Mojo - Actions Log - Pre Alpha Discussion

[Flekkie]

So this thread is for contributions to help Freddie tweak the 'Mojo's Actions On This PC' log.

The goal is for this log to:

• Display info in a clear way
• Not be misleading about how Mojo works
• Help people understand what Mojo is doing (or has done)
• Help people understand how Mojo works

Here is the post where the discussion started, perhaps we can continue from there:

I thought the "Mojo's actions on this PC" pane displayed actions in a slightly non-intuitive way. Here is an example...I'm sure a bit of tweaking here could make it much easier for a non-savvy user to understand, but I might be jumping the gun mentioning it at this stage?

Then please, help me tweak it!

Actually I think this is one of the most important things that people can give me feedback about. Supporting HotkeyNet has been a huge headache because people constantly assume incorrect things about how it works based on the info that the program shows them. This is totally my fault. It happens because the program displays info in a misleading or unclear way. I'd like to design this better in Mojo, so people can understand what the program is doing and how it works.

Here's what I was trying to help people understand.

Everything Mojo does consists of three main parts. That's the fundamental thing about the program.

1. The input. That's when the the user presses a key with a finger, moves the mouse physically, etc.

2. Message. The local copy of Mojo reacts to the input by sending info to all copies of itself that tells each copy what to do. I called this a "message" in the current display but (like everything) it can be changed.

3. Action. Each copy of Mojo does stuff that affects other programs on its own computer. The action is the reason people use Mojo (or any other boxing program). They want it to do stuff to other programs. In the current display I called the actions "commands."

In this case (key broadcasting) here's how these three things happen.

1. Input: You press or release a key. The local Mojo shows this in "Your last action."

2. Message: The local copy of Mojo sends messages to all the Mojos (including itself) telling them that the user wants them to inject the key event into all WoWs that are running on their computer.

3. Action: Every copy of Mojo injects a simulation of the physical input into every WoW that is running on its computer. There is only one exception. The local Mojo doesn't inject into the foreground WoW because that copy of WoW received the physical event.

If you disagree about the importance of making people understand these things, or you have a better idea of how to show them, or any other reaction, please, let me know. This is a good time.

Only 4 window handles are displayed, but key down would have been sent to 5 windows.

No, actually Mojo only sent the signal to four windows. Mojo did nothing to the foreground WoW on the local machine. That WoW received the physical event from the OS when you moved the key with your finger.

Lastly, if I had more than one computer, I think I would prefer to see my computer's name instead of 'this computer' (guessing).

Well, maybe, but let me tell you why I did that. I think it's extremely important for people to understand the concept of the local computer. That's whichever computer happens to be connected to the keyboard they are pressing at that instant.

One of the major misunderstandings with HotkeyNet is that practically every user jumps to the mistaken conclusion that there is something special about the server copy of HotkeyNet. I don't want people making that mistake with Mojo. The local computer can be any computer. It's whichever computer they happen to touch at that instant.

I think maybe the program can help people understand this if it always refers to the local computer as "this computer" instead of by name. I'm trying to make them realize that there's nothing special about the local computer. Every computer is local whenever you touch its keyboards or mouse. There's nothing special about any of them. (This is also why I removed any mention of "server" or "client" from Mojo's screens.)