Wigbi 1.0 alpha done

I have just ended a couple of months worth of Wigbi 1.0 development. The result is a complete rewrite of previous Wigbi versions, with a load of new features, increased stability and…well, more

Since Wigbi 1.0 is developed with TDD, I have found several major bugs that I have not known about before. Thanks to the fact that I have unit tests for every bit of source code, future Wigbi versions should be rock-steady as well.

I will generate documentation for Wigbi 1.0a and will then put it out for download. Notice, however, that no the alpha release will include no plugins, since I have not ported the old versions to 1.0 yet.

All of you who prefer to download the source code will notice that I have removed a lot of in-code documentation, since I believe that the code speaks for itself. The class documentation has been slimmed down a bit as well.

Wigbi 1.0 alpha download will be out really soon…but now: bed.

Wigbi 1.0 PHP system and core packages DONE

I have finished rewriting all PHP system/core classes. It has been great fun and since Wigbi 1.0 is test-driven, future releases will be rock steady, which will be a relief.

I will now move on to the JavaScript classes, and will search for a nice TDD framework for JavaScript. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. After finishing the JS classes, which should be a piece of cake, I will rewrite all data and UI plugins as well.

However, since Wigbi is entirelly based on the system/core classes, the rest of the work should be a smooooth ride.

Wigbi 1.0 system and core packages almost done

I have almost completed rewriting all the Wigbi 0.99.3 system and core package classes. The new Wigbi version is fully test-driven, which is a huge improvement from earlier versions. All in all, the new version features a lot of improvements, some class/method removals and a much more slick framework.

All system and core classes are now entirelly independent of the Wigbi class. Only one static class remains (SessionHandler) – the rest have been made unstatic, with default instances that can be accessed via the Wigbi class.

I only have the Wigbi and WigbiDataPlugin (previously called Seed) classes left before I start to convert all the various plugins. All in all, the plugins should be a rather short business to convert, since they all benefit from functionality in already tested base classes.

The documentation will be slicker than before as well. I am currently considering to NOT write demos for all the various system classes and plugins, since the web site has few visitors. Instead, I think I’ll make it possible to request demos to be written, so that I only have to write demos when people need them.

Finally, the AJAX pipeline previously only supported functions that used base type parameters, like strings, integers, booleans and arrays. In Wigbi 1.0, I want to make it possible to serialize/unserialize data back and forth between PHP and JavaScript, and would thus need a serialize/unserialize implementation in JavaScript. Please let me know about any such implementations that gets the job done.

The work with Wigbi 1.0 proceeds

I am currently working with the Wigbi 1.0 release, which I wrote about earlier. I have now finished writing new versions for the following classes:

• CacheHandler
• IniReader
• JavaScript
• LogHandler
• SessionHandler
• Wigbi (part done)

Working with SimpleTest has simplified development a lot, which is why the pace is so good

In Wigbi 1.0, all system classes will be independent of the Wigbi class (except—the Wigbi class), which means that you will be able to use them for other purposes as well, without having to rely on Wigbi. The only static classes (so far) are JavaScript and Wigbi. All other system classes now have default handlers that are initialized by Wigbi and accessed as properties of the Wigbi class.

Several classes remain,  as well as data and UI plugin classes…but I’m getting there.

Development of Wigbi 1.0 has begun

After a while away from Wigbi, I have finally decided to start with the development of Wigbi 1.0, which will be a complete rewrite of the Wigi 0.99.x source code. Although the functionality will remain, some classes may be removed while others will be entirely rewritten.

In Wigbi 1.0, seeds and controls will be renamed to the more intuitive data and UI plugins. I will also rewrite all plugins in a way that makes them even easier to use and manage.

For instance, data plugins will be even easier to create and will require a minimum of code, since I have decided to remove the requirement for property methods. Wigbi will affect the variables and will not require that they are handled by properties or property methods.

UI plugins (User Interface) will also be even easier to use, since I will reduce the JavaScript code of each plugin to a minimum. To affect the elements of each plugin, developers may use jQuery instead of using JavaScript properties for each plugin. Why reinvent the wheel?

Also, Wigbi 1.0 will be fully test-driven, which is why I have started to look at various PHP TDD/BDD alternatives. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

I expect Wigbi 1.0 to be released at the end of May. If you feel like contributing, please let me know.