1. Re[6]: [GEN] Template Handler
> Thomas,
<snip>
> I can think of these problems, though:
> 1. there is a possibility/likelihood of duplicate filenames with different
> people submitting various template files, not sure exactly how to handle
> that;
Maybe encouraging version numbers in the filenames would go some way
to helping with that... Of course it wouldn't really matter what the
files were called, but I guess it would be a bit of a pain for the
user to have to rename files before placing them in the directory.
> 2. it ends up putting potentially lots of little files on peoples drives
> instead of a smaller number of larger files. Of course, the user could
> relatively easily manually combine files of identical categories into one
> file, but I'd hoped to make that kind of thing unnecessary. Or I could make
> the handler discern when there are multiple files of the same category, and
> ask the user if they want them combined into one file, maybe.
I'm not sure that's such a bad thing, depends how many it gets to be I
guess :)
> 3. and there's a kind of "general" problem of how would a user easily know
> which templates are really new and which might they already have, perhaps in
> a file with a different name or something; I really want to make the process
> of adding (& fixing buggy templates!) *very* easy for the user.
Maybe each template should have a identifier (name) and version
number, if 2 clash then the one with the highest version number is
used. Would be cool to have an option to see older versions :)
> But other than that it sounds like a good, simple idea which I should be
> able to implement fairly easily (& that's a big plus too!).
>
> I'll probably give it a try, thanks!
It's so easy to make suggestions when your not the one who has to
implement them :)
> Dan
Thomas Parslow (PatRat) ICQ #:26359483
Rat Software
http://www.rat-software.com/
Please leave quoted text in place when replying
2. Re: Re[6]: [GEN] Template Handler
Thomas,
You wrote:
----- Original Message -----
From: "Thomas Parslow (PatRat)"
>
> > Thomas,
>
> <snip>
>
> > I can think of these problems, though:
> > 1. there is a possibility/likelihood of duplicate filenames with
different
> > people submitting various template files, not sure exactly how to
handle
> > that;
>
> Maybe encouraging version numbers in the filenames would go some way
> to helping with that... Of course it wouldn't really matter what the
> files were called, but I guess it would be a bit of a pain for the
> user to have to rename files before placing them in the directory.
Yeah, I *don't* want people to have to rename files, especially if they're
from a zip! The best solution I thought of so far is that Robert put all
user contributed templates into one folder for download, so if the file
names conflict he could change them right there, but that doesn't work if
they're already inside a zip, which they probably would be. Maybe a
downloadable "list of already used template filenames", so contributors
could see what not to use, but then "email passing in the night" could mess
that up too, plus it puts an inappropriate burden on Robert to maintain such
a list.
>
> > 2. it ends up putting potentially lots of little files on peoples drives
> > instead of a smaller number of larger files. Of course, the user could
> > relatively easily manually combine files of identical categories into
one
> > file, but I'd hoped to make that kind of thing unnecessary. Or I could
make
> > the handler discern when there are multiple files of the same category,
and
> > ask the user if they want them combined into one file, maybe.
>
> I'm not sure that's such a bad thing, depends how many it gets to be I
> guess :)
Well, that a kind of a "reverse" problem: there's no problem at all if
people don't submit templates, but that's a worse problem, from my
perspective!
>
> > 3. and there's a kind of "general" problem of how would a user easily
know
> > which templates are really new and which might they already have,
perhaps in
> > a file with a different name or something; I really want to make the
process
> > of adding (& fixing buggy templates!) *very* easy for the user.
>
> Maybe each template should have a identifier (name) and version
> number, if 2 clash then the one with the highest version number is
> used. Would be cool to have an option to see older versions :)
Didn't want to have to do that, but may have to at least consider it.
>
> > But other than that it sounds like a good, simple idea which I should be
> > able to implement fairly easily (& that's a big plus too!).
> >
> > I'll probably give it a try, thanks!
>
> It's so easy to make suggestions when your not the one who has to
> implement them :)
Yeah! :)
Thanks,
Dan
>
> > Dan
>
> Thomas Parslow (PatRat) ICQ #:26359483
> Rat Software
> http://www.rat-software.com/
> Please leave quoted text in place when replying
3. Re: Re[6]: [GEN] Template Handler
Hi Dan,
I'm not sure if I really understand this Template concept. What problem is
it solving? What is it good for?
