visual ->report: kind={status,inform,progress,done,warning,error,fatal},
format=[char_array], argument=any ...The method visual->report
provides a general mechanism to present short descriptions of status,
warnings or errors to the application user. This method is integrated
with the general error reporting mechanism (see
object->error
and class error.
If no visual
object is available to send the report to, object->report
may be used.
The first argument describes the type of the message to be reported.
The type is an indication on how serious the message is and
thus how much attention it should attract from the application user. Its
values are:
- status
- Information on progress, status change of the system, etc. such
information should not attract much attention. By default, PCE will
format the message at an appropriate location. If no such location can
be found the message is ignored
- inform
- The user requested information and this is the reply. Handled as
status, but if no appropriate location can be found it will
invoke display->inform.
- progress
- Indicates progress in ongoing computation. Feedback is generally similar
to
status, but followed by a
graphical->flush to take immediate effect.
- done
- Terminates a (sequence of) visual
->report:
progress messages.
- warning
- The user probably made a minor mistake for which a simple alert such as
provided by graphical
->alert
suffices. If there is an appropriate location for the message it will be
formatted there.
- error
- Something serious went wrong and the user needs to be informed of this.
For example a file could not be read or written.
The remaining arguments are a format specification and format
arguments. See string->format
for details on PCE's formatting capabilities.
The method visual->report
performs the following steps:
- Ask for a visual that might be able to report the message using visual
<-report_to.
- If such an object exists and @reportee
equals @nil,
bind
@reportee to
the receiver of the visual
->report
message. @reportee
thus points to the original visual
object that received the
visual->report
message.
- Invoke visual
->report
with the same argument on the object. The method visual->report
is redefined by various subclasses. The most important are: label->report, frame->report
and‘display
visual->report’.
- See also
- - object
->report
- @reportee
- object->error
- string->format
- graphical->alert
