The question, answers and points can appear anywhere on a screen, therefore you use viewers.
To "browse" the AskSystem you need start levels -- these start levels are usually defined by the current task you have to do (i.e. a specific test, a interview to a certain topic, etc.).
These start levels are named Topics. These topics define the questions which should appear first for the given task.
For example, if you go the first time to a specific test, you want the user to see 4 questions in your AskSystem. These 4 questions are defined as the topic.
They have to use some kind of intermediary to finally appear on the screen -- why, I don't know beside for Answers (later about that) -- these intermediary are:
I only describe the case, that you have your entire AskSystem ready structured (the other cases could only differ by another order and the use of dummies).
I would do it like this:
Create a question, write in the question text (If you already know the question lists, meaning the location where the questions will appear, define them now, otherwise do it later, like described below). Now double click on answer (creates one), create (or choose=find) the speaker, click on text/movie/picture. If you have your videos etc. already logged, type in the text box the file name and the synopsis -- if you like (and have it ready), you can already choose the actual file below the text box. Now click on Followups/Points/Next Answer and type in your points -- each point, which should be a separate piece of evidence has to get it's own point.
After you finished the input of all questions and answers, you have to structure them. Therefore I would start with creating a topic and asign (find) the first question for this topic. Then double click on this question, define a question list for it, double click on answer, click on Followups/Points/Next Answer and define (find) the followup questions and define the question list for each. Take care, that the question list should be the same as for the topic questions. (This is only valid, if you have only one AskSystem on the screen at the same time. If you have more the one AskSystem, i.e. the expert AskSystem and an interview in the simulation, you define on the topic level all the question which should appear in this topic and assign them to two different question lists. Be careful with the followups -- an example: If you have a question in the interview, which should have followups in the interview and changes the expert AskSystem that's the common case], you need to have followups for the interview w/ the question list of the interview questions and followups for the experts w/ the question list of the expert questions.)
If applicable, define in each followup question the next level of followup questions following the same procedure. Do this until you have defined the entire AskSystem for this topic. Now go to the next topic and start over. It doesn't matter if you had defined a question as a topic or followup question before -- you can still use them here again as topic or followup question.
Finally you drag the question, answer and evidence viewer from the palette (the window w/ the funny pictures) onto your window and define the question list, speakers and evidence lists: double click on the viewer, goto Edit xxx Viewer. (If you first created the interface -- this would be your first step and not the last like here.)
One hint: In the Question Viewer, you can change the kind of buttons you want to have in the AskSystem -- it seems to me, that the MacButton is not able to wrap text!! Maybe it's a global Mac property, maybe it's a bug.
Now you have to call (trigger) the topic. A trigger is activated by an event. An event could be for example the clicking of a button or the start of the GBS. An event like clicking of a button needs (haha) a button on the screen. Drag one over from the palette, double click on it, click on Edit trigger, open the topics section and choose (find) under Then activate these topics... the topic you want to be called. After clicking on the button later on, you will see in your question viewer the questions of this topic.
I assume that you have one window, so click on edit layers, in the new window click on create layer, then give it a name and choose (find) the window it should appear on. Now choose (find) the objects (items) which should appear on the layer. To bring them in the right order, use the Move up/Move Down Buttons -- but be attention, the list is reversed to the appearance: the top item in the list is the lowest object on the layer and vice versa! Conceptually, the items appear in the order that they will be put onto the "overhead projector".
Another way to put objects on a layer is to select them and then on the Interface menu, choose either Add to layer... to add them to an existing layer, or Add to new layer... to create a new layer and add them to it.
Another way is the pseudo grouping of layers. In the same window where you define the objects on a layer, you can define which layers should appear together (like a group) or should exclude each other (like a switch). For example: you have a background layer and a two button layer. Everytime you activate button layer A you want to have the background layer as well, and you don't want to have button layer B. To do this, add in the properties of button layer A under Layer it shows also, the backgroud layer and under Windows/layers it hides button layer B. But attention again: This is not a real group and not a real switch -- the links go only one way. For example if you show the background layer, button layer A is not automatically shown, therefore you have to add button layer A to the properties of background layer as well. And if you show button layer B, button layer A is not automatically hidden, therefore you have to add button layer A to the properties of button layer B as well. But even now, it's not a real group or switch. Because if both layers, background layer and button layer A, are shown it's still possible to hide one of them and the other is still there and it's still possible to have none of button layer A and button layer B on the screen. ... but it's still a useful property.
