[Typo3-dev] Next version, kick off

Kasper Skårhøj kasper2004 at typo3.com
Tue Nov 16 13:52:20 CET 2004


Hi Jean-Baptiste,


> As I know, the kickstarter tool is able to :
> - Create a new extension
> - Read the wizard file of an extension in order to make a new extension
> based on the first one or modify the first one.
> 
> In both cases the result is an "empty" extension in which you have to import
> your php files if it is the second version of your extension. If, by
> mistake, you forget your php files in the extension and create the
> extension, bye bye the php files. This is really boring, for example, when
> you try to build an extension based on an external tool (typically a RTE
> tool for example...) : all the tool files are deleted.
> 
> My wish is to be able to :
> - keep a selection of existing files  : at least, for example, to have a
> check box per file to upgrade only a selection of files,
> - extend kickstarter in order to manage contant and setup configuration
> files by a wizard tool (not only flat text file) (see why below)
> - extend kickstarter to manage backend / BE menu extensions configuration
> 
> - extend kickstarter to improve extension icons management
> - add kickstarter the possibility to manage "php-func" $TCA array field
> I have several other little improvements but the goal is to improve the
> kickstarter in order that it is able to really manage extension versionning.
> It's not to be able to code PHP ;)

I like these suggestions for the Kickstarter, but please join the
kickstarter development team = Ingmar and Daniel Brün. They took over
the maintenance.

; Man In The Mirror... 


> 
> > > - Backend modules and extensions : Better integration of configuration
> > > leaving the ASCII format file to, for example, XML format or something
> > > similar to $TCA array. Maybe we can imagine to design something user
> > > friendly which converts the webmaster installation choices to
> > > TypoScript... At the moment, only the emconfig file asks for
> > > user-friendly configuration. Could be interesting to have same for
> > > template, constants and setup ?
> >
> > I don't get it, please specify.
> 
> For the moment, it seems to me that sometimes configuring Typo3 is too
> programmer-oriented, and not enough webuser-oriented.

I agree and this was on purpose. The "coding language" (TypoScript /
$TCA / XML of sorts / etc) is the foundation for making an editing
interface on top. So this is good enough in it self.

So what we miss is: 
	- An Editor tool for these configuration types
	- The hero who makes it happen.

> Extension installation
> is somewhere a good example. When you install one, my point of view is that
> this installation has to be accessible to non-programmers, I suppose that
> the extension is well-designed. I think it's not the case for the moment. In
> most cases, you have to configure some TS to make the extension working. We
> have to keep this powerful way of configuring the extension, but maybe, we
> can try to help people to master extension configuration by having a easier
> tool to enter their configuration choice.
> So my idea (maybe not a good one  ;)) is to change extension setup and
> constant files format to an XML ?  $XXX array ? ... ? structured file,
> managed by the new version of kickstarter extension, and to offer at the
> extension installation the possibility to key in the values of
> configuration. A sort of improvement at the same time of the Typoscript
> Object Browser and the Constant editor BUT at installation and a bit more
> friendly. Is it more understandable ?

I have some outlines to ideas about how installing an extension should
spark a kind of configuration procedure where various things are
configured and the next steps for usage are outlined so the user knows
how to see the extension work. I will not have time to work on this
before 2005.

> > What exactely do you miss?
> Dimitri has given a good example. It's the possibility to manage the user
> configuration you offer the BE users, depending on group roles or granted
> access, but without extending BE php classes.

Maybe the "setup" extension could have configurability so extensions can
specify additional fields to be edited. 
Who will make this happen?

> >
> > Possible via UserTSConfig
> I was meaning, dynamically, when you use the BE, as a file explorer offers.
> You're looking for a specific page, upsize the tree frame, you want to map a
> Template Object, downsize the tree frame to get more space :)

It is possible to configure the frameset to be dynamically sizable.

As stucki pointed out:

setup.override.navFrameResizable = 1

- kasper








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