Re: HALManager idea ?

[Robert Welsh]

John B wrote:

> This sounds like a good way forward, and would complete the missing
piece of
the xPLHal puzzle.
>
> I therefore see 4 main components in the xPLHal collection:
>
> - xPLHal server for Microsoft.NET: This is basically what we have now.
> It is optimised to make use of Windows/.NET-specific features and the
> VBScript language.
> - xPLHal server for Perl: This will run on any platform that has a
> Perl implementation and will offer the same core functionality as
> the .NET server. The only piece missing is VBScript support, but
> we've decided to focus our attention on determinators, as these
> are not tied to a specific technology or platform.
> - xPLHal Manager for Windows: The present .NET manager - again
> optimised for the Windows environment.
> - xPLHal Manager for Java: Intended to run on any platform that
supports Java.

This sounds like a pretty dandy plan - and should open up xPL to more
users.

> In addition we could have any number of web-based front ends,
> written in any language.

Yep - but as you say, they're never going to be as rich as a proper
application front end.

> I guess you could say: Why don't we drop the .NET versions and just
> go with Perl for the server and Java for the manager, but I think
> that as the .NET products are so far down the development
> path, it would be a shame to drop them entirely, especially as
> they offer features that may not be able to be reproduced in the
> cross-platform versions.

Ach - I'd never advocate the throwing away of good working code - at
least not in this kind of "hobbyist" environment. It's like we're
making
a business decision based on cost of code maintenance etc. If folk are
happy to continue to work with .Net (mainly because it suits them) then
'get tore in !'
More options will only give people more flexibility, I say.

Anyway, I'm going to crack on with Java stuff and see where it takes me.
I've not done the Swing thing before, so it's a little bit of new
territory for me...

Just a thought - is the source to xPLHalManager open (in the Open Source
sense) ?

Cheers,
Rob