Some of this properties work also between windows and layers.
If you get a "Stack Overflow Error", the likeliest cause is that you created an infinite loop in your layer structure, e.g. layer A is on layer B's "show also" list and layer B is on layer A's "show also" list. If you accidentally do this, the Indie developers can help you find the loop and remove it.
A good rule of thumb to help you avoid this is: a layer should always require its background, but never vice versa.
Best hint of me: Just imagine the shown/hide functionality is like an internal trigger.
A: It's quite easy -- you have to realize, that the show/hide layer command don't actually shows/hides the layer. Imagine the layers as slides on a overhead. Hide layer takes the "slide" from the overhead and show layer puts the "slide" on top of all other "slides". So -- if you haven't removed (hidden) the layer, you can not put it on top (see it again). Solution: Every time you don't need a layer, hide it -- this is a good idea anyway because it will improve performance.
Q: But, you say -- what should I do, if there is a layer, for example with some button, which has a changing background -- first background A, now I show background B - background B now covers my buttons.
A: First -- the easy, but not nice way: Let the trigger which shows B hide the Button layer and as a next trigger show the Buttons again. The better way is: avoid this situation -- one possibility could be, to cut the background into pieces and avoid the part of the buttons or integrate some of the background in the button layer.
Important is the TwoPict Button: You should define at a minimum the pressed and the non pressed button -- otherwise it will look bad. Two Pict buttons have 3 properties: Sticky, Pressed on Startup and Is a Checkbox. Sticky means it's a onetime switch -- once you pressed it, it will stay down. Is a Checkbox is a real switch, after pressing it stays down, if you click again on it, it pops up again (that doesn't has anything to do with its functionality). Pressed on Startup should be clear -- it can be combined with the two others. A combination of Sticky and Is a Checkbox is possible but shouldn't be because it doesn't make any sense.
To create something like this you need TwoPict Buttons. In their properties you have to give all relevant buttons in the field Radio Group an identical group name and activate the property Sticky. If you now click on one button, it will go down, if you click on another button, that will go down and the first one will pop up.
Now you create a model action named Pop Button Model Action, choose (find) the button in your radio group you want to have pushed and after that you click on the option ... but keep this one pushed (insane!).
Okay -- why should I want to push down a button in a radio button group remotely?
Imagine you have a notebook with different tabs (sections in notebook). You can switch between the notebook section by clicking on the tabs. How to do that? the different sections are different evidence viewers lying on different layers each. The tabs are radio buttons. Their trigger, show the respective notebook section layer, which has as property hide all other layers with notebook sections.
If these section are now specific to something in the simulation and you want the notebook change automatically to the section you are in, you have to do following: The event, which brings you to the part of the simulation should also show the respective notebook layer and should push the respective button in the radio button group down.
To do this: launch the Indie Runtime application (don't ask me, why it's not possible from the Tool), load your GBS, and then choose Save GBS as Application on the File menu. Before doing this though, in the Tool, be sure that you save it with the right hosts for the CD ROM. It's best to use relative paths in your hosts. It's also best to use relative window positioning, otherwise you will have problems on other machines with a different screen size. The next steps are easy -- burn onto the CD Rom the new application you just made; at the same (root) level save the 3 pcml-xxx-4.1 files and the hosts with your resources. In Toast you can double click on the files and folder and decide, if they should be invisible. If you do this for all but the application, you'll have a nice clean distribution CD ROM (although that's not very practical if you want to use it as a backup medium).
Oh yeah -- and to avoid an error message either send the logfiles to the user's Preferences folder in their System Folder (there is a setting for this in the GBS Preferences object) or turn off logging, therefore you have to create a text file named "INDIE-prefs". Put it in the same directory as the application. Put the following line of text in it:
(setf ccl::*logging-p* nil)
