Runar Jordahl - Smallwalk

Looks like .NET is not that import after all:

Microsoft appears to have concentrated their development effort in Vista on native code development. (...) Vista desktop shell is not based on the .NET runtime. The only conclusion that can be made from these results is that between PDC 2003 and the release of Vista Beta 1 Microsoft has decided that it is better to use native code for the operating system, than to use the .NET framework.

The author concludes that "(...) Microsoft has lost its confidence in .NET. They implement very little of their own code using .NET."

 
Parcel loadParcelByName: 'StoreForOracle'. 
 
(#{Store.Policies} value perform: #prerequisitePolicy) perform: #versionSelection: withArguments: #(#latest). 
 
connection := #{Store.ConnectionProfile} value new
 	name: '<Name of connection in VisualWorks>';
 	driverClassName: #OracleConnection;
 	environment: '<your database>';
 	userName: '<your user name>';
 	password: '<your password>';
 	tableOwner: '<your store db schema>';
 	yourself. 
#{Store.DbRegistry} value connectTo:  connection.
 
  (#{Store.Bundle} value
    perform: #mostRecentVersionOfPundleWithName:
    withArguments: #('<the name of the bundle you want to load>')) loadSrc. 
 
  

Above is a script for loading a Bundle in a VisualWorks Store database, using a base image. I think it is a good idea to be able to load you whole project from a base image.

The script uses binding references to avoid getting “undeclared” errors when starting the script. After all, some of the classes used in the script are not yet loaded when you execute it.

The script has been tested on VisualWorks 7.4.

I like the new ideas for GUI design in Office 2007. Especially “the Ribbon” seems like a good idea, even if not all seem to agree, I think the Ribbon corrects some of the problems with current toolbars. Having said that, it is hard to make a final conclusion until one has actually tried using the product.

The idea behind the “Ribbon” is to get away with the large number of toolbars some application have, display additional information for icons (labels), and drop using menus. Web apps have already shown that both pull down menus and popup menus are not something absolutely required in a GUI.

Something I wondered about when first reading about the Ribbon, was how do you show actions for selected objects, like for example a table? This posting explains how Contextual Tabs work.