Re: New ProjectCenter Icons

[Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller]

Am 10.09.2007 um 22:41 schrieb Gregory John Casamento:

> > Why not integrate Gorm&PC into a single Application (like other IDEs
> > are doing it)?
>
> I don't think so.
>
> Gorm shouldn't ONLY be useful with PC and.  Gorm and PC are  
> fundamentally different applications.

Well, I think, the answer if they are fundamentally different depends  
on the position from which you are looking at.

Basically, there are two approaches (very similar to "integrated  
*Works vs. separate Text processing, Spreadsheet, Presentation,  
Database applications":

a) Project Center with external Editors for different file types

here they are different - one is the manager and the other an editor.

b) Integrated IDE with Editors for *ALL* data types you have in a  
typical project

File types which typically appear in a GNUstep project are:
* source files (.m, .h)
* Makefiles
* NIB files (.nib, .gorm)
* property lists (.plist)
* icons/images (.jpeg, .png, ...)
(* help files)

My argumentation is for b), because it would allow features that are  
quite difficult to integrate or operate in approach a) like:

* single "edit" window in PC for all kinds of project components -  
without switching applications
* project wide "Search" including NIBs
* double-click on a Class in the NIB editor will jump to the  
@interface in Source file
* double-click on Action method will jump to the @implementation in  
Source
* NIB editor simply "knows" the IBActions a class provides
* NIB editor simply knows the IBOutlets a class provides
* dragging an image on a NIB adds the file to the sources
* etc.

I know that this is quite a shift away from the original NextStep  
approach, but why not try if we can make life easier for the developers?

> Tieing the two together would be a mistake as it would force people  
> to use Gorm with ONE particular IDE.

Can't people simply ignore all the other functions of PC if they just  
want to use the NIB editor (aka GORM) only?
I have e.g. used AppleWorks just as a Spreadsheet for a long time  
since there have been better Text editors and databases around.

Finally: http://www.gnustep.org/experience/ProjectCenter.html says

"ProjectCenter is GNUstep's integrated developement environment (IDE)."

So is there any other IDE to use GORM with?

Nikolaus