1. Incorporating JavaScript into AbiWord is still our plan of record.
2. Our plan of record is subject to change.
3. This particular week, we regard the absence of macros in AbiWord
as a feature. (due to the Melissa virus) :-)
More seriously: I evaluated Python, and liked it very, very much.
My only major objections were:
A. JavaScript is far, far more prevalent and well known in our
target customer base.
B. Python's use of white space and indenting as a language
feature with semantic significance looks quasi-broken.
We're going to keep dragging our feet on the scripting and
macros issue. There doesn't seem to be much urgency about
this issue right now.
After all, a full-featured word processor
which imports Word 97 files flawlessly is "virus-proof".
;-)
--On Tue, Mar 30, 1999 at 05:48:42AM -0600, Paul Prescod wrote: > Return-Path: <owner-abiword-dev@abisource.com> > Received: (from majordomo@localhost) > by postman.abisource.com (8.8.7/8.8.7) id MAA11115 > for abiword-dev-outgoing; Mon, 5 Apr 1999 12:01:40 -0500 > Received: (from andy@localhost) > by postman.abisource.com (8.8.7/8.8.7) id MAA11108 > for abiword-dev@abisource.com; Mon, 5 Apr 1999 12:01:40 -0500 > Received: from relay.pair.com (relay1.pair.com [209.68.1.20]) > by postman.abisource.com (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id FAA32085 > for <abiword-dev@abisource.com>; Tue, 30 Mar 1999 05:59:05 -0600 > Received: from prescod.net (sdn-ar-001txdallP112.dialsprint.net [168.191.156.72]) > by relay.pair.com (8.8.7/8.8.5) with ESMTP id HAA07055 > for <abiword-dev@abisource.com>; Tue, 30 Mar 1999 07:06:44 -0500 (EST) > Message-ID: <3700BA1A.F62807CA@prescod.net> > Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 05:48:42 -0600 > From: Paul Prescod <paul@prescod.net> > X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.5 [en] (Win95; I) > X-Accept-Language: en,tr > MIME-Version: 1.0 > To: abiword-dev@abisource.com > Subject: Scripting > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Sender: owner-abiword-dev@abisource.com > Precedence: bulk
> I notice that ABIWord is scheduled to use Javascript scripting. I would > like to beg that you either use Python as KOffice does or (even better) > use a technology that will allow multiple scripting languages to be > plugged in (CORBA or some future variant of COM/XPCOM?). > > JavaScript is just so painful and Python is so beautiful. > > No, I probably won't back up this suggestion with code. It is just a > suggestion and you are free to take it or leave it. > -- > Paul Prescod - ISOGEN Consulting Engineer speaking for only himself > http://itrc.uwaterloo.ca/~papresco > > "Perpetually obsolescing and thus losing all data and programs every 10 > years (the current pattern) is no way to run an information economy or > a civilization." - Stewart Brand, founder of the Whole Earth Catalog > http://www.wired.com/news/news/culture/story/10124.html
-- Eric W. Sink, Software Craftsman eric@abisource.com