In Authorware 6, the calculation editor has really been enhanced. I find it very easy to be productive using it. For one thing, it has the same key combinations I have come to expect in text editing applications, such as Shift-End for selecting from the cursor location to the end of the line, Shift-Home for selecting to the beginning of the line, etc.

The way the "Search in Calculation" feature works is also a real time-saver for me. A situation I run into a lot is that I might have a calc that looks like:

If SomeCondition then

MyList[#someProperty] := MyList[#someProperty]^"Something"

This is an over simplification, but it gives you the general idea. If you copy and paste the statement from the "If" part to the "else" part of the statement, you can change all occurrences of #someProperty below the "Else" to #anotherProperty in one quick search and replace.

How? Place your cursor in the word "Else", then click the binoculars on the calc toolbar. Put "someProperty" in the Find box and "anotherProperty" in the Change To Box. Note: Do not include the quotes. When you click the "Change All" button, it will not, in fact, change all instances in the calc, but just the ones below the cursor. If you wanted to change the ones above the cursor, you'd select the "Backwards" check box.

Not comfortable with Lists? Check out Chris Swenson's TAW presentation.

I've also found that, when using complicated nested expressions, keeping one eye on the bracket and parentheses indicators at the bottom of the window can help prevent those annoying "please correct your expression" messages. When you run Authorware on a machine without a numeric keypad, such as a laptop, use Ctrl+Shift+Enter to close the calculation window and keep its contents.

I found it easy to change the color for the different categories of text. But it took me a lot of experimentation to figure out how to set the background. Like many things Authorware, it is easy once you know how. Just right click in the color swatch!

Authorware's text formatting tools aren't what I would call "powerful," but Authorware does have some that many people are unaware of. Did you know that you can make a hanging indent, such as you'd use for a bulleted list, in Authorware?

The way I like to do this is to first set a Tab for the block of text. To do this, highlight the paragraph(s) you want to apply the hanging indent to, and then click on the line across the top of the Text object.

Once you have the Tab set, press the Shift key and hold it down while you click the upper triangle on the left side of the line across the top of the text object. Drag the triangle until it is on top of the Tab stop. If you get it right, you will only see the indent triangle when you drop it.

To get the bullet, press the Alt key while pressing 0, 1, 4, and 9. Press the Tab key, and start typing the rest of your text. It will be aligned with the text after the Tab.

Macromedia is holding a contest for tips on tools made by Macromedia. The prize is a new IMac! No, you can't develop in the latest version of Authorware on an IMac, but they make nice paperweights. Enter the contest!

I got a speeding ticket a few months ago, and so now I am having to take a defensive driving course online. The course is deliberately designed as Chinese water torture, because it is intended as a punishment for the hideous crime I committed.

It is a real eye-opener into how truly horrible a piece of CBT can be. And, as a captive student, I am getting an "up close and personal" look at some of the things that frustrate learners so much.

Moral of the story: Don't speed in Martindale, TX.