Squeak-dev March 2002

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169 participants
610 discussions

Re: Getting rid of metaclasses (Was: Behaviors vs Modules)
by Robert Hirschfeld 02 Mar '02

02 Mar '02

Ned, Ned Konz wrote: > > On Tuesday 26 February 2002 12:26 pm, Robert Hirschfeld wrote: > > A while ago I started to work on AspectS, an environment to explore > > aspect-oriented programming (AOP) in dynamic systems like Squeak > > (http://www.prakinf.tu-ilmenau.de/~hirsch/Projects/Squeak/AspectS/). > > In the paper you thank: "Dan Ingalls for solving a puzzle that allowed the > port of MethodWrappers to Squeak". > > What puzzle was that? Just curious... I've spent quite some time trying to subclass CompiledMethod, but apparently that wasn't that good of an idea since instances of CompiledMethod are this interesting combination of pointer and non-pointer fields. Dan helped me to work around these issues (see AsMethodWrapper class>>tweakClassFormat). Best, -Robert --- AsMethodWrapper class>>tweakClassFormat) self instVarNamed: 'format' put: (self format bitOr: 16r200).

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[VM] Plugins and namespaces
by Ross Boylan 02 Mar '02

02 Mar '02

I am trying to understand the interrelations between the different external and internal plugins, with an eye toward an enhanced Win32 build for VMMaker. I am concerned both with the names of files and functions. Here's my current working model. Is it correct? 1. The same file or function name may appear in two different plugins. 2. Consquently one should use a separate directory for each plugin. 3. The relevant include files for each plugin include those in its own directory and the general VM files only. 4. The build for the core VM should not include headers for any of the plugin directories. 5. Plugins access other plugins only through calls to the interpreter proxy, so do not need headers from the other plugins. 6. All the above statements apply equally to external or internal plugins. 7. Until recently, the namespace collision issues were theoretical, so it was possible to get away with a looser approach. However, the separations outlined above are the desired ones going forward. 8. For internal plugins, function names are prefixed by the module name to make them unique (not sure where that happens). For external plugins, the names are left as is; the lookup mechanisms specify the module and function name, so there is no problem. As a somewhat separate issue, can anyone comment on directory trees appearing under an individual plugin directory? It seems in some cases the plugins themselves have components.

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[BUG] Reparented projects won't delete properly
by Brian Keefer 02 Mar '02

02 Mar '02

1. On a fresh image, open 2 new projects in the root project. I'll call them Tom and Jerry. 2. In Tom, set "accept drops". 3. grab a tile from Jerry's halo, and drop it into Tom. 4. Enter project Tom, and "give me this object" from the Jerry tile's red menu. 5. Click Jerry's (X) to destroy it. It will disappear without asking "are you sure?". 6. Go to the "Projects../Jump to project" menu. Jerry is still there. 7. Try to go to project Jerry, and the image stops responding to cmd-dot. My linux VM will keep redrawing its X-window, but it seems otherwise lobotomized. I think that Jerry can now be considered a legitamite zombie. Not only is it somewhere between alive and dead, it has the hunger for brayyyyyyyyyynnnnnzzz.....

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RE: Smalltalk-72 [Was: threads]
by Lex Spoon 02 Mar '02

02 Mar '02

> > I couldn't agree more. Don't you think it might be useful to augment > squeak by also providing > > a scripting language (sans-frameworks and image) that fit this bill? > > If no one is interested in this. I'll take it ;-) > > But I need advice from both of you from perspective of ST72 and > SmallScript. > > What does it take to achieve this ? > > I like to throw a script to Squeak and automagically rewarded > with a FreeCell game without loading a frameowork/image. > People have nibbled at issues like this in the past. Here are two Swiki pages that are relevant: "FAQ: Squeak Executables" http://minnow.cc.gatech.edu/squeak/778 "Writing scripts" http://minnow.cc.gatech.edu/squeak/425 If you just try to use Squeak in one of these ways, you will probably find some rough edges very quickly! Oh, you'll probably also be interested in ProjectLauncher>>startUpAfterLogin, too, which is where command-line arguments get processed inside Squeak. -Lex

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Re: How do you print?
by Richard A. O'Keefe 02 Mar '02

02 Mar '02

Jeff Bowman <jeff(a)dvns.com> wrote: ... I need to be able to print to a printer. The printer is most likely not a postscript printer, and it is most likely on a Windows computer (I happen to use Linux:) I can't find anything like a PrintStream or other object which would encapsulate printing to a printer. Ghostscript is available for Windows, so you may be able to print Postscript on the machine anyway. I have text (no graphcs at the moment but there will be in the future) to print which I can format as I like. I need to be able to create a button that says 'Print' the user can press and get a report. OSProcess is being ported to the Windows environment, so a two-stage process where you save the text (and later, graphics) as an HTML file and then fire up Netscape to print it might work. I've tried browsing and searching for print, printer, printing on the swiki, but no luck so far. Printing is coming Real Soon Now; people are working on it.

