This is great!<div><br></div><div>Is there a revamped installation document as well?</div><div><br></div><div>The installation doc at <a href="http://lively-kernel.org/repository/webwerkstatt/documentation/LivelyInstallation.xhtml">http://lively-kernel.org/repository/webwerkstatt/documentation/LivelyInstallation.xhtml</a></div> <div>doesn't seam to "kick off" on my browser (engine keeps spinning).</div><div><br></div><div>I remember when I first did the local installation that was a bit of a pain point...</div><div><br></div><div>Cheers,</div> <div>Davide<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 8:44 PM, Dan Ingalls <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:danhhingalls@gmail.com">danhhingalls@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;"> <u></u> <div> <div>Folks -</div> <div><font color="#144FAE"><br></font></div> <div>Last fall we made the decision to refactor the graphics kernel, rewrite our serialization scheme, and make things better for end-users as well. In the process, we took our communications pretty much off line so, to look at the mail list, one might assume we just stopped working. Nothing could be farther from the truth, as you will see from this summary of features in the upcoming release of Lively Kernel 2.0...</div> <div><font color="#144FAE"><br></font></div> <div><font color="#144FAE"><br></font></div> <div><b>New Rendering Architecture</b><br> </div> <div>We have refactored the rendering architecture so that it can equally easily support not only SVG and Canvas, but also standard HTML and CSS. There were several reasons: improved graphic performance, easier incorporation of existing web content, and the flexibility to interoperate with other widget sets, visualization software and the like. By separating the rendering state from the morphic state, it also allowed us to serialize objects in a rendering-independent manner. The importance of this will emerge when we talk about Parts Bins. Here is an examples enabled by the new architecture<br> </div> <div> <a href="http://lively-kernel.org/repository/webwerkstatt/demos/visualizations/FPSProtovis.xhtml" target="_blank"><span></span>http://lively-kernel.org/repository/webwerkstatt/demos/visualization<span></span>s/FPSProtovis.xhtml</a></div> <div><br></div> <div><font color="#144FAE"><br></font></div> <div><b>Native Widgets</b><br> </div> <div>One advantage of the new system is access to native widgets in the browser, most notably text frames that can edit multi-megabyte string. We also look forward to such native support in mobile devices where there are high expectations of both appearance and performance.<br> </div> <div><font color="#144FAE"><br></font></div> <div><b>New Serialization</b><br> </div> <div>We have rewritten the entire serialization module in LK2 removing its dependence on the browser DOM. Serialization now uses JSON exclusively, and it now handles all morphic structure, including non-rooted morphs and arbitrary JavaScript objects.<br> </div> <div><font color="#144FAE"><br></font></div> <div><b>Parts Bins</b><br> </div> <div>We have made a step in ease-of-use for many simple creations. Beginning with the Lively Fabrik project, we had gained experience with a simple drag-and-drop palette of components. It became obvious that this is a generally more convenient and more concrete access to a lively library than menu commands, plus it offers the potential of storing as well, and is thus a true user repository. Around the same time, we were experimenting with Node.JS, and this, together with a general desire to slim down our kernel, suggested that our parts bin should be cloud-resident (and thus sharable), replicable, and generally scalable as well.<br> </div> <div><font color="#144FAE"><br></font></div> <div>We soon discovered that storing objects in this manner was more convenient than saving code and files. Originally used only for simple shapes, we now store all sorts of active content from widgets to full-blown applications, styles such as fancy borders, behaviors such as throbbing, spinning, etc, and services such as map views and language translation.<br> </div> <div><font color="#144FAE"><br></font></div> <div><b>Iconic Connect</b><br> </div> <div>In addition to drag-and-drop access from the parts bins, it is necessary to be able to connect objects together in a live way. For this we have developed a dataflow connection similar to the bind operation found in many GUI frameworks. Connections can be made simply by drawing out a line from one component to another and selecting from a menu which property of the source should be connected to which property of the target.