AltME groups: search

New participation index for the REBOL3 AltME world:
  http://www.rebol.org/aga-display-stats.r?world=r3wp&year=2010


The older prolific posters table simply counts total posts made....But 
that's a little simplistic as some people post each sentence as a 
separate post (understandable given some of AltME's connection issues) 
while others post entire multi-line essays in one post.


The new participation index attempts to adjust for that by weightng 
various things: total non-blank lines posted; total words posted; 
etc.


It is still a fairly meaningless, though remarkably consistent measure 
of the participation in the [web public] forums of this world.


Thanks to everyone who participates and keeps this place so alive 
and friendly....And especially Graham, who is the top poster no matter 
which way it is counted :)

If anyone ever wanted multi-methods or function overload in rebol 
here is the answer. Enjoy ;-)

REBOL []

define-method: func [
	'name [word!] spec [block!] locals [block!] code [block!]

 /local w type-rule spec-rule continue? register-name methods-name
][
	;; first validate the spec
	continue?: [none] ;used to stop parsing

 type-rule: [set w word! (unless datatype? attempt [get w] [continue?: 
 [end skip]])]
	spec-rule: [some [word! into [type-rule continue?]]]
    unless parse spec spec-rule [make error! "invalid spec"]

	register-name: to-word join :name '-register
	methods-name: to-word join :name '-methods?
	unless value? name [
		
		context [
			dispatch-table: copy []
			
			spec-fingerprint: func [spec [block!] /local types][
				types: copy []
				foreach itm extract/index spec 2 2 [insert tail types itm/1 ]
				types
			]
			
			values-fingerprint: func [values [block!] /local types][
				types: copy []
				foreach v values [insert tail types type?/word v]
				types
			]
			

   retrieve-func: func [values [block!]][select/only dispatch-table 
   values-fingerprint values]
			
			set :name func [values [block!]][
				do compose [(retrieve-func values) (values)]
			]
			
			set :register-name func [spec code /local fingerprint pos][
				fingerprint: spec-fingerprint spec
				either found? pos: find/only dispatch-table fingerprint [
					poke dispatch-table 1 + index? pos function spec locals code
				][

     insert tail dispatch-table reduce [fingerprint function spec locals 
     code]
				]
			]
			
			set :methods-name does [probe dispatch-table]
		]
	]

	do reduce [register-name spec code]
]

define-method f [x [integer!]] [] [x + 1]
define-method f [s [block!]] [] [attempt [pick s 2]]
define-method f [x [decimal!]] [] [sine x] 

f[5] == 6
f[[one two three]] == two
f[90.0] == 1.0

I wondered how the xxx/xxx/xxx paths to data were constructed... 
I was thinking of this sort of thing as a way to refer to valuse 
in a multi demensional array by name rather than number
house: context [
  room1: context [
      items: [bed chair table]
      ]
  room2: context [
      items: [TV sofa HiFi]
      ]
]

Doc, are you sure your 'docode table is ok? I mean defs/client ....

client [
			long-password		1		; new more secure passwords
			found-rows			2		; Found instead of affected rows
			long-flag			4		; Get all column flags
			connect-with-db		8		; One can specify db on connect
			no-schema			16		; Don't allow db.table.column
			compress			32		; Can use compression protcol
			odbc				64		; Odbc client
			local-files			128		; Can use LOAD DATA LOCAL
			ignore-space		256		; Ignore spaces before '('
			change-user			512		; Support the mysql_change_user()
			interactive			1024	; This is an interactive client
			ssl					2048	; Switch to SSL after handshake
			ignore-sigpipe		4096	; IGNORE sigpipes
			transactions		8196	; Client knows about transactions
		]

While in protocol description, there is:

