[Pythoncard-users] goals for next major release

[Kevin A. <al...@se...>]

I can't guarantee which of the items below will actually get done in the
next month, but all of them have been brought up on the list in the last few
weeks or I've been thinking about them on my own. The main issue for me is
changing how we wrap the underlying wxPython controls used for our
components. This is by far the largest and most far-reaching change to the
framework, so I'll start a separate topic for it tomorrow. Even the
timeframe of a month is arbitrary; most of the items below could be
completed sooner, but things always seem to take longer than expected and I
end up finding more things to complete in the meantime. Feel free to add
your own "hot issues" into the mix and/or identify which items below are the
most important to you.

I'm always interested in pursuing (or better yet helping others pursue) the
items that will get more people actually trying and then using PythonCard,
creating more apps of their own or samples and thus helping to identify any
problems in the current design. In the absence of feedback I just follow my
own muse. If people end up participating more on the list, writing
documentation, or working on the framework itself that is a big bonus.

ka
---

tentatively called release 0.7

remove _delegate "HAS-A" for components and change to direct
  "IS-A" subclasses
  if the switch goes well, go ahead and add additional wxPython
  controls

migrate MenuBar, Menu, MenuItem to subclasses of wxPython classes

improve resourceEditor
  make a dedicated property editor
  add dialog editing to resourceEditor

more work on components, add type information

continue localization experimentation
  add strings to resource format
  possibly make separate special simplified localized resource file
    that only contains strings: labels, text, titles, etc.
    update Resource loading to support simplified resource format
    add support to resourceEditor as well

add idle, timer, move, size, and exit events

investigate an IDLE clone for source editing?

resolve background/window/frame, panel/form issue
  once done, add support for additional window styles
  including scrolling windows. how does wxNotebook fit
  in here?

simple cross-platform printing via wxHtmlEasyPrinting
  this will give us plain and basic formatted printing
  page setup, print, print preview

tests of shelve and/or ZODB as persistence mechanism

incorporate Cliff Wells CSV importer for Python/wxPython
  http://sourceforge.net/projects/python-dsv/

threading - update one of the existing samples such as
  hopalong or findfiles to show how to use a separate thread
  for long running tasks or create a new sample. i previously
  suggested doing a PythonCard version of webchecker and/or
  websucker, which are included in the Python Tools directory

more documentation
  rewrite getting started
  migrate text files to html
  tidy up the web site
  start using www.pythoncard.org domain?

start identifying wxPython-mac issues with PythonCard

----
beyond 0.7

move to first "real" alpha version
  change package name to PythonCard instead of PythonCardPrototype

require Python 2.2

do more "market research" to determine what features are needed
  to get people using PythonCard instead of tkinter, especially
  people new to Python

designate someone other than me as the release manager
  setup PythonCard descriptions on the Vaults of Parnassus,
  freshmeat.net, and other outlets for promotion of PythonCard