Turning an inky function into a variable (getting the players name, then turning it into a variable)

[Inkynoob739]

Hello, I am a total noob at inky so you might need to teach me some things.

I am trying to use inky to activate an external function that will ask the player's name for the story. I used this article to get the basics: Article
This worked just fine, until I added multiple calls, which made the dialog box appear multiple times. Then, I saw @joethephish say this:

"This is up to the individual game to implement. Ink's primary goal is to be a single layer within the technology stack of a game. The fact that it's also increasingly useable as a standalone IF language is sort of a side-effect, but we'd always expect you to customize the interface, whether it's by modifying the default Inky template, or by creating something in Unity. So, what you'd need to do is pop up a dialogue box to ask for the player's name, and then poke it in directly by setting an ink variable from the game side."
Originally posted by @joethephish in #139 (comment)

How would "I poke it into a variable?"

Note: I am not using Unity.

[Selsynn]

Hi,

It would depend on the language you're using. All the time, there is a way to write directly to the variable itself.
For example in js I will do story.variablesState.$("namePCInk", namePCJs); supposing the the first is the ink name of the variable namePCInk and I fill it with the value of namePCJs that is the name and the value of my js variable I already have filled with the current element I want to have.

All I would have to tell you, is either tell us what the port you are using (with what language?) and to look at the documentation.
You especially want to part where the port is explaining how to do this part of the official explanation https://github.com/inkle/ink/blob/master/Documentation/RunningYourInk.md#settinggetting-ink-variables

[Selsynn]

@only-miscellany yes, get screenshot/copy paste of your main.js (if you copy the code, have it between the "code" tag, it will be easier to read.) and where you are using it in your ink file. (and the logic around it)

[only-miscellany]

Thanks for clarifying, and sorry it's taken me so forever to get back to you on this. Things have been a little crazy lately; I'm sure you know how it is.

Here are the relevant lines in ink:

And this is what the snippet of my main.js file looks like after I modified it:

And this is what it does when uploaded to itch.io and the player goes through the process of selecting a name:

I'm sure I've just stuck something in the wrong spot in the main.js file or don't know enough about syntax to make sure I have all the punctuation mark thingies in the right places, or something. It's probably something really simple, and I'm just blind to it because I honestly have no idea what I'm doing. So I really appreciate you being willing to take the time and give this your attention. Please let me know if there's anything else you need from me to be able to see the whole picture.

[Selsynn]

if you are okay with me coming back to you so late, I just spotted the error.

it's where the if is placed in the js.
A little explication is required so you won't make the same mistake.
the if structure I had you change is composed of the key word if, of a condition (condition) and if that condition is true, then, it apply what is inside the { action to do }

for example in the idea

var animal = "Cat";
if(animal== "Dog" ){
 Bark();
}
if (animal == "Cat"){
 TakeOverTheWorld()
}

That would works,( In the condition the double equal is a test for equality) except that Bark() and TakeOverTheWorld() are not defined, that just to give you the idea.
In natural language, I would translate as

There is a animal.
If the animal is a dog, then do the action Bark.
If the animal is a cat, then do the action TakeOverTheWorld.

What you did in you code is that however, still in that idea/notation (the double vertical means a OR)

var animal = "Cat";
if(animal== "Dog" || animal == "Rabbit" ){
  if(animal== "Dog" ){
   Bark();
  }
  if (animal == "Rabbit"){
   BeFluffy();
    if (animal == "Cat"){
     TakeOverTheWorld()
    }
  }
}

That would means in natural language

There is a animal.
If the animal is a dog or a rabbit, 
then 
if the animal is a dog then Bark  -- end if the animal is a dog
if the animal is a rabbit 
then 
BeFluffy  
if the animal is a cat then TakeOverTheWorld -- end if the animal is a cat
-- end if the animal is a rabbit
-- end if the if the animal is a dog or a rabbit

The problem if the animal is a cat, it does not enter the first condition, so it won't ever check the internal condition.
Just make sure that you are doing outside of any tag == SPECIFICNAME because you are testing for another specific value for tag.

you can always write comments in js like this // I would suggest to write the end of the if in the closing bracket to keep track for the first time you are modifying it.

And sorry for the late reply, I was super busy at work.

[only-miscellany]

Oh-kay! I think I just figured out what you're talking about with the double vertical and the placement in the js, because there isn't a double vertical in the code that I added, but there is one in the existing code in the js document, and I was really confused for a second. Or several minutes of reading and re-reading. So... I probably need to move the modification somewhere outside of some brackets which it's currently in so it stops being a part of the conditional logic that includes an or? And that's basically what you said, just in different words about checking the internal condition.

Thank you for breaking all that down so basically for me, that was really helpful! No worries on the reply time; I really appreciate you volunteering your spare time to teach me stuff. Thank you also for the tip about comments for tracking modification, because now I find that I don't remember which bracket goes where, but I'll play around with stuff and see what I can get to work so you don't have to try to physically point to me, "here's where you should put this code."

[only-miscellany]

Yes! I moved some stuff around, and after a few tries, I got things situated, and it's working! I just stuck the thing at the beginning of all the "ifs" instead of the end, and that seems to make a whole lot more sense to everybody. Thank you so much for your help!