RE: Scripting Additions: Embracing the Horror of Unix
RE: Scripting Additions: Embracing the Horror of Unix
- Subject: RE: Scripting Additions: Embracing the Horror of Unix
- From: Joe Kelly <email@hidden>
- Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 14:30:14 -0800
Time to get rid of the old OSAX api.
Replace it with a generic set of OSA interfaces that any code entity can
adopt. Such a code entity would have to publish how it gets loaded
(info.plist?): load in applet's context, OS X application launch, bsd
process launch, or script server daemon (already running). You should also
be able to specify exactly how the code entity gets invoked by a script:
tell, implicit, etc. You could package scripting additions as OS X framework
bundles and you gain some extra benefits as well, mostly adminstrative.
Imagine writing scripting additions as unix tools. You can take cgi's lead,
and read ae requests through stdin, and write the results via stdout (or
what about 'aestream' for you C++ types?). The time it takes for the tool to
load, process, and quit is negligible -- it has none of the overhead that an
OS X app has. Plus it has access to all the usual unix stuff & anything else
it needs (CoreFoundation et al), AND AS can send and receive the ae's
directly, avoiding the costly overhead of AESend(). And lastly, it's
probably much easier for implementors.
Of course you most likely have to sacrifice backward compatibility (or else
get Apple to increase its engineering budget, but then you run the risk of
Coplanding the whole thing).
Btw, I like the title "Embracing the Horror of Unix". I'm thinking that
should be the motto for OS X in general.
joe