Bugs in Example Projects window

[dbannon]

I have no idea ulaz_examples.lpi is doing there. Running ulaz_examples as a standalone project makes no sense, it needs a wrapper around it to provide various data inputs. I don't remember making it but I must have, perhaps in early experimental days.

I have tested both my Test Rig for ulaz_examples and Lazarus itself, neither care that ulaz_examples.lpi was deleted. Its a distraction, remove it please !

If you want to run ulaz_examples in a standalone mode (heaps easier to test/develop) I suggest https://gitlab.com/dbannon/laz_examples/-/tree/main/Utility/ExScanner - the temp rig I made to manage moving the various examples around and building their initial metadata files. Most of its functionality is now redundant and its a bit of a lash up. But its one remaining use is to test the new Examples window outside of Lazarus.

Maybe I should strip out all the redundant stuff and make it just the wrapper to demonstrate the Example Window ?

As mentioned previously, to just create and edit a metadata file use   https://github.com/davidbannon/ExampleMetaData

Davo

[Aruna]

I dare to link a picture of my son who visited and helped with the logs, although this is out of topic in Lazarus list :
 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hS_f_1zMAYLz03n2gie5rmJ1Ko0wdCMQ/view
He worked with a chainsaw for the first time and liked it.

If that young man was to grow a beard he would be your twin. He looks exactly like you.
I have never used a chainsaw. Maybe one day :-) And I see your shadow on the ground in the picture.
That is a lot of logs.What kind of car is that? Must be very strong if it can pull all those logs.

[Aruna]

Aruna, I am not sure just what you are doing "I tried to test the latest changes ulaz_examples.lpi". To test the example window, get Lazarus Main, build it and run it. Click the Examples button or menu under tools.  You should not be interacting with ulaz_examples.lpi directly.

I wanted to test the examples window just like any other stand-alone if I can do that it will save me a lot of time compared to always git fetch then git merge then rebuild the ide (which can be a real pain when you have to do it many times). So how do I get it to run like any other stand alone then?

[Aruna]

Aruna, I am not sure just what you are doing "I tried to test the latest changes ulaz_examples.lpi". To test the example window, get Lazarus Main, build it and run it. Click the Examples button or menu under tools.  You should not be interacting with ulaz_examples.lpi directly.

Indeed the ulaz_examples.lpi project does not work. I guess it is a standalone version of the examples window. IMO it should be either fixed or removed.
@Aruna, exampleprojects.lpk is the IDE plugin package.

Yes Juha I saw both the .lpk and the .lpi so I decided to give the .lpi a test drive but as you saw the IDE started complaining.

[Aruna]

I have no idea ulaz_examples.lpi is doing there. Running ulaz_examples as a standalone project makes no sense, it needs a wrapper around it to provide various data inputs. I don't remember making it but I must have, perhaps in early experimental days.

Well no one remembers everything they did especially if it has been many months so this is normal. I can't remember what I did last evening most times.

I have tested both my Test Rig for ulaz_examples and Lazarus itself, neither care that ulaz_examples.lpi was deleted. Its a distraction, remove it please !

I disgaree. You say distraction I say this is an opportunity to learn? And once we learn how to get that ulaz_examples.lpi to run like a stand alone it will help others at some later point in time. If you look carefully the form caption/title says 'Prototype'

If you want to run ulaz_examples in a standalone mode (heaps easier to test/develop) I suggest https://gitlab.com/dbannon/laz_examples/-/tree/main/Utility/ExScanner - the temp rig I made to manage moving the various examples around and building their initial metadata files. Most of its functionality is now redundant and its a bit of a lash up. But its one remaining use is to test the new Examples window outside of Lazarus.

This is exactly what I want to do but why can I not do this in teh Lazarus ide? Why do I have to do this outside of lazarus? That would be defeating the purpose?

Maybe I should strip out all the redundant stuff and make it just the wrapper to demonstrate the Example Window ?

