[471] in java-interest
Re: Java on OpenDoc
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Kevin Purcell)
Fri Jun 23 14:01:08 1995
Date: Fri, 23 Jun 1995 10:39:10 -0700
To: hotjava-interest@java.sun.com, java-interest@java.sun.com
From: kevinpu@attachmate.com (Kevin Purcell)
Cc: edanuff@protagonist.com
Ed Anuff said:
>Kevin Purcell wrote:
>>On further consideration one should turn HotJava into an OpenDoc part but
>>one should perhaps make Java (the language/virtual machine) into an Open
>>Scripting Architecture component (what will they call them -- aren't
>>components deprecated?) so that you can write scripts in Java using any
>>tool that supports OSA.
>
>It would be nice if you could do both. Since OpenDoc parts are supposed to
>be cross-platform, it should be possible to build the following:
>
>1) An OpenDoc wrapper for Java applets
>2) An Applet wrapper for OpenDoc parts
>3) A Java OSA dialect
>I've heard that Apple's Dylan language was meant to be a cross-platform
>language for OpenDoc, but according to a recent MacWeek, Apple has gone
>back to the drawing board with that idea.
This is not correct. Dylan is a more long term solution to the problems of
solftware developement. It was never meant as a cross-platform language for
OpenDoc. Apple is rethinking their current approach to a Dylan product (the
product was way behind schedule and used to many resources to be useful)
however they are still behind Dylan.
In fact if you see what has been written by the OpenDoc team this was one
of the policy/mechanism solutions they carefully avoided.
OpenDoc provides a cross-platform mechanism for automation, as extension of
the OSA but provides no policy in the form of a cross-platofrom scripting
language of choice. Java could be useful in this as becoming the OpenDoc de
facto cross-platform language. But this will not be forced on the users of
OpenDoc -- Mac users will probably still choose AppleScript, OS/2 users
will use Rexx and Windows users will get something that interoperates with
Visual Basic (like Denali). This policy neutrality of OpenDoc is going to
be critical to OpenDoc success. Perhaps Java will find a slot.
>As soon as we see a Mac release
>of Java, I'm sure that people will start trying to combine it with OpenDoc.
We there are two of us here waiting for it!
Will the source be available too?
>Its not too hard to see that these two technologies could
>be incredibly complementary.
Certainly! Not only complementary but two open platform-independent
standards that are good solutions for real user problems. Ah, nirvana :-)
Is Sun planning any sort of open standards approach to Java? I presume Sun
is a member of CI Labs and the OMG -- is there anything relevant here?
Kevin Purcell // kevinpu@attachmate.com // xenolith@halcyon.com
Organiser of Seattle's Macintosh dBug Developer SIG (send email for info)
"OpenDoc: components made easy"
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