[ghemical-devel] roadmap for v1.00 and new features

[Tommi Hassinen]

On Wed, 27 Mar 2002, Geoff Hutchison wrote:

> > 	v1.00 : this would be the "ready" program, everything would work
> > 		through the GUI, and console would not be needed anymore
> 
> I think that console output might be good for some uses as an option, 
> but certainly console input shouldn't be needed. I can imagine 
> redirecting some console output to a log file for other uses.

Yep, certainly! I actually meant that we could write the outputs in some
log files instead.

> > 		(during 2003 probably).
> 
> Having worked on a variety of development efforts, I think it's tough to 
> speculate on times. Who knows, maybe it could happen sooner if others 
> pitch in some time and effort? Maybe yes, maybe no. ;-)

Yes, that's difficult, and I think the above is a quite pessimistic
estimate. It could be sooner than that. Things can go either smoothly
(say, 80% chance) or then in much much more difficult ways (say, 20 %
chance) so the "average" estimate is quite meaningless. That's why I
like to arrange enough time in my plans.  :)

> > Some time ago I also saw a webpage of a graphical CVS program front end,
> > where the console and the GUI were nicely combined (I don't remember the
> > program's name anymore). In the program a text widget was used as a
> > console output window, and a text input widget was used as a console 
> > input
> > window. Perhaps we could use something similar.
> 
> Hmm. If you could find it (or a screenshot), that would be a great help. 
> I think I have a rough idea what you mean.

Ok, I found it; it seems to be the "pharmacy":

	http://pharmacy.sourceforge.net/

> > complicated graphical interfaces (for example a command "add a 
> > disulphide
> > bridge between cys 15 of chain 1 and cys 45 of chain 2" as a text-based
> > command would be as simple as a dialog-box based system).
> 
> Yes, some "scripting" would help some and would certainly make "plugins" 
> easier too. I can think of "set torsion between atoms 2 4 5 6 to 175 
> degrees" or "set coords of atom 1 to (0.0, 1.0, 2.5)" and similar items 
> that would be very useful for me.

Yep, these could be quite simple text commands like

	set tor 2 4 5 6 175.0

and

	set crd 1 0.0 1.0 2.5

GLADE is a great tool for building graphical interfaces, but still the
above stuff would be 10x faster to do as text string commands...

> > In the following days/weeks I try to write it as a table with following
> > fields:
> >
> > 	- priority (1-5)
> > 	- the idea described
> > 	- who's working on this, if any
> > 	- something else?
> >
> > The idea is that the list could be sorted by "priority" anytime and
> > therefore one could see from the table what is likely to happen soon.
> 
> Some of these ideas may depend on others, so for "something else," 
> dependencies comes to mind.

Actually I already changed "something else" to "comments".

I made the file using StarOffice spreadsheet program, and saved it as CSV
(comma separated values) text (I try to check that also other spreadsheets
can handle it). I would like that the list would be easily sortable by
"priority". I think it works pretty much how I planned, and now I'm also
experimenting with the BUGLIST file that I haven't really been able to
maintain in the past.

Happy Easter!

	Tommi