Coiling Up

I am now in a phase I call “coiling up”. I am preparing to make big changes in the code for SWAT in order to support the new display design for Siboot. This will involve a lot of major changes in code that I did not write. So I’m getting ready: reading the code, figuring out how it works, trying to figure out the ideal sequence for tackling the task. 

The first part of coiling up is “clearing the decks”: taking care of any tasks that might distract me. I’ve therefore devoted some time to finishing up cleaning the barn, cleaning up Toby Truck (our 1961 VW truck that we’re selling to a friend), and assorted housecleaning tasks. I haven’t yet rewired the pump control box, but that’s not a big job. The decks are clear.

The second task is just getting my head wrapped around the problem. I’ve been studying the code, figuring out how it works, and imagining how I’ll go about changing it. One thing I know: I’ll need to associate the SympolTalk icons with the data structures so that I can display them. This is a little tricky. It’s easy to use them for the Actors and Props; those already have image assignments. The Stage images could be done as Sympols; I don’t know about that. The Verbs have no associated images but I should be able to add that easily enough. But what about Quantifiers? ActorTraits? PropTraits? How do auras fit into the code? I need to think long and hard about the best way to handle it. Should I have one Class called “Sympol” that contains the information, or should I just associate images directly with the other objects? 

I won’t begin serious coding until I’m ready to strike.