Yes please lets do that.

As mentioned previously, to just create and edit a metadata file use   https://github.com/davidbannon/ExampleMetaData

I am still trying to understand the reason you decided to go with json? We can do the same thing with a simple text file? Unless you were thinking of the online/internet/trunk/remote stuff? With a plain old text file we can reduce the code to a few lines compared to what we need right now to process that json?

[dbannon]

If you want to run ulaz_examples in a standalone mode (heaps easier to test/develop) I suggest https://gitlab.com/dbannon/laz_examples/-/tree/main/Utility/ExScanner - the temp rig I made to manage moving the various examples around and building their initial metadata files. Most of its functionality is now redundant and its a bit of a lash up. But its one remaining use is to test the new Examples window outside of Lazarus.

This is exactly what I want to do but why can I not do this in teh Lazarus ide? Why do I have to do this outside of lazarus? That would be defeating the purpose?

If you want to use the Example Window as part of the IDE, click the appropriate Button or menu item.

If you want to play with its code, see the project I mentioned above.

The only other combination I can see if opening the Example Window as a project without downloading  https://gitlab.com/dbannon/laz_examples/-/tree/main/Utility/ExScanner. If thats necessary, as I said, I can strip out the unneeded content from ExScanner and put it in the lazarus source tree. I don't know what the policy is wrt unnecessary code like that. Personally, I think its a reasonable idea but will wait for Juha to comment.

But whatever happens, the existing ulaz_examples.lpi has no place in the source tree.

I am still trying to understand the reason you decided to go with json? We can do the same thing with a simple text file? Unless you were thinking of the online/internet/trunk/remote stuff? With a plain old text file we can reduce the code to a few lines compared to what we need right now to process that json?

In the early part of this project, we considered moving the Examples to an online repo, that would reduce the SRC tree size a bit and it was one way to solve the *nix "installed in Read Only Space" issue. However, Lazarus on MacOS has a less than perfect http unit and it was decided to drop that for the immediate future at least. The code is still in there, ifdef'ed out and the repo where the content lives is   https://gitlab.com/dbannon/laz_examples/ - now only used when a user asks to see an example in the browser.

The tools to manage keeping that repo up to date are in the current EXScanner ....

Davo

[JuhaManninen]

I removed the obsolete .lpi file in 8a80bb3b85.

If you want to run ulaz_examples in a standalone mode (heaps easier to test/develop) I suggest https://gitlab.com/dbannon/laz_examples/-/tree/main/Utility/ExScanner - the temp rig I made to manage moving the various examples around and building their initial metadata files. Most of its functionality is now redundant and its a bit of a lash up. But its one remaining use is to test the new Examples window outside of Lazarus.

This is exactly what I want to do but why can I not do this in teh Lazarus ide? Why do I have to do this outside of lazarus? That would be defeating the purpose?

You can open the ExScanner project in Lazarus IDE after you downloaded it from gitlab.com/dbannon repository. It should be easy enough.
Lazarus distribution should stay slim and not be bloated with such extra stuff. I also hope the online examples idea is still alive. It would be a perfect match.
The Examples window is able to open a selected example project in the IDE on the fly. That's why it is an IDE plugin. A standalone application cannot do that.

I wanted to test the examples window just like any other stand-alone if I can do that it will save me a lot of time compared to always git fetch then git merge then rebuild the ide (which can be a real pain when you have to do it many times). So how do I get it to run like any other stand alone then?

You are doing something wrong if the update is a pain. Just do "git pull" in main branch, then open Lazarus IDE and rebuild it from its Tools menu. Usually the build is quick. However after a (rare) refactoring change that moved files around the compilation may fail and you must select "Clean all" in the Configure "Build Lazarus" window. Then compilation takes longer but even then just few minutes unless you have a very slow machine.

P.S.

What kind of car is that? Must be very strong if it can pull all those logs.

