Wouldn’t it be nice
to be able to change events on the fly without having to open up the events
screen, define the new one, replace the old one – erasing it in the
process? Groups allow you to do
this. If you’ve created an event yet,
you’ve already worked with groups and might have not even realized it.
Portal© allows you
to assign events to what are called “groups.”
These groups can then be activated or de-activated as you desire. Only items associated with those groups are
available for use. All other events
assigned to other groups simply lie dormant until you activate their group.
You can also
quickly change the current group by typing the Activator Character followed by
the letter “g” followed by a space followed by the name of the group you wish
to activate into the command line. So,
if the semicolon is the Activator Character, and you wanted to activate the
BASE and TEST groups, you would simply type “;g test” You don’t even need to worry about capitalization. The result of the group-change attempt will
be written to the display as system text (i.e. whether it was a success or
failure). The BASE group is added
automatically.
Player profiles are
automatically created with the BASE group, which you cannot remove. All text events assigned to this group are always
active.
Status events are a
special exception. Whatever status
events that are assigned to the active group are the ones that will fire
off. If the BASE group is the active status
group, the status events assigned to the BASE group will be the ones that will
fire off. If the active status
group is the TEST group, then only the status events assigned to the TEST group
will fire. There is no overlapping of
the active group and the BASE group for status events as there is in the text
events.
Before going into
detail on how groups work, here is the breakdown of the elements and fields on
the Groups Screen.
Groups
Screen Elements
Available Groups
List
This list displays
all groups that exist, but are currently inactive. Double clicking on any event is the same as pressing the Add to
Selected Button.
Delete Group Button
Pressing this
button will delete the currently selected group in the Available Groups List.
You cannot delete the BASE group.
Note: If there are any text status events currently assigned to the group, you will not be able to delete it.
Add to Selected
Button
This button will
move the selected group in the Available Groups List over to the Selected
Groups List.
Remove from
Selected Button
This button will move the selected group in the Selected Groups List back over to the Available Groups List. You cannot remove the BASE group from the selected groups list.
Selected Groups
List
This list displays
all groups that are currently active.
Double clicking on any event is the same as pressing the Remove from
Selected Button.
Note: The order in which
the groups appear in this list determine the Termination Order. For more information on Terminal Events and
the Termination Order, please see the help section on Events.
Up Arrow Button (green triangle pointing up)
Moves the selected
group in the Selected Groups List up one position.
Down Arrow Button (green triangle pointing down)
Moves the selected
group in the Selected Groups List down one position.
Active Status Group
Select the active
status group here. This group
determines which status events (see the events screen)
are currently active.
New Group Field
Enter the name of
the new group you wish to create here.
Add Group Button
Adds the new group
to the Available Groups List.
Activate Groups and
Close Button
Activates all
groups currently in the Selected Groups List as well as the Active Status
Group, then closes the Groups Screen.
Using
Groups
Groups can be very
handy tools when it comes to complex events.
Here’s how you should think of groups as they act
with events. You have up to
ten groups
active at any given time, one of them is always the BASE group. This means that all text events assigned to
the BASE group are always active. If any other group (or groups) is active, then all events
assigned to that group are active as well as those assigned to the BASE
group.
So, let’s take these events that have been setup as
examples:
Group: BASE
Event: boo
Action: say hi
Group: BASE
Event: smush
Action: grin
Group: MARY
Event: jingle
Action: smile
Group: HAPPY
Event: smiles at
you
Action: dance $a
Now, what events are actually active depends on what
group is currently active
Scenario 1: The BASE
group is the active group
Only the events assigned to “boo” and “smush” are
active. Why? Well, both “boo” and
“smush” are assigned to the BASE group, which is always active.
Scenario 2: The MARY
group is the active group
Here, the events “boo” “smush” and “jingle” will all
react actively. Why? Both “boo” and “smush” are assigned to the
BASE group, which is always active. The
event “jingle” is in the MARY group, which is currently active.
Scenario 2: The HAPPY
group is the active group
Here, the events “boo” “smush” and “jingle” will all
react actively. Why? Both “boo” and “smush” are assigned to the
BASE group, which is always active. The
event “smiles at you” is in the HAPPY group, which is currently active.