Squeak-dev November 2005

squeak-dev@lists.squeakfoundation.org

163 participants
269 discussions

Project "Kolibri" help wanted
by Cees De Groot 03 Nov '05

03 Nov '05

Hi, As some of you may remember, I've been busy with a Squeak project the past 9 months or so under the banner of the Digital Society of the Past (DGV), a non-profit that aims to bring (Dutch) private persons and institutions together by means of peer-to-peer software. We built the software in wxSqueak on top of a homebrew p2p layer (dubbed 'Gossip'). During the project, we decided to name the base software 'Kolibri', so that's what the project is going to be called from now :) What the package does is organize the world in communities, which have files, members, etcetera. Also institutional collections can be made available, currently through the OAI protocol. Files serve as starting points for discussion threads, have Dublin Core metadata, and files, institutional collection items, etcetera can be linked together in relations (which themselves serve as starting points for discussions). Data travels over the network as required, and there's a (primitive) protocol to download blobs (file contents) from multiple sources at once. The software has largely been completed, and I'm uploading new snapshots almost daily on SqueakSource (http://www.squeaksource.com/dgv). You'll need wxSqueak 0.4 for this (although 0.4.1 will work as well). We still have to formally license it, but it'll probably end up as SqueakL+MIT code or something similarly liberal. I am biased, but I think this software is interesting from multiple perspectives: - it contains probably the most 'real' and most complete p2p layer for Squeak to date (using UDP exclusively allowing it to work through most residential broadband routers); - it is a real-world application with a native L&F using wxSqueak (currently the only one?); - even though the application was paid for by the DGV, nothing in the application is specific to the use of it for history. We're already having interest of a group of schools wanting it to disclose teaching materials, for example. Therefore, I think it would be useful if some people outside the scope of the original project, i.e. from the larger Squeak community, would help out to make Kolibri more useful for a larger audience. Specifically, some items that I can think of which are clearly out of scope of the project: - Translation to English. The software is translatable (we send #translated to every string literal, and have some infrastructure in place to use that) but the actual translation work still needs to be done. Probably we want to reverse the current situation where the default strings are Dutch and everything needs to be translated into English; - A Seaside UI as an alternative for wxSqueak - I have some ideas on how this could look, and this would let people play with the software without requiring them to install it or to ask system admins to pierce holes in firewalls; - Testing on Mac and Linux, maybe build installers for these platforms; - A good review of the p2p layer, there are some weaknesses there that ideally need cleaning up (most notably the whole 'presence' stuff which was conceived as a quick hack to support instant messaging but has grown out of proportion, but the file download code could also use some reviewing because performance is under par); - Nifty stuff people come up with - both code hacks and new uses of the software. - And of course, I have a long list of ideas but this post is too long already :-) Anyway, if you're interested, please shout. Oh, and thanks to all the people who have helped out with advice and debugging during the project. Especially Rob Gayvert, who put a lot of hours in wxSqueak support.

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RFD - Envy-like MC repository
by Cees De Groot 03 Nov '05

03 Nov '05

Hi, I just put up a new small package on my private MC repository, dubbed Anvil (because it's a tool and the name sounds like Envy ;)). What it does, is log every class and method change in a Magma database. I think that changes files suck because you tend to lose code (you didn't version it in MC and then you throw away your image and start anew...), and when I press 'versions' I'd like to have all versions, ever, of a method, not just those that happen to be present in my changes file. Etcetera... Currently a proof-of-concept, I'm thinking how to continue from here. What I'd like to have, at the end, is that you have a central database on your laptop that you log all your changes to (ideally completely getting rid of the changes file). Then, saving an MC version is merely a matter of noting the current versions of all the classes/methods in the MC package, I think that an .mcz can be reconstructed on-the-fly from the database. It gets hairy when I start to think about multiple images being connected to the db - how do you keep your stuff apart? I haven't thought much about all that, so therefore an RFD here. If people have ideas to share, or comments on the code, I'd be delighted to hear it. Repository location: http://de-1.tric.nl/~cg/mc, load Anvil Get started: 'AnvConnectionPool createDatabase' and then start hacking.

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My first morph
by Bob.Cowdery＠CGI-Europe.com 03 Nov '05

03 Nov '05

Firstly, now the penny has dropped, let me say how impressed I am with Morphic. My brain is far ahead of my ability to program in Smalltalk, going through all the possibilities for what is going to be I am sure the best and most flexible interface my application could have. Keep up the good work. Ok, it's going to take me a while to build my first morph. It's basically a frequency display consisting of 9 digits in 3 sets of 3 digits separated by '_' like 999_999_999 except the font size and colour will change for each group. The first basic requirement is that when I mouse over this I want each digit to highlight in some way, perhaps a box around it. When highlighted I want the mouse wheel to change that digit up or down by one for each click. It's very important to me that there is no flicker on this. I can't immediately see how to hook the mouse wheel events - is it possible to do so. Thanks Bob *** Confidentiality Notice *** Proprietary/Confidential Information belonging to CGI Group Inc. and its affiliates may be contained in this message. If you are not a recipient indicated or intended in this message (or responsible for delivery of this message to such person), or you think for any reason that this message may have been addressed to you in error, you may not use or copy or deliver this message to anyone else. In such case, you should destroy this message and are asked to notify the sender by reply email.

