Hi Leonard,
Leonard Mada wrote:
> *Scripting Chart*
>
> Hi,
>
> One of the major limitations of the Chart module is the
inability to
> script and automate many of its processes. A direct
consequence of this
> is the inability for common users to easily extend the
functionality of
> Chart.
>
Maybe you are not aware that the Chart offers an UNO API
(see
::om::sun::star::chart )? You can access this API via
OpenOffice.org
Basic macros for example and thus automate tasks (see
http://api.openoffice.org/docs/DevelopersGuide
/DevelopersGuide.pdf for
more details).
> CURRENT LIMITATIONS
> ====================
> - monolithic code: everything is hardcoded inside Chart
This issue is addressed already with the chart
reimplementation. See new
module chart2 on CWS chart2mst3.
> - inability to write scripts for Chart
> -- no possibility for automation
Please make yourself familiar with UNO scripting via
OpenOffice.org Basic.
> - inability to easily extend functionality
> -- this can be performed only by hardcoding new
functions inside OOo
Again, have a look at the UNO API please. Furthermore it
depends on the
kind of functionality you want to add.
> -- only a limited number of programmers can do this
This is always the case. Having a scripting language people
need to
learn that first also. And they need to be willing to share
their
results and they need to be able to share their results. So
providing a
scripting language does not heal all problems.
> -- it takes eons to implement a new feature
Be fair. This highly depends on the feature itself, on the
current state
of the affected code and on the availability of resources.
> -- when implementing new functionality: code becomes
bigger, more
> complicated
Implementing additional features via extensions will also
produce more
code. There is no real difference in the amount.
> -- therefore we have to deal with the many
limitations of such code
> (difficult to debug and maintain)
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to argue against
extensions, but I
doubt that it is in principle easier to debug scenarios with
extensions.
There is the additional problem of different languages and
you often
cannot be sure in the beginning on which side the error is
caused. Is it
in the extension or is it in the framework? This is an
additional
problem for debugging and maintainance and not a solution
for those
problems.
>
> SOLUTION
> =========
> - break monolithic structure
Already done within the chart reimplementation. A beta
version will be
provided soon.
> - layer the Chart module (Virtual Machine/ internal
scripts)
What exactly do you want to say here? The reimplemtation of
the chart
already makes heavy use of UNO API also internally.
> - implement a powerful scripting engine
Please check the Chart UNO API and provide further details
about what
you are missing.
> - implement the various functions as internal scripts
Please provide more specific use cases. I asume you don't
want just a
clone of R or gnuplot, otherwise you just could use them. So
it's hard
to estimate what you are asking for.
Thanks for your interest,
Ingrid
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