Re: [Gnue-dev] Issues trying to learn how to use GNUe tools

[Jason Cater]

Stanley, some comments. 

1. Static datasources: These are very, very new. They work in CVS, but did
not work in 0.4.0. The Combo Box wizard that was in 0.4.0 incorrectly had
that as an option... that was an oversight on my part. This wizard was a
new one I set up for 0.4.0, and, as such, I was laying out everything it
"should" do.  The "Create Static Datasource" option *should* have been
commented out for the 0.4.0 release since the underlying support wasn't in
place. 

Now that static datasources are a reality, I need to go back and enable
this in the wizard, and properly code it to create them. 


2. Moving widgets: the "dragging" components to move them does give you an
icon right now. This is one of those "I wish wx would do ...." situations.
 This was the best we could get wx to do up until now and we thought it
better than nothing. I freely admit it isn't ideal.  

One comment on the "wx-isms" that we see... the WX team has frozen the 2.3
development branch in anticipation of a 2.4 stable release within the next
few weeks.  This will be a big boon for us.. because their odd numbered
branches are considered "unstable/development", we have been stuck in 2.2
compatability mode for a while.  They, however, don't do much back-porting
to 2.2. Once 2.4 is released, we will give the major distros a little time
to upgrade their packages, then we will switch to their 2.4 API.  There
are quite a few additions/improvements that will help us tremendously.


3. Dialogs: Regarding the Designer dialogs, you are correct... they do
look a lot like the wizards.  This is not by chance.  The major change in
Designer that bumped it up to 0.4.0 was the move to a plug-in
architecture.   All non-core logic is being shifted to a plug-in system. 
Roughly translated: when you insert an entry, an external plugin is being
called.  

The beauty of this system is very little about the internals of Designer
is needed to write plugins, so practically anyone who understands forms
and basic Python programming can do one. Look in
gnue/designer/src/forms/wizards for all the forms plugins (e.g., AddEntry,
AddDropdown, AddLabel, AddPage, etc.) 

Since this was the first release under the new plugin system, we still
need quite a few important plugins. Notably missing are AddButton,
AddCheckbox, etc. 

Two of the main benefits of moving to this plugin functionality are: 

a. People wishing to contribute to Designer have a lower barrier to entry.
You only need to understand the GFD format and some very simple basics to
add a new function to Designer.  In the past, you would need to know about
Designer's event model, callback methods, and a host of other screwy
stuff. 

b. If a user of Designer doesn't like the functionality of, say, AddPage,
he can write his own that will automatically over-ride ours. Similarly, if
they want a wizard that is completely specific to their style, they can
add it along side ours. Their custom version could default certain values
that they always use in their development. He can do all of this without
modifying any of Designer's source code. 

As with all things GNUe, this plug-in architecture isn't too well
documented. There are some technotes in designer/doc/technotes/, but they
are, for the most part, not end-user ready. 


All in all, the 0.4.0 release of Designer was a stepping stone from being
a "hack" to being an all-purpose design tool for GNUe.  Consider 0.4.0 to
be "puberty" for Designer.  Obviously it has a lot of polishing ahead of
it, but I think we have the "core" exactly where we need it to move
forward. 

-- Jason 

On Sun, 27 Oct 2002 08:34:25
"Stanley A. Klein" <address@hidden> wrote:

> Robert -
> 
> Thanks for the hints.  
> 
> My "mutant install" of GNUe 0.4 enables me to easily switch back and
> forth between the "stable" version and cvs.  I tried dragging on the
> form, as you suggested, and it worked most of the time in both versions.
>  It didn't work
> one time, and I can't remember the situation.
> 
> Also, the dropdown worked in the cvs version, but it didn't allow me to
> set up a static datasource, only a connection to a database.  I got the
> static dialog on another try (in 0.4, IIRC) and it allowed a static
> datasource but it didn't create it properly in the gfd file.  It did
> leave something(incomplete) in the gfd.  I haven't populated the
> database yet and actually tried to use the dropdown.
> 
> I also tried dragging widgets to move them.  I found that the moving was
> very inexact.  Instead of the widget getting some kind of "object"
> marking(such as happens in drawing programs) you get some kind of icon,
> the proper placement of which has to be guessed.  More exact positioning
> is better with the controls at the bottom of the Designer window.
> 
> I tried the object navigator as you suggested.  When you double click on
> something it brings up the properties window.  However, I have been
> unsuccessful in editing anything in the properties window.  In fact, the
> entire set of additional Designer windows seems good only for looking at
> information and not for changing it or using it to perform other design
> functions.  Perhaps these other capabilities are yet-to-do's.
> 
> One other thing I noticed is that the Designer dialogues all look
> similar to the wizard dialogues based on the templates.  If this is
> true, it might provide a means for spreading some of the gruntwork in
> Designer development.
> 
> 
> Stan Klein
> 
> 
> At 11:27 PM 10/26/2002 +0100, Robert Jenkins wrote:
> >Hi Stanley,
> >
> >I've been studying Designer for a while also; it seems to have a lot of
> >capabilities that are not obvious, but also a few missing functions (or
> >at least I can't find ways of making some things work).
> >
> >The bits I have figured out that are relevent to your questions:
> >
> >
> >If you click a button on the toolbar, you then need to click & drag on
> >the form to set the location and size of the widget.
> >
> >It seems that you can directly drag widgets about after placement,
> >either individually or in groups, but not re-size by dragging so far.
> >
> >Some things such as blocks don't seem to be visible, but exist and have
> >properties.
> >Others such as dropdowns don't seem to work yet.
> >
> >
> >The only way I've found of editing some items is to select 'object
> >navigator' from the Tools menu, then double-click an item in that to
> >get it's properties. The object navigator gives a tree view of the
> >complete form structure with all items on it, & is an excellent
> >feature!
> >
> >
> >(Note: I'm using the Windows 0.4.0 version; I assume the Linux version
> >functions in a similar manner).
> >
> >Regards,
> >
> >Robert A. Jenkins,
> >JRW.
> 
> 
> 
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