Re: BOB: GNOME Word Processor Efforts

[Havoc Pennington <rhpennin midway uchicago edu>]

On Fri, 16 Oct 1998, Todd Graham Lewis wrote:
> 
> Does this sound reasonable?  Is this the right way to write a word processor?
> 

My #1 word processor wishlist item (compatible with your ideas, I think) 
is that the engine is separate from the GUI, so that the engine can also
be the basis for powerful text boxes in a desktop publishing app or in
Achtung.

This means you have a buffer which stores the text and any formatting or
structuring applied to it, along with cursor position in the buffer,
selection, etc. Editing commands operate on the buffer. The display,
whether in the word processor in some other app, monitors the status of
the buffer (which should emit signals or the like to indicate changes) and
updates the display accordingly.

This also gives you multiple displays of the same buffer for free, a la
Emacs.

Havoc