[PD] call for testers for L2Ork iteration of pd-extended (based on 0.42.x branch)

[Ivica Ico Bukvic]

> Notice that both [cyclone/Scope~] and [flatspace/entry] have a
> bug: a sudden increase in height/width by about 5-10 pixels when you
> initially drag to resize.  This makes it difficult if not
> impossible to make minor size changes (especially since there is no
> Properties dialogue).

Good to know. I will look into this when I get there. Currently working on accelerating iemgui objects as well as exposing them to sarlo's highlighting magic.

> Wouldn't it be easier just to toggle the text for that menu option
> between "Edit mode" and "Run mode"? (That's what they're called in
> the manual.)

Sure. There are other options, too, like the one 0.43 and now l2ork version of 0.42 uses by changing option's background which works visually relatively well (albeit at the expense of consistency). This is however not the issue. The issue is finding out that after an hour of debugging the problem is not in you or your code but the toolkit you are using and in 2010 for a toolkit that has been around for more than a decade that is plainly sad.

> How would you go about doing that?

A: Ugly path: Isolate pd<->gui hooks and port the entire thing to Qt.

B: Better (albeit more time-consuming) path: clean-up code first so that all objects can utilize the same gobj_<whatever> calls and then do the A: (which at that point won't be nearly as ugly or difficult to maintain).

FWIW, my first ever GUI app was RTMix I did back in 2001 and it was (and remains) the ugliest hack ever (basically I tried to learn how to program doing that app). Yet, the fact remains even in 2001 qt was way better than what Tk is today. Another advantage is avoiding socket bottlenecks as the entire thing could be done simply in C. License-wise it should be fine and cross-platform-wise miles ahead of Tcl/Tk. Heck, you could even throw in Qt for mobile devices for good measure since that is apparently hot item these days.

That said, I need some more time working with Pd code before I can undertake this. Perhaps more importantly, I just need a generous, uninterrupted chunk of time to do this.

Best wishes,

Ico