Hi

 

First off I admit to having never used Squeak or any Smalltalk in anger (or
even in a very slight temper). I have looked over Squeaks shoulder several
times though in the last couple of years and it always fascinates me. I have
a play, think, not sure how to actually build anything in this and scuttle
off back to python land or java land or whatever. I think, this time I might
get further. 

 

Ok, I have an application (this is hobby time not work time) in Python that
is a software defined radio, running in two parts over a network. The server
and the client part communicate using Pyro (a distributed object protocol
for Python). The server is mostly 'C' with Python wrappers. For this
experiment I intend leaving the server much as it is except I have to
connect to it from Squeak. I guess I would have to use plain sockets and
devise a text based message protocol to get these two parts to communicate.

 

First question - is there any better way (meaning higher level) way to do
this communication, perhaps using Squeak on both sides. I could arrange for
the server side Squeak to talk to the 'C' processes through named pipes if
this makes things easier. The server is on Linux (Suse 9.3) by the way. The
client in on Windows XP.

 

Second question - well actually quite a few questions. I have been playing
with Morphic as the major part of what I would need to build is the UI.
Having found the tutorials not particularly helpful in explaining how to
build a UI I have discovered/questions on the following, which is no doubt
only the tip of the iceberg.

 

1.       I find the Supplies and Widgets flaps a bit odd. The widgets seem
to be what I would best describe as applets and the supplies what I would
best describe as widgets. At first I though, where is everything, expecting
to see all the usual suspects for building a UI but finding (to me) a rather
odd and small selection of bits. I then found that the 'new morph' menu item
gives a huge selection of parts and buried in there I have found quite a
number of the more standard parts although how to use them is another
question. I didn't find things like check box, radio button and box but I
assume they are somewhere. At the risk of being shot down I think the flaps
and their contents, with the possible exception of the tools detract from
the overall look of the default distribution. Some better crafted graphics
and a better selection would make all the difference.

2.       Ok, so I can drop parts onto the main window and play with them. It
took me a while to work out there is for example an 'Alignment Morph', which
I could then turn into a window and add components to it. There also seem to
be some layout managers/sizers (not sure what Squeak calls them). I guess if
I work at this long enough I would figure out how to combine alignment
panels and layouts to get a finished UI with the correct layout and resize
behaviour. Is this the way people do it, just work it out for themselves or
did I miss a whole load of info somewhere.

3.       Having got my layout, what do I do with it? I am used to GUI
builders that drop code. I found several menu items, but none seemed to
help.

4.       While playing I got a lot of 'Message Not Understood' errors.
Bearing in mind I'm not writing any code yet why do I get these. Mostly they
can be Abandoned but occasionally I get a whole string of them that brings
the thing to its knees and I have to restart. Some morphs I have tried also
throw errors immediately and every time I mouse over them. How do you get
rid of these as you can't bring up the halo.

 

Sorry for a lot of questions but I wanted to get as far as I could in a
reasonable amount of time and then fire enough off to get me to next base.
If you only know the answer to one question, please don't hold off as any
info will help me move forward.

 

Thanks

Bob      

 

             

 

  


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