Hi all. A small holiday present for anyone interested: https://github.com/ErikOnBike/CodeParadise now runs on P10 (and P11 with some care)! If you are using it on P8, please unload the CP-ClientEnvironment and reload it using the “pharo8” branch:
Metacello new
repository: 'github://ErikOnBike/CP-ClientEnvironment:pharo8';
baseline: 'CodeParadise';
load.
P11 seems to have some issues sometimes with restarting the image. Have not found the exact cause. Will look into this.
Happy holidays!
Hello, this is my new update after two weeks.
The recent Pharo VM Release v9.0.21 for Windows, Mac and Linux was great for our Bloc project since we had some troubles with the graphic libraries dependencies. We take advantage in two aspects:
Simpler install instructions. Getting the project installed is now a simple script, as any other. Before, we had additional steps according to the OS platform (on Mac, via brew or macport; on Windows, by downloading dlls in a zip).
CI running again. The GitHub workflows have been broken some time. The reason was the difficulty to get the VM and update it with updated graphic libraries in the script. Happily, with the new VM release we have restored jobs in all three platforms. After fixing CI, some hidden bugs did pop up, such as an error when scanning fonts on Windows (fixed). Still not everything green, but it’s already good that CI is back!
Some geometries now provide an explicit Cairo path to draw the border inside or outside, for two main reasons:
Rendering speed. A recent Bloc Update showed that rendering elements with border inside or outside was significantly slower than centered borders. Now, they are almost as fast as centered outskirts.
Dashed borders. There was a visual issue on elements with dashed border when the outskirts is not centered, i.e. inside or outside. Now it works:
Closed issues on dashed borders:
For the moment, this improvement applies only for circle, rectangle and rounded rectangle, but will be extended to more geometries.
In a nutshell, a general approach to create the shadow of a visual element is:
– take the alpha-channel of the element (an 8-bit image)
– apply an approximation of Gaussian blur on it
– paint the shadow color (with an offset), using as a mask the intermediate 8-bit image
– finally, paint the element on top of the shadow.
For example, SVG specifies the drop shadow filter like that. The big question was how to do Gaussian blur step, as Cairo doesn’t provide it out-of-the-box. The current solution is the adaptation of a linear algorithm (on the number of pixels) that looks good:
This element was created with:
BlElement new
geometry: (BlRoundedRectangleGeometry cornerRadius: 50);
size: 500@100;
border: (BlBorder builder
paint: Color blue;
width: 15;
dashArray: #(20);
build);
effect: (BlGaussianShadowEffect
color: Color orange
width: 20
offset: 20 asPoint);
yourselfThis implementation iterates over the pixels, all in CPU, which has its limitations. For example, on large and animated elements. If we implement some hardware accelerated alternative, this could be a solid fallback. However, in an element animation where only offset or color change, then caching the 8-bit image with the shadow mask should work very well.
The following image gallery illustrates examples added to test regressions in rendering:
Our Cairo bindings in Alexandrie now support drawing to SVG and PDF files. Part of this code and tests are based on Athens implementation pushed to Pharo a couple of years ago.
Note: I exported this example using the Cairo bindings directly, without integration with Bloc. But it will be straightforward to integrate it.
Thanks for reading. Questions or feedback? Please refer to the #bloc channel at Pharo Discord server, or the lse-openbloc mailing list. Martín Dias
This week, we merged 19 PRs, we closed 36 issues on the main issue tracker.
Features
========
– Fix 12044 introduces hexString and related tests #12045
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12045
Blocks
======
– Enable Constant Block Compilation by default #11931
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11931
– 11984-CompiledBlockhasMethodReturn-is-not-a-good-name #12020
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12020
– 11965-Implement-ContextactiveHome-without-using-home #12063
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12063
– 12014-HECompiledBlockvalue-send-non-exiting-selector-encoderClassName #12070
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12070
– 12034-Context-we-have-both-home-and-methodReturnContext #12098
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12098
– Context: unify #selector and #methodSelector #12100
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12100
Fixes
=====
– 12066-CI-test-failing-on-CI-SystemDependenciesTesttestExternalBasicToolsDependencies #12073
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12073
– Add missing keyDown: message in FTSearchFunction #12087
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12087
– Fix: #12089 the metaclass was placing one # while it should not! + ad… #12090
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12090
– Fix class editor not refreshing when switching between class/instance sides #12095
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12095
– 12110-ReAbstractCritique-asModalWindow #12111
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12111
– Debugger-Implementors-Of #1337
https://github.com/pharo-spec/Spec/pull/1337
– Fix Filetree to Tonel transformation #1646
https://github.com/pharo-vcs/iceberg/pull/1646
– Introduce input validation as first precondition of a refactoring #12050
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12050
Cleanups
========
– merge ReAssignmentWithoutEffectRule and ReRemoveAssignmentWithoutEffectRule #12071
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12071
– Factorize the list of VM parameters #12072
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12072
– Cleanup: lint cleanup regarding class side #initialize categorization for Metacello classes #12076
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12076
– Small lint issue in Athens cairo tests #12092
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12092
– Cleanup: Fix typo in DailyNonInteractiveTranscript>>#initializeStream #12094
Hello
We would like to thank Dr. S. Jaroshko for his great translation of Pharo by Example 9 in Ukrainian.