Volvo S60 AWD from 2002, bought from a net auction almost 4 years ago. A 5-cylinder engine with turbo. Yes, 5 (five).
The German Anssems trailer has brakes and can carry over a ton of payload legally. Nice!
I guess you saw my Google profile photo which is outdated. Now I look older because ... I am older. I will remove the profile photo sometime soon.

[Aruna]

I am still trying to understand the reason you decided to go with json? We can do the same thing with a simple text file? Unless you were thinking of the online/internet/trunk/remote stuff? With a plain old text file we can reduce the code to a few lines compared to what we need right now to process that json?

In the early part of this project, we considered moving the Examples to an online repo, that would reduce the SRC tree size a bit and it was one way to solve the *nix "installed in Read Only Space" issue. However, Lazarus on MacOS has a less than perfect http unit and it was decided to drop that for the immediate future at least. The code is still in there, ifdef'ed out and the repo where the content lives is   https://gitlab.com/dbannon/laz_examples/ - now only used when a user asks to see an example in the browser.

Ok now I understand. Thank you.

The tools to manage keeping that repo up to date are in the current EXScanner ....

Thanks I will stop by that repo soon :-)

[Aruna]

You can open the ExScanner project in Lazarus IDE after you downloaded it from gitlab.com/dbannon repository. It should be easy enough.

Thank you I will try this soon.

Lazarus distribution should stay slim and not be bloated with such extra stuff. I also hope the online examples idea is still alive. It would be a perfect match.
The Examples window is able to open a selected example project in the IDE on the fly. That's why it is an IDE plugin. A standalone application cannot do that.

Agreed no bloat and slim as we can get is good. What exactly is this  online examples you are referring to? This is the first time I am hearing of this. I think David mentioned this as well but I was not aware we had a repositery full of online examples somewhere. Or is this yet to be done?

You are doing something wrong if the update is a pain. Just do "git pull" in main branch, then open Lazarus IDE and rebuild it from its Tools menu. Usually the build is quick. However after a (rare) refactoring change that moved files around the compilation may fail and you must select "Clean all" in the Configure "Build Lazarus" window. Then compilation takes longer but even then just few minutes unless you have a very slow machine.

The last three lines below in the bash terminal output snippet should answer the question if my machine is slow. And this was a make clean all from the command prompt. I like to see all the stuff the shell/terminal throws up as it goes through the copile and link proces :-D Line # 17,18 and 19 will be of interest.

Code: Bash  [Select][+][-]

1. -Hint: (11030) Start of reading config file /etc/fpc.cfg
2. Hint: (11031) End of reading config file /etc/fpc.cfg
3. Free Pascal Compiler version 3.2.0+dfsg-12 [2021/01/25] for x86_64
4. Copyright (c) 1993-2020 by Florian Klaempfl and others
5. (1002) Target OS: Linux for x86-64
6. (3104) Compiling startlazarus.lpr
7. (3104) Compiling redirect_stderr.pas
8. (3104) Compiling lazarusmanager.pas
9. /home/aruna/lazarus/ide/lazarusmanager.pas(138,35) Hint: (5024) Parameter "Sender" not used
10. (9022) Compiling resource ../units/x86_64-linux/gtk2/startlazarus.or
11. (9015) Linking ../startlazarus
12. (1008) 748 lines compiled, 2.7 sec
13. (1022) 3 hint(s) issued
14. make[2]: Leaving directory '/home/aruna/lazarus/ide'
15. make[1]: Leaving directory '/home/aruna/lazarus/ide'
16.  
17. real    2m12.537s
18. user    1m35.501s
19. sys     0m7.744s
20. aruna@debian:~/lazarus$
21.  

P.S.

What kind of car is that? Must be very strong if it can pull all those logs.

