Article Preview
Buy Now
| Print: | |
| PDF: |
Review
SafariTabs and SourceList
Issue: 6.2 (January/February 2008)
Author: Dave Mancuso
Article Description: No description available.
Article Length (in bytes): 3,416
Starting Page Number: 10
RBD Number: 6207
Resource File(s): None
Related Web Link(s):
http://homepage.mac.com/tombenson
Known Limitations: None
Full text of article...
Product SafariTabs 1.0.3 and SourceList 1.0.0 Manufacturer QEDit Oty Ltd. Price SafariTabs and SourceList are both open source (donationware) Contact Info http://homepage.mac.com/tombenson Pros Products do exactly what they say, being open source makes them easy to work with Cons None to speak of Rating (1.0-5.0): 4.5 When I asked my partner Brad Rhine to review SafariTabs, he came back a few days later and said "Dave, it just works. It makes Safari tabs." I'd seen it go through a few revisions on the REALbasic Network Users Group mailing list, and I was interested in it. I'd also seen another item by the same developer that looked interesting named SourceList.
So I decided to review both SafariTabs and SourceList, both items from Tom Benson. Tom released these through his company, QEDit Pty Ltd. They're both tools for use in REALbasic to include in RB applications. SafariTabs was originally a shareware product, but it has now joined SourceList as an open source/donationware product.
Brad is right. SafariTabs simply works. It's a tab panel control styled to look and act like the page tabs in Safari. Simply download it and run the demo project. Add a few tabs and you're all set. You can set the width of the tabs (minimum and standard widths) and support for tab icons.
The tab icon support is a nice touch. I also liked the protected tab option (tabs without close buttons). Really, the only thing that would be nice to see is the ability to rearrange tabs by dragging. Of course, since it's open source, you could tackle that feature yourself if you're so inclined. SafariTabs is clean and simple, ready to insert into your project of choice.
Sourcelist is essentially a proof of concept that developed into a class. It was part of a project that was never fully developed. SourceList (part of the same discontinued project as SafariTabs?) was split out on its own. Essentially, SourceList mimics the behavior of the mailbox listing in the OS X Mail application. More to the point, it supports hierarchical items in the list, nicely indented with disclosure triangles. It comes with mailbox icons, but it could certainly be adapted to meet any needs you see fit.
The nice thing about both SafariTabs and SourceList is that they're open source. The author welcomes changes and improvements to the code, simply asking that you send any updates or changes back to him. Even if you don't use them in your own projects immediately, it's nice to see how another developer approaches design in REALbasic. Frankly, that's worth a donation by itself. It's nice to see (and dissect) innovative work like this. It benefits the developer community. In addition, it makes me wonder what else Tom has up his sleeve. SafariTabs and SourceList are nice options for inclusion in a REALbasic project.
End of article.
Article copyrighted by REALbasic Developer magazine. All rights reserved.
|