You can find the PDF of this book at https://github.com/mr-Serg/PharoByExample-Ukrainian
Thanks a lot! We are all with you.
S.
Hello,
I have released a new version of the Pharo VM for Pharo 9, Pharo 10 and Pharo 11. This VM is accessible right now from Zero-Conf, updating it in the Pharo Launcher or using the usual downloads (as described in pharo.org/download).
This version includes a series of bug fixes and upgrades on the third-party libraries.
Changelog:
– Implementing High resolution clock for ARM64 (Used during profiling)
– Updating third party libraries for all the graphic layer.
– Fixing a performance regression on the allocation of opcodes and fix-ups.
Cleaning only the ones that are going to be used.
Like this, this version has the same speed than before when allocating in the stack.
– Correctly handling the encoding of the command line arguments of the VM (Windows)
– Allocating the opcodes and fixup structs only once and reusing them (Reducing risk of C Stack Overflow)
Thanks a lot, and any doubt please let me know.
Cheers,
Pablo on behalf of the whole Pharo team.–
Pablo Tesone.
tesonep@gmail.com
This week we merged 20 PRs.
Blocks
======
Status: All tests green when compiling with ConstantBlockClosure (but the option is not yet enabled by default)
Work continues to reducing the use of #home, this week by using #homeMethod instead of “home method”
– 12008-Blocks-check-senders-of-compiledCode-can-we-use-homeMethod #12032
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12032
– Context-use-homeMethod #12007
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12007
– some trivial improvements batched (Compiler / Context / Blocks) #12035
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12035
– ConstantBlocks-fix-testIsNotTerminatedWhenItIsInsideLastTerminationMethod #12026
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12026
– ConstantBlocks-Fix-Announcement-Tests #12027
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12027
– Disablequickreturn in blocks #12053
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12053
Refactoring Engine
==================
– Refactor make class abstract #12060
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12060
Features
=====
– Environment: comment #allMethods, add #methods #12028
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12028
– help method for converting integers into corresp… #11800
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11800
– Extend DiffMorph to make it navigable accross differences #11641
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11641
Fixes
=====
– 12049-CI-failure-in-build-testSetUpMethodInSUnitTestsNeedsToBeInRunningProtocol #12051
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12051
– Fix #11995: Handle attempted creation of existing package gracefully #12048
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12048
– Should fix issue 11915 – Pharo compound shortcuts #11954
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11954
– [fix] Pharo issue # 11390: Browsing implementors/senders from source code editors doesn’t browse expected selector #1298
https://github.com/pharo-spec/Spec/pull/1298
– Using version v3.0.4 of libgit to fix the 1.4.4 version in linux #1643
https://github.com/pharo-vcs/iceberg/pull/1643
– Fix Crash when invalid credentials #1642
https://github.com/pharo-vcs/iceberg/pull/1642
Cleanup
=======
– Replacing baseColor method call from class to instance side #12030
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12030
– Fix lint issues #11978
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11978
– 12046 has non standard palette is always returning false #12047
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12047
Pharo10
=======
– [backport] CompiledCode: add #bytecodes #12031
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12031
This is a small experiment about syntax errors when evaluating code. With #evaluate:, we can compile and run a DoIt, for example:
Smalltalk compiler evaluate: ‘1+2’
Imagine you evaluate a String, but it is actually not syntactically correct:
Smalltalk compiler evaluate: ‘1+’
We get an exception (while parsing), a SyntaxErrorDebugger is opened:
This tool is not used often and is fairly odd, in practice we use it for two things: Look at the error message and use the (not easy to find) menu “debug calling process” to see where the eval was called to understand what went wrong (why we consructed a string of invalid code). The problem is that the tool is not easy to understand, and it is not easy to maintain as part of the debugger framework (it is a bit broken even now, especially wrt to editing and continue, which does not matter for DoIts, though).
