Subject: Fields -- are we ready to tackle them now?
From: Paul Rohr (paul@abisource.com)
Date: Thu Feb 10 2000 - 18:28:10 CST
Henrik,
Thanks for getting started on this. I hope you're aware of how big a
minefield you've stepped into. Essentially, we're not going to be able to
release binaries which include a Field dialog until we fix a *bunch* of
stuff under the hood.
In any event, it sounds like it's time to organize the effort it'll take to
make sure we start handling fields properly. (I was hoping to make this
next week's POW, but you're just too fast for me.)
1. File format
---------------
To begin with, our current fields support is busted. Badly. As we were
discussing recently, the current markup for fields is broken, and needs to
be replaced with container-style markup instead:
http://www.abisource.com/mailinglists/abiword-dev/99/December/0314.html
http://www.abisource.com/mailinglists/abiword-dev/00/January/0055.html
To do this right will require some work deep in the piece table, which I've
thought about but haven't had time to get to. (As anyone who's sent me
private mail recently knows, I'm still swamped with show-related fallout.)
More importantly, this change will mean breaking file format compatibility
(at least slightly). Fortunately, insofar as we've never had any UI support
for fields, the only way to use fields was to hand-edit files. Anyone who
did this ought to be able to deal with the consequences.
However, releasing a UI for this feature now would make the problem much
more serious.
2. Layout support
------------------
Also, the current level of formatter support for fields could use an
overhaul. The current level of support for editing, formatting, and
updating fields is not that great. See Bugzilla for details or just play
with the feature for a bit.
3. Fields we should consider
-----------------------------
Justin has gone through and analyzed a bunch of the RTF/Word fields we'll
eventually need to know how to support. For more details, check the
following thread:
http://www.abisource.com/mailinglists/abiword-dev/00/January/0068.html
If anyone has time to work on this list some more, that'd help. The end
goal will be to specify a minimal set of arguments that can be used across
whichever fields need them.
4. Implementing specific fields
--------------------------------
This is a separate step from implementing the architectural changes
described in #1 and #2 above. Once the new mechanisms are in place, and as
long as we have an adequate spec for #3, then logic for specific fields can
be added by anyone over time.
A very useful first step would be to fix the fields we already (sort of)
have, and update the date/time dialog to optionally add a field which
updates at the appropriate times.
5. What should the dialog UI be?
---------------------------------
I took a look for abi/shots/wp/win/field.png in your checkin, and didn't see
it, but from scanning Bonsai, it looks like you've designed a *very* simple
dialog.
I'm not sure whether we'll need all of Word's complexity here, but as soon
as we have a decent idea what #3 looks like, we should have more insight
into what's needed for this dialog.
There are probably also issues about how to handle localization here, but
I'm sure you'll have great ideas on how to handle that.
bottom line
-----------
Before we go too much further down the path of working on the Fields dialog,
I'd like to make sure we've got enough people thinking about and addressing
the underlying issues outlined above.
To put it another way, we need to make the field rows in the following
document green first:
http://www.abisource.com/feature_matrix.html
Then we can start figuring out how to make the field rows in the UI green:
http://www.abisource.com/ui_matrix.html
OK?
Paul
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