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Nov 11, 2002, 2:28pm

This is just my opinion of course but as far as I am concerned the interface
is the first thing that should have been frozen and documented, and done so
a long time ago. The SDK doesn't hold much in the way of functionality, if
anything, so the only true dependencies for the SDK is the finalisation of
"what is supported", the implementation of the necessary changes to the
interface itself and the changes to the server components to support the new
features. To some (well, ok, me anyway), the features available through bot
development are as AT LEAST as important as those features in the browser
itself - where the look of the world in the browser is just client
functionality (why would I need wavey water to slow down the world when the
3D environment is intended to be primarily functional rather than
"pretty"?).

If the documentation for the SDK isn't complete, then its just the same old
story of a bad development lifecycle. Completion of documentation should NOT
be an afterthought, its an important (and early) part in a successful
development. Its supposed to be available for use as a reference for the
construction and testing phases, but all too often its considered just too
damned boring for techies to bother with at the right time, and the
documentation is created after the fact (and is often left incorrect and/or
incomplete). There's no *valid* reason for the technical documentation not
to be available so far into a project (including pressing deadlines).

If the SDK documentation IS complete, then there's no reason not to publish
it as pre-release documentation. And if, once again, it turns up as a "state
of the union" piece, where the new interface is described in full with
remarks on release changes dotted around the pages rather than having the
changes to the interface documented as a separate deliverable, then I'm just
going to be frikkin livid. So much time is spent by so many people making
changes to generic code for handling the AW interface that its inconceivable
that there are no decent release notes produced.

I'm getting myself annoyed now, so I'll leave it there. I can just imagine
the internal project documents that AW produce and work with. Reading
through the Beta newsgroup, some of the types of bugs posted make me think
that the project starts by changing the code and relying on individual
knowledge to pick up any "quirks" that the changes may cause. I doesn't
exactly fill me with confidence - I've seen it far too often.

Grims


[View Quote]

Nov 11, 2002, 6:26pm

What happened to the adventure into C++ Mark?

[View Quote]

Nov 12, 2002, 8:13am

I know there are those around that prefer command line apps, but I'm a great
fan of MFC Windows Apps (even if MS have decided to change direction
AGAIN!). Yes you need to go around the houses to do simple things like
setting a static text control to bold, but the app code to me is so much
cleaner than VB's "everything's an object" approach. Not looking forward to
..NET to be honest, especially relearning VB for prototypes and such. I've
not written a console app since I went on my initial C++ training course
back in the mid 90s. Anyway, I digress ...

The part you're looking for to format the Rich Edit box in C++ with the MFC
is SetParaFormat (updating a PARAFORMAT structure). I don't go for using a
control as an ATL object in C++, it seems so unnecessary. Attached is a code
snippet that works which you can adapt to your needs (stick it in the
OnInitDialog method of the Dlg class). Look up the PARAFORMAT2 struct on
MSDN for more details. If you want, I've created a workspace with project
where this can be demonstrated, but I have a tendency to use project names
that are ... umm ... inappapropriate for posting here when I'm playing
around investigating things. If you'd like me to send the workspace
directory to you, just e-mail me.

As for the aw_wait, I just do it the "VB Way" with an aw_wait(0) somewhere
under a WM_TIMER windows message (SetTimer/KillTimer/OnTimer) in a dialog.
Nice and clean that way (again, its preference). The AppWizard sets up the
project for you and the features of VC++ handle the addition on new message
perfectly well.

Its all about perseverance Mark (and the right books/resources heh). MFC is
your friend, it just takes some getting to know. Ultimately though, I've
found it very rewarding. Stick with it.

Grims


[View Quote]
begin 666 strikeRE.txt
M("\O4F5T<FEE=F4 at 82!P;VEN=&5R('1O('1H92!2:6-H($5D:70 at 0F]X#0H at
M0U)I8VA%9&ET0W1R;"H at <$UY4FEC:$5D:71";W at at /2 H0U)I8VA%9&ET0W1R
M;"HI1V5T1&QG271E;2A)1$-?4DE#2$5$250Q*3L-" at T*("\O(%1U<FX at ;VX at
M=V]R9"!W<F%P#0H at <$UY4FEC:$5D:71";W at M/E-E=%1A<F=E=$1E=FEC92A.
M54Q,+" P*3L-" at T*("\O($1E9FEN92!T:&4 at <&%R86=R87!H(&9O<FUA= T*
M(%!!4D%&3U)-050R('!F.PT*('!F+F-B4VEZ92 ]('-I>F5O9BAP9BD[#0H at
M<&8N8U1A8D-O=6YT(#T at ,3L-"B!P9BYR9WA486)S6S!=(#T at ,3 P,#L-"B!P
M9BYD>$]F9G-E=" ](#$P,# [#0H at <&8N9'=-87-K(#T at *%!&35]404)35$]0
M4R!\(%!&35]/1D93150I.PT*#0H at +R\ at 4W1O<F4 at =&AE('!A<F%G<F%P:"!F
M;W)M870-"B!P37E2:6-H161I=$)O>"T^4V5T4&%R849O<FUA="AP9BD[#0H-
M"B O+R!!9&0 at <V]M92!T97-T('1E>'0-"B!#4W1R:6YG('-Z4D5497AT.PT*
M('-Z4D5497AT(#T at (D-H<FES.EQT5&AI<R!I<R!A(&9O<FUA='1E9"!2:6-H
M($5D:70 at 0F]X7&Y-87)K.EQT5V]W+"!T:&ES(%)I8V at at 161I="!S='5F9B!A
M:6XG="!A<R!B869F;&EN9R!A<R!I="!F:7)S="!S965M<R!I<R!I="$A("XN
M+B J9FEL;', at ;W5T('1H92!L:6YE(&EN(&%N(&%T=&5M<'0 at =&\ at 9F]R8V4 at
M82!W;W)D('=R87 J(CL-"B!P37E2:6-H161I=$)O>"T^4V5T5VEN9&]W5&5X
..="AS>E)%5&5X="D[#0H`
`
end