<br> </div> <div><font color="#144FAE"><br></font></div> <div><b>Script Browser</b><br> </div> <div>With the move to a less class-oriented style of development, we have developed a simplified browser that also offers control scripts and connect functions. The script browser itself is built in this manner, and is something much more accessible to casual understanding than our more heavyweight programming tools.<br> </div> <div><font color="#144FAE"><br></font></div> <div><b>Live Web</b><br> </div> <div>The change to direct scripting of objects and iconic storage in the cloud is a true paradigm shift for the Lively Kernel. The experience is one of living in a vast and shared cloud of active content that is easy to grab and play with, and equally easy to publish back to.<br> </div> <div><font color="#144FAE"><br></font></div> <div><b>Lively Archives</b><br> </div> <div>A wonderful side-effect of the new serialization is the ability to create a full-system archive of any Lively Kernel world. A lively archive is a web page that includes the entire code base, and that can thus be run without access to the Internet. It can be stored as a clickable app on one's desktop and, being self-contained, it should remain a stable artifact for years to come.</div> <div><br></div> <div><font color="#144FAE"><br></font></div> <div><b>Personal Lively</b><br> </div> <div>Using the lively archive technology it is now possible to store Lively Kernel worlds to your Dropbox account, thus letting you keep them and share them as long as you want. We plan to extend this facility to parts bins as well, so that you can build and share your own personal gallery of weird and wonderful lively content.<br> </div> <div><font color="#144FAE"><br></font></div> <div><b>The punch list for Lively Kernel 2.0</b><br> </div> <div>We are now operating at maximum warp to assemble a stable release so that people can play with it and we can take this environment to the next level of creative productivity. We are intentionally refraining from perfection in favor of early release, knowing that we will want to change it the minute we are done.<br> </div> <div>Here are the major stepping stones remaining to get us to 2.0:<br> </div> <div><u></u> <u></u><u></u> <u></u>Archive the old version with many demos</div> <div><br></div> <div><u></u> <u></u>Check operation in all major browsers<br> </div> <div><u></u> <u></u><u></u> <u></u>Code cleanup of the new version - remove deprecated code, etc<br> </div> <div><u></u> <u></u><u></u> <u></u>Address a few usability issues<br> </div> <div><u></u> <u></u><u></u> <u></u>Basic documentation and web site organization<br> </div> <div><u></u> <u></u><u></u> <u></u>Anticipation of future extensions such as canvas rendering and touch support<br> </div> <div><font color="#144FAE"><br></font></div> <div><b>Stability</b><br> </div> <div>In addition to our normal practice of making the up-to-the-minute alphas accessible, with 2.0 we plan to begin a practice of providing links to a reasonably documented stable release as well as the up-to-the-minute development version.<br> </div> <div><font color="#144FAE"><br></font></div> <div><b>Check out the alpha pages</b><br> </div> <div>To get a sneak peak at Lively 2.0 visit</div> <div><u></u> <u></u><a href="http://lively-kernel.org/repository/webwerkstatt/webwerkstatt.xhtml" target="_blank"> http://lively-kernel.org/repository/webwerkstatt/webwerkstatt.xhtml</a></div> <div><br></div> <div>A FAQ has been started at</div> <div> <u></u> <u></u><a href="http://lively-kernel.org/repository/webwerkstatt/documentation/FAQ.xhtml" target="_blank">http://lively-kernel.org/repository/webwerkstatt/documentation/FAQ.x<span></span>html</a></div> <div><br></div> <div>Please note:</div> <div>You can help to make the 2.0 release a success by testing these pages, and any other features you discover. Please send us your comments and suggestions.</div> <div><br></div> <div>Also note:</div> <div>At this writing, LK2 runs best on recent releases of Safari, Webkit and Chrome. It is our intention also to support IE (9+), Firefox and Opera. Help us to test these and send us your comments.</div> <div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div> <div><font color="#144FAE"><b><br></b></font></div> <div><b>Lively up your web!</b><br> </div> <div><u></u> <u></u>Dan Ingalls (as scribe) - SAP Research, Pal Alto</div> <div><u></u> <u></u>Robert Krahn - Hasso Plattner Institute, Potsdam</div> <div><u></u> <u></u>Jens Lincke - Hasso Plattner Institute, Potsdam</div> <div><u></u> <u></u>Marko Roeder - Hasso Plattner Institute, interning at SAP</div> <div><br></div> </div> <br>_______________________________________________<br> lively-kernel mailing list<br> <a href="mailto:lively-kernel@hpi.uni-potsdam.de">lively-kernel@hpi.uni-potsdam.de</a><br> <a href="http://lists.hpi.uni-potsdam.de/listinfo/lively-kernel" target="_blank">http://lists.hpi.uni-potsdam.de/listinfo/lively-kernel</a><br> <br></blockquote></div><br></div>