[news.eclipse.tools.gef] Re: gef diagram in table cell

[Jeremy Dowdall <aspencloud@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Al,
 Thanks, hopefully in the next week or so I'll get time to put up an 
actual website.
 Well, the decision to role my own was not an easy one, mainly because 
I want to be writing a contact manager and not widgets.

1. Linux GTK is our top priority, and I got fed up testing custom 
widgets that only work on Windows (when you look at the code, notice all 
the "if(gtk) or if(win32) clauses).

2. Some features / functionality just wasn't found - date / time masks 
is one example, not using native components is another.

3. When I started I only needing a simple list of composites; I tried 
the one at SWTPlus but got frustrated with its break from SWT 
convention; KTable was overkill, and again, didn't follow SWT very well; 
finally, seeing as how easier a simple list was to make I just went 
ahead with it.
 Then, of course, requirements changed... I had already written in SWT 
Tables / TabelViewers and was starting to fight their limitations. 
Again I looked at KTable but to my knowledge KTable does not support a 
Tree, does not use a native header, and does not have a JFace style 
viewer. I'm a big fan of JFace, and if you look at the implementation 
code in org.aspencloud.widgets.test.CTableTests1.java you'll see that 
using CTableTree / CTableTreeViewer is identical to using a SWT Tree 
with Columns and TreeViewer
 If I understand them correctly, the design goals of KTable, and others 
I tried, are geared toward creating a Grid Control, which is not what I 
need.  I need a List with Columns, which looks as native as possible, 
can have a Tree in any one of those columns, and is especially good at 
handling expandable cells (not necessarily spanning).  Thus, "it all 
depends on what you want your table to do".
 I think KTable and CTableTree have different enough goals to not 
really be competing with each other.  And if they are, then hopefully 
we've both learned enough on our separate paths to be positive 
influences when the Eclipse Foundation finally approves Nebula :)

sorry this has gotten a bit lengthy, and I feel I've taken up enough GEF 
bandwidth for a non-GEF topic.  I'd appreciate hearing your feedback 
(and criticism) but maybe it should be moved to either the SWT newsgroup 
or to SourceForge.

cheers!


Al Major wrote:
> the screenshots look nice. i'll take a look at the code as well.
>
> what was your rationale for rolling your own (not re-using egs. KTable 
> or SWTDatePicker etc.)? i'm not criticizing your decision, just want to 
> know your thinking.
>
> regards,
>
> al
>
> Jeremy Dowdall wrote:
>
> > Al,
> >  As for other strategies, it may be worth looking at my code at 
> > sourceforge.net/projects/calypsorcp.
> >  1. In CVS is org.aspencloud.calypso.calendar: obviously, a Calendar, 
> > which is essentially a GEF grid.
> >  2. In the downloads (and in CVS) is org.aspencloud.widgets - my take
> > at an emulated TableTree which focuses on being a drop in replacement
> > for SWT, with the added functionality of accepting custom cells that can
> > contain anything you want to put on an SWT Composite (such as a
> > GEF/Draw2d diagram).  (org.aspencloud.viewers contains a JFace style
> > viewer for the TableTree).
> >
> > I suppose it all depends what you want your table to do...
> >
> > cheers!
> >
> > Al Major wrote:
> >
> > > i'm trying to put a simple gef/draw2d diagram (view only, no edit) 
> > > into a table cell. i'm guessing there's no way to do this using 
> > > SWT/JFace tables (short of creating an image from the diagram). is 
> > > that right?
> > >
> > > if so, what are other strategies that have been used. using an 
> > > emulated table like KTable? building a table using GEF/draw2d only 
> > > (with some kind of grid layout)?
> > >
> > > thx for any suggestions.
> > >
> > > regards,
> > >
> > > al