MySQL uses the following codes:
Capability name	Value	Meaning
LONG_PASSWORD	1	New more secure passwords
FOUND_ROWS	2	Found instead of affected rows
LONG_FLAG	4	Get all column flags
CONNECT_WITH_DB	8	One can specify db on connect
NO_SCHEMA	16	Don't allow database.table.column
COMPRESS	32	Can use compression protocol
ODBC	64	ODBC client
LOCAL_FILES	128	Can use LOAD DATA LOCAL
IGNORE_SPACE	256	Ignore spaces before '('
PROTOCOL_41	512	Support the 4.1 protocol
INTERACTIVE	1024	This is an interactive client
SSL	2048	Switch to SSL after handshake
IGNORE_SIGPIPE	4096	IGNORE sigpipes
TRANSACTIONS	8192	Client knows about transactions
SECURE_CONNECTION	32768	New 4.1 authentication
MULTI_STATEMENTS	65536	Multi-statement support
MULTI_RESULTS	131072	Multi-results

Vincent: 'list behavior & features - less is more at this stage, 
once we have something to look at we can refine it.


shadwolf: 'text+ removal. While a useful widget for certain domains 
(like WYSIWYG editors / browsers) it's not a basic building block 
widget. There were also some unresolved implementation issues with 
it at this stage - I'll add it back in at a later date as an optional 
or advanced widget.


shadwolf: multi-column list. An implementation model I liked was 
that adopted by Gui4Cli ( http://users.hol.gr/~dck/g4c/) which allows 
simple "table" representations (including column type and alignment 
definitions). Can't say I've come across that many UI's that use 
anything other than text / numbers in a standard list (thumbnails 
and scrolling check-box options are usually implemented in an app 
specific manner).


Ammon: 'display/popup. If it's sufficiently different from 'display/layout 
then I'm all for it.


Ammon: Wizard style. A wizard widget, if simple enough, would be 
a good addition. Like 'group-box and 'tab-panel it is a meta-widget 
that groups / uses other widgets. I'll make this distinction clearer 
in the next version of the docs. On a side note, my install example 
has convinced me of the need for an 'indent option (and the fact 
that use of 'offset should reset the line-height calculation).


Ammon: "Unless otherwise specified, text size reverts to 200x9999 
if the string contains a newline." I probably need to rephrase this, 
but what I was trying to say was that by default 'text is 9999x20 
which let's you write a string without having to know it's width 
in advance (9999 will auto-size it), *but* if the string contains 
a newline then it is the height that is the more important variable 
so it'll use 200x9999 instead. Of course it'll only do this if you 
don't provide an explicit size yourself (the "unless otherwise specified" 
bit). Hope that makes a bit more sense.

Latest build available at: http://www.dobeash.com/files/RebGUI-022.zip

Highlights include:

	- Added drop-list, edit-list and auto-fill widgets
	- New splash function added (run %tour.r to see it in action)

 - Window management logic improved (disallows duplicate windows and 
 "sticks" child windows to first)
	- Couple of minor fixes and cosmetic improvements
	- %tour.r has an additional "List" tab

 - Prototype table widget added (run %table-002.r to see it in action)

Known issues

	- spinner and auto-fill widgets need more work
	- edit-feel needs to handle highlight, cut & paste
	- scroller needs more work (resizeable dragger)
	- table needs row selection logic added
	- edit-list needs auto-fill logic added

In progress

	- Improved tab-panel
	- Menu
	- tabbing
	- field input validation (field input masks, etc)
	- list-view (shadwolf)


With regards to "lists", I envision 5 types we need. They are (in 
ascending order of complexity):


 drop-list	- non-editable, single sorted column with single value 
 selection [optimized for < 100 values]

 edit-list	- derived from drop-list but editable with an auto-fill 
 field

 table		- multi-column representation of a DB table; used to create 
 something like a GUI SQL client with single-row selection [< 100,000 
 rows]

 list-view	- multi-column multi-media content (supports images, URL's, 
 etc); used to create something like a file explorer with single perhaps 
 multi-row selection [<10,000 rows]

 grid		- cell-level addressing and editing supporting simple spreadsheet 
 formulas and formatting [< 1,000 rows]

Latest build available at: http://www.dobeash.com/files/RebGUI-035.zip

Issue log: http://www.dobeash.com/it/rebgui/issues.html


*** Unzip this file into your existing RebGUI 0.3.0 distribution. 
Requires View 1.3.1 ***

Highlights include:


