Updated
svn path=/trunk/; revision=1637
This commit is contained in:
Arturo Espinosa
74
doc/Design
74
doc/Design
@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ Miguel de Icaza.
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Evolution is a project aiming at providing the free software
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community with a professional, high-quality tool for managing
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mail, appointments, tasks and other personal information
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tools.
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tools.
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We want to make Evolution a system that addresses our needs
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(the free software development community) and we believe that
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@ -20,11 +20,60 @@ Miguel de Icaza.
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features, and to make the user interface as pretty and
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polished as possible.
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Evolution is a GNOME application.
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Evolution is a GNOME application and a number of auxiliary
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CORBA servers that act as the storage backends.
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Evolution will copy the best user interface bits and the best
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ideas and features found on contemporary groupware systems.
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* Evolution internals.
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Evolution can store its information locally (files for mail,
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calendar and address book) or on a remote server (imap/pop,
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cap, ldap).
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Given the importance of syncing in this modern PDA world,
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the Evolution GUI acts as a client to the data repository.
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The data repository is a GUI-less CORBA server called Wombat.
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Wombat provides a unified access system to the calendar and
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addressbook data (doing mail is a bit hard, so we are leaving
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this as a TODO item for now).
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Wombat's CORBA interfaces are notifier-based. This means that
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CORBA requests sent to Wombat do not return values
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inmediately, but rather than for Wombat requests the user has
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to provide a CORBA object that will be notified of what
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happened.
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Yes, that sounds hairy. It is actually pretty simple. It
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basically means that you submit requests to Wombat, and a
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callback is invoked in your code when the request has been
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carried away.
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This enables a Palm to sync to the repository without having
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the GUI for Evolution running. It also means that volunteers
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will be able to write text-based and web-based versions of
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Evolution (not me though :-).
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* Evolution as a platform
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Evolution is more than a client for managing the above
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information: Evolution is a platform for building groupware
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applications that use the above components to get their work done.
|
||||
|
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To achieve this Evolution is designed to be scriptable, and it
|
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exports its internals trough CORBA/Bonobo. It is implemented
|
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as a collection of Bonobo containers and Bonobo components.
|
||||
|
||||
There is a clean separation between the views (the user
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interface) and the model (the view). The views that we are
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writing are GNOME based, and they talk to the Wombat CORBA
|
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server.
|
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|
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Wombat takes care of notifications to the various clients for
|
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the data.
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* The overall organization
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A bar similar to outlook provides shortcuts for accessing the
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@ -88,6 +137,20 @@ Miguel de Icaza.
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users to add annotations to mails, and special keywords and
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flags in a per-message fashion).
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** Folders
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Michael Zucchi is working on a system that will let users
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easily define rules for splitting their incoming mail into
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physical folders.
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A further refinement to Folders are Virtual Folders. This
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basically provides a powerful search and viewing facility for
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mail. It works like this: when a mail is "incorporated" into
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Evolution it is scanned and indexed.
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Then users can enter queries into Evolution that will search
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the entire database of messages.
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** Virtual folders
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Virtual folders will enable users to read/browse their mail in
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@ -131,5 +194,8 @@ Miguel de Icaza.
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for including attachments, editing the message, archiving
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drafts and archiving messages sent.
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We will probably be extending the GtkHTML engine to support
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editing of HTML text.
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Ettore has been working on adding editing support to the
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GtkHTML and he is working currently on a Bonobo component that
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will provide a ready-to-use Bonobo control for embedding into
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other applications.
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74
help/Design
74
help/Design
@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ Miguel de Icaza.
