apps-gorm/Documentation/Gorm.texi

\input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-

@c %**start of header
@settitle Guide to the Gorm application
@setfilename Gorm.info
@c %**end of header
@defcodeindex cl
@defcodeindex pr

@include version.texi

@ifinfo
@format
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* Gorm::                      The GNUstep Graphical Object Relationship Modeler
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
@end format
@end ifinfo

@ifinfo
This file documents the features and implementation of the Gorm
application.

Copyright (C) 1999,2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
are preserved on all copies.

@ignore
Permission is granted to process this file through @TeX{} and print the
results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
(this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).

@end ignore
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
section entitled ``GNU Library General Public License'' is included exactly as
in the original, and provided that the entire resulting derived work is
distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one.

Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions,
except that the section entitled ``GNU Library General Public License'' and
this permission notice may be included in translations approved by the
Free Software Foundation instead of in the original English.
@end ifinfo

@iftex
@finalout
@c @smallbook
@c @cropmarks
@end iftex

@setchapternewpage odd

@titlepage
@title Guide to the
@title Gorm application
@sp 3
@c @subtitle last updated February, 2001
@subtitle Version @value{GORM-VERSION}
@subtitle (for use with @samp{gstep-base} version @value{GNUSTEP-VERSION})
@author Gregory John Casamento <greg_casamento@@yahoo.com>
@author Richard Frith-Macdonald <richard@@brainstorm.co.uk>
@page
@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
Copyright @copyright{} 1999,2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.


Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
are preserved on all copies.

Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
section entitled ``GNU Library General Public License'' is included exactly as
in the original, and provided that the entire resulting derived work is
distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one.

Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions,
except that the section entitled ``GNU Library General Public License'' may be
included in a translation approved by the author instead of in the original
English.

@strong{Note: The Gorm application is in alpha release. You will
be performing a valuable service if you report any bugs you encounter.}

@end titlepage

@node Top, Copying, , 

@menu
* Copying::	    GNU Public License says how you can copy
                    and share Gorm.
* Contributors::    People who have contributed to Gorm.
* Installation::    How to build and install Gorm.
* News::	    The latest changes to Gorm.

* Overview::        Gorm in brief.
* Usage::	    How Gorm is used.
* Implementation::  Implementation notes.

* Concept Index::
@end menu

@node Copying, Contributors, Top, Top
@unnumbered Copying

See the file @samp{COPYING}.

@node Contributors, Installation, Copying, Top
@unnumbered Contributors to Gorm

@itemize @bullet
@item
Gregory John Casamento <greg_casamento@@yahoo.com> Is the
current maintaner of Gorm.   Has implemented lots of new
features and rewritten large portions of the existing code.
@item
Richard Frith-Macdonald <richard@@brainstorm.co.uk> wrote
Gorm as part of the GNUstep project.
@item
Pierre-Yves Rivaille <gnustep@@rivaille.net> Is also a 
major contributor to the Gorm application.
@end itemize

@node Installation, News, Contributors, Top
@chapter Installing Gorm

@include install.texi

@node News, Overview, Installation, Top
@chapter News

@include news.texi

@subsection To Do

@itemize @bullet

@item Debug and stabilize existing code.

@end itemize

@node Overview, Usage, News, Top
@chapter Overview

Gorm is an application for creating the user interface (and possibly entire
applications) for a GNUstep application.  Initially a close clone of the old
NeXTstep 3.3 Interface Builder application, I expect that Gorm will mutate
beyond the capabilities of that app.

GNUstep is an object-oriented programming framework and a collection of tools
developed for or using the GNUstep libraries.

You can find out more about GNUstep at
@url{http://www.gnustep.org}@*

The basic idea behind Gorm is simple - it provides a graphical user interface
with which to connect together objects from the GNUstep libraries (as well as
custom-written objects) and set their attributes in an easy to use manner.

The collection of objects is then saved as a document which can either be
re-loaded into Gorm for further editing, or can be loaded into a running
GNUstep application in order to provide that application with a user
interface or some subsystem.

