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List:       koffice-devel
Subject:    Re: Developer manual for KOffice
From:       Inge Wallin <inge () lysator ! liu ! se>
Date:       2005-10-26 11:42:24
Message-ID: 200510261342.24888.inge () lysator ! liu ! se
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On Wednesday 26 October 2005 12.27, Raphael Langerhorst wrote:
> Inge wrote:
> > But on the other hand, we might need a developer manual for KOffice
> > (separated from the user manual).  I didn't think that we would need it
> > until we introduced scripting, but it seems that I was wrong.
>
> Well, there could be two developer manuals - one for the KOffice developers
> themselves, and one for people that use KOffice and develop their own
> add-on stuff (plugins, Scripts, Kugar reports, ...).

I don't think we need a developer manual for the KOffice developers 
themselves.  Of course, we need documentation, but I don't think that a 
docbook manual would be the right way to do it.

On the other hand, if we want to spread KOffice usage, I think that a manual 
for people who want to script KOffice would be a very good thing.  It's often 
a lack of knowledge about already existing features that keep people from 
using them.  In fact, I think this happens almost as often as the features 
not existing at all.

> Still, for now I would like to find out if there is demand for such a
> thing. I was at last able to put a developers handbook together for the G
> System, so I guess the KOffice devbook would look similiar (but of course
> adapted). This approach combines both variants. You can find it here:
> http://www.g-system.at/doc/latest/dochome.html  (it's the devbook)

Yes, something like this.  When we discussed this on IRC, you had a number of 
ideas yourself: 
 - KOffice scripting with DCOP
 - creating custom plugins
 - reports with kugar

Kexi is also a natural subject for this, but since Kexi is so much a 
developers tool from the beginning, it would be logical to produce a manual 
for Kexi alone.

> Do you generally want/require/desire a developers handbook like this? I
> certainly see the benefit especially for new contributors... but also for
> users that extend KOffice for their own needs.

I think it would be good.  However, I don't think that the target should be 
KOffice core developers.  Instead it should be people who want to customize 
KOffice for their own needs, but don't want to touch the C++ classes.

	-Inge

-- 
Inge Wallin               | Thus spake the master programmer:               |
                          |      "After three days without programming,     |
inge@lysator.liu.se       |       life becomes meaningless."                |
                          | Geoffrey James: The Tao of Programming.         |
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