Thread: [Boa Constr] RFE
Status: Beta
Brought to you by:
riaan
From: David L. <wh...@oz...> - 2002-12-08 08:18:58
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I have two requests for feature enhancements: 1. I would like to have a dialog pop up inviting me to give my own name to an app or control when it's created. It's a lot easier to figure out what's going on if I can call something nameLstBox instead of wxlstbox3 (or whatever: not a real world example). I would prefer this to renaming the control after I have created it! For those who either don't mind it or don't want it, either a suggested default name could be in the dialog name edit control when the dialog control comes up so that the user can just hit "enter" or it could be a preferences option. It looks as though it would be a simple matter of modifying DesignerView.newControl(), at least for having the dialog all the time. No idea of how to make it a user preference. 2. Please, please, PLEASE update the documentation!!!!! It would also be nice if there was an updated .zip for the poor folks who come along and innocently d/l 0.1.0 and have it crash on them! Sincerely, David LeBlanc Seattle, WA USA |
From: Riaan B. <ri...@tb...> - 2002-12-08 10:17:15
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Hi David, > I have two requests for feature enhancements: > > 1. I would like to have a dialog pop up inviting me to give my own name to > an app or control when it's created. It's a lot easier to figure > out what's > going on if I can call something nameLstBox instead of wxlstbox3 (or > whatever: not a real world example). Just making sure, you know about the Name property you should set in the Inspector? Is this really that bad? > I would prefer this to renaming the > control after I have created it! For those who either don't mind > it or don't > want it, either a suggested default name could be in the dialog name edit > control when the dialog control comes up so that the user can just hit > "enter" or it could be a preferences option. It looks as though > it would be > a simple matter of modifying DesignerView.newControl(), at least > for having > the dialog all the time. No idea of how to make it a user preference. As the current practice is the same as Delphi and other GUI builders, it will stay the default behaviour. We could have a 'dsPromptForNameAtCreate' preference setting. But I'm not convinced yet. > 2. Please, please, PLEASE update the documentation!!!!! The 0.1.0 docs are accurate for 0.1.0. For the next release I've already updated some of the application docs. I haven't touched the tutorial as it needs a thorough rework, a more maintanable format and more time than I have. I do intend to put the core Boa docs back into the CVS repository before the release. Boa 0.2.0 will be released after the next version (2.3.4) of wxPython. Hopefully soon! Cheers, Riaan. |
From: David L. <wh...@oz...> - 2002-12-16 00:59:44
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> Hi David, > > > I have two requests for feature enhancements: > > > > 1. I would like to have a dialog pop up inviting me to give my > own name to > > an app or control when it's created. It's a lot easier to figure > > out what's > > going on if I can call something nameLstBox instead of wxlstbox3 (or > > whatever: not a real world example). > > Just making sure, you know about the Name property you should > set in the Inspector? Is this really that bad? Yes, I know about it. I also know that my app and frame won't be named what I want them named until I do a "save as..." in the editor (and that doesn't always work correctly beyond the app and frame files). UGH. > > I would prefer this to renaming the > > control after I have created it! For those who either don't mind > > it or don't > > want it, either a suggested default name could be in the dialog > name edit > > control when the dialog control comes up so that the user can just hit > > "enter" or it could be a preferences option. It looks as though > > it would be > > a simple matter of modifying DesignerView.newControl(), at least > > for having > > the dialog all the time. No idea of how to make it a user preference. > > As the current practice is the same as Delphi and other GUI builders, > it will stay the default behaviour. > We could have a 'dsPromptForNameAtCreate' preference setting. > But I'm not convinced yet. Oh good, every other brain dead GUI builder does it this way, so Boa should do it this way! I've really noticed how Delphi and "other GUI builders" are such market leaders. If Delphi where as bad as Boa (which, it's not), then it's no wonder that Delphi and Pascal are niche products (which, they are!). Ending up with a bunch of classes and controls named wx<something>1 through wx<something>n makes for virtually unmaintainable, undebuggable code. Generating code with 200+ character lines doesn't help either! <snip> Between the crappy