Self-interest February 1993

self-interest@lists.selflanguage.org

7 participants
14 discussions

large Self programs?
by urs＠cs.stanford.edu 26 Feb '93

26 Feb '93

Have you written a large (say, more than 5000 lines) Self program? If so, we'd like to hear from you! Reply to me or to the list if you think it is of general interest. Feel free to include comments on the best / worst feature of the language or implementation. -Urs

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Re: Redefining an Assignment Slot?
by R James Noble 25 Feb '93

25 Feb '93

> Is there a way to redefine an assignment slot. > i.e. Do something like point x: = ( display NeedRedraw. <- ) In my widget system I often need to do this. What I do is o rename the original variable "foo" to "iFoo" ("i" for instance or internal) o define "foo" and "foo:" in terms of "iFoo" and "iFoo:" with whatever wrapping is needed. I guess the advantage of a separation between methods and variables (as in Smalltalk) are the two distinct name spaces - you can have both messages and variables with the same names. On the whole, Self's scheme is simpler, but it does seem to occasionally a little bit of name mangling. BTW - I'd be interested to hear about what you are doing with Self - your example sounds interesting. I'm trying to write a dynamic program visualisation system in Self - there may be a screen dump in contrib on otis showing some recent work. kjx

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Redefining an Assignment Slot?
by rob＠moray.berkeley.edu 25 Feb '93

25 Feb '93

Hello, Is there a way to redefine an assignment slot. For instance is it possible to redefine a point's x: slot to do something besides just assignment. Lets say I want to notify some object (a display) when a point changes. Could I do this by changeing x: in the point to first notify the display then do assignment... i.e. Do something like point x: = ( display NeedRedraw. <- ) Rob Reiss University of California, Berkeley rob(a)moray.berkeley.edu

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Re: Error messages
by Bay.Chang＠Eng.Sun.COM 16 Feb '93

16 Feb '93

> When an error occurs in objects, introduced by myself, the name of the > method-holder is something like <a child of ..> instead of <odeOrd5>. > So the question is: how can I make Self to print the name of my objects > instead of printing <child of..>? The error printing code intentionally avoids sending printString (or any other message) to the objects involved in the error. So even if theObjectPrints, it will print out in the error message as "child of traits foo"--this was done intentionally so that error messages and stack dumps wouldn't break if the foo printing code was broken. So to answer the question: there is nothing you can do to your object to make it print more intelligently in the error message. One thing you could do is alter the error message printing code to do what you want (send printString to the object if theObjectPrints), but that would make errors less safe (consecutive stack dumps are very confusing!). (It would be more robust if there were a way to print the printString if it can, and go for the backup <a child of ...> only when printing fails. An exception-handling mechanism could provide this, for instance.) Bay

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patch for primitiveMaker available
by Bay.Chang＠Eng.Sun.COM 16 Feb '93

16 Feb '93

A new version of the primitiveMaker is available via ftp. The old version (in release 2.0.1) had several bugs causing it to generate wrong Self and C glue code when using dynamic linking. The problem can be fixed by replacing the release 2.0.1 primitiveMaker (version 8.1) with the new version of the primitiveMaker (version 8.2). The new version can be obtained by anonymous ftp to self.stanford.edu; it can be found in "/pub/Self-2.0.1/patches/primitiveMaker-8.2.self". Simply rename primitiveMaker-8.2.self to primitiveMaker.self after you ftp it. Bay

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Re: Error messages
by John.Maloney＠Eng.Sun.COM 15 Feb '93

15 Feb '93

Frank, Try doing "pathCache refill" after you have added your own objects to the system. The path cache is a dictionary of names for well-known objects. This will help if the object you are printing is a prototype, traits, or oddball object (i.e., if it can be found in the global namespace). For other objects, you have to do two things: a. implement the method "printString" returning the desired string b. add a constant slot with the name "thisObjectPrints" to the object's prototype. This tells the object printing code that it is safe to send printString to the object (this trick is needed because not every object understands printString). Let me know if this solves the problem. -- John

