I'm proud to announce the first public release of the libpdb suite. The libpdb suite is an exciting new library designed to make it easy for application developers to add scripting and plug-in functionality available. It is based on GIMP's PDB implementation, but much work has been done to improve the programming interface.

Here are the release notes:

The libpdb suite consists of three libraries based on code from the GIMP. Libpdb is a small library implementing a database that stores information about procedures available for the scripting of applications. Libwire is a lightweight, extensible IPC framework. Libpdbwire depends on both libraries and provides a way for a remote process (such as a script or plug-in) to access procedures stored in the procedural database of another process.

These libraries are designed such that at a future time they could be developed and maintained by different groups.

This release is still quite rough around the edges. Much basic functionality is missing, and much of the API is subject to change. Still, application developers seeking to use these libraries in future releases would be well advised to start implementing the necessary changes to their programs to be able to access and use the functionality of these libraries.

Bug reports and patches are gladly accepted. These libraries are currently housed in CVS on my personal computer, but I will place them on a more public CVS server soon.

All libpdb suite releases will be signed with my public gpg key. Accept no substitutes! Always insist on genuine Rockwalrus libpdb releases! A different key is used to distinguish between stable and development releases.

Enjoy!

Rockwalrus

On Tue, 10 Dec 2002, Raphaël Quinet wrote:

On Tue, 10 Dec 2002 00:25:23 -0800 (PST), Nathan Carl Summers wrote:

I'm proud to announce the first public release of the libpdb suite.

http://www.gimp.org/~rock/libpdb

Rockwalrus

On 10 Dec 2002, Sven Neumann wrote:

Hi,

Nathan Carl Summers writes:

It is based on GIMP's PDB implementation, but much work has been done to improve the programming interface.

I hope that you didn't follow the current GIMP implementation too close. It might have proven to work but it certainly has major drawbacks and I wouldn't suggest it to application developers that think about adding plug-in functionality.

I've certainly made a lot of changes to make the design cleaner and more generic. I don't think that there are many of the drawbacks of the current gimp design left in libpdb. Of course, I'm open to suggestions and patches.

Rockwalrus

On 10 Dec 2002, Sven Neumann wrote:

Nathan Carl Summers writes:

I hope that you didn't follow the current GIMP implementation too close. It might have proven to work but it certainly has major drawbacks and I wouldn't suggest it to application developers that think about adding plug-in functionality.

I've certainly made a lot of changes to make the design cleaner and more generic. I don't think that there are many of the drawbacks of the current gimp design left in libpdb. Of course, I'm open to suggestions and patches.

the major drawback of the current design is that it doesn't use named parameters. That is definitely one of the things we should change right in the beginning of the next development cycle. Does your library include this change already?

Not yet. But I will put it on the TODO list.

Rockwalrus