[D6] What happened to my loose methods?

Hi

This may be a request for clarification of what I did, or a request for
Dolphin to do something different - it depends on the explanation of my
results...

I was tidying up the distribution of work between two related packages. I
had about six loose methods in Package A, and I wanted to move them all to
Package B. I went to the loose methods tab for Package A in the package
browser, selected all the methods and right-clicked to find the 'Change
package' option. The only relevant-looking option is 'Remove from package',
so I clicked it, thinking it might give me some sort of clipboard option to
paste the methods in the new package. The methods disappeared from Package
A, but I could not paste them into Package B. I exited without saving, and
tried again. This time I used the 'Browse class' option for each method, and
then visited each class in turn to move the methods - I did realise that I
could do multiple selections where a class contained several loose methods,
but even so it seemed a bit roundabout. All is now OK with my system, but I
am left with some queries:

- Is there some easier way to do multiple moves between packages?

- What had happened to the methods when I selected 'Remove from package';
were they floating around unpackaged, or had they moved to some other
package (all the methods were additions to base classes like String and
Stream)?

- Should there be a 'Package...' option on the right-click menu on the loose
methods tab of the package browser, which works like the same option on the
methods pane of the CHB?

In case it's relevant, I am still using 6.01 - I haven't used D6 much until
now, and I have never seen the need to upgrade.

--
Best wishes

Peter Kenny

Peter,

> - Is there some easier way to do multiple moves between packages?

In the PB, select the methods you want to move, and drag the lot over the new
package in the package list.  (Same as moving/copying methods from class to
class, except that in this case they are moved by default whereas when you drag
a method to another class it is copied by default).


> - What had happened to the methods when I selected 'Remove from package';
> were they floating around unpackaged, or had they moved to some other
> package (all the methods were additions to base classes like String and
> Stream)?

They'd be moved into their classes's packages (incidentally, marking them and
their owning packages as 'changed' if they weren't before).

Since the methods wouldn't -- by definition -- be loose any more, they wouldn't
show up at all in the package browser, which only shows loose methods.

> - Should there be a 'Package...' option on the right-click menu on the
> loose methods tab of the package browser, which works like the same
> option on the methods pane of the CHB?

Dunno.  I wouldn't use it myself, but maybe other people would find it more
obvious, or physically easier to do, than drag-and-drop.

    -- chris

"Chris Uppal"  wrote...
> Peter,
>
>> - Is there some easier way to do multiple moves between packages?
>
> In the PB, select the methods you want to move, and drag the lot over the
> new
> package in the package list.

Thanks Chris - I knew there must be a way. I have never really come to terms
with drag-and-drop - maybe my manual dexterity has declined with advancing
years, but it always seems too hit and miss to me.

>> - Should there be a 'Package...' option on the right-click menu on the
>> loose methods tab of the package browser, which works like the same
>> option on the methods pane of the CHB?
>
> Dunno.  I wouldn't use it myself, but maybe other people would find it
> more
> obvious, or physically easier to do, than drag-and-drop.
>

I think I am among your hypothetical 'other people'. I would certainly find
it more intuitive than the existing 'Remove from package' option - what you
describe for that was the last possibility that I thought of.

Thanks

Peter