David Colven wrote:
> I know it was written for Winfdows and I may be a bit naive but would
> any of the code for SAW (C++) be of any use?  We also have things like
> switch state diagrams for most of the switch scanning techniques used.

Warning: techy response.

Well that depends on the architecture of the code (sorry haven't checked
it). If it is well structured with the API specifics factored out into
an abstraction layer then that will be most usable. In any event having
working code that can be examined is worthwhile even if none of it can
be used 'as is'.

Python provides excellent facilities for integrating C/C++ code. You can
create 1st class modules in C or easily added Python as a scripting
language to C programs.

Porting from MS Visual C should be fairly straight forward, depending on
exactly what APIs are used (C/Windows/MFC in order of decreasing
portability). I partially did that with Dasher with few problems but
admittedly only for the Windows platform. My main aim was build with
Open Source tools (MinGW).

I know Ace were thinking about providing a component that encapsulates
scanning allowing it to be reused. That is a good idea especially if it
becomes a standard. The complication is that it provides User Interface
combining input (switch) and output (screen) and thus a challenge to
provide as a component usable in ANY application architecture. Perhaps
someone has done this but my guess is that it would be best to assume a
design pattern such as the tried and tested Model View Controller and
let other architectures work out the impedance match need to use it. It
should work on Windows and Linux and terminal services.

PyGame (python) based on SDL (C) provides good multi platform i/o and a
SDL extension might be an excellent starting point. I used PyGame for
the simple switch controlled  CD player
http://fullmeasure.co.uk/TouchCD/

An Open Standard for encoding data sets is also needed. This will
sharing and easy customisation.

If you imagine a spectrum of customisation possibilities, Open Source is
at one extream by allowing code modification. I tried to explain this
idea in the following article:

http://fullmeasure.co.uk/PowerTalk/a57_software_dev.pdf

The last bullet did say Open Source builds but got a bit muddled under
the editorial knife.

Steve