As you know, I would normaly go to the WF-Sections website with any questions I might have, but this one involves more people from many different areas of development and may garner a different or more complex answer depending on who gives it.
Heres my situation. I'm using newbb 1.2 (beta version) It's stable, I've fixed a few things and it runs good on a site I am still developing. Except for a couple features that are not yet in finished, this module is really shaping up to be the king of all XOOPS modules.
Heres the thing. It also comes with a xoops.js file, that works and is running the site now just fine as it is. It
is required by newbb, unless I'm mistaken.
I have a problem. If I overwrite the existing (the now
new xoops.js for newbb(18k)) with yours (12k) I will most assuredly loose all the info contained in my current .js file thereby breaking my forums.
Two things. What changes or additions have you made to the xoops.js file so that I can insert them myself? Secondly,(and more genericly) what sort of trend can users expect as respective modules come out with differing xoops.js files? Surely you can see where that will lead. Overwriting a core file with a different schema each time is going to be fire and brimstone for some people if they do not excercise some caution.
I'm not trying to play the ignorant fool here, I know that I could just as easily 'not' use the upcoming version of newbb, but as you can see, even if I do not, when the official release 'does' comes out, it
will conflict with your module and overwrite your included .js, breaking downloads (potentialy). Is there another way around this, or is this the only means of using your .js script with future modules? (ie: newbb when it comes will overwrite yours and vice versa)
I know you say that the xoops.js is not really needed, but how dependant is our site on this file if these changes keep coming about? (Please pardon my programming ignorance, I produce content, not code)
This is just something I wanted to bring to peoples attention before a situation arises. Right now, it's safe to use the downloads module, but what will happen to it when newbb comes out? Will newbb find another way to tie in 'their' xoops.js? These are the things going through my mind.
For now I am holding back on this wonderfull and much needed download module, as my users are demanding progress on the site which is now running the latest version of newbb. I decided last week to give them some crumbs, now they want the whole pie. I promised them forums and thats what I'll give them. It works, it's important and it staying in play. The reason I am so strong on that point is that a new version of newbb
will eventually be released and it is a much more powerful system then our current version. Carefull upgrades on my part will maintain it's integrety as the realease comes to final, which is what I was prepared to do for my users.
Sorry for the long post. I'm just a bit concerned on the differentiating xoops.js files as each subsequent release comes down the pipe. Stronger communication is needed between developers when things like this crop up. I'm just glad I spotted it now, not later.
Stew
(If this post dissapoints
anyone, send me a PM and refrain from publicly humiliating me. I didn't appreciate it last time and I won't tolorate it again. I'm
not a coder, I'm not in the industry and I don't attend conventions. I'm just a user like everyone else.)