[adv3Lite] preinitThing() method or as a PreinitObject?

Authoring TADS
1

Dear Eric and other adv3Lite users,

The library manual mentions PreinitObject class for pre-initialization code. But I found most of the library uses the preinitThing() method of Thing class. There seems to be no mention of preinitThing() in the library manual, and the comments in the source code don’t explain too much either.

Is a game author supposed to use preinitThing() method (with calling inherited, of course) when applicable? Or should we only use PreinitObject class’s execute() as the manuals say?

Thanks,
Ming

2

You can use whichever you prefer.

The preinitThing() method is primarily intended for the library’s own internal housekeeping (hence it doesn’t get a separate mention in the manual), whereas PreinitObject is primarily intended for custom game code (although the library uses it too), but if game authors find preinitThing() a convenient hook for their own code, there’s no Law of the Medes and Persians that prevents their using it.