[squeak-dev] Saving the default image when one starts it for the first time

tim Rowledge tim at rowledge.org
Thu May 17 21:20:20 UTC 2018


I've long tried to argue that the release images ought to start up in state where they insist on being saved under a new, user chosen name as the first (or nearly) action. This way the release image (and changes) could be locked, guaranteeing that there is a clean image on-disk for the inevitable "Dang!" moment. This seems to me to apply doubly for the all-in-one systems since those release images are buried so deep in directories that you have to look up to see the Mohorovičić discontinuity far above you. 

What I claim ought to happen is that the current and very excellent preferences wizard should be extended to open a file saver dialog and insist on the image being saved. We would need to do some directory path parsing to make sure that we actually offer a realistic directory and not the /Users/tim/Documents/Squeak/Squeak-5.0-All-in-One.app/Contents/Resources/Squeak5.0-15113.image path I see on my iMac; I'd posit that find the all-in-one part and chopping just before it might be adequate. 

I can see one situation where this might cause a problem that needs some thought; when using a script to prepare an image eg the VMMaker build scripts. I see the 'NukePreferenceWizardMorph.st' in the vmmaker build scripts which removed the pref wizard ok, but it still leaves the image being saved over the original. Strictly speaking this is very unlikely to be a serious issue with the vmmaker regime because we almost always load the images into the mv/image working directory, but it's a poor example to have around. Changing to make the 'NukePreferenceWizardMorph.st' save the image under the new name and then dropping the copy in buildspurtrunkvmmakerimage.sh might be nicer?

Next question is whether anyone can think of serious problems with making this change?  And then, how to implement it cleanly?  I *think* it might work to over-ride #delete in PreferenceWizardMorph which is sent when the chance to configure is declined right up-front, or when the user clicks on 'Done'. 


tim
--
tim Rowledge; tim at rowledge.org; http://www.rowledge.org/tim
Strange OpCodes: CAO: Compare Apples to Oranges




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