Re: [Gnome-print] Re: making gnome-print gnome independent

[Rodrigo Moya <rodrigo linuxave net>]

> Hello!
> 
> Sorry for not answering. Your mail was standing in my need-answer queue,
> that was growing longer and longer...
> 
so, sorry then for the pressure. I was too hurry!

> It depends, how much gnome-independence you want.
> Currently it can be run without X running (just by doing gtk_type_init ()
> instead of gtk_init() in your main program) - but it needs X libraries to
> exist in system (as Gtk+ needs those)
> Before Glib 2.0/GObject we cannot separate base functionality from Gtk+
> dependency, so the requirement of installed X libraries remains present.
> After Glib 2.0 we probably split Engine/GUI, so engine will depend only on:
> glib
> libart
> (gnome-font)
> (freetype)
> ...
this is perfect for us (as long as none of those libs do not use any X library).
We've got our report engine in the same situation: based on GtkObject, but ready
to make the move to GLib's GObject as soon as it is ready.

> I am currently not sure whether it will have bonobo/ORBit dependency or do
> we implement that via separate set of libraries/daemons. Probably it
> will, because the first parts printing pipeline will be implemented via
> CORBA. The engine part will be only capable of exporting certain set
> of image formats (PS, PDF, bitmap).
> 
> But tell us more about your requirements. The library is meant for
> application writers, so we have to adjust it to their needs (not vice
> versa ;)
> 
ok. We've got all the architecture separated in non-GNOME (and almost
non-X, only the GTK stuff remaining) and GNOME parts. And the report engine
is part of the non-GNOME stuff. It will work as follows:
* a client (GNOME app) sends a XML file which describes the report layout
* the report engine gets this XML file, retrieves data from a database, and
  either send the same XML file filled in with data, or sends back to the
  client the report's output in a given format (PS, PDF, ...)
* then, the clients will use GnomePrint (the preview, config dialogs, etc) to
  display the output received from the report engine

all the communication between clients and the report engine is based on CORBA,
and as we've said, the report engine must be totally X-independent (of course 
when GLib 1.3/2.0 is out, not before). So if you're going to use CORBA for
your printing engine, this is ok for us: we'll use it ourselves.

note: when I say X-independent, I mean: "it does not link with any X
library". This is a MUST for us because the report engine will be installed
sometimes in servers, where X is not to be installed at all.

So, although I don't know too much about the internals of gnome-print, I would
suggest, if possible, that you separate the GUI part from the non-GUI part,
so that non-X apps can make use of the printing engine.

Of course, if you need any help on this, count on the help from the gnome-db
people.

Thanks