Re: non inplace components (was: DDJ article) (long !!)

[Mark Hamstra <mark hamstra bentley com>]

- Nat Friedman (nat@nat.org) :
> 
> Mlacage@aol.com writes:
>  > Dans un courrier daté du 03/11/1999 00:35:41 Paris, Madrid, nat@nat.org a 
>  > écrit :
>  > 
>  > > 
>  > >      I don't think I agree with this part.  I think a GnomeEmbeddable
>  > >  can have multiple views, some of them in-place, some of them
>  > >  non-inplace.  What do you think?
>  > >  
>  > 
>  > Well, this strikes me.... To me, the REAL use of noninplace activation is as 
>  > folows:
>  > it is used only for ease of development: when pl begin to write their 
>  > components, they begin by developping noninplace components then they add 
>  > inplace ability, then saving/linking....
>  > The point is that non-inplace is not an end in itself but rather a step which 
>  > eases the development. You can test your component sooner.
> 
>     I can see how it would be useful to test your component without
> implementing the in-place code.  But I still that that non-in-place
> component views need to be well-supported.
> 
>  > Anyway, I jsu can't figure out what could be the use of a componnent which 
>  > would be both inplace and noninplace.
> 
>     I can see it being useful.  Imagine the following scenario: You
> embed an image in your word processor document.  And you want to edit
> it, but at a higher zoom level.  So you create a non-in-place view of
> the component at a higher zoom.  It opens in a separate window and
> edits in that window are reflected in the in-place subdocument.


Now you're getting there.  Next imagine a CAD component that is 
simultaneously viewed from different perspectives in multiple views,
or that needs to be viewed/edited in a different manner than was
anticipated by the in-place view/editor -- e.g., a single line, 2D
representation of a steel member, where the generic in place editor
is oriented toward 3D solid modeling.

In general, non-in-place editors can be a good way of handling
representations and editing environments that were not (and could
not be) anticipated by the component's in-place editor.  (In fact,
it may not even be a smart idea for the "real" component to have
any in-place representation or editor, but instead to rely upon
proxy components that are specific to a given editing environment.)

Of course, beyond this, these supposed CAD components need to be
able to work in a concurrent, version controlled editing environment,
something like what CVS is for source code... but that's a whole
'nuther issue. :-)


-- 
Mark Hamstra
Bentley Systems, Inc.