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