[Gambas-user] Documentation glitch with Iconview ?

[Benoit Minisini]

On mardi 8 janvier 2008, manuel viet wrote:
> Benoit Minisini wrote:
> > On mardi 8 janvier 2008, manuel viet wrote:
> >> Serious question now, is it possible to build custom
> >> controls in gambas and integrate them in the IDE ?
> >> Last I tried (1.9.47) it wasn't working yet.
> >
> > Not really, unless you put it in a component inside the gambas source
> > tree.
>
> I understand you've already plenty to do with the code
> cleanup and the 64 bits support, but I really think it
> would be a major bonus if Gambas could load custom
> controls in the IDE at runtime ; many time, you just
> don't have the possibility to build a full application,
> but you somehow have tiny ideas that are ideal to
> improve or create a control. Or you don't finish a
> project, but there are already classes that could just
> be spin off.  If people could toy around and exchange
> seamlessly those bits and pieces of code it could
> create a great incentive toward gb.
>
> Look at other great Open Source projects : Linux,
> TeX, Perl ; those are undoubtedly nerdy, but they
> gained traction not only because they were good,
> but also because users could make trials freely,
> toy with bits and pieces, share results. There are
> bundles of classes to try for perl, an infinite number
> of stylesheets for LaTeX, and countless obscure
> drivers for linux. None of these projects were any
> better than say *BSD, groff or tcl at the beginning,
> but they took the lead because the sharing between
> users was easier.
>
> The way I see it, if there was a good exchange
> structure of "unofficial" components in gambas it
> might create a great movement of adoption by the
> non-nerdy crowd ; maybe we could even see again
> basic listings printed in the press ;-) to teach normal
> users how to improve themselves some parts of the
> components. Of course, there would be an enormous
> amount of rubbishes, but nobody expects them to
> get inside the official build. But maybe some would
> be good enough to become official after a while ?
>
> -----
> --
> Manuel Viet

I agree.

Technically, you can already do 99% of a custom component. Are missing:

* The possibility to automatically add icons in the IDE toolbar. At the moment 
the control icons are stored directly in the IDE source code.

* The ability to create a binary package of the component.

These are the only two technical reasons why a component must be included in 
the Gambas source code tree.

Anyway, a custom component must be named differently from a official one.

Official components are named "gb.xxx.yyy". Custom components could be 
named "gb.custom.xxx", or "custom.xxx" without the "gb." prefix, or something 
else. If you have ideas...

-- 
Benoit Minisini