wxWindows doc (available events by control anyone?), the virtually non-existant wxPython doc, virtually non-existant and/or incorrect Boa doc, and Boa's MANY bugs and design deficiencies (clue: debug menu items belong on a debug menu, not on the file and edit menus, tool items belong on a tools menu, not on the file or edit or view menu etc. etc. ETC.), I'm terminally frustrated with the whole mess. I've found it easier and FASTER to just take snippets out of the wxPython demo then use Boa. There are just too many ways to do something that Boa doesn't like that can't be recovered from and one ends up losing all one's work. How about concentrating on the core functionality and less on the bells and whistles that many people are not likely to use - like SSH, CVS and Zope! I'm almost sorry about the sarcasm in this mail, but I've just lost all my work in Boa _again_ and I feel like sharing the "joy"! Boa has promise - what it delivers currently is FRUSTRATION!!! David LeBlanc Seattle, WA USA |
From: Rasjid W. <ra...@op...> - 2002-12-16 13:01:49
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On Mon, 16 Dec 2002 12:00 pm, David LeBlanc wrote: <big snip> > I'm almost sorry about the sarcasm in this mail, but I've just lost all my > work in Boa _again_ and I feel like sharing the "joy"! Boa has promise - > what it delivers currently is FRUSTRATION!!! David, Boa is a 0.1.4 version release! It rates itself as ALPHA status software on the sourceforge page. Boa is *going* to have bugs. It could even delete all your files and crash your system. Alpha software is always run at your own risk. (Actually, this is true of most software, read the EULA's of pretty much anything.) If Boa claimed too be stable (or even late Beta) then your comments _might_ be justified. But under the circumstances I think they are very unfair. Having worked on a few very small projects myself, I know how important encouraging feedback from users is. Constructive critisism is fine - venting your frustrations publically just because an alpha producted caused you to loose your work does little to help the cause. As with most open-source projects, if you don't like something, you at least have the option of doing something about it and perhaps even fixing it. Don't like the fact that the wxWindows docs and wxPython docs are out of date, incorrect or non-existant? Well, you could always download all the source code, learn it, understand it, and write the docs so that no-one else has to go through the sorrow that you have. Don't like the way that Boa does something. Change it and submit patches. Your other options are: a) Pay someone to make the changes you want, or b) Use some other software (possibly commercial software). Google shows Wing IDE, which is only US$35 for the Lite version, or $149-$179 for the standard version. Perhaps that is what you need? For a completely different solution, if you really want a (free) open-source IDE and have an interest in Java, then have a look at NetBeans. Looks very mature. It even has some support for Jython. As a last resort, you could always ask Riaan for your money back. I'm sure he'd oblidge. Personally, I have nothing but admiration for people like Riaan, and I only hope that I can contribute as much to the open-source community as time goes by. Keep up the good work Riaan. Cheers, Rasjid. -- Rasjid Wilcox Canberra, Australia (UTC +10 hrs) http://www.openminddev.net |
From: David L. <wh...@oz...> - 2002-12-16 17:45:17
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Actually, I too have a lot of respect for Riaan's work. He's done a lot and maybe that's why I have expectations. As it happens, I have used the full version of Wing (1.4) - it's poor user design is frustrating too, and it doesn't have features Boa has! I have phase.Java.my.through.gone and if I ever feel the need for senselessly long class names, rapidly changing APIs, ghastly GUIs or want the paranoid schizophrenic of computer languages, I know where to go ;) Hopefully, Robin will spend some of the time/money he's getting to improve wxPython on better doc, but I doubt it will happen. Doc isn't glamorous, even though it's often the difference between a sucessful product and not. Yes Riaan, please keep up the good work and please, get the sink in order before pulling in the rest of the kitchen! David LeBlanc Seattle, WA USA > -----Original Message----- > From: boa...@li... > [mailto:boa...@li...]On Behalf Of > Rasjid Wilcox > Sent: Monday, December 16, 2002 5:02 > To: boa...@li... > Subject: Re: [Boa Constr] RFE > <snip> > Personally, I have nothing but admiration for people like Riaan, > and I only > hope that I can contribute as much to the open-source community > as time goes > by. Keep up the good work Riaan. > > Cheers, > > Rasjid. > > > -- > Rasjid Wilcox > Canberra, Australia (UTC +10 hrs) > http://www.openminddev.net > |
From: Riaan B. <ri...@tb...> - 2002-12-20 03:40:12
