Comments

The "Control Structure - Comment" action allows you to add notes to your action lists in order to make them easier to understand. Each comment contains a line of text that will be completely ignored by the AutoPlay application at run time. Because this text will be ignored, you can write anything you want in a Comment action, and it will have no effect on how your application operates.

Comment actions are displayed in a different color that makes them easy to recognize on the action lists. (The comments are displayed in green by default, but you can change this color in the AutoPlay Media Studio preferences.)

You should make a habit of adding comments to your action lists as you build them. If adding comments seems like a waste of time, consider how much time you will spend working on these actions in the future. Complex action lists that make perfect sense to you now might take a few moments to interpret the next time you need to make changes to a project. A few comments written while things are fresh in your mind can minimize the amount of re-thinking required.

Comments are especially important in a multi-user environment. If it's foreseeable at all that someone else may need to work on your project in the future, do your organization a favor and document your actions well.

Here are some tips for using "Control Structure - Comment" actions:

• Use comments to summarize large blocks of actions. This way, you only have to read the comment to know what the actions do. It's easier to read one line of text than it is to decipher a long list of actions.

• Use comments to explain why an action is needed. This is especially important when the purpose of an action isn't obvious.

• Use comments to highlight important actions, or to label different parts of your action lists so they're easier to find.

• Use comments in a team environment to help keep track of changes (and who made them).

• Use comments to document the decision process that led you to choose one installation approach over another. This could save you time if you ever find yourself considering other approaches again.

• Use comments appropriately. Don't waste time explaining simple actions that are readily apparent.

Think of comments as investing a little bit of time now to save you a lot of time over the long run. You only have to write a comment once, but you will benefit from the comment many times over. In the long run, well-written comments will save you time, time and time again.

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