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List:       kde-core-devel
Subject:    More thoughts about embedding
From:       David Faure <David.Faure () CRAMER ! CO ! UK>
Date:       1999-09-30 7:46:54
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I think we are mixing issues.

(The first part replies especially to Reggie's "embedding doesn't work in
koffice anyway")

Sure, embedding doesn't work well in koffice currently,
but konqueror is the living proof that embedding can work really fine.
And you'll notice that it works very well with 'local views'
(icon, html, text, ...) and somewhat well with remote views,
(kview, ...) but not as well. Why ? Because servers are bad, I already said
that.

What we need I think is to do the same in koffice : to embed using 
the code in shared libraries, and that's going to work fine.
We can know it because it already works fine in konqueror.

It might be that there are bugs in koFrame or koView that make embedding
crash in koffice and not in konqueror - that has to be checked.
(If it hasn't worked for a year, I think it's especially because we all
use openparts and the koffice libs as if they were completely debugged,
which is not exactly true).

My point is : let's not drop openparts, but let's make it reliable, by
not talking to remote processes anymore.

About openparts : I don't really care about bonobo, but please realise that 
keeping the current openparts IDL will make it possible to implement it
in Java for instance ! I'm sure that unlike a gnome implementation of
openparts
that will never happen, a Java implementation of it is VERY likely to be
done.
Now - can that be done with canossa ? I don't think so (the menubar/toolbar
stuff
is exchanged in XML, no problem, but putting Java code in a shared lib isn't
possible afaik, whereas we can use CORBA to talk to a Java process - yes
different
process here but at least there's a way).

What about a mixed solution, like using CORBA to launch the embedded view,
but then using XML to describe the menubar/toolbar stuff ?
That would allow to get rid of the openparts IDL, but to still keep
all the advantages of CORBA (different languages, different processes when
necessary,
different machines...). And this way Simon and Torben will still be able
to play with that XML stuff that they don't want to be deprived of :))

--
David Faure
faure@kde.org - KDE developer
david@mandrakesoft.com - Mandrake
david.faure@cramer.co.uk - Cramer Systems

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