Editing WoW:API and scripting quirks (section)

== World of Warcraft Scripting Quirks ==
* [[Macros]]
** Can only cast spells from a hotkey or mouse click
** [[Macros]] cannot cast spells on a delay
** /cast only works in [[Macros]]
** only one spell or action can be triggered per button press

* [[Slash Command]]
** Can be use single in the Text Mode
** Can be used in [[Macros]]

* [[Frames]]
** OnUpdate handlers are only called when the frame is visible. 
** OnUpdate handles are called ''every'' frame. Use with care.
** When nesting frames, you can access the parent frame name in XML names with $parent, this is a textual substitution and cannot be used in Lua. The Lua equivalent to $parent is the GetParent() method of the frame (e.g. getglobal(Frame:GetParent():GetName().."Button") is the same as $parentButton).
** All [[Frames]] have a GetID() function which will obtain the ID specified in the XML.  ID's must be positive integers enclosed in quotes: ie. id="1" or id="20"
** If you don't specify parent="UIParent" in your top-level frames, your frames won't be scaled according to the currently active UI scale.  This can lead to some hair-pulling as you try to figure out why your fonts are so huge.  (But, in some cases, not having that scaling might be desirable.)
** If you get no error output, but your addon is simply not being loaded, make sure you don't have a syntax error in your .xml file.  A simple way to ensure that your xml is well-formed is to open it in Firefox; it will point out any XML structure errors to you. You can also check the contents of your Logs directory for errors.

* Output to the outside world
** The only file output allowed is when the UI engine saves variables before it exits or reloads. Addons use the "<tt>## [[SavedVariables]]:</tt>" header to indicate which data they wish to save.

* [[World of Warcraft API|Functions]]
** x,y = GetCursorPosition(); will return the current position of the mouse '''with respect to the object it currently is in'''.  This means x will be 0 if the mouse is at the left edge of a frame or button, regardless of where that frame or button is.
** x,y = GetCursorPosition(UIParent); will return the current position of the mouse with respect to the entire UI.  This can be considered the absolute position..

* [[ChatFrame]]
** Trying to send colored text to other players will cause your client to disconnect.  Not sure if Blizz's server is forcing the disconnect, or my client.
*** Example:  /tell Name |cFF00FF00Hello|r.  The EditBox will show the text in green after replacing "||" with "|".  Pressing enter to send the info to the server chat channel results in the following:
**** "|r" causes the disconnect,
**** "|c" doesn't have the same problem, but will cause the text after it not to show.

* Variables
** If you declare a local variable inside an code block (such as an IF block), it is only available inside that code block.
** See [[Lua Scope]] for a complete description of the implications of Lua's variable scoping.

[[Category:Interface customization]]