Hi Werner, I am happy to hear of your interest in Pivot. My responses to your questions are below:
> 1. I realize that Pivot is currently still in incubation. Would you recommend > using Pivot right > now as part of the front-end for a production Web app? It is ready? Pivot is currently being used in a production application, and we have strived to include the features that we believe developers of real-world RIA applications are most likely to want. You can see many examples of these features in our demos and tutorials: http://cwiki.apache.org/PIVOT/demos.html http://cwiki.apache.org/PIVOT/tutorial.html However, you will ultimately need to decide whether or not Pivot is appropriate for your needs. > 2. Does Pivot support modular windows, that is, windows that are child > windows layered on > top of container windows, and that block the interface until they are > dismissed? Yes, Pivot supports both modal dialogs and Mac OS X-like sheets. > 3. When a user clicks on a link to open a Pivot application, the Java classes > download first, > and then the app initializes. Is it possible to somehow ensure that this > happens only once, > and that the classes are cached locally, i.e. not downloaded every time > unless they need to > be updated to later versions? Yes - caching is handled by the Java plugin. > 4. Could you point me to any documentation that explains how to deploy Pivot > as a standalone > application on a desktop? Are there any special considerations, or does a > Pivot application > execute the same way as a Swing application? Yes - Pivot applications can essentially be deployed to the desktop in the same way as Swing (or SWT) apps. For example, they can be installed locally or can be launched via Java Web Start. They can also be easily deployed within a web browser. > 5. Would it be possible to mix Pivot up with GWT if we needed to? I realize > this might sound strange. > I am afraid that some of the Pivot user interface elements might be too slow > or unresponsive, or take > to long to download. I am wondering whether we should perhaps use both Pivot > and AJAX. Can > Pivot communicate with the DOM? Pivot is capable of interacting with the DOM. However, combining Pivot and GWT is not a use case that we attempt to cater to. It may work, but you may run into issues that we haven't seen and may not be able to address. If you have other questions, the best place to post them is the Pivot user mailing list (cc'ed here). Good luck with your Pivot investigation, Greg