Mar 16, 2001, 5:19am

If you ARE leaving aw ... how can you expect to support these bots you
intend selling??

Grims


[View Quote]

Nov 12, 2002, 6:33am

This is a bit of a crap solution, but it would buy you some time to make a
more long-term decision while still having the interface of the OCX SDK -
Wrap the COM DLL in a control developed in VB using the same
methods/properties/events of the VBSDK OCX. The wrapper itself does very
little to speak of, so as long as the layers on layers on layers doesn't
cause too big an impact, bob's your uncle for the short term.

Grims


[View Quote]

Nov 14, 2002, 12:01pm

Am I right in thinking that the only way for a bot to determine whether a
citizen has caretaker rights in a world is by loggin in a server instance
and using the AW_SERVER_CARETAKERS attribute?

Thanks,

Grims.

Nov 14, 2002, 6:37pm

I'd suggest you put some debug messages in there so you know where it blows
up. Too little context to identify the problem otherwise.

Grims

[View Quote]

Nov 15, 2002, 11:15pm

Don't ya just love it?? Technology ... pah!

Grims.
This post was "writeen" after a single grolsch ... pathetic really.

[View Quote]

Nov 17, 2002, 5:40pm

Very useful. Will it work with the standard web-window too? If so, this
could be the answer to a number of "issues" I have with effectively using
the inbuilt browser. Yes, I could try it first, but I've just got home and
I'm shattered, sorry.

Grims

[View Quote] > <script language=javascript>
> var closew = window.self;
> closew.opener = window.self;
> closew.close();
> </script>
>
> -Baron

Nov 19, 2002, 7:39pm

I need a "listener" bot for testing to tell me what notifications are
reaching a specific point in a world so I figured "knock one up quickly in
VB", but ...

With the COM wrapper, is it one instance per instantiated AwSdk object like
with the OCX or something else?

Thanks,

Grims.

Nov 22, 2002, 5:03pm

Another quickie ... probably to a bot developer with a world server.

Can anyone tell me where the filtering of events is made - i.e. does the
world server only send those events explicitly subscribed to or do all
events get received by the SDK and filtered accordingly depending on whether
the event has been subscribed to?

Essentially, what I need to know is whether subscribing to all events
actually impacts the amount of information transmitted across the net to the
instance of the SDK.

Thanks,

Grims.

Nov 22, 2002, 8:12pm

Thanks Joe.

Grims

[View Quote]

Nov 23, 2002, 8:31pm

Can you define "an open connection to the world server" for me please?? Does
this mean on aw_enter() because I have no problems setting up and receiving
new events while "in" a world (with SDK build 27).

Grims

[View Quote]

Nov 24, 2002, 9:49pm

I still don't understand you're concept of an "open connection". If I have
the following, everything works perfectly logically ...

aw_create
aw_event_set(<event 1>, <handler1>)
aw_event_set(<event 2>, <handler2>)
aw_event_set(<event 3>, <handler3>)
aw_login
aw_enter
..
..
(some time later)
aw_event_set(<event 4>, <handler4>)
aw_event_set(<event 5>, <handler5>)

Events 4 and 5 will fire after the appropriate aw_event_set. If a persisted
connection to the world server is established on aw_enter, then by your
reckoning (one mask only, sent at connection time) events 4 and 5 should not
be received by the client application, whereas in fact they are. Events 4 &
5 are "not set" as far as the SDK is concerned until some point later in the
app after entering the world ... OR are you saying that a short-term session
is established and terminated with each aw_wait call (and the mask is
transmitted each time in a kind of "give me these this time" fashion)??