 - generic face-iterator function shared by all lists (text-list, 
 table, edit-list & drop-list)

 - new improved table widget finally supporting row (including multiple) 
 selection

 - updated drop-list & edit-list widgets (defocusing support still 
 limited though)
	- area widget now sports a slider by default

 - resizing code (supporting negative sizes) reverted to pre-0.3.4

 - IMPORTANT: resizeable windows that don't have min-size specified 
 are automatically assigned one the same as the original window size
	- Various multi-row text selection issues resolved
	- Various focus issues resolved
	- numerous other minor bug fixes and coding improvements

In the works

	- basic menu widget
	- revamped documentation 
	- stabilize existing code-base for 0.4.0 beta release

Column resizing and sorting now work correctly. In addition a number 
of useful accessor functions exist to more easily manage the data. 
From the online doco:

5.24 Table


Columns and rows of values formatted according to a header definition 
block.

Specification
 	action	block to execute when an item is selected. 	
 	data 	block of values. 	

  options 	Optional multi word followed by column header entries in 
  the form: 	
		string specifying column title
		word specifying column alignment
		decimal specifying column width as a percentage

Runtime
 	data 	block of values to display. 	
 	picked 	block of currently selected row number(s). 	
 	selected 	block of currently selected data. 	
 	redraw 	function to redraw widget after data changes.

Table and multi-column text-list are one and the same. Not involved 
in the VID 1.3 work so can't answer that.

widget table has multi-columns but i can not select any row..  is 
it true?

- still - pop-up system non system friendly (not Rebgui issue, but 
rebol one's)

- I have some difficulcy with leds - If you would not provide me 
with text help, I would very hardly know, what those state means 
- I am not sure such style has place in standard pack ... or just 
- let it transparent for 'not-selected selection, green for 'on selection, 
red for 'off selection ...

- table - still you are able to scroll hilited row "under" the table 
style border - it should know it is at last displayed element and 
start scrolling, scrollers should reflect that. If there is no internal 
track of hilited row/cell, then it is not true grid system (I hope 
not)

- bug with text-list multi selection - there seem to be bug in math 
... press shift, hold it, hilite e.g. 6 rows. Still hold it, press 
some two rows below, it let's hilited only first two rows ...

I'm looking for a chat client widget .. like a multi-line 3 column 
table.  Anyone planning anything like this?

0.4.1 is out and is predominantly a maintenance release. From a REBOL/View 
console:

	do http://www.dobeash.com/get-rebgui.r
	do view-root/public/www.dobeash.com/RebGUI/tour.r

Main changes include:

	- set-sizes, set-colors, set-fonts added to global context
	- CTRL-A fires action in text-list / table 'multi mode
	- radio-group, led-group, check-group now auto-size vertically
	- layout now handles false (logic!) correctly

 - effects, sizes and colors can be loaded at startup via like-named 
 dat files (simple skinning system)
	- Minor documentation updates to reflect above changes

How does the 'multi option work with tables?

I get an error if I write "table options multi [ ... ] data []"

Build 74 uploaded to SVN. Includes the following additions:

1) New action object used as follows:

	box "" red
		on-click		[
			print "click"

   system/view/focal-face: face	; required to pick up scroll events
			system/view/caret: face/text	; required to pick up key events
		]
		on-alt-click	[print "alt-click"]
		on-dbl-click	[print "dbl-click"]
		on-scroll		[print scroll]
		on-key			[print ["key" event/key]]
		on-over			[print "over"]
		on-away			[print "away"]
	;	on-focus		[print "focus"]
	;	on-unfocus		[print "unfocus"]

2) New layout keywords added as follows:

	text "Test" text-color blue
	text "Test" bold
	text "Test" italic
	text "Test" underline


3) New 'examine function added to provide detailed information about 
a widget:

	>> examine table

Also a number of fixes:

1) Multi-row Shift hilight selection fixed (pekr)
2) Dialog has parent option by default (Frank)
3) Keystrokes on a button no longer passed along (Graham)
4) request-password enhanced to allow following:

		request-password/check [if (length? text) < 6 ["Problem"]]

5) /scroll option removed from display

6) /min-length & /max-length refinements removed from request-password

7) /no-action option added to select-row function of table & text-list


WARNING: These changes are wide-reaching and have not been fully 
tested ... some things may have been broken. Full documentation in 
preparation.

