An user showed me a problem (a nasty one…)
If you type in Primate Scale scale,scale (that is valid Monkey code) my IDE converts it in Scale Scale,Scale – that’s no more valid as it ‘calls’ the mojo function Scale.
So I looked up in the last days to the highlight code to see how to resolve the problem. With some tricks I decided to force the IDE to ‘ignore’ field values that are ‘similar’ to keywords. So if you type something like
Field local:int, scale:float
if will be kept as you typed and no converted in Local or Scale:float.
Unfortunately after resolving this ‘little’ problem I discovered things will be more complicated.
What if I type scale?
It will be considered as the ‘field’ (or local, or global var) ‘scale’ or like the ‘command’ Scale?
I’ve checked how JungleIDE resolves the same problem: well it ‘register’ all vars (local,global,fields) so when you type scale it shows a pop-up from where you need to choose what you are referring to.
It works, and I’m sure there are no many other ways to resolve the thing.
Implementing a similar way in Primate is a quite hard work: I’ve already a ‘collection’ of Globals and Class, now I need to add Locals (based on Functions/classes!) – implement a pop-up window to choose things and so on.
But I’m on the idea to leave things like now: my idea of IDE is that it should be ‘faster’ and ‘immediate’. If I type something like a command, probably is a command and should be treated as a command. My solution is to change the name of fields/global/local when you type.
Surely this is a door opened for a lot of problems with other source code… but I just want to play with Monkey without messing around remembering how a command is typed!
Or just restart with a brand-new IDE.
Damned case-sensitive language!
