FYI and a few questions...
So I finally broke down and subscribed to gnustep-dev! I recently (Wednesday) started working on an implementation of Apple's ScreenSaver framework so that I can get more acquainted with GNUstep programming. I figured this framework would be fairly easy to do, which it is, for most part. I decided to split it in 3 parts, which I think is what I'd have to do anyway: the framework, a screen saver tool (which I called gssaver), and a preference module to configure it. So far I've managed to complete implementing the ScreenSaverView class and the SS* functions, but have no idea how to work the ScreenSaverDefaults class. I most definitely will need some help implementing ScreenSaverDefaults, but I'm not too worried about it now since the default screen saver is a blank screen and doesn't need any configuration. I still haven't done anything in the preference module front. Since all of the programming I've done has been at work and my everyday computer I haven't had access to a GNUstep installation, and haven't been able to use Gorm to create the interface. I figured I would build the module by hand, but gave up on that idea since I thought I could learn more using Gorm. For now, I've kind of put off creating the preference module till I'm done with the tool. The tool, gssaver, is turning out to be a little more complicated than I initially thought. What I figured I'd do with it is make it an NSApplication but build it as a tool (not really sure if this would work). So I've implemented a simple delegate class for now which: creates a black window the size of the screen; loads the defaults; finds the screen saver; adds a ScreenSaverView subview; orders it to front; and calls the ScreenSaverView's -startAnimation method (in that order). My questions: 1) I still haven't figured out how I'm going to count how many minutes it's been since the last even, and much less how to even find out if events have happened. Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this? 2) I also have no idea how to figure if, once the screen saver is on, how to stop if when something happens (mouse move, key stroke, mouse click). I've looked at the docs for NSView and there doesn't seem to be any methods that would make this easy. What can I do here? 3) Once the preference module is completed and working, I'll need to have gssaver check the defaults after the preferences change, is there anyway I can send it a message asking it to check the defaults fromt the preference module? 4) Lastly, I'll need a lot of help creating ScreenSaverDefaults, but only later. I've check NSUserDefaults' code and I'm more confused now than I was when I started out. I figured for this, the best thing would be to create a new file (ScreenSaverDefaults) under the Defaults directory. NSUserDefaults, however, seems to be very picky about there being a process running and writing to that process. After it's all said and done I'd like to add this to GNUstep as I think it would make more sense being distributed by it (much like SystemPreferences and it's NSPreferencePane implementation). I already have a copyright assignment, so it shouldn't be a problem. Any comments and/or suggestions would be appreciated. Stefan ___ Gnustep-dev mailing list Gnustep-dev@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnustep-dev
Re: FYI and a few questions...
On Jul 27, 2007, at 9:36 AM, Fred Kiefer wrote: Stefan Bidigaray wrote: 4) Lastly, I'll need a lot of help creating ScreenSaverDefaults, but only later. I've check NSUserDefaults' code and I'm more confused now than I was when I started out. I figured for this, the best thing would be to create a new file (ScreenSaverDefaults) under the Defaults directory. NSUserDefaults, however, seems to be very picky about there being a process running and writing to that process. You should just not worry about your settings being in a separate file or not. GNUstep currently stores all defaults in one file, which btw I do not like. All you need to do is to get and set your values from/in [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] and things should work as expected. I think the concern here was sharing defaults between a preferences application and the actual screen save tool (which might need to be some kind of daemon, or at least might need to be a daemon that handles starting the screen saver). I don't really have a good answer for how to do this. There could be several ways - writing your own defaults file might be one of them. Also, there's the issue of system-wide defaults vs user-defaults, which NSUserDefaults doesn't handle currently (AFAIK), but that could be useful for a screensaver. ___ Gnustep-dev mailing list Gnustep-dev@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnustep-dev
Re: FYI and a few questions...
On Jul 27, 2007, at 6:46 AM, Stefan Bidigaray wrote: 1) I still haven't figured out how I'm going to count how many minutes it's been since the last even, and much less how to even find out if events have happened. Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this? 2) I also have no idea how to figure if, once the screen saver is on, how to stop if when something happens (mouse move, key stroke, mouse click). I've looked at the docs for NSView and there doesn't seem to be any methods that would make this easy. What can I do here? If you are going to write a screen saver, you will need to get support from the window system (X11, if you're just targeting that). The GNUstep framework won't help you with system-wide event handling. I'd recommend looking at other screen-saver implementations, such as the GNOME screensaver (which is probably the most rigorous one written - although it's hard to follow, it has a very good philosophy), and also the basic xscreensaver. You also need to be very aware of the security issues surround screen savers and password handling (if you implement that). ___ Gnustep-dev mailing list Gnustep-dev@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnustep-dev
Re: FYI and a few questions...
