[Pipet Devel] an interesting thought

[Lapointe, David]

Jeff,

This has been puzzling me for a while. What with the emphasis
toward using Python as a base language for Loci, what about Grail as a
browser/GUI ? I haven't tried this but apparently python scripts can be
downloaded and client side executed. <diatribe issue="What about
security?"/> 

Also, at the BAMBCT meeting Thursday, I brought up the issue of using Linux
to do Computational Biology. Lance thought a June meeting Show 'n Tell would
be interesting. There are *many* scientists who are using Linux scattered
around the Boston area. 

David

-----Original Message-----
From: J.W. Bizzaro
To: tulip-list
Sent: 3/26/99 5:53 PM
Subject: [Pipet Devel] an interesting thought

Locians,

It's strange that I just came across this article:

 
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C34314%2C00.html?dd.ne.txt.0326.04

Strange, because a couple days ago I was thinking about the future of
GUI
development and the role of XML and the Internet.  I thought that the
Web
browser of today may some day become so customizable that it will be a
portable
GUI toolkit, with an Internet backbone.

But this is also the direction Loci is heading.

The article talks about using XUL (an XML) to provide the browser with
GUI
information (buttons, etc.).  The problems are, (1) XUL would require an
enormous and complex DTD, and (2) the browser would need all of the
widgets
built-in, ready to be called upon at runtime.

I realized these would be insurmountable problems for Loci, if it were
to go
this route, simply because Loci is not the scale of Mozilla.

But what if the GUI information for Loci were included in the XML, as
with XUL,
but

                      >>>as a Python-GTK script<<<

Yes, a functional program/module embedded in the XML.  Has anyone heard
of this
being done before?  Try that with compiled binaries!

So each locus would be the same: just a shell that can process our XML
(workflow
+ bio + GUI) and make an application on the fly.

Any thoughts?  What would be the advantages and disadvantages?


Jeff
bizzaro at bc.edu