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> > Just making sure, you know about the Name property you should > > set in the Inspector? Is this really that bad? > > Yes, I know about it. I also know that my app and frame won't be > named what > I want them named until I do a "save as..." in the editor (and > that doesn't > always work correctly beyond the app and frame files). UGH. At some stage in the average project's life you will have to do a "save as". The Designer maintains the wxPython derived class (e.g. wxFrame1) The Editor maintains Python modules (e.g. wxFrame1.py). By default they have the same name because I encourage the use of the "modulename == main class name" convention for generated frame modules. But I certainly won't enforce this convention. From the application file, the modules are only referenced by module name and a generic 'create' function. Frame type modules do not reference the application module. If you rename (save as) such a module, when the application module is not open in the IDE, the application file won't be updated. Maybe this happened to you. If you have some test case for which save as does not work, please send it to me. > > > > I would prefer this to renaming the > > > control after I have created it! For those who either don't mind > > > it or don't > > > want it, either a suggested default name could be in the dialog > > name edit > > > control when the dialog control comes up so that the user can just hit > > > "enter" or it could be a preferences option. It looks as though > > > it would be > > > a simple matter of modifying DesignerView.newControl(), at least > > > for having > > > the dialog all the time. No idea of how to make it a user preference. > > > > As the current practice is the same as Delphi and other GUI builders, > > it will stay the default behaviour. > > We could have a 'dsPromptForNameAtCreate' preference setting. > > But I'm not convinced yet. > > Oh good, every other brain dead GUI builder does it this way, so > Boa should > do it this way! I've really noticed how Delphi and "other GUI > builders" are > such market leaders. If Delphi where as bad as Boa (which, it's not), then > it's no wonder that Delphi and Pascal are niche products (which, > they are!). > Ending up with a bunch of classes and controls named > wx<something>1 through > wx<something>n makes for virtually unmaintainable, undebuggable code. > Generating code with 200+ character lines doesn't help either! I repeat, click on the Name property of your controls and change it!!! If you have test cases that causes Designer crashes they have a much bigger chance of getting fixed if you send them to me. Riaan. |
From: Yuppie <yu...@ze...> - 2002-12-08 12:10:32
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Hi Riaan! David LeBlanc wrote: > It would also be nice if there was an updated .zip for the poor folks who > come along and innocently d/l 0.1.0 and have it crash on them! Please update at least this page: <http://boa-constructor.sourceforge.net/Download.html> If you don't want to make release packages, why not guiding people to the cvs? You did a great job improving Boa Constructor, why should people still download version 0.1.0? Cheers, Yuppie |
From: Riaan B. <ri...@tb...> - 2002-12-12 01:18:51
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Hi Yuppie, > > Hi Riaan! > > > David LeBlanc wrote: > > It would also be nice if there was an updated .zip for the poor > folks who > > come along and innocently d/l 0.1.0 and have it crash on them! > > Please update at least this page: > <http://boa-constructor.sourceforge.net/Download.html> > Updated. (And fixed another SSHExplorer bug ;) Cheers, Riaan. |
From: Yuppie <yu...@ze...> - 2002-12-12 09:06:51
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Riaan Booysen wrote: > Updated. (And fixed another SSHExplorer bug ;) ??? Couldn't find any updates. Not of <http://boa-constructor.sourceforge.net/Download.html> and not of SSHExplorer :-( Cheers, Yuppie |
From: Riaan B. <ri...@tb...> - 2002-12-14 21:44:20
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> Riaan Booysen wrote: > > Updated. (And fixed another SSHExplorer bug ;) > > ??? > Couldn't find any updates. Not of > <http://boa-constructor.sourceforge.net/Download.html> > and not of SSHExplorer :-( Well, the last line of Download.html tells people to get CVS if they need to use 2.3.3. This is what you requested. I've not updated SSHExplorer in CVS yet. Cheers, Riaan. |
From: Yuppie <yu...@ze...> - 2002-12-21 13:13:58
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Riaan Booysen wrote: >><http://boa-constructor.sourceforge.net/Download.html> [...] > Well, the last line of Download.html tells people to get > CVS if they need to use 2.3.3. This is what you requested. Didn't know the recommended version for people who don't "need to use wxPython 2.3.3" is still Boa Constructor 0.1.0. Cheers, Yuppie |