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Error messages
by fd＠kolibri.fm.bs.dlr.de 15 Feb '93

15 Feb '93

Dear Self users! When in Self an error occurs, the kind of error, the name of the method-holder and it's number will be printed, followed by a stack dump. When an error occurs in objects, introduced by myself, the name of the method-holder is something like <a child of ..> instead of <odeOrd5>. So the question is: how can I make Self to print the name of my objects instead of printing <child of..>? Mit freundlichen Gruessen Frank Dzaak. _______________________________________________________________________________ Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. Institut fuer Flugmechanik Frank.Dzaak(a)kolibri.fm.bs.dlr.de Flughafen 3300 Braunschweig Deutschland _______________________________________________________________________________

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glue example: INSTRUCTIONS
by hernan＠cc.gatech.edu 13 Feb '93

13 Feb '93

greetings, this is the INSTRUCTIONS file for building a C++ class and Self interface to it. the class is useless, as you will notice even if you only peek for a second, but it is useful to try the features. so, if you want to try this (NO WARRANTY OF FITTNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE etc etc), here are some simple instructions. have fun. --hernan -- | Hernan Astudillo R. | "Life is short. Play hard." hernan(a)cc.gatech.edu | -- Reebok College of Computing, Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA 30332 / (404) 853-9390 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% INSTRUCTIONS %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% *** A FEW STEPS TO TEST THE C++-CLASS INVOCATIOn CAPABILITIES OF Self *** *** (assuming that Self has been installed as 'snapshot') *** to generate Self and C++ stubs for glue: % export SELF_WORKING_DIR=<your_work_dir> (named .../self) % snapshot (run Self) Self> cc greetingGlueTemplates (generate stubs) *** to compile the C++ function into a .so file: % export GLUE_DEFS="${HOME}/self/local/glueDefs" (or wherever) % g++ -I${GLUE_DEFS} -c greeting.cc (gotta use g++) % ld -Bstatic -o libgreetingGlue.so.0 greeting.o -lg++ -lgcc ^^^^^^^^(kjx) (link library) *** to run and test the glued function from Self, do: % snapshot Self> cc greeting (this script includes the machine stubs too) Self> _AddSlots: (| tmp. |) (add a tmp slot to lobby) Self> tmp: (createGreeting: 'yo selfer') (invoke constructor) Self> tmp (it's aaalive!!) Self> tmp sayIt: 2 (test the member) Self> tmp delete (test the destructor) Self> tmp (it's dead jim!!) *** voila`!! you should be the proud owner of a brain-damaged Self-run *** C++-written greeting class %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

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glue example: template file
by hernan＠cc.gatech.edu 13 Feb '93

13 Feb '93

*** FILE "greetingGlueTemplate.self" *** "*** Hernan Astudillo R. *** Feb 10, 1992 *** (adapted from termcapTemplates.self)" "Template used by primitiveMaker to create Self wrapper and .h file." primitiveMaker reader copy dynamicLinking create: 'greetingGlue' From: ' -- Hernan Astudillo R, Feb 10, 1992 -- (hernan(a)cc.gatech.edu) -- template file: greetingGlueTemplates.self traits: traits greetingClass macroName: greetingClass glueLibraryName: libgreetingGlue.so.0 ^ void greeting_new_glue: string = Greeting {greetingProto deadCopy} new ^ Greeting greeting_delete_glue = void delete ^ Greeting greeting_sayIt_glue: int = void callMember sayIt ' "*** These templates define glue for the following C++ expressions: new Greeting( <aString> ) //returning the result in (greetingProto deadCopy) delete <aGreeting> <aGreeting>->sayIt( <anInt> ) ***" "end templates"

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glue example: Self source
by hernan＠cc.gatech.edu 13 Feb '93