Volvo S60 AWD from 2002, bought from a net auction almost 4 years ago. A 5-cylinder engine with turbo. Yes, 5 (five).
The German Anssems trailer has brakes and can carry over a ton of payload legally. Nice!
I guess you saw my Google profile photo which is outdated. Now I look older because ... I am older. I will remove the profile photo sometime soon.

Wow a 5 cylinder eh? Volvo's are very strong cars built to last. I saw your picture here:

[JuhaManninen]

Agreed no bloat and slim as we can get is good. What exactly is this  online examples you are referring to? This is the first time I am hearing of this. I think David mentioned this as well but I was not aware we had a repositery full of online examples somewhere. Or is this yet to be done?

It is yet to be done, although the Examples window has already code for it. There were some technical issues.
It would be analogous to the online package manager. Practically every programmer nowadays has an internet connection. It wasn't so always. Even with a poor connection it is enough to get a proper connection once to download many online examples and packages which then stay in the user's machine. It is the right way to go with code that only part of the users need.

The last three lines below in the bash terminal output snippet should answer the question if my machine is slow. And this was a make clean all from the command prompt. I like to see all the stuff the shell/terminal throws up as it goes through the copile and link proces :-D Line # 17,18 and 19 will be of interest.

Code: Bash  [Select][+][-]

1. real    2m12.537s
2. user    1m35.501s
3. sys     0m7.744s

Nice. Not slow.
Did you know that rebuilding Lazarus from its Tool menu is even faster because it compiles packages in parallel? The more CPU cores you have, the faster it compiles.
This is true both for your own projects and for a Lazarus rebuild.

Wow a 5 cylinder eh? Volvo's are very strong cars built to last. I saw your picture here:

OK, my picture in wiki developer pages is also outdated. I guess I should take a new picture of myself.
Volvo's 5-cylinder engines have a unique sound, also partly because of its crankshaft angles and exhaust manifold design. Somebody wrote it sounds like a baby-10-cylinder engine.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FQh79xgaK0
More Volvo exhaust fumes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DybVpNuPKFU  Swedish commentator 

One more out of topic picture, taken today :
 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-2-42qMzRCKdcVJEPjAMPQCJdvFMtmFq/view
We have almost 40 cm of snow. There was never so much snow in southern Finland in mid-December during my lifetime. Ice age coming!
Temperature early this morning was -23°C.

[dbannon]

I removed the obsolete .lpi file in 8a80bb3b85.

Thanks !

You can open the ExScanner project in Lazarus IDE after you downloaded it from gitlab.com/dbannon repository. It should be easy enough.
Lazarus distribution should stay slim and not be bloated with such extra stuff. I also hope the online examples idea is still alive. It would be a perfect match.

But remember, to do a valid test using EXScanner, you must copy the current ulaz_examples.pas/lfm files from the Lazarus tree into ExScanners tree so its testing the current version !  (And possibly some of the other files from ~/components/examplewindow if they have changed. Use diff if doubtfull.

I will strip ExScanner down to just a demo of uLaz_examples, remove or maybe hide some of the other stuff. As time permits. Had a couple of days in hospital so running behind with stuff at the moment.

The online code is still there and, I hope reasonably easily resurrected. At the time, MacOS's fphttp systems were not functional (according to Trev) and it needed a whole lot of Mac specific code using the Mac API, think it related to ssl but would need to go back and check.  I considered it impractical to add all that Mac specific code then ....

But I do like the idea still. The on line repo itself is there and I keep it current because its an easy way to view the example code (in a browser) with out closing the project you are working on.

I wanted to test the examples window just like any other stand-alone if I can do that it will save me a lot of time compared to always git fetch then git merge then rebuild the ide (which can be a real pain when you have to do it many times). So how do I get it to run like any other stand alone then?

No, no need to git fetch. Just pull. If you have made a lot of local changes, easy to revert them with git checkout <file> unless you want to keep them.  Un like Juha, I always do a make clean before make. Just to be sure.  You don't need to do that pull that often, look on gitlab and see if any changes have been made in the specific area you are working in, if not, don't be in too much of a rush to pull.

