seandenigris / Commander

Command pattern framework for Pharo

Commander

Commander models application actions as first class objects.

Every type of action is implemented as a separate command class (subclass of CmdCommand) with an #execute method and all state required for execution.

Commands are reusable objects and applications provide various ways to access them (shortcuts, context menu, buttons, etc.). This information is attached to command classes as activation strategies. Currently there are three types of activations:

• CmdShortcutActivation
• CmdContextMenuActivation
• CmdDragAndDropActivation

Strategies are specified as class annotations. Check out the ClassAnnotation project for details. Here are two examples:

The following method will allow RenamePackageCommand to be executed by shortcut in the system browser:

RenamePackageCommand class>>packageBrowserShortcutActivation
    <classAnnotation>
    ^ CmdShortcutActivation by: $r meta for: ClyPackageContextOfFullBrowser

And for context menu:

RenamePackageCommand class>>packageBrowserMenuActivation
    <classAnnotation>
    ^ CmdContextMenuActivation byRootGroupItemFor: ClyPackageContextOfFullBrowser

An activation strategy should always include an application context where it can be applied (ClyPackageContextOfFullBrowser in the example). The application to be extended should provide such contexts as subclasses of CmdToolContext with information about application state. Browse the hierarchy of CmdToolContext subclasses for examples in the image. Every widget can provide its own context to interact with the application as a separate tool. For example, the system browser shows multiple panes which provide a package context, class context and method context. For each context, the browser can show a different menu and provide different shortcuts.

Installation

Metacello new
  baseline: 'Commander';
  repository: 'github://dionisiydk/Commander';
  load.

Use following snippet for stable dependency in your project baseline:

spec
    baseline: 'Commander'
    with: [ spec repository: 'github://dionisiydk/Commander:v0.3.x' ]