Re: [Pythoncard-users] goals for next major release

Kevin Altis wrote:

> I can't guarantee which of the items below will actually get done in the
> next month, but all of them have been brought up on the list in the last few
> weeks or I've been thinking about them on my own. The main issue for me is
> changing how we wrap the underlying wxPython controls used for our
> components. This is by far the largest and most far-reaching change to the
> framework, so I'll start a separate topic for it tomorrow. Even the
> timeframe of a month is arbitrary; most of the items below could be
> completed sooner, but things always seem to take longer than expected and I
> end up finding more things to complete in the meantime. Feel free to add
> your own "hot issues" into the mix and/or identify which items below are the
> most important to you.
> 
> I'm always interested in pursuing (or better yet helping others pursue) the
> items that will get more people actually trying and then using PythonCard,
> creating more apps of their own or samples and thus helping to identify any
> problems in the current design. In the absence of feedback I just follow my
> own muse. If people end up participating more on the list, writing
> documentation, or working on the framework itself that is a big bonus.
> 
> ka
> ---
> 
> tentatively called release 0.7
> 
> remove _delegate "HAS-A" for components and change to direct
>   "IS-A" subclasses
>   if the switch goes well, go ahead and add additional wxPython
>   controls
> 
> migrate MenuBar, Menu, MenuItem to subclasses of wxPython classes
> 
> improve resourceEditor
>   make a dedicated property editor
>   add dialog editing to resourceEditor
> 
> more work on components, add type information
> 
> continue localization experimentation
>   add strings to resource format
>   possibly make separate special simplified localized resource file
>     that only contains strings: labels, text, titles, etc.
>     update Resource loading to support simplified resource format
>     add support to resourceEditor as well
> 
> add idle, timer, move, size, and exit events
> 
> investigate an IDLE clone for source editing?
> 
> resolve background/window/frame, panel/form issue
>   once done, add support for additional window styles
>   including scrolling windows. how does wxNotebook fit
>   in here?
> 
> simple cross-platform printing via wxHtmlEasyPrinting
>   this will give us plain and basic formatted printing
>   page setup, print, print preview
> 
> tests of shelve and/or ZODB as persistence mechanism
> 
> incorporate Cliff Wells CSV importer for Python/wxPython
>   http://sourceforge.net/projects/python-dsv/
> 
> threading - update one of the existing samples such as
>   hopalong or findfiles to show how to use a separate thread
>   for long running tasks or create a new sample. i previously
>   suggested doing a PythonCard version of webchecker and/or
>   websucker, which are included in the Python Tools directory
> 
> more documentation
>   rewrite getting started
>   migrate text files to html
>   tidy up the web site
>   start using www.pythoncard.org domain?
> 
> start identifying wxPython-mac issues with PythonCard
> 
> ----
> beyond 0.7
> 
> move to first "real" alpha version
>   change package name to PythonCard instead of PythonCardPrototype
> 
> require Python 2.2
> 
> do more "market research" to determine what features are needed
>   to get people using PythonCard instead of tkinter, especially
>   people new to Python
> 
> designate someone other than me as the release manager
>   setup PythonCard descriptions on the Vaults of Parnassus,
>   freshmeat.net, and other outlets for promotion of PythonCard
> 
> 


I like the list, and given current progress rates by everyone apart from 
Kevin I think that a month is optimistic. Still, lets aim for that kind 
of timescale.

In terms of the items on the list;

Has any thought of scintilla for the source editing component? I'm 
speaking from a position of complete ignorance here so the usual caveat 
applies.

I'm all in favour of adding persistence support with shelve or ZODB. I'm 
also working on a persistence API (still at the 'conceptual' stage) and 
would be interested in any thoughts or observations on the applicability 
of trying to fit a common standard to several different storage 
mechanisms (relational, object, flat file, etc.)

I'd also like to beef up our packaging, maybe provide a proper installer 
and certainly be more cross platform friendly. The first step here is to 
update the setup.py to ensure that the components are installed in 
'site-packages' and the samples are kept seperate. I know Kevin is also 
keen on not compiling resource files to .pyc and this is also on the list.

I think we should probably spend some more effort on the web site as 
well. Someone with a little more design flair than I may like to suggest 
  improvements or come up with a catchy style. We should probably also 
upgrade our documentation techniques and support formats other than 
html. I know Magnus uses some tools to generate different outputs from 
the same source for the AnyGUI docs, and Mark Pilgrim uses something 
similar for Dive into Python. I'll have a bit of a look around but don't 
let me stop anyone else coming up with something that works.

I see someone has reserved www.pythoncard.org at network solutions by 
the way, was that you Kevin?

Regards,
Andy
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