------
Derek.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan Moyer" <DANIELMOYER at prodigy.net>
To: "EUforum" <EUforum at topica.com>
Subject: Re: Re[6]: [GEN] Template Handler
>
> Thomas,
>
> You wrote:
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Thomas Parslow (PatRat)"
>
>
> > > Thomas,
> >
> > <snip>
> >
> > > I can think of these problems, though:
> > > 1. there is a possibility/likelihood of duplicate filenames with
> different
> > > people submitting various template files, not sure exactly how to
> handle
> > > that;
> >
> > Maybe encouraging version numbers in the filenames would go some way
> > to helping with that... Of course it wouldn't really matter what the
> > files were called, but I guess it would be a bit of a pain for the
> > user to have to rename files before placing them in the directory.
>
> Yeah, I *don't* want people to have to rename files, especially if they're
> from a zip! The best solution I thought of so far is that Robert put all
> user contributed templates into one folder for download, so if the file
> names conflict he could change them right there, but that doesn't work if
> they're already inside a zip, which they probably would be. Maybe a
> downloadable "list of already used template filenames", so contributors
> could see what not to use, but then "email passing in the night" could
mess
> that up too, plus it puts an inappropriate burden on Robert to maintain
such
> a list.
>
> >
> > > 2. it ends up putting potentially lots of little files on peoples
drives
> > > instead of a smaller number of larger files. Of course, the user
could
> > > relatively easily manually combine files of identical categories into
> one
> > > file, but I'd hoped to make that kind of thing unnecessary. Or I
could
> make
> > > the handler discern when there are multiple files of the same
category,
> and
> > > ask the user if they want them combined into one file, maybe.
> >
> > I'm not sure that's such a bad thing, depends how many it gets to be I
> > guess :)
>
> Well, that a kind of a "reverse" problem: there's no problem at all if
> people don't submit templates, but that's a worse problem, from my
> perspective!
>
> >
> > > 3. and there's a kind of "general" problem of how would a user easily
> know
> > > which templates are really new and which might they already have,
> perhaps in
> > > a file with a different name or something; I really want to make the
> process
> > > of adding (& fixing buggy templates!) *very* easy for the user.
> >
> > Maybe each template should have a identifier (name) and version
> > number, if 2 clash then the one with the highest version number is
> > used. Would be cool to have an option to see older versions :)
>
> Didn't want to have to do that, but may have to at least consider it.
>
> >
> > > But other than that it sounds like a good, simple idea which I should
be
> > > able to implement fairly easily (& that's a big plus too!).
> > >
> > > I'll probably give it a try, thanks!
> >
> > It's so easy to make suggestions when your not the one who has to
> > implement them :)
>
> Yeah! :)
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dan
>
>
> > > Dan
> >
> > Thomas Parslow (PatRat) ICQ #:26359483
> > Rat Software
> > http://www.rat-software.com/
> > Please leave quoted text in place when replying
>
>
>
4. Re: Re[6]: [GEN] Template Handler
Derek,
Good question. The basic idea is similar to the demos for Win32Lib, except
that a template, at least as I have envisioned it, is just some "snippet" of
code that might be used to accomplish a minor programming task. In that
sense, it's not really a template in the sense of fill in the blanks, but
more a sample of how to get some task done.
So the problem it's potentially solving is: when someone can't (or can't
easily) figure out how to program some task, if someone has created a
template or sample to accomplish that task, and has shared it, then a user
can pick it out of a "database" and put it in their program.
What it's good for is mostly helping other-than-expert programmers,
basically, but I would suspect even good programmers could benefit from
having an easy way to save "re-usable" programming solutions in a library of
templates.
Dan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Derek Parnell" <ddparnell at bigpond.com>
To: "EUforum" <EUforum at topica.com>
Sent: Friday, September 28, 2001 2:03 AM
Subject: Re: Re[6]: [GEN] Template Handler
>
> Hi Dan,
> I'm not sure if I really understand this Template concept. What problem is
> it solving? What is it good for?
> ------
> Derek.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dan Moyer" <DANIELMOYER at prodigy.net>
> To: "EUforum" <EUforum at topica.com>
> Sent: Friday, September 28, 2001 2:52 PM
> Subject: Re: Re[6]: [GEN] Template Handler
>
>
> > Thomas,
> >
> > You wrote:
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Thomas Parslow (PatRat)"
> >
> >
> > > > Thomas,
> > >
> > > <snip>
> > >
> > > > I can think of these problems, though:
> > > > 1. there is a possibility/likelihood of duplicate filenames with
> > different
> > > > people submitting various template files, not sure exactly how to
> > handle
> > > > that;
> > >
> > > Maybe encouraging version numbers in the filenames would go some way
> > > to helping with that... Of course it wouldn't really matter what the
> > > files were called, but I guess it would be a bit of a pain for the
> > > user to have to rename files before placing them in the directory.
