[DotGNU]Forum Update 1-10-2002

[Peter Minten]

Hi folks,

here is a little update on my new plans for Forum:

-- Hail to the keyboard --

All Forum clients will be completely usable using nothing but the
keyboard (note that that does not automatically mean the webservices
will be usable using only the keyboard). To achieve that Forum will be
able to use key combinations like Emacs. 

Also everything you type in Forum will be automatically put into the
chatbox entry line, except when it's pressed together with a modifier
key (Control, Meta) and except when the focus is on a webservice that
wants to keep focus (can't do much about that).

The idea behind this is making it easier to chat in Forum (by throwing
away the need to TAB into the chatbox entry line every time you
clicked a button).

-- Local frontends --

Some webservices like the basic Forum webservices (browser, discussion
group editor) will have a frontend in the client. The frontend
processes information send by the backend. This will improve
performance because a lot less information needs to be send across the
web.

These frontends can also interact with the client in a more personal
way than normal webservice GUI's. The frontends can receive
information from the client about what they should do. One example of
this is an editor frontend that supplies customizable syntax
highlighting.

The reason backend only webservices cannot provide this service is
that they don't really know about individual users. A core idea of
Forum is that webservices shouldn't be bothered with multi-user stuff
when it's not needed. Thus Forum is designed to create an illusion
that only one user exists. The illusion is not perfect, but it helps
webservice builders adapt their software to Forum much easier.


Well, that's it for now. Reactions are very welcome.

Greetings,

Peter