The Smalltalk and C code in this directory provides a graphical and
Metaclass foundation for a complete X-based browser system for GNU
Smalltalk.   The system will allow the programmer to view the source
code for existing classes, to modify existing classes and methods, to
get detailed information about the classes and methods, and to
evaluate code within the browser.   In addition, some simple debugging
tools were provided.   An Inspector window was provided which will allow
the programmer to graphically inspect and modify the representation of
an object.   Based on Steve Byrne's BBrowser, a walkback inspector was
designed which will display a backtrace when the program encounters an
error.

This browser evolved from a Motif-based version developed over a year
and a half ago.  The release of the browser was delayed because of
legal concerns about possible copyright infringement because my
initial implementation used parts of ParcPlace's Model-View-Controller
(MVC) message interface.  I worked with Richard Stallman these these
past couple of months and purged all the MVC elements from my
implementation.  Based on his ideas, I devised a new window update
scheme which is more flexible and powerful than MVC's dependency
mechanism.

I wish to offer my great appreciation and thanks to Steve Byrne, Peter
Deutsch, Eben Moglen and Richard Stallman for their supernumerary
efforts in finally making the release of my browser a reality.

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

Software requirements:  X11R4 or greater development and user
environment.

1) Run make.

2) Build the Smalltalk image:

	gst -Viq Blox.st t2.st tb2.st

3) If all goes well, a small window with a button named, smalltalk,
will appear in the top-left hand corner of the screen.

4) Thereafter, you can run the browser by entering:

	gst -Vq tb2.st

To close a window, select 'close' in the popup menu activated from the
text region of the window.   Currently, no general support for handling
close messages sent from FVWM or MWM is provided.   Consequently, if you
attempt to close a window from the window menu, you will kill the
application.

If you have any comments about the system and/or the code, please let
me know.

Brad Diller 

bdiller@apl.com