> >
> > Yeah, I *don't* want people to have to rename files, especially if
they're
> > from a zip! The best solution I thought of so far is that Robert put
all
> > user contributed templates into one folder for download, so if the file
> > names conflict he could change them right there, but that doesn't work
if
> > they're already inside a zip, which they probably would be. Maybe a
> > downloadable "list of already used template filenames", so contributors
> > could see what not to use, but then "email passing in the night" could
> mess
> > that up too, plus it puts an inappropriate burden on Robert to maintain
> such
> > a list.
> >
> > >
> > > > 2. it ends up putting potentially lots of little files on peoples
> drives
> > > > instead of a smaller number of larger files. Of course, the user
> could
> > > > relatively easily manually combine files of identical categories
into
> > one
> > > > file, but I'd hoped to make that kind of thing unnecessary. Or I
> could
> > make
> > > > the handler discern when there are multiple files of the same
> category,
> > and
> > > > ask the user if they want them combined into one file, maybe.
> > >
> > > I'm not sure that's such a bad thing, depends how many it gets to be I
> > > guess :)
> >
> > Well, that a kind of a "reverse" problem: there's no problem at all if
> > people don't submit templates, but that's a worse problem, from my
> > perspective!
> >
> > >
> > > > 3. and there's a kind of "general" problem of how would a user
easily
> > know
> > > > which templates are really new and which might they already have,
> > perhaps in
> > > > a file with a different name or something; I really want to make the
> > process
> > > > of adding (& fixing buggy templates!) *very* easy for the user.
> > >
> > > Maybe each template should have a identifier (name) and version
> > > number, if 2 clash then the one with the highest version number is
> > > used. Would be cool to have an option to see older versions :)
> >
> > Didn't want to have to do that, but may have to at least consider it.
> >
> > >
> > > > But other than that it sounds like a good, simple idea which I
should
> be
> > > > able to implement fairly easily (& that's a big plus too!).
> > > >
> > > > I'll probably give it a try, thanks!
> > >
> > > It's so easy to make suggestions when your not the one who has to
> > > implement them :)
> >
> > Yeah! :)
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Dan
> >
> >
> > > > Dan
> > >
> > > Thomas Parslow (PatRat) ICQ #:26359483
> > > Rat Software
> > > http://www.rat-software.com/
> > > Please leave quoted text in place when replying
> >
> >
>
>
5. Re: Re[6]: [GEN] Template Handler
I think the template handler is an excellent idea, but I have no intention
of using for reference purposes. That would be such a waste!!
IMHO, it makes more sense to use it as a catalog of useful routines and code
snippets.
Rather than having a library of misc routines of which you will most likely
only use one in your code, store it in the template handler to be copied and
pasted directly into your code to eliminate the need for including an entire
library.
PS. you should include an option to strip comments from a selected template
for copying. In fact, I would make that default, and have the option for
including the comments instead.
Chris
> Derek,
>
> Good question. The basic idea is similar to the demos for Win32Lib,
except
> that a template, at least as I have envisioned it, is just some "snippet"
of
> code that might be used to accomplish a minor programming task. In that
> sense, it's not really a template in the sense of fill in the blanks, but
> more a sample of how to get some task done.
>
> So the problem it's potentially solving is: when someone can't (or can't
> easily) figure out how to program some task, if someone has created a
> template or sample to accomplish that task, and has shared it, then a user
> can pick it out of a "database" and put it in their program.
>
> What it's good for is mostly helping other-than-expert programmers,
> basically, but I would suspect even good programmers could benefit from
> having an easy way to save "re-usable" programming solutions in a library
of
> templates.
>
> Dan
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Derek Parnell" <ddparnell at bigpond.com>
> To: "EUforum" <EUforum at topica.com>
> Sent: Friday, September 28, 2001 2:03 AM
> Subject: Re: Re[6]: [GEN] Template Handler
>
>
> > Hi Dan,
> > I'm not sure if I really understand this Template concept. What problem
is
> > it solving? What is it good for?
> > ------
> > Derek.
