Apple Newton Programmer’s Newton 2.0 (for Newton 2.0) - Manual (Page 664)

C H A P T E R 1 8
Intelligent Assistant
18-18 Using the Assistant
Sample PostParse Method 18
The following code fragment is an example of a PostParse method that tests for
the existence of the value slot and accesses its content:
PostParse: func()
begin
local thePhraseText;
// self is the task frame
if hasSlot(self, 'value) then
thePhraseText := self.value;
else
// handle missing input
end;
// display phrase text in task slip
end;
end;
Defining the Task Template 18
Your task template defines a primary action and its supporting data structures.
Take the following steps to define a task template:
1. Define a frame containing the value , isa , primary_act , PostParse ,
signature , preConditions , and score slots. Subsequent bullet items in
this section describe the contents of these slots.
2. Assign the frame to a slot, variable, or constant that is the name of the task
template.
3. Place a string in the value slot that identifies the task that this template defines.
4. Place the 'task_template symbol in the isa slot.
5. Place the name of the slot or variable defining your primary action in the
primary_act slot.
6. Place the name of the slot, variable or constant defining your PostParse
method in the PostParse slot.
7. Place in the signature slot an array of the names of all action and target
templates required to complete this task.
8. Place an array of symbols in the preConditions slot that specifies the names
of slots the Assistant must create to hold frames built from the templates
specified in the
signature array. The preConditions and signature
arrays must have the same number of elements. Furthermore, the symbols in the
preConditions array must appear in the same ordinal position as their
counterparts in the signature array; that is, the first element of the