Re: ANNOUCE: gTrouble - New project [summary]

[Dermot Musgrove <dermot glade perl connectfree co uk>]

Tom Gilbert wrote:
> 
> I think, rather than a standalone (separate) app, I'm going for a
> library (libGuide?) and a feature for next generation help browser,
> which will use this lib.
Why didn't I think of 'guide' as a name? It would probably be immediately
obvious to a user. I am not that fond of capital letters in software names 
but hey, what do I know?

Please consider making it easy to bind. I know nothing about binding
libraries but I use many (in perl). I guess that there are decisions to 
be made now that would help/hinder the development of bindings.

> Everyone hates writing docs. There's no point me writing anything
> unless it make the creation of powerful docs _easy_.
I know that many people dislike the lack of rigour in HTML but I reckon
that the ability to render most documents that I can load has helped to 
make the WWW the success that it is. I can start with a plain text file 
and add markup and links as I learn - or as I can find the time. I _really_
hope that your 'guide' system makes no demands on the documenter's ability
to grasp the whole picture before they begin to write.

> XML tags for creating layout / question-answer links etc are fine, and
> I can cope with this. The problem for me now, is working out how
> simplify the kind of complex/branching structures a good
> trouble-shooter needs, and to include (and make use of) extra
> information, such as:
> 
> o email feedback to program/guide author if certain conditions are
>   met.
> o Storing answers to questions for later use/comparison/submission
> o Providing tests.
As I said, I don't know much about XML but I gather that there are ways
to embed code within the markup.

>   This point is important to me, as it is my edge. I   don't like
>   to work on software that doesn't have an edge. In this   case,
>   defining tests which could be refered to in the XML, could  make
>   some guides semi-automatic. If you can't get your modem to work,
>   the guide could immediately tell you that pppd isn't installed,
>   without asking irrelevant questions...
> 
> ie. how much should the library do, and how much functionality should
> the help-program/library-using app provide?
If I haven't misunderstood what is possible with XML and embedded
code can be interpreted you don't need to add much functionality at all.
Scripts (eg perl) could make any necessary checks and store any values 
without 'guide' doing anything more specific than providing a framework
and some standards and third party modules/macros could do similar jobs 
to automake and extend it into a very powerful tool.

> Ok. I'm going to get some kind of proof-of-concept hacked together
> over the weekend, using libxml to read a guide (qhich I will make
> up), and gtk widgets to ask questions/display answers.
> Then we'll see how feasible all this stuff is, people'll know what I'm
> talking about a little more, and I'll know what questions I need to ask
> people. Anyway, I won't know the full scope of this endevour until I
> start to hack.
I reckon that the possibilities are too numerous to imagine but an open, 
extensible framework with the minimum of requirements from writers or
developers could rule the world. Please publish as much and as soon as
you feel able.

Regards, Dermot