13 Feb '93

*** FILE greeting.self (Self counterpart of C++ code) *** "*** Hernan Astudillo R. *** Dec 12, 1992 *** greeting.self: use foreign functions and dynamically linked-in libraries to interface with C++ constructors/members. The idea is to provide a prototype for traits the C++ class 'Greeting'; the 'well-known' thing will be the prototype and the constructor (see below for reasons why I did it this way). ***" traits applications _AddSlotsIfAbsent: ( | ^ greetingClass* = () | ) prototypes applications _AddSlotsIfAbsent: ( | ^ greetingClass* = () | ) oddballs applications _AddSlotsIfAbsent: ( | ^ greetingClass* = () | ) oddballs greetingClass _Define: ( | ^ comment = 'test for Self -> C++ glue'. "** pseudo-constructor for the 'class' Greeting **" ^ createGreeting: string = ( | new. | '[createGreeting]' printLine. new: prototypes greeting copy. "--create new instance" new proxyPart: (new greeting_new_glue: string). "--initialize it" ^new. ). "--end createGreeting" "** well-known function that returns a dead proxy (required by the form ** that proxy's are used. **" ^ greetingProto = prototypes proxy deadCopy. | ) traits greetingClass _Define: ( | _ parent* = oddballs greetingClass. "--to access related oddballs" "** the definition of slots (code) shared by all Greeting 'instances' **" ^ greeting = (| _ superClassTraits * = traits proxy. "--to use superclass features" _ applRelatedScope * = traits greetingClass. "--to access other greeting 'members'" ^ sayIt: times = ( "--member greeting::sayIt(int)" '[greeting sayIt]' printLine. ^ greeting_sayIt_glue: times. "--glue call" ). ^ delete = ( '[greeting delete]' printLine. ^ greeting_delete_glue. "--glue call" ). |). | ) "****** 4 approaches to defining the prototype (and instances) of a 'class', using the case of 'greeting' as subclass of 'proxy'. No new data is needed, but just to add some behavior." "** (1) keep the super-class(es) prototype(s) as components, using refs. and proper initialization; the components must be parents too (*), so any message not understood by the obj. is forwarded to its component; this requires that the traits-parent be (**), to override any component behavior. In general, it is not enough to delegate to the super-class traits, because some behaviors of the component obj. (not of the component traits) may be wanted too. -- Notice that certain messages (like primitives) do not follow the delegators, but look at the slots in the object itself. -- Notice that this leaves a proper object initialization in hands of an external agent, or of any object that copies this prototype directly." "*** NOT IN USE *** prototypes greetingClass _Define: ( | ^ greeting = (| _ classTraits ** = traits greeting. _ thisObjectPrints = true. ^ proxyPart *. |). | ) *** END (1) ***" "** (2) if not every behavior/slot of the super-class component is desired, then the component doesn't need to be a parent (or if some delegation- oblivious primitive is present, it cannot be a component). Any wanted behavior should be implemented explicitly. -- Like in (1), initialization is left to an external agent or to copying clients." "*** CODE IN USE ***" prototypes greetingClass _Define: ( | ^ greeting = (| _ classTraits * = traits greeting. _ thisObjectPrints = true. ^ proxyPart. ^ printString = ( proxyPart printString. ). ^ reviveIfFail: t0 = ( proxyPart reviveIfFail: t0. ). |). | ) "*** END (2) ***" "** (3) copy the super-class prototype by hand, and add whatever is needed (in this example, only a parent slot for the sub-class traits). Notice that any changes to the super-class prototype must be reflected BY HAND on the sub-class prototype!!" "** (4) to maintain integrity, instead of (3), we can copy (at loading time) the super-class prototype, and the add/replace whatever is needed. This ensures consistency." "*** NOT IN USE *** prototypes greetingClass _Define: ( | ^ greeting. | ) prototypes greetingClass greeting: proxy deadCopy prototypes greeting _AddSlotsIfAbsent: ( | ^greetingTraits ** = traits greeting. | ) *** END (4) ***" 'greetingGlue.wrappers' _RunScript

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Self-interest February 1993