Moving the MC IDE forward

[Simon lord]

> Not that I'm here to speak for RunRev or anything (and for all I know 
> those
> folks may know of a reason why this suggestion is a very bad idea); 
> but if
> you're interested in things like the database support, but find the
> interface too rcih/in your face, have you tried the "Suspend 
> Development
> Tools" option under the "Development" menu?

Interesting, I missed this menu item.  It's encouraging only because it 
proves Kevin can easily provide a *minimalist* authoring environment 
that MC users are accustomed to.

> I'd have thought this might mean you get all the advantages of Rev in 
> terms
> of extended libraries - but effectively get rid of all their UI 
> (except for
> one tiny pallete with a "Restore" button on, which you minimise).  I'd 
> guess
> you could then just open the MetaCard UI instead (but of course I 
> could be
> wrong).

I think it was meant to hide the Rev tools while you tested your stack. 
  It otherwise does not appear to do much in *suspended* mode.

> Maybe that is the way forward for those who will want to continue to 
> upgrade
> to new engines etc, benefit from the additional libraries, but use 
> their own
> or the "classic" MetaCard UI.  It might even be possible to formalise 
> this
> in a future version of Rev - eg have preferences to switch off the Rev 
> UI at
> startup, and to open some other UI at the same time.  (Actually the 
> latter
> may hardly be needed; I have a little toolbar which supplements the 
> Rev UI,
> which is implemented as a Rev "plugin", and set to open at startup and 
> glue
> itself to the end of the Rev menubar.  When the Rev UI is suspended, 
> my bit
> stays in place.)

Agreed.  Seems trivial to make an MC IDE as a *plugin* which is built 
and supported by MC users and use the *Suspend* type feature to switch 
between the two.  Seems easier to do this than to support two 
independent IDEs.

> I'd be interested to hear from anyone who gives this a go.  Or RunRev's
> opinions if in fact they think it's a Very Bad Idea.

Same here.

>   Ben Rubinstein               |  Email: benr_mc at cogapp.com
>   Cognitive Applications Ltd   |  Phone: +44 (0)1273-821600
>   http://www.cogapp.com        |  Fax  : +44 (0)1273-728866
>
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Sincerely,
Simon