Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => Mach4 General Discussion => Mach4 Toolbox => Topic started by: poppabear on November 26, 2014, 02:26:47 PM
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Here is a Down and Dirty, quick mcLua commonly used coding guide "no frills"
it is just common calls and coding for doing some mcLua stuff for your screens, macros or whatever. Grouped by subject, with examples.
The two files are the SAME file, one is in MS Word .doc, and the other is PDF.
PLEASE feel free to "Add To" the document if you think some commonly used thing is missing, and/or if you see a mistake or something could be stated clearer.
Scott
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I am sure others say Thank You, and of course i say Thank You, but Thank You is
too lightweight for this fine work. Your the best!
Why don't you write the manuals ?
You could charge double and still be worth it,
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I am sure others say Thank You, and of course i say Thank You, but Thank You is
too lightweight for this fine work. Your the best!
Nope, getting feedback from forum users is like pulling teeth, much less a thank you...
but, it is just the way it is........
Why don't you write the manuals ?
You could charge double and still be worth it,
1). I was never asked or even poked at about it.
It is said according to rumor, that a vendor is making the manual(s) and it/they should be out soon, and it/they should be awesome.
Given that, the stuff I am putting out, at best is just a stop-gap measure to help those who are currently struggling up the learning curve slope.
2). Currently, I have charged $0.00 dollars for my work... so, if I charged double that would be Zero Squared!!! Imagine what I could do with all that MONEY!! hehehheehe :)
All Joking aside, I am really glad you like it, and hopefully it has/will help you!!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Scott
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Scott,
Sorry for the delay in sending this but I only just got power/cable/internet back after a storm.
I truly appreciate your efforts in this. It will prove very valuable in getting me going towards understanding mcLUA and writing my own scripts. Without it, I would have no idea of what functions have been included in Mach 4.
Peter
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Thanks as well Scott,
(;-) TP
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Thank you guys for the feedback!!
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OK, teeth pulled.
If I read this right, then we now have both a.b format AND c,d format?
I am sure I am getting too old for all this!
Cheers
Roger
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well kinda both...
the first part of the commands is the dot notation part, and the comma delimited stuff is where your parameters are for that command.
You will see for the dot stuff like (there may be anywhere from 0 to more params
depending on what the call is doing):
mc.mcCcccccccc(p1, p2) for example for "Mach Core" commands/functions.
and
scr.***************************x("p1", "p2") for example for "Screen" commands/functions.
Scott
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I was thinking more in terms of the first part of
hsig, rc = mc.mcSignalGetHandle(inst, mc.OSIG_ENABLE##);
from Down&Dirty
Of course, since I am not (yet) using lua, it may well be that i have entirely misunderstood what this means.
Cheers
Roger
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oh, lua can return MORE than one value.
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oh, lua can return MORE than one value.
Um ... forgive me, but may I paraphrase that to make sure i have understood?
Are you saying that in lua one can write
a, b = somefunction
and get the same result as
call somefunction(a, b)
in a more conventional (eg Dartmount Basic) language?
If so ... novel !
Cheers
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Ok, here is an Example that shows what is going on, with returning multiple "return values"
the "StopVarForDebugging" in the code, is where you can put a break point in the mcLua debugger when using "F5" to see what the value of everything is.
the function in the example, had the numbers: 2, 3, 5 as parameters passed to it
inside the function it doubles those values, and returns each on individually at double it's value.
I will post the code here, (but the web format will make it look jacked up), and I will attach the code as a .mcs file you can open in NotePad ++ or the editor you use.
function DoubleEachParamInput(NumberParam1, NumberParam2, NumberParam3)
local mInst = 0;
local inst = mc.mcGetInstance(mInst);
local localP1 = NumberParam1; --you could skip this step
local localP2 = NumberParam2; --and just test the Params
local localP3 = NumberParam3; --in the error code below directly
local localRV1 = 0; --local return value 1
local localRV2 = 0; --local return value 1
local localRV3 = 0; --local return value 1
if localP1 == nil then localP1 = 0; end --simple error checking code
if localP2 == nil then localP2 = 0; end --simple error checking code
if localP3 == nil then localP3 = 0; end --simple error checking code
localRV1 = (localP1 * 2);--double param 1
localRV2 = (localP2 * 2);--double param 2
localRV3 = (localP3 * 2);--double param 3
wx.wxMessageBox("Func internal RVs are:\r\n" ..
"localRV1 = " .. localRV1 .. "\r\n" ..
"localRV2 = " .. localRV2 .. "\r\n" ..
"localRV3 = " .. localRV3);
local StopVarForDebugging = 0;--(F5 debugging var)
return localRV1, localRV2, localRV3;
end
if (mc.mcInEditor() == 1) then
local RV1 = 0; --RV1 = Return Value 1
local RV2 = 0; --RV2 = Return Value 2
local RV3 = 0; --RV3 = Return Value 3
RV1, RV2, RV3 = DoubleEachParamInput(2,3,5);--Pass 3 number params
wx.wxMessageBox("RETURNED VALUES are:\r\n" ..
"RV1 = " .. RV1 .. "\r\n" ..
"RV2 = " .. RV2 .. "\r\n" ..
"RV3 = " .. RV3);
local StopVarForDebugging = 0;--(F5 debugging var)
end
Enjoy, Scott
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Good lord - I see. Fascinating - although just pure semantics. Thanks.
I cannot help being reminded of the old and well-known performance comparison between Dartmouth Basic and a (any) modern object-oriented programming language in implementing the standard 'Hello World' test. One line of Basic (print "Hello World") vs half a page of OO code to define and instantiate all the classes needed just to put 'Hello World' on the screen. :-)
Methinks that there is going to be some pain for all the non-programmers in the world when they try to install and use Mach4. A bit like the comparison between installing and using Windows vs Linux - even today.
Cheers
Roger
PS: I like NoteTab Pro myself.
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there is going to be some pain for all the non-programmers in the world when they try to install and use Mach4
Not really, that's why we have folks like Scott and others! ;D >:D
RICH
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you mean the second development team squired
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Ah well ...
'May you live in interesting times ...'
The driver for Mach4 for the ESS has been released, but it seems that there are some residual problems for those who wish to 'play' with Mach4 and then switch back to Mach3 for work. But Greg is working on it.
Cheers
Roger
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Appreciate your GREAT job!!!
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I just re-read the down and dirty doc and something caught my eye.
Screen Stuff: You can get the names of the object from within the screen designer to include property names
and values. Further note, you can access screen objects from within macros or wizards.
I don't believe you can access screen properties from a macro. You can from a button or screen script. If I am wrong please post a small macro snippet as to how it is done.
TIA
RT
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Darn - I had been using every excuse in the book not to learn Lua. Now you have gone and done it, you took away my last excuse... /sarc off/
Thanks - Now I will try to turn my M4 Kia into a M4 Ferrari.