Volvo S60 AWD from 2002, bought from a net auction almost 4 years ago. A 5-cylinder engine with turbo. Yes, 5 (five).

Diesel ? My Ranger has a European 5 cyclinder Diesel, they could have some common ansersory. Its a great engine, strong and reliable.

Juha, those logs ? They look straight and long enough for construction use, seems a waste to use them for firewood, is there no better market than that ?  We don't use softwood for firewood here anyway, having a good (but NOT endless) supply of hardwood.  Hmm, being softwood, they would be lighter than I would expect just looking at the picture.

That 'snowy' picture you linked to Juha, looks very Christmassy !  here in AU, where its hot over Christmas, we still send people christmas cards with pictures like that !

I was not aware we had a repositery full of online examples somewhere. Or is this yet to be done?

Open the Examples Window, select a project and click "View in Browser".

Davo

[JuhaManninen]

Still about the ListViewFilterEdit control :

* How to add an item ?  Seems its a call to ~.items.add(Item:T); And that item is fgl thingo. I use Pascal because its strongly typed, if I want something that can be any old type depending on the day of the week, I'd use Python.

A specialized generics type is strongly typed. In this case it is a container of TListViewDataItem.

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. TListViewDataList = specialize TFPGList<TListViewDataItem>;

The bug is in Codetools. The code hint in editor shows "const Item T" instead of "const Item TListViewDataItem". It doesn't mean that compiler would accept any other type than TListViewDataItem.
I found it was reported already 6 years ago.
 https://gitlab.com/freepascal.org/lazarus/lazarus/-/issues/29860
Somebody should fix it. The report even gives a hint about where the fix should go.

The ListViewFilterEdit example project you provided revealed a bug in the filter. Setting Filter := 'x' in program code does not show it visually in the edit. I will fix and extend it.

Diesel ? My Ranger has a European 5 cyclinder Diesel, they could have some common ansersory. Its a great engine, strong and reliable.

My Volvo has a 2.4 liter gasoline engine. Yes, Ford co-operated with Volvo at some point. The engine has Volvo origins.

Juha, those logs ? They look straight and long enough for construction use, seems a waste to use them for firewood, is there no better market than that ?  We don't use softwood for firewood here anyway, having a good (but NOT endless) supply of hardwood.  Hmm, being softwood, they would be lighter than I would expect just looking at the picture.

Complex issue. Big wood companies prefer to buy a lot of wood at a time. By selling firewood I could do it gradually. I am a newbie in selling wood, let's see what happens.
We have little "hardwood" here. Birch is the best firewood energy-wise, but fir and pine are burned as we have a lot of them.
The logs in the pic were not very heavy because they had dried a bit during a hot summer. Later I fell and lifted some fresh wood logs that were heavy. Both the trailer and myself were at our limits carrying them.

[dbannon]

....
The bug is in Codetools. The code hint in editor shows "const Item T" instead of "const Item TListViewDataItem". It doesn't mean that compiler would accept any other type than TListViewDataItem.
I found it was reported already 6 years ago.
 https://gitlab.com/freepascal.org/lazarus/lazarus/-/issues/29860
Somebody should fix it. The report even gives a hint about where the fix should go.

OK, that makes more sense. My favorite thing with Pascal is its strong Typing, that bug seemed (but only "seemed") to confirm my worst fears !  Very glad its just a codetools issue. I depend on CodeTools quite a lot, if its wrong, there was nowhere to fall back on. But, as you see in the demo, it was pretty easy to work out.

The ListViewFilterEdit example project you provided revealed a bug in the filter. Setting Filter := 'x' in program code does not show it visually in the edit. I will fix and extend it.

That would be much nicer. The programmer can, of course, set it themself. Do you have the time to fix it ?