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Evolution is a project aiming at providing the free software
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community with a professional, high-quality tool for managing
|
||||
mail, appointments, tasks and other personal information
|
||||
tools.
|
||||
tools.
|
||||
|
||||
We want to make Evolution a system that addresses our needs
|
||||
(the free software development community) and we believe that
|
||||
@ -20,11 +20,60 @@ Miguel de Icaza.
|
||||
features, and to make the user interface as pretty and
|
||||
polished as possible.
|
||||
|
||||
Evolution is a GNOME application.
|
||||
Evolution is a GNOME application and a number of auxiliary
|
||||
CORBA servers that act as the storage backends.
|
||||
|
||||
Evolution will copy the best user interface bits and the best
|
||||
ideas and features found on contemporary groupware systems.
|
||||
|
||||
* Evolution internals.
|
||||
|
||||
Evolution can store its information locally (files for mail,
|
||||
calendar and address book) or on a remote server (imap/pop,
|
||||
cap, ldap).
|
||||
|
||||
Given the importance of syncing in this modern PDA world,
|
||||
the Evolution GUI acts as a client to the data repository.
|
||||
The data repository is a GUI-less CORBA server called Wombat.
|
||||
|
||||
Wombat provides a unified access system to the calendar and
|
||||
addressbook data (doing mail is a bit hard, so we are leaving
|
||||
this as a TODO item for now).
|
||||
|
||||
Wombat's CORBA interfaces are notifier-based. This means that
|
||||
CORBA requests sent to Wombat do not return values
|
||||
inmediately, but rather than for Wombat requests the user has
|
||||
to provide a CORBA object that will be notified of what
|
||||
happened.
|
||||
|
||||
Yes, that sounds hairy. It is actually pretty simple. It
|
||||
basically means that you submit requests to Wombat, and a
|
||||
callback is invoked in your code when the request has been
|
||||
carried away.
|
||||
|
||||
This enables a Palm to sync to the repository without having
|
||||
the GUI for Evolution running. It also means that volunteers
|
||||
will be able to write text-based and web-based versions of
|
||||
Evolution (not me though :-).
|
||||
|
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* Evolution as a platform
|
||||
|
||||
Evolution is more than a client for managing the above
|
||||
information: Evolution is a platform for building groupware
|
||||
applications that use the above components to get their work done.
|
||||
|
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To achieve this Evolution is designed to be scriptable, and it
|
||||
exports its internals trough CORBA/Bonobo. It is implemented
|
||||
as a collection of Bonobo containers and Bonobo components.
|
||||
|
||||
There is a clean separation between the views (the user
|
||||
interface) and the model (the view). The views that we are
|
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writing are GNOME based, and they talk to the Wombat CORBA
|
||||
server.
|
||||
|
||||
Wombat takes care of notifications to the various clients for
|
||||
the data.
|
||||
|
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* The overall organization
|
||||
|
||||
A bar similar to outlook provides shortcuts for accessing the
|
||||
@ -88,6 +137,20 @@ Miguel de Icaza.
|
||||
users to add annotations to mails, and special keywords and
|
||||
flags in a per-message fashion).
|
||||
|
||||
** Folders
|
||||
|
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Michael Zucchi is working on a system that will let users
|
||||
easily define rules for splitting their incoming mail into
|
||||
physical folders.
|
||||
|
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A further refinement to Folders are Virtual Folders. This
|
||||
basically provides a powerful search and viewing facility for
|
||||
mail. It works like this: when a mail is "incorporated" into
|
||||
Evolution it is scanned and indexed.
|
||||
|
||||
Then users can enter queries into Evolution that will search
|
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the entire database of messages.
|
||||
|
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** Virtual folders
|
||||
|
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Virtual folders will enable users to read/browse their mail in
|
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@ -131,5 +194,8 @@ Miguel de Icaza.
|
||||
for including attachments, editing the message, archiving
|
||||
drafts and archiving messages sent.
|
||||
|
||||
We will probably be extending the GtkHTML engine to support
|
||||
editing of HTML text.
|
||||
Ettore has been working on adding editing support to the
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GtkHTML and he is working currently on a Bonobo component that
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will provide a ready-to-use Bonobo control for embedding into
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other applications.
|
||||
|
||||
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||||
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