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1 #
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2 # SUMMARY: Summary of OO-Browser features
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3 #
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4 # AUTHOR: Bob Weiner
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5 #
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6 # ORIG-DATE: 15-Oct-90
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7 # LAST-MOD: 3-May-96 at 21:30:00 by Harri Pasanen
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8 #
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9 # Copyright (C) 1990-1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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10 # See the file BR-COPY for license information.
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11 #
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12 # This file is part of the OO-Browser.
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13
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14 OO-Browser Features
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15 *******************
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16
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17 The OO-Browser is a multi-windowed, interactive object-oriented class browser
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18 similar in use to the well-known Smalltalk browsers. It is unique in a
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19 number of respects foremost of which is that it works well with a
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20 multiplicity of object-oriented languages. It provides both textual
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21 views within an editor and graphical views under the X window system.
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22
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23
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24 * Support for all popular OO Languages on UNIX
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25 ----------------------------------------------
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26
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27 ** Contains support for Eiffel, C++, Objective-C, Common Lisp and its
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28 Object System (CLOS), Java, Python, and Smalltalk class browsing.
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29 Additionally, support for browsing large amounts of material in Info
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30 format by node name (a popular online documentation format with cross
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31 references and hierarchical structure) is included.
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32
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33 ** Method browsing is supported for C++, Objective-C, Eiffel, Java,
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34 Python and CLOS. CLOS supports browsing all elements defined with
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35 (def* constructs. In-source feature browsing is also supported for
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36 all of these languages. One simply selects a feature name to jump to
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37 its corresponding source. Method name overloading in C++ and inherited
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38 feature renaming in Eiffel are fully supported.
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39
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40 ** C code browsing is supported for C++, Objective-C and C source code.
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41
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42 ** Objective-C category and formal protocol browsing are supported.
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43
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44 ** C++ parameterized template classes and methods are supported.
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45
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46 ** Immediate switching among languages is allowed. One can switch
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47 from Eiffel browsing to C++ browsing in an instant, if so desired.
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48 Or simply run two OO-Browsers side by side.
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49
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50 ** Multiple inheritance support is built-in, where applicable.
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51
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52 ** Statistics on classes and Environments may be displayed.
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53
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54 ** Language-specific class information may be shown. Presently this
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55 feature is supported only for Eiffel and Python. For Eiffel, a
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56 listing of class parents, attributes, routines and best guess
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57 (highly accurate) list of routine calls may be displayed. Outputs
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58 from the Eiffel 'short' and 'flat' commands may also be shown.
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59 For Python this feature is used to browse documentation strings in
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60 classes and methods.
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61
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62
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63 * For Serious Use
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64 ----------------------
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65
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66 ** Library (stable) and System (in development) classes may be
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67 maintained and listed separately or together. Any number of
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68 Libraries and Systems may be combined for listing in a single
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69 Environment. There are no fixed limits on the number of classes per
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70 Environment nor on the number of Environments that may be browsed.
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71
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72 ** All source code, over 400 kilobytes, is included and is heavily
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73 documented.
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74
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75
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76 * Ease of Use
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77 -------------
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78
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79 ** Machine-independent mouse support is included along with an extremely
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80 intuitive point and click interface that uses just two mouse keys. The
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81 OO-Browser is pre-configured for use with the X window system, NEXTSTEP,
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82 Sunview or Apollo's DM window system under InfoDock, Emacs V19, XEmacs,
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83 Epoch, and Emacs V18. Online mouse usage help is always one key away.
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84
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85 ** Popup and pulldown command menus are available under InfoDock, Emacs V19
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86 and XEmacs.
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87
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88 ** The OO-Browser help display gives short descriptions of all of
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89 the commands and key bindings available in the browser. By clicking
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90 on any such selection, the corresponding command is executed.
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91
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92 ** One may also click on class names to see ancestors, descendants,
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93 or the class itself. Just select a class name and the OO-Browser
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94 immediately will display or edit the class' source. Once a class
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95 file has been loaded, one can quickly switch to it by selection
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96 from a menu of such files.
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97
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98 ** For a number of languages, one may also select a feature
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99 (method) name or declaration and move directly to the definition
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100 of the feature. The browser accounts for the complexities of member name
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101 overloading in C++ and unlimited feature renaming in Eiffel so that you
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102 need not. Just click on a declaration and watch the browser display jump
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103 to the proper defintion.
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104
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105 ** Jump back to a previously visited class or feature by selecting from a
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106 list of recently visited ones.
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107
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108 ** OO-Browser commands may also be invoked from the keyboard, allowing
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109 unrestricted use via standard terminal interfaces.
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110
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111 * Speed
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112 -------
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113
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114 ** Building Environments is fast compared to many other tools and browser
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115 startup once an Environment has been built is very fast. Response times
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116 on workstations are excellent; for example, in one test case, less than
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117 two real seconds were required to display a set of complex inheritance
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118 graphs involving over 400 classes.
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119
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120
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121 * Flexibility
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122 -------------
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123
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124 ** X and NEXTSTEP hierarchy display browsers are included. They provide
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125 views of class inheritance structure and lexically included elements,
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126 which allows for quick random access to entire Environments. A click on
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127 a class or element name immediately jumps to it in the editor, providing
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128 rapid, visual browsing. One can pop up several graphical browsers to
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129 gain several views of classes in the same or in multiple environments.
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130 All graphical browsers can communicate with a single textual browser, so
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131 one can quickly display and edit classes from different environments
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132 (even different languages).
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133
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134 ** The OO-Browser uses class source code only, hence no compiler is
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135 necessary for proper browser operation. This allows one to explore
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136 class libraries without the need for additional tools.
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137
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138 ** Class inheritance networks may be displayed. Either a single
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139 inheritance level (parents or children) or the entire inheritance
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140 network (ancestors or descendants) for a set of classes may be shown.
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141
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142 ** Class files may be added, replaced or deleted one at a time or as a
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143 group by specifying a root directory below which all class files are
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144 found, including those in subdirectories.
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145
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146 ** A menu of class files can be displayed for random access to specific
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147 code modules.
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148
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149 ** On startup, the OO-Browser lists all currently known classes within a
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150 particular Environment. Any desired classes may be found by searching
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151 or by matching a regular expression or string to the set of class names.
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152 This may be done repeatedly to achieve an "and"-type relational query
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153 effect.
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154
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155 ** The number of listing windows is limited only by the screen width and
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156 the width setting used for listing windows.
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157
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158 ** The OO-Browser is adaptable to any class-based object-oriented language.
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159
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160
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161 * Editor Integration
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162 --------------------
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163
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164 ** The OO-Browser works with the powerful, freely distributable, GNU
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165 Emacs editor; it works on any UNIX system display supported by Emacs.
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166 It is also possible to use alternative editors to view or to edit source
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167 code displayed by the browser.
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168
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169 ** All OO-Browser outputs are text which may be edited as desired or
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170 saved to files.
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171
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172 ** OO-Browser functions may be used standalone within the editor
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173 without using the multi-windowed browser interface. One useful
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174 example is to point to a class name such as a parent class in the
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175 text of another class and have the parent's source appear in an
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176 editable fashion.
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