Subject: [LM] Re: Link History Hack
mblevin@debian.org
Date: Sat Aug 21 1999 - 22:11:24 EDT
mblevi-@debian.org wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/linkmaster/?start=33
> Is there any reason why this should be in LinkMaster proper instead of a
> proxy? The 32k barrier isn't going to be a problem for LM in the near
> future, but I still think that modularity is good. Unless you've got
> something clever up your sleeve, you'll have to borrow a lot of code
> from the PalmOS source (or thoughtstream-palmos/searchform.c).
There was a history to my mental ramblings that made me want to include
it into LinkMaster proper. My reasoning my not be solid, but I'll
document it here just for perspective.
I wanted to add outgoing links to DiddleBug. The obvious choice was
to just make it a link-container for LinkMaster. But, since LinkMaster
is still a little light on the supporting applications, I also wanted
to support Linker, which would provide links to any app that supports
the Find command.
But, after working on the Linker interface for a while, it became clear
to me that there was a better way. Why would I store the "<aaa>" text
just to proxy it through Linker, which stored the real info needed to
jump to a record? I could get the same info myself with a search dialog.
This would eliminate a level of code, and a source of possible errors.
Also, it would not make this functionality dependant on a cost-added
program for which I did not have source-code access to.
So, I started mentally massaging the search code into DiddleBug, but
then a great idea struck me... Since I was going to support LinkMaster
anyway, why not just make a proxy app (like you are suggesting) that
implements this search. This would be great for both DiddleBug and
LinkMaster, since we wouldn't need to duplicate the code for it.
So, I started over and started mentally massaging the search code into
a LinkMaster proxy application. But the details were bothering me.
First, LinkMaster takes too long to bring up the first screen. On my
Palm with 2Megs (almost full), it takes a good 1-1.5 second delay when
starting LinkMaster. No problem, I can just change LinkMaster to cache
the link-aware app list, possibly refreshing on a SyncNotify and also
on a "miss" if you try to jump to an app that has been deleted. This
would avoid having LinkMaster search through every 'appl' resource
database for the LINK resource, which is where all the cpu-time is
being chewed up.
So, I had already resigned myself to hacking on the LinkMaster code, and
I started finding differences between the way a LinkMaster proxy app
would be presented to the user, and how I wanted it done from my
application. I believe that this is where I made the mental leap
to making the search function integrated with LinkMaster.
The main thing that I wanted to happen was to be able to choose the
search function for links directly from within DiddleBug, and if the
Find dialog or Search results dialog is cancelled, be deposited right
back in DiddleBug where you started. I pondered having a subcall
interface rather than jumping through 2 SysUIAppSwitch calls as would
be required in the proxy. I would have more control that way and
could actually keep state information on either side (temporally) of
the Search call.
Granted, it would also be possible to implement a dual-interface with
a Search proxy app, one to interface with LinkMaster, and another that
works through subcalls directly from DiddleBug (or any other app that
wants to implement it). But I think I dismissed this idea mainly out
of selfishness. I did not want to have to explain to users that
(on top of all the IntelliBooger plugins), that they would have to
install LinkMaster AND the LinkMaster Searching Proxy App. It seemed
more intuitive and natural just to say... "If you want links to work,
install LinkMaster".
Plus, I thought it would be cool to have a "Search Link" button next
to the "Cancel" on the New Link form. (but that is a subjective thing).
You have now confused me so much that I don't know WHAT I want to do! ;-)
I really would prefer just to integrate it into DiddleBug than to depend
on a proxy app in addition to LinkMaster. But, there is no reason why
I cannot make both the proxy app and integrate it into DiddleBug...
it would mostly just be cut-n-paste coding and a little more bloat.
I think that I will just go have a beer.
Cheers,
-Mitch
Re: TS Errors - I will investigate more and respond to the correct list
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