Name:            TDisplay
Version:         1.0
License:         BSD3
License-File:    LICENSE
Author:          Kevin Quick
Maintainer:      quick@sparq.org
Stability:       provisional
Homepage:        http://www.sparq.org/darcsrepos/TDisplay.html
Category:        User Interface
Build-Depends:   base, HUnit
Synopsis:        Tagged Data generation for user-selected input and display control
Exposed-Modules: TDisplay TDisplay.Output.Raw TDisplay.Output.Tags TDisplay.Output.Simple TDisplay.Output.Columns
GHC-Options:     -fglasgow-exts
Description:     
  The TDisplay environment differs from a classical environment in
  that the latter typically only contains one or two output streams
  (e.g. stdout and stderr); the TDisplay roughly corresponds to the
  View element of a Model/View/Controller (MVC) paradigm.
  .
  The purpose of the TDisplay is to allow an object to determine what
  the content of its user-visible output should be, but to allow the
  subsequent components (and ultimately the displaying component) to
  determine how to manipulate and ultimately present those outputs
  based on the individual object.
  .
  There are two aspects to displaying any particular object: the
  content and the attributes.  The content is static and essentially
  the same content that would be returned by a Show operation (this
  concept is refined slightly below).  The main job of the TDisplay
  engine is to determine the attributes of displaying that content.
  These attributes may vary by the type of display, but sample
  attributes might include:
  .
    * display or suppress a specific item
    * color
    * font
    * location
  .
  The classical stdout environment is sufficient for simple tasks, but
  any component wishing to utilize the output of any previous
  component must resort to performing analysis of the undifferentiated
  output of the previous task (e.g. expect scripts).  This
  re-synthesis of output information is error-prone and necessarily
  restricted by the lower bandwidth and lack of differentiation of a
  simple byte-stream of output.
  .
  The TDisplay mechanism attempts to maintain object information along
  with that object's (potential) output up until the final point that
  it is displayed to the actual user.  This has several advantages:
  .
    * Interim or serial tasks can therefore use this object information 
      to more precisely analyze and operate upon the output of previous
      components.
    * The manner and selection of final output can be modified by the
      final output component without requiring extensive control flags
      and customization throughout the "Model" and "Controller" code.
    * The method of displaying the output can be modified
      independently of the determination of the output.  Properly
      specified, the output should be able to be utilized in a
      text-based console environment, a GUI environment, and a Web-UI
      environment without change in the manner in which the output is
      determined/generated.

Executable: tdtest
Main-Is:    tdtest.hs
GHC-Options:     -fglasgow-exts