Ok, the solution was not quite as I thought. But this works for the basic case: Breakfast Randomizer-v2.tbx (202.3 KB)
Locking a value in—or out—is problematic dues to some unexpected edge cases in action code support of variables (which I’ve reported) directly.
Open the TBX, select the “Random Combiner” and apply the stamp “Reset Random Combo” to see a new set of comparisons. Sometimes you may also need to use File → Update Agents Now. For reasons I don’t understand, such a small file can take unusually long to update.
OK, as promised at the meet up, here’s my improved random note suggester solution: Breakfast Randomizer-v3.tbx (255.2 KB)
New here is a method to either exclude a note within a group from consideration (i.e “don’t use me in this group”) or another to force inclusion for a group (“only use me for this group”). Both methods are reversible and stamps are provided for that task.
There is a ‘read me’ which I recommend skimming. Once you know how things work, you don’t need the outline column view ‘on’, but it can be handy to help understand how things work.
Is the TBX only for breakfast combo suggestions? No, absolutely not. Look at the general pattern and take for your own use. I suspect that with a bit more thought, it might be possible to reduce the number of user attributes needed (I use 4: a string and 3 booleans). But, don’t worry about that, a few extra attributes won’t tax Tinderbox. It’s just that if you want to re-use the concept and code as-is you’ll need to make those attributes.
Wow! This is of great use. For the longest time I’ve been looking for a brainstorming assistant with my storyforming / conceptforming phase of my writing. Say I want to toy with 4 or 5 different possibilities for story climaxes, and see how they align with other parts of the story that are “fixed”. Now I can. Thanks @mwra ! This is awesome.
My pleasure. As said at the meet-up, working on other people’s problems is quite freeing as the (notional) boundaries are set. I loved the fact that the first comment in the meet-up was for using the idea for a completely different purpose, e.g. prompts for what to work on today (not the interrelation of the suggestions, just some suggestions).
This exemplifies the joy of a toolbox [sic] for thought as opposed to a tool for thought: I don’t want to be told my new writing tool only writes vowels. Sense-making is all about careful colouring outside the lines. A bounded tool doesn’t offer that flexibility (other than by moving the area of interest ‘inside the lines’) is far less powerful. Of course ‘flexibility’ and ‘complexity’ are two sides of the coin, which side we fall is subjective.
