On Nov 18, 2006, at 12:21 AM, Carl Karsten wrote:
>> Not a waste at all. Thanks for the debate and discussion.
>
> You're welcome. Thanks for responding in the same week :)
I have a slightly different angle on this. It is sort of what I was
afraid would happen. Let me explain.
Back when Codebook was first written in 1995, the publisher wanted a
demo app as part of the book. They were facing a deadline, and so
they threw something together, thinking that this would be the end of
it. Instead, everyone who saw that app assumed that this is what a
Codebook app had to look like, and labored to get their particular
problem wedged into the design of that sample app. I spent years
trying to explain to people that a Codebook app could look like
whatever you wanted; there was no need to follow that one example.
The app that is generated by the AppWizard is not the One True Ideal
Dabo Application. It is simply one sort of app that can be created
for the simplest of app requirements. It is nice that it allows you
to do some basic modifications, but essentially all AppWizard apps
will look and work pretty much the same.
We named the set of classes that form the basis of AppWizard apps
'datanav'; it's sort of a framework-within-a-framework. It allows for
simple apps to be created with a minimum of fuss, provided you are
willing to accept the limits of the design. My suggestion is not to
spend an inordinate amount of time dissecting datanav for optimal
coding, because the only possible outcome is a somewhat cleaner but
still limited sub-framework.
My suggestion is to use datanav to see the approach and the sort of
compromises that are part of it, and not spend any more time on it.
It works. That's all we need for now. Instead, what about envisioning
a different sort of approach to a minimal app? Perhaps something
modeled on your own past development work, or on something in VFE, or
something else that looks interesting? Even if that isn't "perfect",
at least it will provide people new to Dabo an alternative view of
how to create an app; it would dissuade them of the notion that
datanav is the only way to code Dabo apps. For example, datanav has
one way of dealing with parent-child relationships. This is hardly
the only way to handle such entities, so why not come up with
something that takes a different approach?
I appreciate the insights into the output of AppWizard, but I just
want to make sure that we don't get hung up on something that is only
of limited application at best.
-- Ed Leafe
-- http://leafe.com
-- http://dabodev.com
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