What we're working on next
Joel
working on since Version 1.6's been released, so here it goes:
Until we release POG 2.0, I'll be making minor improvements to 1.6. For
e.g. what we've done so far:
- added better phpdoc generation
- added pagination to getlist()
At the same time, Mark is currently working on new features for 2.0,
the main one being the addition of a SOAP functionality to POG, which
will allow us or anyone,for that matter,to generate objects through a
web service.
why do we need such a service?
Jon is currently working on designs for a new "add-on" tool which will
use this web service and which will also integrate with POG. The tool
will be called Web Form Factory. As the name implies, it will generate
web forms. So, POG users will be able to generate a form for any one of
their generated object from within the setup app. Non-POG users will
also be able to generate forms + objects in one step through this
service.
Just thought we'd share what we're working on. Send us your feedback,
questions etc.
Joel
Aaron Vegh
This is all exciting stuff. I like how POG is getting a _little_
"framework-y", but you're developing it in sensible, small stages. For
those of us who have been using POG for a while, this makes the
learning curve much more digestible!
I'd be interested in hearing some of your "big picture" thoughts about
POG: where it's going in the next 3-4 major versions, and what sort of
end state you're looking to achieve.
Cheers!
Aaron.
Joel
Indeed, we're making POG more "framework-y" but in the big picture of
things, I personally see a collection of tools that can be used
independently as well as together.
The end-user will be able to pick and choose one, or a combination of
different "application blocks" depending on their needs. I suspect that
some users will be satisfied with one tool and won't even care about
the others, and that's exactly how I think it should be. This is
different from a framework where you download an entire library, even
if you only need a small fraction of it.
Of course, in many cases, people who've been following POG since the
beginning will be aware of all the other components and tools related
to POG and that's a good thing too.
In terms of POG itself, the new features for the next major versions
(2.0 and beyond) will probably include the following:
- allow objects to be generated on-demand using a SOAP service (v2.0)
- generate relations between objects. (v2.5 / v3.0)
- other methods? (e.g SaveList())
- caching?
there are many things we could add, but the question is does it make
sense to do it, and caching/savelist() are not show stoppers right now.
To be honest, we're already past the initial "end-point" i had in mind
when we first stated. What we have right now is powerful enough so that
we can start building other tools based on POG itself, for e.g Web Form
Factory etc.
So currently, I see POG evolving along with PHP and depending on
demand/need. For the current versions of PHP (4, 5 etc), POG is
filling a "gap" because it is still time-consuming to do database
programming using PHP. Theoretically, if PHP 7 or 8 decides to provide
an ORM library or even a code generation library, then there probably
won't be a need for POG anymore and continuing development would be
pointless. I'm also keeping an eye on what exactly the zend framework
will look like and take it from there.
Hope this gives a bird's view of where pog is heading.
Aaron Vegh
thanks for the thoughts. I've been thinking about this lately too, so
maybe this is as good a forum as any to share my impressions...
I've been looking longingly at Rails for a while now, but due to a
lack of time and a preponderance of projects to get done, sticking
with PHP for my projects has been a necessity. Some of the things I
love about Rails include:
1. (most important) Enforced coding behaviour that results in cleaner
code -- the MVC model.
2. An easy, built-in method for accessing database data (plus scaffolding)
3. Easy data validation, enforced at the model level
It's turned out that by changing some coding habits I can more-closely
emulate the behaviour of Rails (point one), and my early development
in this new way is helping me a lot. POG is also a huge help, because
it makes my second point moot.
So I really like your idea about creating new "plugins" based on POG,
and us developers can pick and choose. That sounds great. So I have
two ideas that spring from that notion, and let me know what you
think:
1. A data validation module. Can we figure out some way of ensuring
only the data we're expecting from forms makes it into POG?
2. Some kind of API. Thar be some funky wizardry in your object
generation code, and it seems your SOAP service will be a good help
here, but I wonder if it would be helpful to other developers to
include a programmatic means for accessing POG's guts? Such an API
would allow a third party to, say, readily add validation as a module,
or even create a new Setup app that is more usable than the existing
one. :-)
Okay, brain empty. Let me know what you think.
Cheers,
Aaron.
Joel
definitely planned in next major releases. so no worries about that.
2. About the API, i hear ya. that's why we're working on the SOAP.
It's a good first step i think. However, because POG is already
low-level PHP itself, I don't think there's a way to add a general API
that will allow others to tinker with everything. There are areas
though that we can make more generic and open up for "plugins" such as
the type of "data encoding", type of "data validation" and type of
diagnostic tests as you were mentioning. So that's definitely an idea
to consider.
Thanks for the feedback, as always.
Joel
cvokk
I just thought about a little cosmetic feature, which you maybe find a
bit useless, but when using pog online, I sometimes needed to add some
fields just in the middle of all already defined fields and shifting
each field by hand is a bit tedious work. I know that position of the
field has no impact on functionality but I just wanted to have my
objects clearly organized. Or maybe I am pedant a bit :).
Thank s anyway for your consideration.
Regards.
Vita.
Joel
We'll add this feature to the wishlist. this might actually be a pretty
easy feature to implement, and if we find the time we'll add it.
Thanks for the feedback
Joel
Joel
I had a few minutes today and I implemented the reposition fields
feature.
To reorder fields, use the Up and Down arrow keys while your cursor is
on the attribute names.
It's actually a pretty fun "hidden" feature.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Regards,
Joel
cvokk
that's great!
Thank you.
Vita.
wein...@gmail.com
I've been using POG for about 2 or 3 weeks now for a new website I'm
starting, and I've found it incredibly useful so far. My database is
getting pretty complex however, and I think that having the ability to
generate relations between objects would be a very useful. I'm glad
it's something that you guys are looking into. Anyways, keep up the
great work, and I look forward to the new versions!