I am having problems getting source code to play/compile. I am using Gnome Inform 7 (build 6L38) for 64 bit Linux. I have installed the latest extension of Default Messages by Ron Newcomb which I downloaded just a few hours ago.
The error message is:
[code]Report on Translation: FailedProduced by Inform 7 (build 6L38)
(Each time Go or Replay is clicked, Inform tries to translate the source text into a working story, and updates this report.)
In Section - Default Messages in the extension Default Messages by Ron Newcomb:
Problem. In the sentence ‘Section - internal (in place of Section SR5/8/2 - Message support - Intervention - Unindexed in Standard Rules by Graham Nelson) unindexed’ , it looks as if you intend to replace a section of source text from the extension ‘Standard Rules by Graham Nelson’, but that extension does not seem to have any heading called ‘Section SR5/8/2 - Message support - Intervention - Unindexed’. (The version I loaded was 3/120430.)
Because of this problem, the source could not be translated into a working game. (Correct the source text to remove the difficulty and click on Go once again.)[/code]
How do I fix this? By entering the correct Section number?
Default Messages is no longer compatble with the latest version of Inform, and no longer needed either. Read chapters 14.10-14.12 in the manual for instructions on how to modify default messages in 6L38.
I understand work is being done to create a new setup for Inform extensions. But in the meantime, could an explanation be put on the Inform 7 website directing people to where to find the updated ones? Dannii has a nice write-up here–perhaps he wouldn’t mind someone adapting it?
It seems like it could save a lot of trouble for people who might otherwise download old extensions, thinking they are the most recent, and try to use them.
If you have source code written by someone else, you’ll have to find the version of Inform 7 for which it was written in order to get it to compile. In particular, source code that uses Default Messages won’t compile with version 6L02 or later, because the functionality of Default Messages has been superseded in the new version.
If you go to the Inform 7 Download page, you can find every past public version of Inform 7; click the version numbers on the top. In your case, I’d suggest downloading version 6G60 of Inform 7 and seeing if that works. Unfortunately you’ll also need matching versions of any extensions that are included… though the latest Default Messages should work for 6G60.
And yes, bg is right–it’d be good to have some more prominently posted warnings about what to do with the extensions. (Graham is closing bugs on Mantis at a furious rate so it may be that Something Is About To Happen, which might affect the other parts of the projects in various ways.)
Thanks, that is what I needed to know, initially. Eventually, I will need to change the code according to the new specs, but I am just starting out learning how to code.
By what to do with the extensions, I hope you mean giving solutions, not just warning people they won’t work with the current versions.
I considered putting in a bug report, but possibly this one already covers it…I wasn’t sure if a request to put something specifically on the extensions page should be reported separately.
In the case of Default Messages, an explanation on finding the latest updated extension would not help. As far as I can tell this is the latest version. So a more helpful message in the extension archives would be to note that the extension is obsolete with Inform (version number) and later. This way, whether an extension has an updated version or not, at least you will know it isn’t in the extensions archive.
Although, all extensions in the archive should be the current versions, but I suppose that for one reason or another this may not happen. In which case, a link to the latest update would be the solution.
While that may sound good on paper, you still have the problem of the extension author (or someone) informing the person in charge of keeping the archive updated.
The reason to keep out-of-date extensions on that site is for people who are using older version of Inform–whether because they started working on a project before the update or whether they need something that they can only get in an old version of Inform. (I think there are some older extensions that only work in older versions of Inform and haven’t been updated for various good reasons.) So the out-of-date extensions need to be available.
In fact that’s really the old extensions site–new extensions should be on the public library or in one of the Inform extension githubs. But it’s not well signposted that those extensions are generally out of date.
I didn’t say to get rid of the old versions. Just that the current versions should be there. but may not be for various reasons. All extensions should be in the same place with their versions and compatibility clearly stated. Like the files at the IFA.
Ah, I see what you mean. That’d probably be desirable. One issue perhaps is that the new Public Library functionality probably requires that the up-to-date extensions be in a different place–the extensions that you can download from within the Inform application need to be up-to-date and they probably have to be at the PL site. But it’d be nice if they could be mirrored at the extensions site.
I think someone on the Inform team is working on cleaning up the extension site, but doing it really well might be a lot of work.
Hopefully, there is a team as it would make it easier and quicker than if there is only one person. I know for a fact that working on a project alone takes a while to finish. Perseverance and dedication is needed in that case.