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| Seeking feedback on Google Summer of Code project idea [message #408] |
Wed, 01 April 2009 19:20  |
 Jake 
Messages: 17
Registered: July 2009 |
Junior Member |
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Hi all,
I'm currently in the process of completing my proposal to Google Summer of
Code. I had the idea to make it so that the GMF workflow can be applied to
the creation of web-based, domain-specific editing environments. The way I
envision doing this is that it would slot into the existing GMF workflow
such that, at the last step, where you generate an Eclipse plugin that
implements a domain-specific diagram editor, you would have the option to
generate a web-based, thin client version instead (much like you can for
an RCP version), so, in addition to the EMF Java classes implementing the
abstract syntax model, it would also generate an HTTP servlet, and all of
the necessary JavaScript, HTML, and CSS to implement the editor. You would
run it by launching the servlet and navigating to
"http://localhost:<port_number>/<project-name>" in your web browser.
I talked to EMF and GMF newsgroups, and received positive feedback, but it
was not until I posted on the soc-dev mailing list that someone pointed me
to several resources involving the e4 project, including a presentation
from EclipseCon on exporting GEF-based applications to Flash so they run
in your browser[0]. So, clearly the goal of that project and the goal put
forward in my project proposal are the same. But it appears as though they
may go about it in different ways. Please correct me if I'm wrong here,
but it seems as though the e4 project would take the entire generated
diagram editor plugin and "export" it to Actionscript/Flash by running it
through a compiler. The way I am proposing to solve the problem is one
step higher, before you generate the code the implements the generator.
I'm not sure what the relative advantages/disadvantages are between these
two approaches. But, because my goal and the e4 project goal seem to be so
closely aligned, I'd like to make sure that the work that I do: a) may at
some point integrate well with the work done so far by e4 developers, and
b) does not reduplicate the work already done be e4 developers. An example
of a component I might be able to reuse is, for example, if e4 has exposed
some core Eclipse functionality via RESTful interfaces over HTTP. Exposing
EMF classes via REST is definitely going to take up some time during my
project.
Another difference between my proposed project and the work that was laid
out in the presentation is that I feel like it is important to minimize
Flash dependencies. I intend to target the Dojo libraries, including
dojox.gfx for a vector graphics canvas. So, as the work that has been done
on e4 appears to be mostly Flash-based, immediately reusing my work might
be difficult.
I'll be submitting my proposal tonight, and I'll still have the
opportunity to iterate on it after that, but I'd appreciate it if people
could let me know what they think about my project idea and how I might be
able to align it with the work being done on e4. I'll also post a link to
my proposal in a bit, after I've had some time to finish it up. Also, if
anyone would be interested in mentoring me, I'd like to hear from you.
Oh, and one last thing: I can't seem to find the eclipse.e4 newsgroup on
the news.eclipse.org server. I'm submitting this message through the web
form... Is this newsgroup located on some other server?
I'd greatly appreciate any guidance anyone can offer. Thanks,
Jake
[0] http://www.eclipsecon.org/2009/sessions?id=657
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