, at 22:42 US/Pacific, Brian Caldwell wrote:

> I've checked the archives for the last year, and while it's entirely
> possible that I missed it, I've not seen the following issues 
> addressed:
>
> -
> - Inconsistency of results for columns and rows
> -
>
> When I do something like:
> 		get selected column
> I'll get back a result in the form of:		
>     column 4 of document 1 of application "OmniOutliner"
> All's fine there.
>
> When I do something like:
>     get selected row
> I'll get back a result in the form of:
>     child 57 of child 1 of document 1 of application "OmniOutliner"
> Huh? I would expect something like:
>     row 57 of document 1 of application "OmniOutliner"
> Because I requesting it in terms of "rows". If I was asking in terms of
> "child" I would not have an issue with the result. But that would 
> require
> a "selected child" property which I don't yet see (OO 2.2.6).
>
> -
> - No true currency commands (not that kind of currency ($))
> -
>
> The kind of currency I'm talking about is "what is the current ___" 
> type
> of property. OO seems to address current row by the "selected row"
> property. In a similar fashion, current column by "selected column". 
> But,
> it appears that you cannot have in the selected row/column 
> implementation
> both at once. And that IMO is what a true current row/column would
> provide. I would then know for example, regardless of which was 
> selected,
> that the current row is 57 and the current column is 4.
>
> This all leads to the current cell implementation. Again IMO, current
> cell is the intersection of current row and current column, and that's
> also where the insertion point is located. I'm sort of amazed that this
> is not present. I might enter some text and then wish to have 
> additional
> entry and/or calculations performed via script. Without current cell, I
> can't do this (in a dynamic fashion). Any moving to cell offsets (rows
> above or below, columns left or right) is woefully problematic without
> knowing where you are starting from.
>
> I would suggest a change to have a new document property - selected
> orientation. This would have a value of either "row" or 'column"
> depending on what was selected in the document. With the addition of 
> the
> document-level current row/column/cell properties I just discussed, the
> DOM for OO gains flexibility and power (IMHO).
>
>
> -
> - End result
> -
>
> Some examples:
>
> get selected column
> Result: column 4 of document 1 of application "OmniOutliner"
>
> get selected row
> Result: row 57 of document 1 of application "OmniOutliner"
>
> get selected cell
> Result: column 4 of row 57 of document 1 of application "OmniOutliner"
>
> get selected orientation
> Result: orientation "row" of document 1 of application "OmniOutliner"
>
>
> I welcome constructive criticism and suggestions.
>
> Brian Caldwell
>
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