[PD-dev] ui development / desiredata?

[Damian Stewart]

hey,

is desiredata still alive? i posted a couple of messages about trying to 
get an OSX version from SVN compiling a month or two ago and never got any 
replies..

otherwise, what's the status on UI development? if i was to just dive 
headfirst and try and fix some of the things that have been bugging me over 
the last week, is that at all useful or helpful? or is there someone i 
should talk to first?

i haven't been involved in development of any open source projects before, 
and i guess i'm just not sure what the procedure normally is.

in particular (i'm running Miller's 0.40-2 on OSX 10.4):
- i'd like to bring in the multiple-level undo code from dd, or implement 
something similar
- there seem to be some OSX-specific issues around sub-windows switching 
between PD windows - apple-` doesn't switch between PD sub-windows like it 
should. this could also be a Tcl/Tk issue.
- there are consistent problems with populating the Window menu
- the scrollbar down arrow is 95% hidden on the main Pd window, so 
scrolling messages down involves clicking a two-pixel-high strip, which is 
really hard
- i'd like to put a scrollbar on the path preferences, so more than 10 
lines can fit
- mouse cursor alignment over the outlet 'plugs' on objects is bloody 
frustrating for new users (i've spent the week watching one) and it's just 
an offset issue i think
- preserving newlines in comments! i don't know how possible this is (how 
tied comments are to Pd's core messaging system) but i'd love to be able to 
have multi-paragraph documentation with one comment object
- occasionally when switching into a sub-window the mouse x offset is 
completely munted, so Tcl/Tk thinks the mouse is way over from where it 
should be
- other things i can't think of right now

i suppose what i'm really asking is - if i went ahead and spent a week 
fixing all the UI things that really bugged me, assuming my code wasn't 
really stupid or ugly or bad, what's the chances my changes would make it 
out into the world, and so be useful for people who aren't me?

-- 
damian stewart | +351 967 797 263 | damian at frey.co.nz
frey | live art with machines | http://www.frey.co.nz