To Lecture Notes

LSP 121 -- 11/4/10

Review Questions

1. What are the names of the main work areas in the Alice environment?

   Ans: Object Tree Window, Details Window, Method Editor Window, Event Window, World Window.

2. What do the following Alice terms mean?
   Object   Method   Property   Event

   Ans:

   Object   An object is anything in an alice scene, including animals, plants, terrain, calculators, combination locks, light sources that illuminate the scene, the camera, the world itself.

   Method   A method is something that an object can do. Methods can be builtin (they come with the object out of the box) or user-defined (you write them yourself in the Editor Area). Examples of methods that come with all objects: move, turn, roll, resize, say, think.

   Properties   A property is a value or subobject that defines the appearance of the object. Examples of properties are color, opacity, isShowing.

   Events   Events are things that happen to an Alice World, such as world starts, key is typed, mouse is clicked on something.

3. What is the name of the world startup method?

   Ans: my first method

Common Alice Tasks

1. How do you add an object to the Alice World?

   Ans: In the World Window, click the Add Objects button. In the Local Gallery, select a theme such as Animals or Beach >> Select an object in that theme >> Add Instance to World.

2. How do you resize or reposition an object?

   Ans: If you are not in Add Objects mode already, click the Add Objects button in the World Window. Click one of the Move Objects buttons. The choices for these buttons are

   Move Objects Freely

   Move Objects Up and Down

   Turn Objects Left and Right

   Turn Objects Forwards and Backwards

   Tumble (Roll) Objects

   Resize Objects

   Copy Objects

   To exit Add Objects mode, click the Done button on the right.

3. How do you view all the methods of an object>

   Ans: Select the object in the Object Tree Window >> Select the methods tab. The methods for the selected object will appear in the Details Area.

4. How to you edit my first method?

   Ans: Select the world.my first method tab in the Editor Area if this method is already open. If it is not open, select world in the Object Tree >> Select the methods tab in the Details Area >> Select the edit button for my first method.

5. How do you change the color of an object?

   Ans: Select the object in the Object Tree Window. Select the properties tab in the Details Window >> Change the color using the dropdown menu for the color property.

6. How do you change the startup event?

   Ans: Delect the event "When the world starts, so" in the Events Area >> Click the create new event button >> Select When a Key is Typed >> Replace "any key" in the event to the key of your choice >> Replace Nothing by the desired event. Add more events if required.

7. How do you make an object say something?

   Ans: Edit my first method or edit a method that is called by my first method >> Select the object in the Object Tree >> Select the methods tab in the Details Area >> Drag object.say onto the Details Area >> Select Other and type what you want the object to say.

Turn vs. Roll

• A website with animations that illustrate aircraft rotation terminology.

• Comparison of aircraft terminology with Alice terminology:

  Airplane Terminology	Rotation Axis	Alice Terminology
  Yaw	Vertical	Turn left or right
  Pitch	Side-to-side	Turn forward or backward
  Roll	Front-to-back	Roll left or right

• Do this experiment to check out the Alick rotation methods:
  1. Verify that the only event is "When the world starts, do world.my first method."

  2. Place a biplane object in the world, found in Vehicles.

  3. Move the biplane up off of the ground.

  4. Select the biplane in the Object Tree Window.

  5. In the Details Window, select the methods tab and click create new method (for the biplane) >> Call the new method "test turn and roll" >> Click the edit button for turn and roll >> Add these biplane method calls to biplane.test turn and roll:
     biplane turn left 0.15 revolutions

     biplane turn right 0.15 revolutions

     biplane turn forward 0.15 revolutions

     biplane turn backward 0.15 revolutions

     biplane roll left 0.15 revolutions

     biplane roll right 0.15 revolutions

  6. Select world.my first method in the Details Window >> Drag test turn and roll into world.my first method.

  7. The effect of turn and roll on an object depends on the position of the object and the location of its turning center.

  8. Play your Alice World to see if it works.

• Some experimentation may be required to obtain the effect you want when moving, turning, or rolling an object.

Activity 12

• Complete Activity 12.

• The score for Activity 12 depends on how many parts are completed.

• The points assigned to each part of Activity 12 may be adjusted, depending on how long they actually take to complete in class.