On 7/27/07, Adam Fedor [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: If you are going to write a screen saver, you will need to get support from the window system (X11, if you're just targeting that). The GNUstep framework won't help you with system-wide event handling. I'd recommend looking at other screen-saver implementations, such as the GNOME screensaver (which is probably the most rigorous one written - although it's hard to follow, it has a very good philosophy), and also the basic xscreensaver. You also need to be very aware of the security issues surround screen savers and password handling (if you implement that). I figured this was going to be a problem! Isn't there anyway I can poll GNUstep-only applications though? Presumably, in an utopia, there would only be GNUstep applications running, so if they aren't getting events, it would be safe to assume that nothing is getting events. Yen-Ju, I'll take a closer look at Idle. I follow Etoile-dev and -discuss list quite a bit and have read about it before. I was, however, hoping to make this framework only dependent on GNUstep so that it could run everywhere and not only on X. If push comes to shove, I've messed with X programming before and think I could use it to get something working this way, but again, I rather not. As for password handling, I don't plan on implementing anything like. It would be nice to get password protection, but I just can't think of dealing with it now, specially since I have limited programming experience (heck, this project is a complete mess right now). The defaults issue is that Apple's explanation of ScreenSaverDefaults makes it sound like it should be a separate file. It would also make sense, because lets say there's a screen saver called Terminal, well, there's also an application called Terminal and it would be a mess if both tried to share the same file. Like I said, I'm not too worried about it right now, I'd rather get everything else working before doing this. Stefan ___ Gnustep-dev mailing list Gnustep-dev@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnustep-dev
Re: FYI and a few questions...
On 7/27/07, Stefan Bidigaray [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: So I finally broke down and subscribed to gnustep-dev! I recently (Wednesday) started working on an implementation of Apple's ScreenSaver framework so that I can get more acquainted with GNUstep programming. I figured this framework would be fairly easy to do, which it is, for most part. I decided to split it in 3 parts, which I think is what I'd have to do anyway: the framework, a screen saver tool (which I called gssaver), and a preference module to configure it. So far I've managed to complete implementing the ScreenSaverView class and the SS* functions, but have no idea how to work the ScreenSaverDefaults class. I most definitely will need some help implementing ScreenSaverDefaults, but I'm not too worried about it now since the default screen saver is a blank screen and doesn't need any configuration. I still haven't done anything in the preference module front. Since all of the programming I've done has been at work and my everyday computer I haven't had access to a GNUstep installation, and haven't been able to use Gorm to create the interface. I figured I would build the module by hand, but gave up on that idea since I thought I could learn more using Gorm. For now, I've kind of put off creating the preference module till I'm done with the tool. The tool, gssaver, is turning out to be a little more complicated than I initially thought. What I figured I'd do with it is make it an NSApplication but build it as a tool (not really sure if this would work). So I've implemented a simple delegate class for now which: creates a black window the size of the screen; loads the defaults; finds the screen saver; adds a ScreenSaverView subview; orders it to front; and calls the ScreenSaverView's -startAnimation method (in that order). My questions: 1) I still haven't figured out how I'm going to count how many minutes it's been since the last even, and much less how to even find out if events have happened. Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this? GNUstep window only get event when it has the focus. There is a small tool in Etoile called 'Idle', which uses Xwindow extension to check how long users have being idling and post notification, I guess. It may be useful for you. Yen-Ju 2) I also have no idea how to figure if, once the screen saver is on, how to stop if when something happens (mouse move, key stroke, mouse click). I've looked at the docs for NSView and there doesn't seem to be any methods that would make this easy. What can I do here? 3) Once the preference module is completed and working, I'll need to have gssaver check the defaults after the preferences change, is there anyway I can send it a message asking it to check the defaults fromt the preference module? 4) Lastly, I'll need a lot of help creating ScreenSaverDefaults, but only later. I've check NSUserDefaults' code and I'm more confused now than I was when I started out. I figured for this, the best thing would be to create a new file (ScreenSaverDefaults) under the Defaults directory. NSUserDefaults, however, seems to be very picky about there being a process running and writing to that process. After it's all said and done I'd like to add this to GNUstep as I think it would make more sense being distributed by it (much like SystemPreferences and it's NSPreferencePane implementation). I already have a copyright assignment, so it shouldn't be a problem. Any comments and/or suggestions would be appreciated. Stefan ___ Gnustep-dev mailing list Gnustep-dev@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnustep-dev ___ Gnustep-dev mailing list Gnustep-dev@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnustep-dev
Re: FYI and a few questions...
