[Chicken-users] Re: Updated objc-header.scm

[Zbigniew]

Kon,

I've been away for a bit and am just now catching up on my email
backlog.  It looks like a interesting idea.  However, I'm curious why
you made NSString* and so on into macros that generate 'objc:ID etc.,
instead of using variables.  In other words:

#;2> (define objc:NSString* objc:ID)
#;3> (define-objc-class ABCD NSObject ()
             (+ NSString* hello
                 (print "hi")
                 "ooga"))
#;4> (@ ABCD hello)
hi
@"ooga"
#;5>

Is this approach workable?  Do you want the extra parens to emulate
the look of Objective C, or find the macros are necessary?

As an aside, the function macro:type->encoding provides some control
over this conversion; the default behaviour---prepend objc: to
symbols, pass the rest through---allows you to evaluate functions or
pass encoded typestrings directly.  It is possible to augment this to
provide alternate syntax, for example when you pass a list; your
macros do effectively the same job, with just a bit of namespace
pollution.

The only qualm I have about allowing type-like symbols instead of
plain ID and PTR is that it gives the erroneous impression of
typechecking, whereas ID and PTR spell this out.  I guess it comes
down to user preference and, ultimately, can be loaded if the user so
desires.

On 6/3/06, Kon Lovett <address@hidden> wrote:
> Hello again,
>
> Attached is an updated source that allows a coding style like the
> following:
>
> (- (NSString*) windowNibName
>
> (- VOID ((#:windowControllerDidLoadNib (NSWindowController*)
> aController))
>
> (- BOOL ((#:readFromData (NSData*) data) (#:ofType (NSString*) aType)
> (#:error (NSError**) outerr))
>
> (- (IBAction) ([#:eval ID sender])
>
> Best Wishes,
> Kon