Any of you gurus feels a need for a multi-level-sort-table ?
I  need one and hopefully I'm not alone ! 


I have a lot of data with a lot of same values in some columns, no 
simple sort will do what I need.

For right now a simple hard coded: first by Col1, than by Col2 and 
so forth will do.
A more elegant and flexible [sort-definition] can follow later.
Cheers

rebol []

do %rebgui.r

pu: does [ display/parent "" [

 table 20x20 options [ multi "item" left .9 ] data [ "a" "b" "c" ] 
 return
	button "close" [ unview/only face/parent-face ] 
]]

display "test" [
	text "Try multi selecting with control" return
	button "test" [ pu ]
]

do-events

I'm getting this error .. not sure why, perhaps faulty data

make object! [
   code: 312
   type: 'script
   id: 'cannot-use
   arg1: 'path
   arg2: 'none!
   arg3: none

   near: [either any [find options 'multi parent-face/type = 'table] 
   [
           all [rows = length? picked return data]
           blk: copy []
           either cols = 1 [
               foreach row picked [insert tail blk pick data row]
           ] [
               foreach row picked [
                   repeat col cols [

                       insert tail blk pick data -1 + row * cols + col
                   ]
               ]
           ]
           blk
       ] [
           blk: pick data first picked
       ]]
   where: 'selected
]

Oh well, I just added some trapping to rebgui-widgets.r

		selected: make function! [/local blk] [
			if empty? picked [return none]	; are any rows selected?

   either any [find options 'multi all [ value? 'parent-face parent-face 
   in parent-face 'type parent-face/type = 'table ]] [

trying again


   either any [find options 'multi all [ value? 'parent-face in parent-face 
   'type parent-face/type = 'table ]] [

and again :(


either any [find options 'multi all [ value? 'parent-face object? 
parent-face in parent-face 'type parent-face/type = 'table ]] [

Graham and Izkata, thanks for the help.  But I must be misunderstanding 
something, as it is still not working. Here is what I have:

CONNECT/create/flat %cl.db

if error? err: try [
	SQL "select * from projects"
][
	er: disarm err
	if find er/arg1 "no such table" [

  SQL "create table projects (Priority, ProjectName, ExchangeRate, 
  Objectives, Deliverables)"
	]
]

do show-cc: make function! [] [
	display "CRITICAL LINKS Version 1.0.0" compose/only/deep [
		;image %chain.jpg
		return

  group-box "Critical Chain and Theory of Constraints principles" #W 
  data [

   text "1. REMEMBER YOUR PURPOSE" font [color: blue size: 26 shadow: 
   1x1]
			return
			;bar
			;return

   text "2. Free Up Your Major Constraint" font [color: red size: 20 
   shadow: none]
			return

   text "3, Focus on one project at a time---don't multi-task." font 
   [color: black size: 12 shadow: none]
		]
		at 103x14
		image %critical-chain.jpg 30x6
		at 133x2
		group-box "Redeem the Time" #W data [
			after 2
			label "   System Clock Time:" my-time:    text 28x7 "0:00:00"
			return
			bar
			return
			label "Average session time:" my-session: text 28x7 "0:00:00" 
		]
		return


  ;******************************************************************
		tab-panel #HWLV data [