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mac source forge update 3.2.5b4
by John M McIntosh 01 Mar '02

01 Mar '02

I've updated sourceforge with my latest 3.2.5b4 macintosh source code. This change introduces support for the Carbon event manager and pthread logic to run the interp.c code separate from the UI input thread. This is a major change in the VM. Beware bugs might lurk.... I discovered a novel way to invoke a unix kernel panic in testing (yes that bug is fixed, in fact it caused quite a bit of paranoia here in the lab resulting in hours of reflection on the evils of multi-threaded code). I've also added support multi-button-wheeled mice!!!! (OS-X only), using the native os-x interfaces, versus some addon software package that fiddles with the event data before Squeak sees it. For now I send upward the scroll mouse data in the extra fields in a mouse move event followed by cmd arrow key movements. Shortly, once the few mac owners who actually have dual processor boxes, and mice with more than one microswitch report back on success or failure, I'll post a shinny new 3.2.5 mac VM. Note it is possible to backport some of this to system 8.6 or higher, but I'd need a good reason to do this work. Hint asking nicely won't work.... Giving reasons might... -- -- =========================================================================== John M. McIntosh <johnmci(a)smalltalkconsulting.com> 1-800-477-2659 Corporate Smalltalk Consulting Ltd. http://www.smalltalkconsulting.com ===========================================================================

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Re: Getting rid of metaclasses (Was: Behaviors vs Modules)
by Lex Spoon 01 Mar '02

01 Mar '02

> Of course, this is crucial to the modules code. I've been following the > modules discussion here, but here's my fundamental concern: How do I end up > not programming on quicksand? From what I understand so far, the modules > solution is about keeping different chunks of code and data in a seperate > space that you can 'swap' in. I can see how that works if the module is > independent and does not change the 'base' image code. Where I get lost at > is how all the modules interact when they fly back into the image, and start > changing that base code, potentially over writing each others changes. If > you don't have a stable base, and some protocol saying how you can attach > changes onto that base, it turns to quicksand real quick. You said it: they *potentially* overwrite each other's changes. This is a potential for excitement, not a problem to be feared. Live! It's the age of cowboy coding, and should be cherished. Start your programming sessions with a big "yeeehaaa!", not by putting some quiche in the microwave. -Lex

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How do you print?
by Jeff Bowman 01 Mar '02

01 Mar '02

Hi, I'm pretty new to squeak and smalltalk. Been at it for about 5-6 weeks now. I'm writing an application for a friend of mine, and I need to be able to print to a printer. The printer is most likely not a postscript printer, and it is most likely on a Windows computer (I happen to use Linux:) I can't find anything like a PrintStream or other object which would encapsulate printing to a printer. I have text (no graphcs at the moment but there will be in the future) to print which I can format as I like. I need to be able to create a button that says 'Print' the user can press and get a report. I've tried browsing and searching for print, printer, printing on the swiki, but no luck so far. Can someone help me? Jeff wolfb(a)bigfoot.com BTW, the code I have so far is at http://jeff.nontrivial.org if you have the squeak plugin for your browser, or http://jeff.nontrivial.org/cutlist/MyStuff.st can be filed in if you don't have the plugin working in your environment. -- __ / / (_)__ __ ____ __ / /__/ / _ \/ // /\ \/ / . . . t h e c h o i c e o f a /____/_/_//_/\_,_/ /_/\_\ G N U g e n e r a t i o n . . .

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RE: Modules and class... [ a off-topic question ?]
by Lex Spoon 01 Mar '02

01 Mar '02

> I think that it is mostly lack of experience in this space that is doing > the talking here amongst Squeak folks. I think my intuitive decomposition of classes and modules may be similar to others', so let me toss it out. A class primarily declares a number of instance variables, and holds a number of methods, and can be instantiated. It can also define variables in a local scope, but that's secondary and not even necessary if we have modules. A module primarily defines variables in a local scope. Theoretically, it could have instance variables, could have methods, and could even allow instantiation. These abilities are not only secondary, but might not be necessary at all. Looking at this, there isn't much of an intersection in the common uses. Why don't we just say that a class *has* a module (to hold class variables), and leave it at that? Of course, I haven't implemented a Smalltalk modules system and developed it over 10 years, so I may be being naive here. I just worry about equating ideas just because their implementations share some features. Conceptually the two things are different, and thus implementing them as the same thing is bothersome. This is the core of the language, so let's keep it as clean as we can! -Lex

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Distributed Object Communication
by Lyle Bloom 01 Mar '02

01 Mar '02

As a neophyte Squeak user I need some recommendations on tools to allow distributed object communication between squeak images running on the same CPU as well as different physical computers. Is CORBA available? Is there a better alternative? Thanks, Lyle __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Greetings - Send FREE e-cards for every occasion! http://greetings.yahoo.com

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