Re: Re: [Visualswing-developers] Proposed Feature List and Description

[<sc...@mi...>]

Todd wrote :
> Are you talking about custom, user created classes
> that inherit from JComponent?  If I'm wrong, could you
> elaborate?

Right, I was thinking a developer develops a JPanel that he/she uses for a number of GUI applications it would be nice if he/she could add that panel subclass to a new GUI rather than having to recreate it each time.

> Is this the [internal] format that we're going to save "works > in progress"?

I would hope that we could save "works in progress" in a valid state in a .java format (or any format for that matter); whether it is fully functioning is up to the user.  I was thinking that the internal format would be more used to add user-created elements to our set of usable components.  (Maybe this is unneccesary.)

> This one may get sticky. Maybe I should make sure I
> understand the intent - I can take any .java class
> (presumably that inherits from JComponent) and have VS
> load it up?
>
> I think it would be awesome if we could reliably parse
> .java files, but I also think it's going to be a
> beast. 

I was thinking the same thing; whatever restrictions we made to the output of our generated classes would have to be applied to these classes.  But it would be nice if the user could start a GUI in Forte, realize how limiting that environment is and switch over to VisualSwing without starting from scratch.  



> The more I think about this one, the more I think that
> maybe we don't provide an editior (you drag and drop
> components, set properties and provide code for
> events, but not manipulate the .java file) in the
> standalone version.  Instead, we have a simple to use
> GUI Builder that outputs the file formats discussed. 
> Then we provide a version that is a plug-in, and we
> leverage that tools editor.  That way, beginners can
> get started without worrying about setting up a full
> IDE - once they're ready (and hooked on Java), they
> advance to the next level.

I tend to agree I think we have our work cut out for us with the features listed above.  If our design is good enough, I would hope that at the point we think about operating as a plugin to another IDE we could provide bi-directional hooks to allow interaction between the GUI view and whatever text editor is available.

> When you say "first release", I assume you're talking
> about version 1.0, and not the first "file release"
> that we post on the sourceforge download page.  If I
> understand that correctly, I concur 100%.  

Yes, 1.0.

Do you think these clarifications warrant a revision or should we wait for further feedback?

Scott Corley