wxhaskell-users

[wxhaskell-users] Opinions... to support wxWidgets 2.8 properly or not

[Jeremy O'D. <jer...@gm...>]

Hi all,

I've been busy with little time for wxHaskell for a few months.
However, I have been (slowly) working in the background, and I'm 90%
ready with a couple of fairly large patches.

The first should be (relatively) uncontentious. It's a unified build
system which works the same way on all platforms/compilers. It is not
the subject of this mail.

The larger issue is that I have the beginnings of *proper* (i.e. not
in wxWidgets 2.4 compatibility mode) support for wxWidgets 2.8.4 ready
to check in. I've wrapped all of the essential API changes, but have a
few more 'nice to have' items still to go (they would appear in
Graphics.UI.WxCore - there are rather only very minor changes at the
Graphics.UI.Wx level).

That's the good news. The bad news is that this would once and for all
break compatibility with wxWidgets 2.4.2 as there have been many
changes in wx in the almost four years since it was released.

So before committing what will be a sizeable patch, and one which
breaks API compatibility in some areas, I'd like a straw poll of
users' opinions as to what we should do. The options are:

Try to support latest wxWidgets
- Advantages
  - We benefit from bugfixes and improvements in the base GUI library
  - Simpler for new users, as getting 'historical' versions of wxWidgets means
    you must compile it for yourself (which is non-trivial) as opposed to using
    the version 'packaged' for your OS.
- Disadvantages
  - Due to changes in the way finalization is done in wxWidgets, it would no
    longer be possible to use wxHaskell properly from GHCi as the underlying
    wxWidgets library would be left in an unsuitable state once the first wxApp
    event loop terminates.
  - A few API changes visible at the wxHaskell API

Decide once and for all that wxHaskell is based on wxWidgets 2.4.2
- Advantages
  - Can focus more of the maintenance effort on improving the Haskell API
  - GHCi works properly, at least on some platforms
  - Some may feel that 2.4.2. is 'Good Enough' for our purposes
(although Unicode
    works much better on later releases)
- Disadvantages
  - Would really need to supply pre-built binaries of wxWidgets 2.4.2
as part of the
    distribution, to reduce the difficulty of getting started for new
wxHaskell users.

For the record, I would prefer to keep track with wxWidgets as best we
can. GHCi operation is nice to have, but not essential to me at all.
I'd also like us to look into re-initialization of wxWidgets library
so that we can get GHCi working again, but I'd have to say that it's
likely both platform dependent and messy to do.

Regards
Jeremy

[wxhaskell-users] Opinions... to support wxWidgets 2.8 properly or not

[<a_r...@ya...>]

Hi,

I also prefer 2.8 support. Since both options require developers effort to be usable (0.9.4 have
some annoying bugs), I prefer to get the bigger set of features of wxWidgets 2.8. Usually I don't
use GHCi, and having written only 1 program for wxHaskell, I don't have any need to stick to the
present API.

Maybe requiring 2.4 for wxHaskell can be a problem for people with 2.8 too installed (required by
other programs)?

By the way, thanks to Shelarcy for the new binary :) Tasukarimashita.

Antonio Regidor García




       
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Re: [wxhaskell-users] Opinions... to support wxWidgets 2.8 properly or not

[Eric Y. K. <eri...@gm...>]

> Try to support latest wxWidgets

I think we might as well do this... already our 2.6 target is out of
date.  And making people install the old version seems like a hassle.
Basically, whatever is the most convenient for the most people.

There was some concern about breaking Windows, however... is that still
an issue?

--=20
Eric Kow                     http://www.loria.fr/~kow
PGP Key ID: 08AC04F9         Merci de corriger mon fran=E7ais.

Re: [wxhaskell-users] Opinions... to support wxWidgets 2.8 properly or not

[Jeremy O'D. <jer...@gm...>]

On 02/08/07, Eric Y. Kow <eri...@gm...> wrote:
> > Try to support latest wxWidgets
>
> There was some concern about breaking Windows, however... is that still
> an issue?

I'm doing 90% of the work on Windows - using Visual Studio Express
(which is the most likely configuration for most people, I suspect) -
so at least I have that base covered.

I will do some testing on OS X as well, mainly to ensure that I
haven't irretrievably broken the build system on Unix targets.

Re: [wxhaskell-users] Opinions... to support wxWidgets 2.8 properly or not

[Mads <mad...@ya...>]

Hi

Jeremy O'Donoghue:
> That's the good news. The bad news is that this would once and for all
> break compatibility with wxWidgets 2.4.2 as there have been many
> changes in wx in the almost four years since it was released.
> 
> So before committing what will be a sizeable patch, and one which
> breaks API compatibility in some areas, I'd like a straw poll of
> users' opinions as to what we should do. The options are:

I think we should go with latest version.

In the future it might be a good idea to aim for the two latest major
versions, as not all users can easily install the latest. But for now, I
think we can live with only 2.8.something. And then keep supporting it
until 3.2.something comes out. Or maybe we should support 2.8 until X
number of months after 3.0 comes out.

Greetings,

Mads Lindstrøm

Re: [wxhaskell-users] Opinions... to support wxWidgets 2.8 properly or not

[shelarcy <she...@gm...>]

Hi Jeremy,

On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 23:03:22 +0900, Jeremy O'Donoghue <jer...@gm...> wrote:
> So before committing what will be a sizeable patch, and one which
> breaks API compatibility in some areas, I'd like a straw poll of
> users' opinions as to what we should do. The options are:
>
> Try to support latest wxWidgets

I also vote to support latest version.

> - Advantages
>   - We benefit from bugfixes and improvements in the base GUI library
>   - Simpler for new users, as getting 'historical' versions of wxWidgets means
>     you must compile it for yourself (which is non-trivial) as opposed to using
>     the version 'packaged' for your OS.

Because I think these advantages are important for users.

> - Disadvantages
>   - Due to changes in the way finalization is done in wxWidgets, it would no
>     longer be possible to use wxHaskell properly from GHCi as the underlying
>     wxWidgets library would be left in an unsuitable state once the first wxApp
>     event loop terminates.

> Decide once and for all that wxHaskell is based on wxWidgets 2.4.2
> - Advantages
>   - GHCi works properly, at least on some platforms

Okay, this property is important, too.
But If we keep that wxHaskell is based on wxWidgets 2.4.2, I think that we
must write complex build and user instuction for wxWidgets 2.4.2.
(And to use latest wxWidgets.)

Because some features require to use wxWidgets 2.6.x or higher, now.
So we must write document to announce what is supported or not on 2.4.2.

http://www.haskell.org/pipermail/haskell-cafe/2007-July/029439.html


Best Regards,

-- 
shelarcy <shelarcy    hotmail.co.jp>
http://page.freett.com/shelarcy/