RE: Template System

Hi mh7,

First of all, I really don't know much about layouts and templates in
general, and about Encompass and its technology in particular. That
said, as module developer, all I want is an ability to insert dynamic
code generated by my modules into some sort of a screen layout. Any
system that allows me to do just that, is my system of choice! The only
concern I have is how things such as JavaScript will be incorporated in
this new templating engine. Ideally, I would like to see some sort of
placeholders for this sort of things as part of original design and not
an afterthought. How to implement it, I have no idea :-), but I am sure
we have got a lot of bright people here ;-).

On a more practical note, IMO, it would be beneficial to the entire
community if specs for this new templating engine were disclosed as soon
as possible, and at least some documentation were offered by core
developers. Otherwise, we will risk the same situation as with
Blocklayout. This leads me to my next point: backward compatibility.
AFAIK, currently, there is no set API for output. It can be either good
or bad, depends on how you look at it. It is good, if you take this
opportunity to create new API and I am sure, if it works, it will be
adopted over time. It is bad, if third party developers get a feeling of
not being included, which usually comes form lack of documentation.

Basically, what I am trying to say is that at the moment, people expect
stability from Envolution project. I would really push Envolution 1.00
release forward at this moment and after that, when Envolution code base
is established, I would concentrate on new features.

Respectfully,

ak