Could we no do better?
Evaluating code means:
– We parse the string to an AST
– we translate the AST to a DoIt Method
– we execute that method
The error happens inside the parse phase: no method gets contructed, intead an exception is raised. There is quite some machinary to allow re-starting parsing after the error is fixed
(see the exception ReparseAfterSourceEditing and how it is used, quite hard to understand).
The idea that syntax errors are hard errors is quite natural. With batch compilers, there is some effort done to do some auto-repair. This was very useful in old times (punch cards!) to avoid seeing an aborted job the next morning just due to a missing comma. These days it is used to allow better error messages. But it is common to treat syntax errors as hard errors. This is seen as good as they are detected very early and the fact that compiling is not possible is seen as the goal for any kind of error. In the end, type systems try to extend this to non-syntactic problems: If a program is wrong, it should not run. If we call a method that does not exist, the program should not compile.
What if we not follow this standard advice and go the exact opposite direction?
Let’s try:
Our tools parse code after *every* keystroke. The resulting AST is used for syntax highlighting. Which means, we can parse the expression
‘1+’
without any problem, if we use the same mode for the Parser:
Smalltalk compiler
options: #(+ optionParseErrors);
parse: ‘1+’
We see that the parser created an AST, with a ParseErrorNode as the argument of the message send +.
This AST would used by the Syntax HighLighter, and for code completion. But it is in the end just the normal AST that the Compiler uses to compile source text to CompiledMethods.
So can we not just implement the code in the compiler to compile this AST?
The node implements the visitor pattern #acceptVisitor:, which calls visitParseErrorNode:. So we can add support to the compiler by just implementing OCASTTranslator>>#visitParseErrorNode:
visitParseErrorNode: anErrorNode
methodBuilder
pushLiteralVariable: RuntimeSyntaxError binding;
pushLiteral: anErrorNode;
send: #signalSyntaxError:
This just reads the global Variable RuntimeSyntaxError (which is subclass of Error), pushes the error node itself as an argument and sends #signalSyntaxError:
signalSyntaxError: aNode
“we use signalSyntaxError: instead of signal: so we can quickly check
compiledMethods for syntax errors by checking the literals”
^(self new errorNode: aNode) signal
To see what the compiler compiled for that expression, lets compile a DoIt method (this is what #evaluate: does to get a method to execute):
compiledMethod := Smalltalk compiler
noPattern: true;
options: #(+ optionParseErrors);
compile: ‘1+’
So it did compile this bytecode, as expected:
49 <51> pushConstant: 1
50 <10> pushLit: RuntimeSyntaxError
51 <21> pushConstant: RBParseErrorNode()
52 <92> send: signalSyntaxError:
53 <60> send: +
54 <5C> returnTop
To finish what #evaluate does, we can evaluate the compiledMethod (with a nil receiver):
compiledMethod valueWithReceiver: nil arguments: #()
and it works! The standard debugger opens, on the RunTimeSyntaxError:
Can we do that by default for #evaluate? Go to OpalCompiler>>#evaluate and add the optionParseErrors line before compiling:
…
options: #(+ optionParseErrors);
doItMethod := self compile.
…
If you now run
Smalltalk compiler evaluate: ‘1+’
It will open the normal debugger.
What needs to be improved?
– The error message is not shown other than in the debugger window title.
(but all the infos to print a nice error in place is contained in the AST)
– Maybe allowing to edit and proceed could be interesting (not that much for evaluate)
(I will turn this into a blog post later)
Marcus
Hello, this is another report on my activity on the Bloc project.
This visual effect is quite common in graphical user interfaces, often to highlight certain elements or as a aesthetic decoration. When an element drops a shadow, it usually presents a darken and blurred-edges copy underneath. More in general, a shadow can have a x,y offset, an arbitrary color, and a Gaussian “radius” which can be zero meaning sharp edges.
We received requests to support shadows on the Alexandrie canvas and we have now a basic implementation, for the moment without blur. The first clear challenge was being fast on drawing the effect, however there were other challenges that I will comment briefly.
