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--- pdftalknonnamespacefileout [2022/02/23 17:53]
christian [Porting PDFtalk to non-namespace Smalltalk dialects]
+++ pdftalknonnamespacefileout [2022/05/16 18:43] (current)
christian [Porting PDFtalk to non-namespace Smalltalk dialects]
@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 Make the [[start#the_library|core PDFtalk library]] available to non-namespace Smalltalk dialects like Squeak, Pharo and VAST. This does not include the UI (the [[pdftalksnooper|Snooper]]), which needs to be fully rewritten in another dialect (namespaced or not).
-The transformation approach to porting has been successful for [[pdftalk4gemstone|Gemstone]], which has namespaces. Translating all names in namespaces and their references to prefixed global names has not been done yet.
+The transformation approach to porting has been successful for [[pdftalk4gemstone|Gemstone]], which has namespaces. Translating all names in namespaces and their references to prefixed global names has not been done at the time. This is the focus of the current work - see the **[[PortingBlog|blog]]** for the current development.
 Some information [[aboutPortingToNonNamespacedSmalltalks|about the project]] gives more details of the organisation and structure of the project.
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
   * [[SqueakPort|Squeak]]
   * [[VASTPort|VA Smalltalk]]
+  * [[GemstonePort|Gemstone]]
+  * [[PharoPort|Pharo]]
   * (others to come)
 ===== General Approach =====
-The first step is to port the ''Values'' package. This is easy, since no namespaces are involved.
+  - [[setupvisualWorks|setup the VisualWorks 8.3]] source image with PDFtalk and the tools
-===== Workflow =====
+  - Port the ''Values'' package. This is easy, since no namespaces are involved.
+  - Port the PDFtalk packages in order (you can skip PostScript until later)
+==== Workflow ====
 The workflow for the dialect specific engineer is straight forward:
-  - generate the source for the target dialect from VisualWorks with the defined code transformations
+  - **generate the source** for the target dialect from VisualWorks with the defined code transformations. Fix problems so that there are no errors or warnings.
-  - file in the source into the target dialect
+  - **file in the source** into the target dialect. Fix problems so that there are no errors or warnings.
-  - run the tests
+  - **file in the tests** into the target dialect. Fix problems so that there are no errors or warnings.
-  - find a problem
+  - **run the tests**
-  - fix the problem
+  - **fix the problems**
     - by changing code transformations
     - by implementing missing functionality
@@ Line 30: / Line 35: @@
       - change the tests to make them dialect specific
       - change the original source in VisualWorks
-  - Repeat until all tests are passing
+  - **Repeat** until all tests are passing
-then the port should be finished.
-==== Values porting log ====
+Then the port should be finished.
-In a [[valuesportinglog|detailed log]] I try to describe how I am porting the Values package to Squeak. This should serve as an example for your own porting project.
-==== Namespaces ====
-  * **PostScript** - PostScript Interpreter without graphics for CMaps and type1 fonts. 83 classes, 42 values, 251 tests.
+===== How you can help =====
-  * **PDFtalk** - Core library. 396 classes, 116 values, 288 tests and 3 namespaces.
-    * **PDFtalk.Fonts** - Type1 fonts. 32 classes, 5 values, 25 tests.
-      * **PDFtalk.Fonts.OpenType** - OpenType(PS) implementation. 64 classes, 19 values, 6 tests.
-  * **UI** - not to be ported
-Not included yet
-  * **RDF** - RDF implementation for meta data. 37 classes, 15 values, 371 tests.
-    * **PDFtalk.XMP** - Extensible Metadata Platform. 17 classes, 12 values, 17 tests.
-=== Namespace to prefix mapping ===
+This project is an experiment in somewhat new territory. The goal is to port software from one Smalltalk dialect to another with a declarative approach. This has been done only once for PDFtalk from VW to Gemstone. Now the port is attempted for many non-namespaced Smalltalks at once. The idioms and ways on how to do things are yet to be found and invented.
-All classes and globals from a namespace will be renamed with a prefix.
+For this, we need help.
+==== Coding ====
-  * PDFtalk => Pt, PDFt, ...?
+If you have [[setupvisualWorks|VisualWorks with version 8.3]] or later, you can help by adding transformations for specific packages or by improving the transformation machinery.
-  * PostScript => PS, ...?
-  * PDFtalk.Fonts => PtFont, ...?
+Port the **[Values Tools]** and [Values Tools Testing] packages. These packages contain the code for generating new value classes. If you want to create your own Value classes you need this.
-  * PDFtalk.Fonts.OpenType => PtOT, ...?
-  * RDF => RDF, ...?
+Add other source formats (f.ex. **tonel**) as backend for the transformations (besides the chunk format).
-  * PDFtalk.XMP => PtXMP, ...?
+==== Feedback ====
+**Participate** here on the wiki (ask me <mail@pdftalk.de> for an account if you like to contribute).
+Test it, use it, give **feedback**, ask questions… We are very interested in feedback on the code, documentation, the porting approach, the wiki contents. With your input the code can only improve.
+===== Discussion =====
+==== Namespaces ====
+[[namespaces|--> Namespaces]]
 ==== Naming issues ====
@@ Line 81: / Line 88: @@
   * maybe not only namespaces need to be mapped to class prefixes but also bundle/package (paths) need to be mapped to class names and/or prefixes to create those extra helper classes
-==== Steps ====
-  - [[setupvisualWorks|setup the VisualWorks 8.3]] source image
-  - decide on target dialect version
-  - decide on output format (Chunk?)
-    - How to handle meta data (version, author, copyright, structure...)
-    - How to handle pre- and post-load actions
-    - Add some tests
-  - Port **Values**. No namespaces.
-  - Port the PDFtalk packages in order (you can skip PostScript until later)