Newsgroups: comp.lang.smalltalk
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!news.mathworks.com!udel!gatech!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!news.ti.com!ticipa!clw
From: clw@ticipa.pac.sc.ti.com (Chris Winemiller)
Subject: Re: Digitalk's VST Win 32
Message-ID: <1995Mar25.055333.2037@ticipa.pac.sc.ti.com>
Organization: None
References: <3knavi$61d@cesl.rutgers.edu> <3kv7td$of8@cesl.rutgers.edu>
Date: Sat, 25 Mar 1995 05:53:33 GMT
Lines: 38

In article <3kv7td$of8@cesl.rutgers.edu> Richard L. Peskin <peskin@caip.rutgers.edu> writes:
>In article <1995Mar23.062147.936@ticipa.pac.sc.ti.com> Chris Winemiller,
>clw@ticipa.pac.sc.ti.com writes:
>>STV has always had a Class Heirarchy Browser that shows the heirarchical
>>presentation of classes.  Did you have something else in mind when your
>wrote
>>the preceding?
>
>I guess it depends on your point of view. In VisualWorks, I can
>immediately view the whole hierarchy of a class, from either the system
>browser or from a class browser, by asking for 'hierarchy'. The old
>Tektronix Smalltalk had an even better service of this sort. STV provides
>a (difficult to read) hierarchy listing in the top left class browser
>pane, and an even more difficult to use 'variables' pane for an
>individual class' browser. 

I use Digitalk's product at home and VisualWorks at work.  I do appreciate the
VisualWorks ability to show me a limited view of the entire object heirarchy
(i.e. the heirarchy pared down to just the heritage of the class I targeted
plus all of the class' descendants).  There are also other ways in which the
VisualWorks browsers are more flexible regarding the kinds of info you can
access from the browser.  Yet I like Digitalk's ability to simply click on a
variable name and immediately see the list of methods pared down to those that
reference the variable.  I guess I don't see Digitalk's tools as being so bad
that they get in the way [of information management and retrieval].

Another thing I like about Digitalk browsers and _loathe_ about ParcPlace
browsers: Searching for text within a method.  With Digitalk, you simply pop up
the text pane's menu and select Edit/Find.  With ParcPlace you have to actually
alter the source code temporarily by typing in the phrase you're looking for,
select it, do something like copy it, and then select "again" on the middle
mouse button menu.  Ack.  Pfth.

Chris
==============================================================
Chris Winemiller               Internet: clw@works.ti.com
Disclaimer: I do not speak for TI.
==============================================================
