Lex Spoon wrote:

>>What isn't a practical option is trying to fix Scamper. It is typical of
>>a quick hack that got a job partly done and then simply stayed forever
>>in the image. I know the value of code that actually works, but a better
>>development style is to learn as much as you can from your first try and
>>then to start over. This normally involves creating more infrastructure
>>than you had in your first attempt. So you might build a decent layout
>>framework to replace all the hacked placement code.
>>    
>>
>
>That is just a small part of Scamper, and indeed one that is likely to
>be a part of any more complex layout engine.  Do you know anything about
>Scamper before saying it is a "hack" that should be thrown out and
>rewritten completely?
>
>Do you think, for example, that the HTML tokenizer should be tossed?  
>How about the parser?  The formatting code in class HtmlFormatter?  What
>about Squeak's built in text-flowing code, which is what Scamper mainly
>relies on for layout?  How about the model code for HTML forms?  Do
>you think MIMEDocument should go, as well?  The URL hierarchy?
>
>I agree that there is a lot to be done, and that new layout
>infrastructure is well worth thinking about.  However,  that's all the
>more reason to take advantage of the couple of man-months of coding that
>is already in there.  If you want to quickly get to an open-source
>Squeak-based web browser, then extending Scamper is a very good
>approach.
>
>In short, if you want results quickly, then it is best to leverage what is there.
>I am happy to help anyone who wants to extend Scamper and is finding
>it tough going.  I've long suggested that people start by pitching in on the
>TableMorph effort that has already begun.  That alone will give us a
>dramatic increase in the number of pages that are displayable in Squeak.
> Likewise, if TableMorph is already too difficult for people to make much
>progress on, then we should certainly be afraid of trying to do anything
>even more ambitious.
>
>  
>
I've been hacking to and from on a TableMorph for years now :-)
Mostly from, I'm sad to say. Some parts are fun, and some are really
tricky little fine tuning stuff that make a big impact.
One problem is understanding and fixing small issues in the Squeak text 
flowing code.
If anyone are interested I'd be happy to share what I got.
Karl