Re: GOK : I'd like to contribute.

[David Bolter <david bolter utoronto ca>]

Michel,

Welcome.

I'd like to introduce you to Steven (srbaker pobox com) who has, as I 
understand it, already deployed GOK on kiosks.  He might be a good 
resource.  Steven, I hope you don't mind.

Michel, I'll also comment below:

Michel Szybist wrote:
> Hi,
>
> It's been a couple of days I'm trying GOK, in order to use it in an
> Internet kiosk access environment.
>
> Yes, it's not (only) about making things easier for disabled people,
> it's for everyone. But, yes, I'd really like to contribute to this
> project, by developing things I need, hoping they will be usefull for
> everyone.

We applaud the goal of GOK useful to everyone.  There are many roles GOK 
can play in the world of computer input.

> I have programming skills that should be sufficient for that purpose,
> although I was playing with Java recently, not C/C++ (i's been quite a
> while in fact ;-).

Java can make you a better C programmer. But you might be more 
frustrated with C now.  Don't forget to watch for memory leaks!  ;-)

> By the way, sorry for my english, it's not my mother tongue ;-)
>
> First, let me expose the things I need and that I haven't found in GOK
> (yet) :
> - complete customization of the keyboard GUI : icons for the keys,
> colors, window background, title bar, etc.

Some of this is configurable.  Unfortunately some of it must be hand 
coded in the gok.rc file.  We do have keys with icons.  Keyboards can be 
created or modified through (creation of or) editing the *.kbd.in files.

> - allow GOK to handle every kind of chars, including asian or arabic
> like symbols (display them & type them),

GOK is localizable and has been translated into other languages.  Please 
see http://www.gok.ca/shots.html for some evidence of this.

> - allow GOK to "type" several chars at once (at one single key
> activation) Exemple : a key with "http://"; on it would type "http://";
> in the appropriate field.

This is a current feature.

> Second, things I haven't found, but that undoubtly exists :
> - command line (or file) configuration of all the GOK parameters (there
> is very very few doc about GOK !)

Try "gok --help" to see what we currently have.  If you need more - we 
can lead you in the right direction.

> - allow GOK to "type" special chars like '@', french chars,... (I was
> not successful with that for now :-(

This should be working... What version of gok are you using?
"gok --version"

> That's it for now...
>
> So, of course, I have a couple of questions :
> - Does GOK already offer things I mention ?

Mostly -- I think.

> - If not, what is the best way to learn how GOK is architectured and
> try to develop on it ?

Our documentation is lacking in this respect, but I'd be happy to talk 
further about this.

> - What IDE do people use generally in developing GOK ? etc.

I use Anjuta, and highly recommend it.

> - Who could help me in :
>  1) Getting familiar with GOK code and teach me the basics of
> developing GOK, its dependencies, its architecture and philosophy,

I'm happy to help.  Bill H, is comaintainer and is often able to help 
even though he is really busy.

>  2) Help me to write things the best way possible to easily integrate
> things I'll write, with GOK source tree (if ever, and if they're
> usefull).

We make heavy use of gnome bugzilla for gok:
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/buglist.cgi?product=gok&bug_status=UNCONFIRMED&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=NEEDINFO&bug_status=REOPENED&email1=&emailtype1=substring&emailassigned_to1=1&email2=&emailtype2=substring&emailreporter2=1&changedin=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&short_desc=&short_desc_type=substring&long_desc=&long_desc_type=substring&bug_file_loc=&bug_file_loc_type=substring&status_whiteboard=&status_whiteboard_type=substring&keywords=&keywords_type=anywords&op_sys_details=&op_sys_details_type=substring&version_details=&version_details_type=substring&namedcmd=at-spi-unresolved&newqueryname=gok-all-unresolved&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&form_name=query

This is where we post issues, talk about issues, propose source code 
changes (patch), and resolve issues.

> Well...
>
> That's it : if I get no answer to this post, that would mean my
> approach is bad, and I'll change it ! ;-)

Great approach!

> As I mentioned, I work for a private company, which has a commercial
> goal. But my personnal motivation is not only to do my work the best I
> can : I'd also like to contribute to GOK, which I find one of the most
> usefull and concrete project I've seen.

This is fine as long as you pay careful attention to the fact that GOK 
is a LGPL project.
http://www.gok.ca/license.shtml
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.html

This is possibly compatable with your goals.  Please continue to ask 
questions and explore GOK.

cheers,

David Bolter
GOK maintainer


> Hoping to get news from you, people from the list,
>
> cheers,
> Michel.
>
>
> --
> Michel Szybist
> 2004 szybist net