On Sunday 06 July 2003 06:09 pm, Guillaume Pothier wrote:

> * Writing Smalltalk code.
> As far as I understand, the Browser is the place to explore/create
> code, isn't it? I wonder if there are projects to create
> alternative development environments for smalltalk code. 

Several. There is the Whisker Browser, which shows several classes and 
methods at the same time, the StarBrowser, which is based on 
categories and incorporates other browser, and others.

And there are probably also other browsers in Squeak that you haven't 
seen yet. For instance, for a flattened view of one class's protocol, 
use "browse protocol".

> For
> instance, there is one thing that I have on my mind for some time:
> I would really like to be able to navigate in packages, classes and
> methods within classes spatially, via a zoomable interface or such
> (3d?). Should I start to try to implement that, or is there already
> something similar?

That would be great!

> One other thing, it seems to me that I saw in a tutorial that there
> were an autocomplete feature in the browser, but I can not retrieve
> it. Is there such a thing? For instance, I start typing a class or
> message and press ctrl+space, and I can choose between the possible
> completions...

Cmd (or Alt)-Q does auto-completion.

> * Input/output
> I am particularly intersted in bimanual interaction, is it possible
> to access various physical mice, or other devices on a single
> computer? More generally, does an generic input framework exists?

As far as I know, there isn't support for multiple input devices. 
Though there is some Tablet code, I don't know how actively 
maintained it is or which platform(s) it works on.

The current VMs make all pointing devices look like mice, and there is 
an internal model of a single mouse.

The structure of the event buffer being passed between the VM and 
Squeak is a simple array, with the first byte flagging the event 
type. There's room for more types if needed. But you'd have to change 
both the VM (to actually use multiple devices) and the image (to be 
able to do something useful with them). (see EventSensor).

> Is there support for multiple screens?

Not unless your platform makes their use invisible (like if it appears 
to Squeak that there is a single display that's twice as wide, for 
instance). There is some support for external display surfaces, but I 
don't think anyone has really explored this too far.

> Multiple sound input/output devices?

The internal Squeak code assumes a single sound channel. (See 
SoundPlayer)

Note that it isn't too hard to make a plugin or to hack the VM. And a 
number of people have done just this to explore their own ideas.

-- 
Ned Konz
http://bike-nomad.com
GPG key ID: BEEA7EFE