                           ;******************************************************************
			"Projects" [
				label "Project Name:" ProjectName: field  141x5 

    label "Priority:" Priority: drop-list 30 #W "1" data ["1" "2" "3" 
    "4" "5" "6" "7" "8" "9" "10"] 10x5
				return
				label "Objectives:" 
				pad 131
				label "Exchange Rate" ExchangeRate: field 20x5
				return
				Objectives: area 200x10 
				return
				label "Deliverables:" 
				return
				Deliverables: area 200x10
				return
				label "Current Projects:"
				return

    current-projects: table (tab-size + 80x35) #HWLV options ["Priority" 
    right .03 "ProjectName" left .2 "ExchangeRate" left .2 "Objectives" 
    left .3 "Deliverables" left .1] data [(SQL "select * from projects")]
				return

                                                     button "Save" [

                     SQL reduce ["insert into projects values (?,?,?,?,?)" Priority/text 
                     ProjectName/text ExchangeRate/text Objectives/text Deliverables/text]
				    current-projects/redraw
			              ]
                                                      pad 20

                                                      radio-group 60x5 data [1 "Add" "Edit"]
				pad 20
				button "Quit" [quit]
                                         ]

This should address the table and disable issues raised above. WRT 
other issues:

stack overflow return
 ... could not duplicate this.
One can only select one table at a time

 ... select = focus, and yes, as focus shifts so to does the "selected" 
 row
And it seems tha I can send more than 1 line at the time now

 ... not sure I understand what the issue is here.Are we saying 'multi 
 is always on now?
hidden column

 ...I plan to properly support hidden columns ... if column width 
 is zero the face iterator will not create a face and it will not 
 otherwise be treated as a "column"
button widths

 ... the width sizing algorithm changed for button, label, heading, 
 etc (basically anything that appears on a single line)

 - previously you had to use -1 (or larger widths) to accomodate larger 
 text as the width was fixed

 - now it is fixed to the greater of it's specified width and it's 
 natural text width; and -1 sizes to the maximum of text width and 
 a line

 - there is no checking for button height (as it is assumed you would 
 either leave it at default 5 or have it larger

multi-column table, and a data-form dialect.

Anyone had any experience with SQLite (http://www.sqlite.org/), especially 
in conjunction with REBOL? What are the limitations of sqlite3-protocol.r 
(http://www.rebol.org/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/rebol/view-script.r?script=sqlite3-protocol.r), 
if any?

I'm interested to see how folks have dealt with issues such as:


 1) Support for datatypes other than TEXT, INTEGER, NUMBER and BLOB?

 2) All tables in one DB, or one table per DB to improve concurrency?

 3) Multi-user access across a network, given this statement from 
 the SQLite website:


SQLite uses reader/writer locks to control access to the database. 
(Under Win95/98/ME which lacks support for reader/writer locks, a 
probabilistic simulation is used instead.) But use caution: this 
locking mechanism might not work correctly if the database file is 
kept on an NFS filesystem. This is because fcntl() file locking is 
broken on many NFS implementations. You should avoid putting SQLite 
database files on NFS if multiple processes might try to access the 
file at the same time. On Windows, Microsoft's documentation says 
that locking may not work under FAT filesystems if you are not running 
the Share.exe daemon. People who have a lot of experience with Windows 
tell me that file locking of network files is very buggy and is not 
dependable. If what they say is true, sharing an SQLite database 
between two or more Windows machines might cause unexpected problems.

It all depends.


 250,000 integers vs 250,000 multi-column rows with large string values
	client device with 16MB RAM vs 'server' with 4GB RAM
	'local' query vs pulling the data over a network


There are plenty of optimization strategies. One technique, if concurrency 
is not an issue for you, is to have your query return 250,000 rowids 
then page through rows based on simple 'rowid in (...)' type queries. 
It's fast and efficient, but not too great if others are modifying 
the same table(s) at the same time.

May I suggest that:


- Starting with just cold metal - metal is not a single colour.  
You are seeing many colours at all times, and different patches of 
colour everywhere.  You are seeing colours reflected and you need 
a coefficient table to calculate the reflection index.  Copper for 
example would lean heavily towards red.


- Next, heated metals are the same, meaning, not a single colour 
either, but now for a different reason.  But to produce the illusion 
of something burning hotter and hotter will require something that 
is multi-pass, and changing constantly.


In video games to produce the afterburner on a jet we did a few tricks:


- The jet flame itself was made of a cone-like shape (maybe a dozen 
polygons).