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Dan Moyer" <DANIELMOYER at prodigy.net>
> > To: "EUforum" <EUforum at topica.com>
> > Sent: Friday, September 28, 2001 2:52 PM
> > Subject: Re: Re[6]: [GEN] Template Handler
> >
> >
> > > Thomas,
> > >
> > > You wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Thomas Parslow (PatRat)"
> > >
> > >
> > > > > Thomas,
> > > >
> > > > <snip>
> > > >
> > > > > I can think of these problems, though:
> > > > > 1. there is a possibility/likelihood of duplicate filenames with
> > > different
> > > > > people submitting various template files, not sure exactly how to
> > > handle
> > > > > that;
> > > >
> > > > Maybe encouraging version numbers in the filenames would go some way
> > > > to helping with that... Of course it wouldn't really matter what the
> > > > files were called, but I guess it would be a bit of a pain for the
> > > > user to have to rename files before placing them in the directory.
> > >
> > > Yeah, I *don't* want people to have to rename files, especially if
> they're
> > > from a zip! The best solution I thought of so far is that Robert put
> all
> > > user contributed templates into one folder for download, so if the
file
> > > names conflict he could change them right there, but that doesn't work
> if
> > > they're already inside a zip, which they probably would be. Maybe a
> > > downloadable "list of already used template filenames", so
contributors
> > > could see what not to use, but then "email passing in the night" could
> > mess
> > > that up too, plus it puts an inappropriate burden on Robert to
maintain
> > such
> > > a list.
> > >
> > > >
> > > > > 2. it ends up putting potentially lots of little files on peoples
> > drives
> > > > > instead of a smaller number of larger files. Of course, the user
> > could
> > > > > relatively easily manually combine files of identical categories
> into
> > > one
> > > > > file, but I'd hoped to make that kind of thing unnecessary. Or I
> > could
> > > make
> > > > > the handler discern when there are multiple files of the same
> > category,
> > > and
> > > > > ask the user if they want them combined into one file, maybe.
> > > >
> > > > I'm not sure that's such a bad thing, depends how many it gets to be
I
> > > > guess :)
> > >
> > > Well, that a kind of a "reverse" problem: there's no problem at all
if
> > > people don't submit templates, but that's a worse problem, from my
> > > perspective!
> > >
> > > >
> > > > > 3. and there's a kind of "general" problem of how would a user
> easily
> > > know
> > > > > which templates are really new and which might they already have,
> > > perhaps in
> > > > > a file with a different name or something; I really want to make
the
> > > process
> > > > > of adding (& fixing buggy templates!) *very* easy for the user.
> > > >
> > > > Maybe each template should have a identifier (name) and version
> > > > number, if 2 clash then the one with the highest version number is
> > > > used. Would be cool to have an option to see older versions :)
> > >
> > > Didn't want to have to do that, but may have to at least consider it.
> > >
> > > >
> > > > > But other than that it sounds like a good, simple idea which I
> should
> > be
> > > > > able to implement fairly easily (& that's a big plus too!).
> > > > >
> > > > > I'll probably give it a try, thanks!
> > > >
> > > > It's so easy to make suggestions when your not the one who has to
> > > > implement them :)
> > >
> > > Yeah! :)
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Dan
> > >
> > >
> > > > > Dan
> > > >
> > > > Thomas Parslow (PatRat) ICQ #:26359483
> > > > Rat Software
> > > > http://www.rat-software.com/
> > > > Please leave quoted text in place when replying
> > >
> > >
>
>
6. Re: Re[6]: [GEN] Template Handler
Chris wrote:
>
> I think the template handler is an excellent idea, but I have no intention
> of using for reference purposes. That would be such a waste!!
> IMHO, it makes more sense to use it as a catalog of useful routines and
code
> snippets.
> Rather than having a library of misc routines of which you will most
likely
> only use one in your code, store it in the template handler to be copied
and
> pasted directly into your code to eliminate the need for including an
entire
> library.
Ok, that's not what I was writing it for, but it's fine with me if you want
to use it that way, :)
>
> PS. you should include an option to strip comments from a selected
template
> for copying. In fact, I would make that default, and have the option for
> including the comments instead.
That sounds like a good idea, I was concerned about too many comments
obscuring the template anyway, but how can I do that? I know how to select
*everything* in the mle, but how do I just select specific lines?
>
> Chris
>
> > Derek,
> >
> > Good question. The basic idea is similar to the demos for Win32Lib,
> except
> > that a template, at least as I have envisioned it, is just some
"snippet"
> of
> > code that might be used to accomplish a minor programming task. In that
> > sense, it's not really a template in the sense of fill in the blanks,
but
> > more a sample of how to get some task done.