We have little "hardwood" here. Birch is the best firewood energy-wise, but fir and pine are burned as we have a lot of them.

And of course they grow a lot quicker than hardwood too. My own land, classed as "woodland", not forest, is all hardwood mostly about 100 years old. Was all cleared back in the gold rush. Australia grows a lot of pinus radiata, not a native but good commercial crop. Grows fast if it gets enough water. But our fire places and wood burners are designed for hardwood.

But, yes, it makes sense to sell firewood by the trailer load but it would be much nicer if you could get in touch with a local builder who wanted it. 

Davo

[Aruna]

Agreed no bloat and slim as we can get is good. What exactly is this  online examples you are referring to? This is the first time I am hearing of this. I think David mentioned this as well but I was not aware we had a repositery full of online examples somewhere. Or is this yet to be done?

It is yet to be done, although the Examples window has already code for it. There were some technical issues.
It would be analogous to the online package manager. Practically every programmer nowadays has an internet connection. It wasn't so always. Even with a poor connection it is enough to get a proper connection once to download many online examples and packages which then stay in the user's machine. It is the right way to go with code that only part of the users need.

Yes I remember those days when all we had was a dial up connection using a modem running at 9600 baud, 9.6kb/sec somewhere in the early 1980's and later at 56,000 baud, 56kb/sec  over a two-wire analog phone line somewhere in 1991.

The last three lines below in the bash terminal output snippet should answer the question if my machine is slow. And this was a make clean all from the command prompt. I like to see all the stuff the shell/terminal throws up as it goes through the copile and link proces :-D Line # 17,18 and 19 will be of interest.

Code: Bash  [Select][+][-]

1. real    2m12.537s
2. user    1m35.501s
3. sys     0m7.744s

Nice. Not slow.
Did you know that rebuilding Lazarus from its Tool menu is even faster because it compiles packages in parallel? The more CPU cores you have, the faster it compiles.
This is true both for your own projects and for a Lazarus rebuild.

I did not know this. Thank you I will test this.

OK, my picture in wiki developer pages is also outdated. I guess I should take a new picture of myself.
Volvo's 5-cylinder engines have a unique sound, also partly because of its crankshaft angles and exhaust manifold design. Somebody wrote it sounds like a baby-10-cylinder engine.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FQh79xgaK0
More Volvo exhaust fumes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DybVpNuPKFU  Swedish commentator 

That first video link you sent from 0:06 seconds to 0.16 seconds it sounds like a motorbike accelerating and if we go put wings on that am betting that set of wheels is going to take off just like an airplane. Haha Swedish commentator huh? Whoever who made the video has a great sense of humour :-D

One more out of topic picture, taken today :
 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-2-42qMzRCKdcVJEPjAMPQCJdvFMtmFq/view
We have almost 40 cm of snow. There was never so much snow in southern Finland in mid-December during my lifetime. Ice age coming!
Temperature early this morning was -23°C.

It will be -40 in the evening in Edmonton this coming Wednesday 21st of December. I have attached a screenshot. Ice age never left places like Nunavit normal daytime temperature is usually below 20 degrees celsious. I have attached a screenshot.

[Aruna]

I wanted to test the examples window just like any other stand-alone if I can do that it will save me a lot of time compared to always git fetch then git merge then rebuild the ide (which can be a real pain when you have to do it many times). So how do I get it to run like any other stand alone then?

No, no need to git fetch. Just pull. If you have made a lot of local changes, easy to revert them with git checkout <file> unless you want to keep them.  Un like Juha, I always do a make clean before make. Just to be sure.  You don't need to do that pull that often, look on gitlab and see if any changes have been made in the specific area you are working in, if not, don't be in too much of a rush to pull.

  Oh-kay will do :-)

I was not aware we had a repositery full of online examples somewhere. Or is this yet to be done?

Open the Examples Window, select a project and click "View in Browser".

I just tried this and very nice, good stuff!