Stefan Bidigaray wrote: My questions: 1) I still haven't figured out how I'm going to count how many minutes it's been since the last even, and much less how to even find out if events have happened. Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this? This is easy. If your tool already uses an NSApplication, just subclass this and have your own class do special things at the end of the nextEventMatchingMask:untilDate:inMode:dequeue: method. (sendEvent: would also do) 2) I also have no idea how to figure if, once the screen saver is on, how to stop if when something happens (mouse move, key stroke, mouse click). I've looked at the docs for NSView and there doesn't seem to be any methods that would make this easy. What can I do here? Again this method does the job for you. If you set up an periodic event, you even get that. 3) Once the preference module is completed and working, I'll need to have gssaver check the defaults after the preferences change, is there anyway I can send it a message asking it to check the defaults fromt the preference module? The other way around. The screen saver has to register to get change notifications from the defaults. This is how NSColor does it: [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver: self selector: @selector(defaultsDidChange:) name: NSUserDefaultsDidChangeNotification object: nil]; 4) Lastly, I'll need a lot of help creating ScreenSaverDefaults, but only later. I've check NSUserDefaults' code and I'm more confused now than I was when I started out. I figured for this, the best thing would be to create a new file (ScreenSaverDefaults) under the Defaults directory. NSUserDefaults, however, seems to be very picky about there being a process running and writing to that process. You should just not worry about your settings being in a separate file or not. GNUstep currently stores all defaults in one file, which btw I do not like. All you need to do is to get and set your values from/in [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] and things should work as expected. After it's all said and done I'd like to add this to GNUstep as I think it would make more sense being distributed by it (much like SystemPreferences and it's NSPreferencePane implementation). I already have a copyright assignment, so it shouldn't be a problem. Cheers, Fred ___ Gnustep-dev mailing list Gnustep-dev@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnustep-dev
Re: FYI and a few questions...
Hi, On 2007-07-27 14:46:06 +0200 Stefan Bidigaray [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: So I finally broke down and subscribed to gnustep-dev! I recently (Wednesday) started working on an implementation of Apple's ScreenSaver framework so that I can get more acquainted with GNUstep programming. I figured this framework would be fairly easy to do, which it is, for most part. I decided to split it in 3 parts, which I think is what I'd have to do anyway: the framework, a screen saver tool (which I called gssaver), and a preference module to configure it. Have a look at InnerSpace in GAP. It isn't exactly a screensaver, but it could help you. R ___ Gnustep-dev mailing list Gnustep-dev@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnustep-dev
Re: FYI and a few questions...
Stefan, This is exciting news. I'm glad to hear you're working on such a thing. Since it seems as though your other questions have been adequately answered, I will offer a few suggestions: 1) You may want to look at the code for InnerSpace before creating something from scratch.InnerSpace is the GNUstep successor to the original BackSpace application on NeXTSTEP/OPENSTEP. It is compliant with BackSpace's API and it supports BackSpace modules with minimal changes. 2) Also, please stay away from names such as gs* as such things are trite and overused. 3) Also, I don't believe that a screen saver tool should go into the GNUstep main project. It should likely go into a separate project, such as GAP, Etoile or it's own project outside of the main project. Apologies to Riccardo, but he is mistaken InnerSpace's purpose is to be both a way of providing an animated background AND a screen saver. The challenges I faced with InnerSpace were: 1) How to make it not eat up CPU cycles like crazy and 2) how to make it omnipresent (i.e. appearing on all desktops) in a *PORTABLE* way. Both are solvable problems, but, at the time I wrote InnerSpace I had too many other things (read Gorm, GUI, Nib compatibility... etc) to concentrate on. ;) Later, GJC -- Gregory Casamento - Original Message From: Riccardo [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Stefan Bidigaray [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: GNUstep Developers gnustep-dev@gnu.org Sent: Friday, July 27, 2007 1:12:43 PM Subject: Re: FYI and a few questions... Hi, On 2007-07-27 14:46:06 +0200 Stefan Bidigaray [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: So I finally broke down and subscribed to gnustep-dev! I recently (Wednesday) started working on an implementation of Apple's ScreenSaver framework so that I can get more acquainted with GNUstep programming. I figured this framework would be fairly easy to do, which it is, for most part. I decided to split it in 3 parts, which I think is what I'd have to do anyway: the framework, a screen saver tool (which I called gssaver), and a preference module to configure it. Have a look at InnerSpace in GAP. It isn't exactly a screensaver, but it could help you. R ___ Gnustep-dev mailing list Gnustep-dev@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnustep-dev ___ Gnustep-dev mailing list Gnustep-dev@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnustep-dev
Re: FYI and a few questions...
On 7/27/07, Gregory John Casamento [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 2) Also, please stay away from names such as gs* as such things are trite and overused. Well, I chose gssaver for a lack of better, and shorter, description. The only other idea I had was gscreensaver, note the s after the g isn't for step but for screen. The other option would be just ssaver. 3) Also, I don't believe that a screen saver tool should go into the GNUstep main project. It should likely go into a separate project, such as GAP, Etoile or it's own project outside of the main project. Well, the project isn't just a tool! What I actually wanted to do was implement the ScreenSaver framework. The tool is just a daemon to start and stop the screen savers. I was thinking about putting it either in GNUstep or GAP, thought I'd mention it to GNUstep first though. 1) How to make it not eat up CPU cycles like crazy and 2) how to make it omnipresent (i.e. appearing on all desktops) in a *PORTABLE* way. (1) Probably applies to my implementation, but since I'm not worried about the window being omnipresent (2) doesn't matter. The ScreenSaver framework only does full screen saver, and doesn't mention putting them on the background like InnerSpace does. Stefan ___ Gnustep-dev mailing list Gnustep-dev@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnustep-dev