Straight lines, arcs and beziers can have a shadow, that on our first approach was working like on the right. This was following the Sparta-Cairo canvas implementation. But it didn’t look well so we changed it to be more like the SVG’s drop shadow effect (on the left side of the picture).
On text elements, we implemented it like on the picture. This also differs from how the other canvas behaves, casting a rectangular shadow.
The shadow of a completely opaque element, as on the left of this figure, looks fine as a uniform copy of it. When it is transparent as on the right, it’s clear that the shadow should take into account a border. However, the translucent background may be subject to discussion. We currently draw it as in the SVG specification, which is taking the alpha channel of the element that drops the shadow and uses it as a mask to paint the shadow color.
The border of a Bloc element may be drawn inside, center or outside of the geometry bounds. This parameter, named outskirt, required our consideration as the shadow should match the geometry extent with the appropriate border width and outskirt type.
The figure has a vertical line that separates two ways of drawing the shadow of elements. All hexagons have the same extent, only outskirts differ by column: The left column has outskirt inside, the center one has center outskirt, and the right column has outside outskirt.
All screen captures of this report are the output of new rendering tests. They cover a good number of combinations. Pixelated pictures ease comparation, and that’s why you may notice this characteristic on them.
There is a new benchmark for shadows, which shows performance issues that we are working on. Blurred shadow is work in progress.
Thanks for reading. Questions or feedback? Please refer to the #bloc channel at Pharo Discord server, or the openbloc mailing list.
Martín Dias
This week we merged 34 PRs.
Features
========
– New refactoring changes preview presenter #11887
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11887
– Creating a method to print the “full” debug stack #11983
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11983
– 11544 enhance socket to show meaningful errors #11921
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11921
– Adding debugger extension visitor to display variables from extensions (as Chest) #402
https://github.com/pharo-spec/NewTools/pull/402
– add a Method Source View for Context #440
https://github.com/pharo-spec/NewTools/pull/440
Blocks
======
– Tests for clean and constant blocks #12015
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12015
– Support #isReturnSpecial on CompiledBlock #11987
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11987
– 11966-Implement-BlockClosurehomeMethod-without-using-home #12000
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12000
– StDebugger-stackSelectionMethodContext-homeMethod #445
https://github.com/pharo-spec/NewTools/pull/445
– use Context>>#homeMethod #12023
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12023
– 11967-Implement-findMethodContextSuchThat #12013
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12013
– ConstantBlock-fix-DebuggerTest #12024
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12024
Fixes
=====
– 11844-Renaming-a-package-loses-all-the-package-extensions #11982
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11982
– [Compiler] fix code generation when compiling syntax errors: EnglobingError #11947
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11947
– fix var lookup in debugger when block pushed on stack #11989
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11989
– Fix print on recursive array #11916
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11916
– 11937-Cycling-of-Halos-does-not-work-anymore #12016
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12016
– Fixed #11946. Added SequenceableCollection>>truncatedToSize and a trait to test it #11988
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11988
– Fix: “Copy stack to clipboard” doesnt copy the whole stack #442
https://github.com/pharo-spec/NewTools/pull/442
Speed
=====
– Fix slow execution time when using CharacterSet or CharacterSetComple… #11991
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11991
– 12006-Performance-Regression-in-Fuel-Serialization-of-Blocks–CompiledMethods #12022
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12022
External Packages
=================
– Updating version of tonel #12003
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12003
– Integrate Roassal3 v0.9.9k #12012
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12012
Cleanup Help
============
– Fix #11949 less help class #11950
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11950
– Fix spechelp problem #11999
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11999
– Fix 11994 Another pass to remove help classes. Waiting for the integr… #11996
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11996
– Removing help support #12001
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12001
– Removing remaing Help Topic references #444
https://github.com/pharo-spec/NewTools/pull/444
– remove help processor #443
https://github.com/pharo-spec/NewTools/pull/443
– remove Spec2-Help #1333
https://github.com/pharo-spec/Spec/pull/1333
Trival Cleanups
===============
– Cleanup STON classes who show lint issue on categorization of #initia… #11964
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11964
– add tag “system” #11985
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/11985
– 12009-ProperMethodCategorizationTesttestNoUncategorizedMethods-fails-on-CI #12010
https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo/pull/12010
– Trivial-clean-Morph #12025
Weekly news about Pharo 