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Smalltalk Solutions 2006
by Avi Bryant 02 Nov '05

02 Nov '05

Hey all, I'm acting again this year as the semi-official Squeak rep for Smalltalk Solutions. So I'll be posting the official notices (like the one below), and I'll also be hassling people to get Squeak- related talks in - the deadline is at the end of this month, so we don't have much time. If anyone has an idea for a good talk - by them or someone else - let me know. Cheers, Avi ------ This year's Smalltalk Solutions will be held in conjunction with the Linux World and Network World Expo in Toronto, April 24-26. See http://www.lwnwexpo.plumcom.ca/ for more information on the conference in general. We are now looking for presentations concerning all aspects of Smalltalk usage, both commercial and non- commercial, and for all dialects and operating systems. That is to say, even though the main conference has Linux in its name, it is not a reqruiement that Smalltalk Solutions presentations involve Linux. Note that the conference format will be slightly different from previous years, with tutorials held on April 24th, ahead of the main conference. Regular session slots will be one hour, rather than the 45 minute slots we have used previously. To submit a proposal, please use the form at http:// www.lwnwexpo.plumcom.ca/sts_call_papers.cfm which also includes more detailed information. You can also e-mail Alan Knight, knight(a)acm.org with any questions. Finally, and most important, note that the submission deadline is November 30th, so get your proposal in as soon as possible!!! Thank you, Alan Knight Smalltalk Solutions 2006 Program Chair

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Exupery's new mailing list
by Bryce Kampjes 02 Nov '05

02 Nov '05

Exupery, a bytecode to machine code compiler (a JIT) for Squeak, now has it's own mailing list. Join if you're interested in either helping develop or using Exupery. Exupery is currently 15% faster than VisualWorks for the bytecode benchmark and twice as fast as Squeak's interpreter for the send benchmark. Exupery's next goal is to become seriously useful. So join even if you're interested in using a beta compiler rather than writing a compiler. Some user domain expertise would be helpful. I know very little about graphics, multimedia, Morphic, or crypto which are all things that might benefit from a little more speed. The list is here: http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/exupery Bryce

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[ANN] Applescript for 3.8
by Javier Diaz-Reinoso 02 Nov '05

02 Nov '05

I put an update for Applescript that works in 3.8 in squeaksource: > http://kilana.unibe.ch:8888/Applescript.html this version is not full compatible with the unicode changes in 3.8 or AppleScript 1.10 for Mac OS X 10.4, for that further changes are needed, also a new plugin. Be aware that scripts who use the line continuation character 0xC2 (194) can have problems in 3.8, that is because reading the file convert this character to 0xAC (macToSqueak). So this don't work: Applescript doIt: 'beep ¬ 3' this work: Applescript doIt: ('beep ¬ 3' squeakToMac) or: cl := (Character value: 194) asString. Applescript doIt: 'beep ', cl, ' 3' Javier Diaz-Reinoso Web: http://homepage.mac.com/javier_diaz_r/

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[BUG] Accessing source code is not thread-save
by Lukas Renggli 02 Nov '05

02 Nov '05

Hi, I reported a new issue to mantis, that i consider to be quite critical. Unfortunately I don't have a fix, but a test-case and a screen-shot. http://bugs.impara.de/view.php?id=2149 Description: If two processes concurrently access the source code of a method they might get an invalid string that cannot be compiled. This leads to a wide range of different bugs, the one most often visible is a syntax that pops up within the image (see attached screen-shot). This is especially annoying if Squeak is used within a server environment. Lukas -- Lukas Renggli http://www.lukas-renggli.ch

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[FUN] Squeeeaaak Squeak Squeeeaaak...
by Markus Gaelli 02 Nov '05

02 Nov '05

http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get- document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0030386

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(newbee) external fileaccessing
by Marcus Pedersén 02 Nov '05

02 Nov '05

Hi! I am reading and writing from an external text file using FileStream and as long as the file is in "default" directory everything works but I am stuck in my "old" VisualWork world! In vw you use a class called Filename and there is a class method called separator to get hold of the separator for the current OS. Is there somrthing equal in squeak to be able to make my app. not depending on a specific OS?

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REMINDER: Squeak Chat Thursday November 3rd 08:00 GMT
by Ken Causey 02 Nov '05

02 Nov '05

Just a reminder that the next Squeak Chat will take place between 08:00 (8 AM) and 12:00 (Noon) GMT Thursday November 3rd, 2005. As usual we will meet in #squeak on irc.freenode.net. More information about the #squeak IRC channel can be found at http://people.squeakfoundation.org/article/7.html This is a good time to contribute to the development of Squeak by participating in the Harvesting Process. One of the main ways to contribute is by Reviewing submitted fixes and enhancements. For information about the Harvesting Process see http://minnow.cc.gatech.edu/squeak/3152 If you have the time please attend and work toward the future of Squeak. The next seven chats are scheduled for 12:00 (12:00 PM) GMT Monday November 07, 2005 16:00 (04:00 PM) GMT Friday November 11, 2005 20:00 (08:00 PM) GMT Tuesday November 15, 2005 00:00 (12:00 AM) GMT Sunday November 20, 2005 04:00 (04:00 AM) GMT Thursday November 24, 2005 08:00 (08:00 AM) GMT Monday November 28, 2005 12:00 (12:00 PM) GMT Friday December 02, 2005

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