@subsection Major features
@cindex features

@itemize @bullet
@item Drag-and-drop creation of GUI elements from palettes.
@item Run-time loading of additional palettes that may be written using an API
very similar to that of Apple/NeXTs interface Builder palette API.
@item Direct on-screen manipulation of GUI elements
@item Manipulation and examination of objects via inspectors.
@item Drag-and-drop creation of connections between objects.
@item Interactive test mode for interfaces/object-networks under development.
@item Saving data in a format loadable by GNUstep applications.
@end itemize

@node Usage, Implementation, Overview, Top
@chapter Usage

Here is a description of the menu structure and what each menu does -

@itemize @bullet
@item Info @*
The @samp{info} menu item produces a submenu ...
@itemize @bullet
@item Info Panel @*
A panel giving very limited information about Gorm
@item Preferences (not implemented) @*
A panel allowing you to set preferences about how Gorm operates
@item Help (not implemented) @*
A panel providing general help on using Gorm
@end itemize

@item Document @*
The @samp{document} menu item produces a submenu ...
@itemize @bullet
@item Open @*
This produces an open panel that lets you open a Gorm document.
You use this if you want to use Gorm to edit an exisiting document.
@item New Application @*
This creates a new application document within Gorm, you may then use the
Palettes panel to drag new objects into the document.
@item Save @*
This saves the current document
@item Save As @*
This saves the current document to a new file and changes the document name
to match the new name on disk.
@item Save To @*
This saves the current document to a new file without changing its name.
@item Revert To Saved @*
This removes all changes made to the document sunce the last save, or since
the document was opened.
@item Test Interface @*
This provides interactive testing of the active document.  To end testing, you
need to select the @samp{quit} menu item.
@item Miniaturize @*
This miniaturises the active document (or whatever panel is currently key).
@item Close @*
This closes the currenly active document.
@end itemize

@end itemize

@node Implementation, Concept Index, Usage, Top
@chapter Implementation

@menu
* Preferences::
@end menu

Notes on implementation

The IB documentation on how object selection is managed and how editors and
inspectors are used is unclear ... so I've gone my own way.

1. When a document is loaded, the document object creates an editor attached
to each top-level object in the user interface (NSMenu and NSWindow objects).

These editors must be aware of their edited objects being clicked upon, and
clicking on one of these should cause the corresponding editor to become the
active editor.

The active editor is responsible for handling selection of the edited object
(and any objects below it in the object hierarchy).  Upon change of selection,
the editor is responsible for sending an IBSelectionChangedNotification with
the selection owner (normally the editor itsself) as the notification owner.

The main application watches for these notifications in order to keep track
of who has the selection.



Connections

The connection API is the same as that for IB, but with the extension that the
document object must implement [-windowAndRect:forObject:] to return the
window in which the object is being displayed, and the rectangle enclosing
the object (in window base coordinates).

This information is needed by Gorm so that it can mark the connection.

The editors mananging the drag-and-drop operation for a connection must call
[NSApp -displayConnectionBetween:and:] to tell Gorm to update its display.
This method sets the values currently returned by
[BSApp -connectSource] and [NSApp -connectDestination]

@node Preferences, , Implementation, Implementation
@unnumbered Preferences
@cindex preferences
@cindex defaults

The preferences panel contains a number of use customizable options which can
be used to modify the behavior of Gorm.

Some of these defaults can be safely modified from the command line by the user.

@itemize @bullet

@item PreloadHeaders @*
The user can define a set of headers to load when Gorm starts creation of a new .gorm file.   
This is useful when the user is building a framework or a set of interfaces for a large 
application.

@item ShowInspectors @*
Controls whether the inspector shows when Gorm is started.

@item ShowPalettes @*
Controls whether the palettes window shows when Gorm is started.

@item BackupFile @*
Determines if the old .gorm is moved to .gorm~ when the modified version is saved.

@end itemize

@node Concept Index, , Implementation, Top
@unnumbered Concept Index
@printindex cp

@summarycontents
@contents

@bye