[Xerte] Some simple Qs and comments

[Riley Fred]

I'm just starting off a project in Xerte 1.9 without using the default
interface. The project is to replicate, and improve on, a virtual
portfolio currently at http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~ntzfr/vpt/. My
current, paltry Xerte-created effort is at
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~ntzfr/vpt/xerte/ with the RLO file at
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~ntzfr/vpt/xerte/vp1.rlo and has taken me
4.5 hours so plainly I've yet to internalise the 'Xerte way'. 

My main Q is: how can I get a button/hotspot take the user from page A
to page B? This has to be RTFM, but I have R'd the FM and can't see an
obvious answer. It's a pretty crucial manoeuvre for this application.

Various minor comments/suggestions scribbled below mostly for Julian's
attention, as he told me to post this stuff to the list rather than to
him personally. All very picky and ignorable.

Cheers

Fred

----------------
1. When setting the default stage size with the stageSize property of
the Learning Object icon, I wasn't sure about the syntax and initially
entered "400x400" and hit preview, after which a Zinc error popped up
with Debug/No/Abort. Pressing Abort crashed Xerte without saving,
naturally. Of course the syntax is "x,y", but it might be useful to put
this in the help topic on the LO icon, which also doesn't mention the
stageSize property. 

2. As far as I can see, Xerte doesn't support vector images. As I want
the application to be resizable gracefully I'm going to have to create
vector images as SWFs and import them, then put hotspots and buttons on
parts of them to allow the user to navigate. Is this likely to lead to
any problems? The SWFs will only be images, no Actionscript. 

3. Xerte still jealously guards the focus, staying at the front even if
you restore any number of taskbar icons. If you minimise Xerte then it
relinquishes its position, so no big.

4. In the File|Import Media dialogue, the file type "Image files"
doesn't include PNG, though Xerte can import PNGs ok. 

5. Can Xerte not import GIFs? This is a bit of a nuisance as JPEGs don't
support transparency, so you have to either edit the GIFs so that the
background is the same colour as the stage colour then save out as JPEG,
or better save out as PNG which does support transparency.

6. A slight inconsistency is that, in the Learning Object icon, all the
various colour properties have to be preceded with 0x (eg 0x003366) to
indicate a hex value, but in other icons (eg Text) RGB coords are
preceded by # (eg #003366). 

7. textFont property for Text icons. Some syntax guidelines in the help
file would be useful here. Also, a textAlign property would be handy -
if you want to centre or right align you have to tweak the x,y and
preview until the text is in the correct position. 

8. It would be nice for the Import Media file dialogue to remember the
last directory opened, or default to the project directory. Currently it
starts at the Desktop and you have to renavigate to files. 

9. It would be useful to be able to specify font and colour properties
for a button. buttonTextColour and buttonFillColour can be set in the
Learning Object icon as defaults for the whole application but that's
it. I can't find a way to alter the default font and weight for the
button label, or is this meant to be done in an external Flash file?

10. A minor interface awkwardness. If you add a colour property to an
icon, such as StageColour, when you click Add and the property appears,
"Enter value..." goes into the Value field. If you then click on the
colour palette thus removing the field focus a messagebox appears to
tell you that you must enter a property value. You then dismiss this,
pick a colour from the palette, then have to copy the RGB coords as hex
(eg 0xffffcc) into StageColour. It might be nice to be able to pick a
property from the dropdown list, choose a colour from the palette, then
click Add and the property and colour coords are inserted. 
-------------------

Fred Riley
Learning Technologist, School of Nursing, University of Nottingham
Vcard: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/nursing/sonet/about/fr_uon.vcf