Class browser to indicate readonly/protected/public option f

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by Eric Peachey >> Fri, 4 Feb 2000 0:59:47 GMT

It'd be nice if the browser showed the visibility of class features (using colour/icon) and also have the ability to have a 'public interface' view (i.e. show only read-only and public features of a class). These would help understand a new class (i.e. you ignore all the unpublicised features unless you're trying to sub-class off it). The public interface/complete definition could be toggled on/off like view superschemas and view inherited. This would avoid artificial practises like that used in the JADE Discovery Kit sample schemas where private features are prefixed by 'z' - conflicts with some existing feature names e.g. Window::zOrder.

Eric in Downpoursville

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by John Eyers >> Fri, 4 Feb 2000 1:14:46 GMT

Good idea. I'd like to see it extended to methods also (private = protected), which are also part of the class interface.

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by Carl Ranson >> Fri, 4 Feb 2000 1:33:11 GMT

If were talking about making information more readily available:-

I would love to see some flyover help appear for properties and method lists. The text for properties would be the same thing you get if you actually clicked on a property. The difference is you don't have to switch away from the method you're editing to check a property or reference type.

The same goes for methods which should show the parameters in the bubble help. From memory Jade 5.x has something similar you can call up in the editor.

CR

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by Dean Cooper >> Fri, 4 Feb 2000 1:18:16 GMT

It'd be nice if the browser showed the visibility of class features (using colour/icon) and also have the ability to have a 'public interface' view (i.e. show only read-only and public features of a class).

Yes, this is a really good idea and has been mentioned to us by a few people. I just checked that there is an NFS in for this, and there is (it looks as though it might have been raised by you, Eric). IMHO, this is an excellent candidate for a future release.
Dean.

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by Darrell Duniam >> Fri, 4 Feb 2000 1:18:21 GMT

This seems to be a popular request. I, and I believe some others, have submitted an NFS to this effect. I guess the only question is the best way to do this. My suggestion was to add a new button, such as those on the Attributes panel of the Class Browser, where you can select to view just Controls, Menus, Constants, References, Attributes or "All". The same type of buttons would also be required for the methods panel.

darrell.

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by Craig Shearer >> Fri, 4 Feb 2000 3:05:50 GMT

and it would be nice to show methods in error in a different colour, eg. red. So, when you click on a class in the browser and the methods appear in the right hand pane, all those in error are highlighted in red.

Craig.

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by Carl Ranson >> Fri, 4 Feb 2000 3:08:35 GMT

Red is already used to show features from the rootschema. May I suggest Bold or Itallics
CR

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by Gregory Tolhurst >> Fri, 4 Feb 2000 5:49:34 GMT

Of course you can suggest anything you like

Perhaps we should confine these discussions to WHAT is required rather than HOW it might be implemented. Having said that, may I suggest an alternative implementation? (I contradict myself? Very well, I contradict myself; I am large; I contain multitudes - Walt Whitman)

If the class browser (containing the method and properties/references browsers) was made up of tables with user-configurable columns, then we could use the tables to determine what we saw - eg show or hide columns and filter or sort by any of method status (in error, needing compile, etc), method extent (public, private, hidden), method change date, method author, method implementation level (which class, which schema), as well as method name (and so on ad infinitum).

I suspect that many of us build table controls like this for our applications - I'm sure they would be handy to technical types like ourselves.