Re: [Adobe-source-devel] Interest in ASL

[Mat M. <mat...@em...>]

On Sun, May 10, 2009 at 7:34 PM, Robert Dailey <rcd...@gm...> wrote:
> On Sat, May 9, 2009 at 8:14 PM, Robert Dailey <rcd...@gm...> wrote:
>>
>> On Sat, May 9, 2009 at 10:01 AM, Marshall Clow <mar...@id...> wrote:
>>>
>>> Guys --
>>> I'm really enjoying this conversation, but it's hard to follow only one
>>> side.
>>> Only Sean's posts are showing up on the "Adobe-source-devel" list.
>>
>> Sorry, I was unsubscribed from the list for some reason.
>
> So everything we've discussed so far seems to make sense, and now I need to
> get around to writing a prototype of my own. So far I have two main
> roadblocks:
> First, I need to figure out layouts. I need to figure out things like what
> are all of the parameters possible for every single type of widget you can
> create, as well as any other layout-related functions like "column" and
> "row". I did find a wiki article that seems to discuss this, but the
> formatting of the documentation there is rather weird and doesn't seem very
> thorough. What's the best way to figure out all of this information? In a
> way, layouts and sheets are like their own API's in a different language
> from C++, and having a good reference documentation for these APIs would be
> helpful.
> Secondly, I need to start writing some C++ eventually. I need to figure out
> where the boundary between the Expression language and C++ is, as well as
> the responsibilities of both. Can you recommend some good tutorials or
> example applications that contain both layout, sheets, and C++?
> I expect to
> see small programs that implement things like a simple calculator and can be
> compiled from visual studio and executed for testing.
> Thanks.

Some notes about the tests, examples:

The Adobe Begin application, part of the APL test suite, and also
available as a pre-built binary on sourceforge, comes equipped with a
folder of example layouts/sheet pairs. It supports live editing and
offers a simple peek/poke facility.

There is also an (under-documented) command line application called
property_model_evaluator in the ASL test suite that is meant to
support property model exploration/regression entirely from the
command line. It serves another role too: it is a first step towards a
demonstration of how an application using property models can be
structured. The design involves a parser for an extended property
model expression language together with an associated parser
adam_test_parser.cpp/hpp/_impl.hpp, and a 'queryable' wrapper to the
sheet_t data structure, queryable_sheet.hpp/cpp. It also comes with a
simple, executable property model tutorial pm_tut.pme. Some of the
relevant files can be viewed here:

<http://stlab.adobe.com:8080/@md=d&cd=//adobe_source_libraries/test/&c=wi7@//adobe_source_libraries/test/property_model_eval/?ac=83>

I also had it up and running as a public cgi app, but it's down at the moment.

 - Mat