- The cone was set with an alpha channel so that the source was close 
to opaque, and the tip was close to translucent.

- A second cone was placed around the first cone, but just slightly 
larger.

- They both undulated at all times.  In other words, the length was 
always changing for both cones independently just slight.  And when 
the jet went faster and slower, they changed from long to flat (with 
the plane itself).

- The textures on the polygons were already a rainbox of colours, 
but as the jet changed what it was doing, the colour pallet was changed. 
 Again, both cones were not always changed at the exact same time.

- Just behind the jet (but depending on your angle of view), several 
filters (polygons that read the bg info and render again) would be 
used to create a small waiver and a refocusing.  The more GPU you 
had, the more of this you could do, and the better the final effect 
would look.

- Lastly, and this is what makes the whole thing amazing in a 3D 
game.  We are always checking the location of bright things, such 
as the sun, or things like the after burner filling your screen. 
 If so, we change the contrast of the whole world, and flare out 
your iris.  In the case of the sun we throw up a lens flare, and 
darken all the ships in the sky.

Even as a 2D problem, you should attach this the same way.

This video I think drives this all home for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHL94qQgl_8&feature=related

the _data option is a multi-field field formed as a map!, to allow 
extending a table, without adding columns in the table.

Guys, time to crank up the volume and build a concrete roadmap for 
the GUI. I have a suggestion to further accelerate the development 
of the GUI: RM Asset will over time require some specific, but complex 
styles, that the community will need as well. We are developing a 
SCRUM tool, which you will need to use as a basis for discussions 
and development of these styles. Consider it also training to become 
a good style developer. For any needs, Cyphre, Bolek, Ladislav and 
I will be available to extend the UI base as needed to create the 
styles mentioned below. We also provide examples, training and help.


Many of these styles are focused for development of particular types 
of applications that open many, small windows inside a large work 
area for flexible construction of data analysis tools and other traditional 
Windows or Linux applications.


It could be a combination of how graphics shader networks are built 
(though without the need for zooming), to regular multi-document 
management. The ultimate goal is to build styles that allow a highly 
user configurable multi-document GUI to be described, using only 
the R3 GUI dialect and some helper functions that we already have.

These styles are generic enough to be usable in plenty of apps.

Inspirations for window arrangements:


http://houdini.dreamerzstudio.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/reflectiveShaderNetwork.jpg
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/docview/TabbedMDI/TabbedMDI.gif

Inspiration for segmented area management:


http://www.solidsmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/modo_501_RayGL_sample_002.jpg
http://jedit.sourceforge.net/jedit-snap-12.png

A list of general styles that definitely are needed:


- Style for doing multi-document window management, using various 
arrangements, window linking features, as borrowed from apps like 
Photoshop.

- Style for segmented area management, editable by users, for arranging 
tool areas, view areas. Segments are adjustable in size. Inspiration 
is JEdit and Modo.
- Multi-document window style, for use in window management style
- Tool window style, for use in window management style

- Tear-off style for toolbars and tool windows, for use in window 
management style

- Regular Windows-style menu bar with submenus, also for right-click 
popup menus.

More specific styles that will be needed later:


- High-performance style for graphing points and curves in a coordinate 
system, with zooming and panning.
- Gannt chart style: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gannt_Chart
- Harvey Ball style: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Balls
- Year calendar style
- Month calendar style
- Week calendar style
- Day calendar style

- MacOSX style tag field: http://kitara.nl/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/31.png

- Console style for input and listing results. This could eventually 
grow into the base for a View based R3 console.

- Highly ergonomic numeric input styles, that support unit conversion, 
inline math.

The question is where to start and what fits with you.


The time table is simply ASAP, and preferrably want some results 
within the next 2 months.


If you are planning R3 apps soon, it would be a good idea to have 
a look at the list to see where you may be able to contribute, as 
the GUI moves to beta status. RM Asset needs to spend time building 
end-user apps for R3 and the GUI is becoming ready, except for the 
above mentioned styles.