Dolphin Smalltalk package prerequisite system

Hi.

  I noticed that Dolphin Smalltalk does not detect prerequisites between
packages if they are caused by View resources (for instance, using a
subview that is defined as a view in another package). Is this by design?
If it is, then is there any way for me to detect these links 'by hand'?

  Best regards,
    Jurko

"Jurko Gospodnetiæ" <[hidden email]> wrote in message
news:c1ct19$bq1$[hidden email]...
>   Hi.
>
>   I noticed that Dolphin Smalltalk does not detect prerequisites between
> packages if they are caused by View resources (for instance, using a
> subview that is defined as a view in another package). Is this by design?
> If it is, then is there any way for me to detect these links 'by hand'?

It will detect dependencies in view resources that result from referencing
global objects (for example you reference a view class defined in another
package), but it won't detect the case of a reference view that names a
loose resource in another package. This was considered a rare enough case
that it wasn't worth detecting. Unlike a dependency on a loose method,
however, I think it could be detected automatically. Are there any other
cases to which you are referring?

You can add manual prerequisites by using the Properties command in any
package selector (e.g. in the Package Browser or a System Browser). In the
resulting inspector, select the #manualPrerequisites entry and press the '*'
button in the collection presenter. This will present you with a list of
packages to choose from.

Regards

Blair

Hi Blair.

  Thank you for a prompt reply!

> It will detect dependencies in view resources that result from referencing
> global objects (for example you reference a view class defined in another
> package), but it won't detect the case of a reference view that names a
> loose resource in another package. This was considered a rare enough case
> that it wasn't worth detecting. Unlike a dependency on a loose method,
> however, I think it could be detected automatically. Are there any other
> cases to which you are referring?

   Now that I checked, that is exactly the case where I noticed this
behavior.

> You can add manual prerequisites by using the Properties command in any
> package selector (e.g. in the Package Browser or a System Browser). In the
> resulting inspector, select the #manualPrerequisites entry and press the
'*'
> button in the collection presenter. This will present you with a list of
> packages to choose from.

  Ok, I will use a manual prerequisite for this one for now. One thing that
bothers me about using manual prerequisites is that it doesn't give me any
standard way of commenting why this prerequisite is being entered by hand.
I guess I'll have to put that somewhere else and update the coding standard.

  Will this type of prerequisite checking be automated in some future
Dolphin
release? It's not urgent, but to have it would be cleaner than using manual
prerequisites.

  Best regards,
    Jurko

"Jurko Gospodnetiæ" <[hidden email]> wrote in message
news:c1fgl8$pc6$[hidden email]...
[re: Undetected prerequisite caused by reference view to loose resource]

> ...
>   Ok, I will use a manual prerequisite for this one for now. One thing
that
> bothers me about using manual prerequisites is that it doesn't give me any
> standard way of commenting why this prerequisite is being entered by hand.
> I guess I'll have to put that somewhere else and update the coding
standard.

I suggest you add a note to the package comment.

>
>   Will this type of prerequisite checking be automated in some future
> Dolphin
> release? It's not urgent, but to have it would be cleaner than using
manual
> prerequisites.

I will record it in our change tracking system, but I can't promise that it
will be addressed in 5.1.4 or D6.

Regards

Blair

Hi Blair.

> I suggest you add a note to the package comment.

  That's what I did.

> I will record it in our change tracking system, but I can't promise that
it
> will be addressed in 5.1.4 or D6.

  Thank you. That's more than I dared to hope for... :-)

  Best regards,
    Jurko