Parameterization of VisualStates
Introduction
Visual States tool was created to make the production of automata behaviours easier and faster. Some of these states are common between behaviours and only some variables are needed to be changed to add them to the behaviour. Parameterization of VisualStates makes it easier to tweak these variables to perfection.
Demonstration video
The video is available here
Design
- Parameters have been designed to act and be used just like local variables are done in code
- They are added via a tab named Paramters in the Local Namespace dialog and are not available in the Global Namespace dialog.
- They consist of four things:
- Name - Should start with an alphabet and can only contain alphanumeric characters and underscores
- Type - Could be String, Character, Boolean, Integer, Float
- Value - Should match with type
- Description - A short description to tell the user what the parameter does
Why use parameters?
Parameters help to extend the use of of the behaviors made. It helps others by pointing them to the variables that can be changed to modify the behaviour to their needs.
Future development
Parameters will be an essential part of selective import of states and the online importer.
Problems encountered and lessons learnt
- The biggest problem in any project that can occur is miscommunication and it caused this project to finish behind schedule. It was caused by me assuming that the design suggested by me was the final design and going ahead with it without asking my mentors. Later when we discussed on it a better design came out which is what open source is all about. Discussing each and every step is a good practice because more ideas leads to the creation of a stronger product.
- There were many other small problems that were faced but a Google search or talking to mentors was enough to mitigate them. I would like to thank the mentors who were kind enough to accept my requests and help me through the problems.