> >
> > So the problem it's potentially solving is: when someone can't (or can't
> > easily) figure out how to program some task, if someone has created a
> > template or sample to accomplish that task, and has shared it, then a
user
> > can pick it out of a "database" and put it in their program.
> >
> > What it's good for is mostly helping other-than-expert programmers,
> > basically, but I would suspect even good programmers could benefit from
> > having an easy way to save "re-usable" programming solutions in a
library
> of
> > templates.
> >
> > Dan
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Derek Parnell" <ddparnell at bigpond.com>
> > To: "EUforum" <EUforum at topica.com>
> > Sent: Friday, September 28, 2001 2:03 AM
> > Subject: Re: Re[6]: [GEN] Template Handler
> >
> >
> > > Hi Dan,
> > > I'm not sure if I really understand this Template concept. What
problem
> is
> > > it solving? What is it good for?
> > > ------
> > > Derek.
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Dan Moyer" <DANIELMOYER at prodigy.net>
> > > To: "EUforum" <EUforum at topica.com>
> > > Sent: Friday, September 28, 2001 2:52 PM
> > > Subject: Re: Re[6]: [GEN] Template Handler
> > >
> > >
> > > > Thomas,
> > > >
> > > > You wrote:
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: "Thomas Parslow (PatRat)"
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > > Thomas,
> > > > >
> > > > > <snip>
> > > > >
> > > > > > I can think of these problems, though:
> > > > > > 1. there is a possibility/likelihood of duplicate filenames with
> > > > different
> > > > > > people submitting various template files, not sure exactly how
to
> > > > handle
> > > > > > that;
> > > > >
> > > > > Maybe encouraging version numbers in the filenames would go some
way
> > > > > to helping with that... Of course it wouldn't really matter what
the
> > > > > files were called, but I guess it would be a bit of a pain for the
> > > > > user to have to rename files before placing them in the directory.
> > > >
> > > > Yeah, I *don't* want people to have to rename files, especially if
> > they're
> > > > from a zip! The best solution I thought of so far is that Robert
put
> > all
> > > > user contributed templates into one folder for download, so if the
> file
> > > > names conflict he could change them right there, but that doesn't
work
> > if
> > > > they're already inside a zip, which they probably would be. Maybe a
> > > > downloadable "list of already used template filenames", so
> contributors
> > > > could see what not to use, but then "email passing in the night"
could
> > > mess
> > > > that up too, plus it puts an inappropriate burden on Robert to
> maintain
> > > such
> > > > a list.
> > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > > 2. it ends up putting potentially lots of little files on
peoples
> > > drives
> > > > > > instead of a smaller number of larger files. Of course, the
user
> > > could
> > > > > > relatively easily manually combine files of identical categories
> > into
> > > > one
> > > > > > file, but I'd hoped to make that kind of thing unnecessary. Or
I
> > > could
> > > > make
> > > > > > the handler discern when there are multiple files of the same
> > > category,
> > > > and
> > > > > > ask the user if they want them combined into one file, maybe.
> > > > >
> > > > > I'm not sure that's such a bad thing, depends how many it gets to
be
> I
> > > > > guess :)
> > > >
> > > > Well, that a kind of a "reverse" problem: there's no problem at all
> if
> > > > people don't submit templates, but that's a worse problem, from my
> > > > perspective!
> > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > > 3. and there's a kind of "general" problem of how would a user
> > easily
> > > > know
> > > > > > which templates are really new and which might they already
have,
> > > > perhaps in
> > > > > > a file with a different name or something; I really want to make
> the
> > > > process
> > > > > > of adding (& fixing buggy templates!) *very* easy for the user.
> > > > >
> > > > > Maybe each template should have a identifier (name) and version
> > > > > number, if 2 clash then the one with the highest version number is
> > > > > used. Would be cool to have an option to see older versions :)
> > > >
> > > > Didn't want to have to do that, but may have to at least consider
it.
> > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > > But other than that it sounds like a good, simple idea which I
> > should
> > > be
> > > > > > able to implement fairly easily (& that's a big plus too!).
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I'll probably give it a try, thanks!
> > > > >
> > > > > It's so easy to make suggestions when your not the one who has to
> > > > > implement them :)
> > > >
> > > > Yeah! :)
> > > >
> > > > Thanks,
> > > >
> > > > Dan
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > > Dan
> > > > >
> > > > > Thomas Parslow (PatRat) ICQ #:26359483
> > > > > Rat Software
> > > > > http://www.rat-software.com/
> > > > > Please leave quoted text in place when replying
> > > >
> > > >
>
>
