Help just to get me going

[Donone]

I have for example...
shapecode_0_enabled=1
shapecode_0_sides=6
shapecode_0_num_inst=2
shapecode_0_y=(instance+1)*0.250

shape_0_per_frame1= some formulae
shape_0_per_frame2= some more
shape_0_per_frame3=

Assumptions:
The number of per_frame lines are all obeyed in each single frame?
Leaving blank numbers means nothing except to insert code later without renumbering?
shapecode_n_var+instance changes value the number of instances and repeats the per frame code that many times ?

Questions:
Have I set the value of each instance in the right place?
If shapecode_0_enabled=n is not writeable, can I disable some other way?

I feel sure that with answers to these I can get going.
Thank you

[Nitorami]

Donone

WHAT are you doing ? Don't edit .milk files ! Press M while the preset is running and start from there, with the native preset editor... it is MUCH easier

And, please, stick to your original thread rather than opening a new one for each issue.

[Donone]

My edit crossed your reply. I seem to have upset you.

Are you suggesting that one person has one thread with multiple issues?
If so how does the new issue come to somebody's attention if it is not in the original title?

Could you explain why your exclamation "WHAT are you doing",
editing .milk files surely ends up with the same result. I actually prefer to use a code editor.
All my experiments so far with trivial code work OK.

[Edit] In fact I tried it your way and it made no difference, didn't work.
My question still stands, now modified due to experiments.

shapecode_0_num_inst=2
shapecode_0_y=(instance+1)*0.250

does not place a second instance but the first is correct as 1*0.25

[Nitorami]

You did not upset me. Forums rules just ask to not open a new thread for each issue. It comes to other's attention because new entries will be marked, and appear at the top of the list (when sorted by date).

You are of course free to use a code editor if you are keen on enumerating each code line, using cryptic identifiers such as "shapecode_0_num_inst" etc. In fact I don't know how the .milk code looks like and what the problem with your code is. Milkdrop is meant to be edited using the internal editor. Just set number of instances to 2 and write y = (instance +1) * 0.25 in the "edit per frame / per instance code" section. The code is generated automatically, and it works.

[Donone]

Glad I didn't upset you nor would I want to. Of course I will obey the rules if I am wrong.
Perhaps an administrator can delete the offending items.
This is the only forum I have come across where a new subject does not get a new title. I note also that I am not alone in this odd behaviour of starting a new thread when a subject changes rather than additional information on the same subject. Unless we are at cross purposes and you refer only to the documentation issues I needed help with; perhaps they could loosely be termed the same? One offered documentation the other sought it etc.
I believe that if somebody has read the first post and dismissed it as either stupid, irrelevant, boring etc. etc. then why would they return if I change the tack all they know is that I have re-posted... probably more of the same.
It would seem the only solution is to read every post regardless... in case!
However...
As I said in the edit, which I know is permitted, I tried your suggestion and that didn't work either when I typed y=(instance+1)=0.25 it did not produce a second instance despite the setting of 2.

I don't find the .milk entries at all cryptic. What I do find is that having made several entries using the built in editor, it is more difficult to 'see' what has been set without having to go through the painful process of 'cryptic' keyboard entries. A bit blind.

Any suggestions will be welcome (using your method).

[Donone]

Problem solved, so do not waste your time.
I did not have semicolons.

[Nitorami]

Fine. Don't worry about the thread. Of course you can open new threads when required, all I am asking for is to keep similar topics in one thread.

You need to terminate all lines with a semicolon unless this is the end of the code section anyway. If you leave it out, the compiler will complain in any case. I can't see how a lacking semicolon could lead to code not performing correctly. When using the internal editor, such mistakes should not be possible.

I may be getting on your nerves, but let me add a last note on the use of an external editor: The .milk format is nowhere specified. The tutorials tell you how to write code, not how to write a .milk file. You may guess how .milk files are organised, and edit them manually, which may work. But this is not specified and not guaranteed to work, and it is not a good style anyway to rely on a guessed file format. You would similarly not edit a MS word file using a binary editor and then complain to MS that the result is not what you expected....

[Amandio C]

Donone, you can't write
shapecode_0_y=(instance+1)*0.250
This line registers the y defined via menu and only accepts constants.
Use the per-instance code area instead, inside MD.

[Donone]

Thank you for the response. I have now been using
shape_0_per_frame2=y =(instance+1)*0.25;
It works fine.

[Donone]

@Nitorami
I have only just noticed your comments of 26th June (2 posts back)
Not getting on my nerves. I need to learn from other people's experience. I am not used to using 'internal' editors and thus not seeing the surrounding code.
Also, the first few attempts ended in work lost because I did not realise that when saved a message shows it as successful. Thus I thought I had saved and had not, losing work.

I shall give it a more serious try.