bulia byak wrote:
If they don't work without Python installed, do we now have a nice dialog that shows up when you try to run an extension (NOT on running Inkscape :) and says you need to install the interpreter? With such a dialog or something similar, I would vote for enabling the Effects menu.
There is no such message, but the idea would be to split the dreaded extension-errors.log file into pieces and display the message at use time if there is a failed dependency check. There could be a description property for each dependency as there is now for each effect, which could give a sensible message.
This brings up the problem of localization. The inx files are not translated. And if extensions turn into a seperate entities from the Inkscape project as they should, it would be a heavy burden for translators and script authors.
There is also a problem of crafting inx files in such a way that they convey the proper information for an extension to run on any platform withouth platform specific inx files. One such problem is the interpreter (for extensions that require one). How can python be found if it is called by python on linux and python.exe on windows? Other dependencies have the same problem.
Python is not the only interpreter that can be used to make extensions, any language can be used. So it is a problem that some sort of possible interpreter list is hardcoded into Inkscape.
Some extensions use shell scripts as wrappers. Is there a platform independent solution for this?
These things all need to be thought through, RFEed, and implemented.
There are numerous other issues. This doesn't make the extension system and effects menu any less powerful. But it does make them a work in progress and the user should know that.
Aaron Spike