zz: Bindings to action cells!

[Ted Nelson <ted@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey hey!

Binding keys to action cells has always been
 the general idea of the thing.

Or, a little more generally, being able to enter
 new states (associated with cells)
 in which the cells may be variously rebound.

CheersT


At 10:57 AM 11/15/98 -0500, you wrote:
>
>> Just noticed:  If you insert a cell by pressing insert then an arrow,
>> your cursor ends up on the new cell.  But if you do it by putting the
>> action cursor on one of the insert actions and pressing enter, it
>> doesn't move.
>>
>> That's potentially confusing.  Which do we prefer?
>
>Consider this plan:
>
>1. You add all those little utility functions that I mentioned to you
>   last week.
>
>2. We replace the built-in key binding table with something acessible
>   in Zig Zag space, perhaps something like this:
>
>        +--> d.keybinding
>
>        n --- # create cell
>
>3. We replace all the built-in key functions with Zig Zag action cells.
>
>   For example, at present, when you press `n' it invokes the function
>   `cell_create(0)'.  In my replacement, it would look in the zig zag
>   space for an action cell that was linked +d.keybindingward from the
>   `n' cell, and then it would execute the contents of that action
>   cell.  Initially this action cell would contain something like
>   this:
>
>        # create cell
>        display_message("Insert cell in which direction?");
>        my ($win, $dir) = input_get_direction();
>        display_message("");
>        # ***
>        
>        my $dim = axis_dimension($win, $dir); # Turn `R' into `d.2'
>        my $cur_cell = get_accursed($win);
>        if (linked($cur_cell, $dim)) {
>          display_message("This cell is already linked in that dimension.");
>          return;
>        }
>
>        my $new_cell = new_cell();
>        unless (insert_cell($new_cell, $cur_cell, $dim)) {
>          display_message("Mystery error #37!"); # ``Should never happen''
>        }
>
>        # Comment this out if you don't want the cursor to jump to the new
cell
>        jump_cursor($win, $new_cell);
>
>        # Comment this out if you don't want to edit the new cell
>        edit_cell($new_cell);
>
>4. It's this action cell that is linked into the action menu.  Since
>   the actual contents of the action cell defines what the key does,
>   the meaning of the `n' key and the meaning of the cell are always
>   exactly the same.  
>
>   Of course, the user can decouple the two behaviors by relinking the
>   `n' cell to some other action instead.  If you want `n' to do
>   something completely different, you just link it to a different
>   action cell.
>
>5. If you only want to change the behavior of the key a little bit, 
>   you can do that by editing the action cell.  For example, if you
>   want the cursor to stay where it is when you create a new cell,
>   instead of moving to the new cell, you just comment out the line
>   that says
>
>        # Comment this out if you don't want the cursor to jump to the new
cell
>        jump_cursor($win, $new_cell);
>
>   and after that it stays where it is.
>
>   Another example: The existing behavior of the `n' key is that if
>   you type `nw' to insert a new cell above the *action* cursor,
>   nothing happens; `nw' is not analogous to `ni'.  I didn't include
>   that inconsistency in the cell I showed above, but if you wanted
>   that feature you could just go and insert the line
>
>        return if $win == 0;
>
>   at the place where the *** is now.
>
>Now let's return to your original question:
>
>> That's potentially confusing.  Which do we prefer?
>
>This plan lets the user choose the one that they prefer.  If they want
>one behavior or the other, they can get the one they want.  If they
>want inconsistent behavior, they can get that too.  If they want `n'
>to invoke one behavior and `m' to invoke the other, they can also get
>that.  
>
>
>
>
____________________________________________________
Theodor Holm Nelson, Visiting Professor of Environmental Information
 Keio University, Shonan Fujisawa Campus, Fujisawa, Japan
 Home Fax from USA: 011-81-466-46-7368  (If in Japan, 0466-46-7368)
Professorial home page http://www.sfc.keio.ac.jp/~ted/ 
_____________________________________________________
Permanent: Project Xanadu, 3020 Bridgeway #295, Sausalito CA 94965
 Tel. 415/ 331-4422, fax 415/332-0136  
http://www.xanadu.net
PERMANENT E-MAIL: ted@xxxxxxxxxx
_____________________________________________________
Quotation of the day, 98.11.12:
"Everything is just like everything else.  And sometimes even more so."
TN98