Ariel Constenla-Haile wrote:
Hello Frank,
On Friday 09 January 2009 10:35, Frank Schönheit - Sun Microsystems Germany
wrote:
So, why I am writing this is as follows: You, as a user of
OpenOffice.org, be it casual or expert, for private fun or business
needs - what do you miss in this list? What would you like to see? What
would make your life with Base a little or much easier?
If you have an answer to this question, share it by replying to this mail.
Please be as concrete an concise as possible
ok, I'll try.
The following may not be of interess for end-users (though they may really
benefit from it!), so end-user reading this mail can skip it.
Thanks to OOo Base developer's, OOo Base has become highly programable.
A step forward will be what we can call "bringing the application Framework
to the OOo Base application".
A [not so sure how] similar effort has been made in the drawing apps. with the
"drawing framework"
[http://api.openoffice.org/docs/common/ref/com/sun/star/drawing/framework/module-ix.html]
The basic idea is that the application can:
* be controlled by configuration files, and API calls, so that a system administrator can
disable some feature (like access to tables and queries) by simple configuration files.
* be simply extended by external components
Of course this already done, but I propose to take it further.
Just an example [well... to be honest the only thing I had in mind]:
currently the left panel on the app. window, containing the category of "database objects"
(tables, queries, forms, reprots), is generated on the basis of fixed categories
(dbaccess/source/ui/app/AppIconControl.cxx).
A way of "bringing the application Framework to the OOo Base application" may
be:
* generate the categories at runtime, on basis on configruation regisitries
* categories can be added and removed (thus blocking functionality)
* each category is bound to a command URL
* the selection of each category triggers the instantiation of a UNO component
registered to handle this command (much like the PopupMenuController and
ToolbarController)
* the UNO component is responsible for filling that category with items (in a tree or
non-try structure), for each item the component also provides a command it will handle
on a ProtocolHandler upon user selection, etc. etc.
Q: What comes with this?
A: extension developers can extend OOo Base to the point to add new
functionality
in the way of new database categories.
A simple example:
a very common RFE, is a GUI for designing macros with no programming knowledge
at all (very a la MSAccess).
This could be achieved prefectly in an extension by the means of only API calls:
there is API to embed foreing content in any OOo file, there is also API to add
macros
and basic libraries, etc. etc. [well, the GUI design is quite impossible with
the current
toolkit, but one can use Java Swing praying for OOo toolkit to become better]
Just my 2 cents.
Regards
Hello Ariel,
+1
Q: What comes with this?
For what It's worth let me drag out an idea from back in 2007,
http://www.paintedfrogceramics.com/OpenOffice/Mockup_3_panel2.pdf
Simply put - allow the application level developer the ability to make
use of the all sections of the main Base window for their UI.
Till later,
Drew
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