*a tad confused now* ;O)

Grims


[View Quote]

Nov 25, 2002, 7:26pm

Can someone please e-mail me when AW finally decide to release v3.4 and the
associated SDK, because I'm bored sh*tless with the seemingly endless
additions to a product supposedly in beta. I'm gonna bugger off and do
something else less infuriating for a while. All I bloody want is a version
of the SDK that isn't going to be changing imminently ... if only I'd known
that's what I had all those months ago!

Grims.

Nov 25, 2002, 7:39pm

Isn't the new number returned immediately in AW_OBJECT_NUMBER regardless of
whether the callback is set??

[View Quote]

Mar 17, 2001, 12:57am

Geesh !! Quit the posturing will ya you lot.

[View Quote]

Dec 2, 2002, 7:23pm

Anyone noticed a change in the behaviour of a bot's avatar if you put, say,
9999 in the AW_MY_YAW field and issue an aw_state_change()?

I don't believe I've ever experienced that spinning top effect before (I
think I would have remembered). Didn't it used to get (effectively)
automatically "modded" to a 0-3599 value? New "feature" of the avatar
animation engine I guess.

Grims (Still in v3.3 ad infinitum!)

Dec 3, 2002, 11:57pm

A bad calculation in a join method ... hard to get it right first time
recently as I only spend about 30 minutes at a time on AW stuff these days
before I get annoyed at the empty "stub" methods WAITING FOR 3.4 FEATURES!!!
(oops ... there I go again!).

Grims.

[View Quote]

Dec 4, 2002, 7:15pm

One new method from what I can tell, but its the implicit methods and
classes I want to implement based on the world attributes as well as those
that depend on annoying bugs to be fixed that are left over from 3.3 (like
the zero gesture and the named objects).

The "World" class is unwieldly enough (its enormous!) just supporting its
4.7 billion SDK attributes without writing code blind on things I've not
even seen yet ... and the scripting engine is dependant on the object names
working correctly (which they haven't done properly since 3.3 was released
as people only just seem to be realising).

Its all become very tedious and frustrating - like being told what you're
getting for Christmas ... in June!!

Grims


[View Quote] > which ones then? afaik it's just more attributes not more methods?

Dec 6, 2002, 11:13am

heh ... like anyone will admit understanding it now!! Luckily, loading
terrain en-mass is something I've not cared too much about, so I'm not in
the inner circle at least.

Grims.


[View Quote] > the explanation is IMHO only understandable for the innercircle of aw
nerds.

Dec 20, 2002, 5:25pm

Not having access to 3.4 I may be on the wrong track as to what the new
"pitch" attributes are, but should there not also be an AW_TELEPORT_PITCH
attribute? ...

Just thinking out loud really, but I can't find any reference (apart from
the attribute names) as to what this "pitch" is exactly.

Grims.

Dec 21, 2002, 8:29am

I'm thinking more in terms of for invoking a teleport (of other avatars)
rather than the attributes in the event. Before this attribute was
introduced, with just the position and Yaw to worry about, we could make
avatars look at specific things in 1st person. It would be useful and
non-invasive in my opinion to be able to change the angle of view (not to
mention comprehensive).

Anyway ... thanks for the explanations guys. I assume in that case that
looking up/down will now trigger AW_EVENT_AVATAR_CHANGE events then yeah?

Grims

[View Quote]

Dec 21, 2002, 11:26am

I've always considered AW's position notation to be a major pain and never
found the need to parse it into data. People want to use my stuff, they can
follow my rules ... i.e. provide explicit values for N/S, E/W Altitude, Yaw
(and now Pitch?) and not merge them into a pointless format.

Happy to create AW-esque text from a known position within the code, but my
opinion is that if someone writes a bot where a location can be entered,
give 'em 4 or 5 or 6 fields to put the actual values in.

Grims

[View Quote]

Dec 21, 2002, 4:13pm

Maybe not, but its not a difficult task to make the jump from "2.4N" to
entering 2.4 in the "N/S" box ... just tell them that -2.4 would mean 2.4S.

If they can't work it out from that, then they're too dangerous to be using
a computer.

Grims

[View Quote]

Dec 22, 2002, 4:44pm

Do you even try??

[View Quote]

Dec 22, 2002, 4:51pm

Maybe I misunderstood ... I thought you wanted opinions, and now you have
mine.

One more time, for the record ... I find the AW notation annoying, merging
location attributes into a single free text field. As Agent1 said, -2750 >
1000 > 5 > 270 > 5. It makes much more sense to me ... so I'll leave it
there.

[View Quote]

Dec 23, 2002, 8:21am

Well you stick to what you think isn't wierd, and I'll just ignore what I
think is wierd.

Bye

[View Quote]

Jan 24, 2003, 12:45pm

Fixed length string ...

Public Const AW_MAX_STRING_LEN As Long = 255

Dim szData As String * AW_MAX_STRING_LEN

[View Quote]

Feb 2, 2003, 12:41am

Sort your lives out will ya and take this sad crap somewhere else.

Is this seriously the best you can do in a technical newsgroup?



[View Quote]

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