[GSoC] User-Defined Project & File Templates

[Aleix Pol]

On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 2:50 PM, otzy_007 <otzy007 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 1:48 PM, Milian Wolff <mail at milianw.de> wrote:
>>
>> On Monday 19 March 2012 22:09:30 otzy_007 wrote:
>> > Hi,
>>
>> Hi!
>>
>> CCing our development list - please register there and direct your future
>> emails to it.
>>
>> > My name is Andrei Gliga and I am student of Politehnica University of
>> > Bucharest in second year at the Computer Science Department.
>> > I use KDevelop for everyday development, homeworks or debugging, mostly
>> > for
>> > C or C++, but I've used it also for Octave,  Java, Bash or Ruby . But it
>> > kind of lacks of templates. I've created my own templates for C and Java
>> > applications and posted them on kde-apps.org :D
>> > I think that a Project Template Generator it's a great idea and I would
>> > like to be the one who implements it :)
>> >
>> > My idea of how to implement it:
>> > 1.  User starts the "Create New Project" wizard
>> > 2.  He choose: "KDevelop template"
>> > 3.  A wizard asks him how this template will be compiled: using CMake,
>> > Makefile or other tools
>> > 4. Also the wizard asks the user the name of the main file in the
>> > template
>> > 5. The template files are created and the user can now customize them
>> > 6. Maybe the Build can be used to create the template archive and deploy
>> > it
>> > to the kdevappwizard/templates folder
>> >
>> > What do you think about it?
>>
>> I'm not so sure on the UI-integration part yet. We already have tons of
>> context menu actions, and the "project" menu is already pretty full.
>> Furthermore, users have complained about the confusing "new project"
>> actions -
>> something which would get even worse with your approach.
>>
>> I think this will need some more thinking... I think the "new from
>> template"
>> dialog should get GHNS integration. Maybe one could add a button there as
>> well
>> to create a new template. The question then though is how to design this
>> wizard... The user will want to edit files, create new files etc. pp. -
>> actions that should not be done inside an editor I think? Imo this needs
>> some
>> good ideas.
>>
>> > Also the Ruby Language Support project attracted my attention, but I
>> > don't
>> > have ideas of how to implement it in KDevelop. I'm still learning Ruby
>> > and
>> > RoR. Will this be based of kdev-ruby?
>>
>> Yes this will be based of kdev-ruby, but prior experience is a must there.
>> Miquel Sabaté, who is already working on it for some time, will also apply
>> for
>> a GSOC slot for this project.
>>
>> Bye
>> --
>> Milian Wolff
>> mail at milianw.de
>> http://milianw.de
>
>
> Thank you for sending my email to the devel list. Now I'm registered.
>
> I think didn't explained too well how I think it should be implemented so
> I've attached an image with a small sketch.
> http://lolozaur.bshellz.net/kdevtemplate.png
> I don't think there is a better place to put a create new template wizard.
> I've seen this kind of stuff on other IDEs such as NetBeans( you can create
> new NetBeans Modules).
> And I think the user should have the option to manually edit template's
> files (he's a developer, not a normal user). The wizard will ask him
> compilation method, project structure (folders, files) and maybe other
> thinks.
> Also kdevappwizard will have a Get Hot New Stuff button to get other
> templates.
>
> Another way could be: You right click on your project (or from the Project
> menu ) -> Make this project a template
> But i don't think this is such a good idea.
>
> Maybe there are some other people on the mailing list with better ideas of
> implementing this but they don't have time to do it. Please share your ideas
> so we can improve even more KDevelop.
>
> --
> Andrei
>
> --
> KDevelop-devel mailing list
> KDevelop-devel at kdevelop.org
> https://barney.cs.uni-potsdam.de/mailman/listinfo/kdevelop-devel
>

Hi Andrei,
I worked on the new layout of the template selector last summer (not
gsoc, just happened to be summer :)). I really think there's place for
improvement where to make a difference. I'm unsure about if it's
enough work for a whole GSoC but I'm sure that if you get to
understand the problem correctly you'll manage to write a kick-ass
proposal.

You mention template editing/creation. I'm unsure about that. I don't
think that developers need automated tools to create templates, our
goal is to provide good templates, so far. I agree with milian,
though, that it would be really cool to be able to import templates
easily through GHNS (for example). We could put together some editing
tool, but I'm unsure it would pay off, maybe you should think this
through.

Regarding the template selection, most of what you said is already
there. We need polishing and love, that's for granted maybe you can
give it a try while you figure out your proposal.

Cheers!
Aleix