Re: [MacPerl] MacOS 8.5 Sherlock modules (partly-baked idea)

[Rich Morin <rdm@cfcl.com>]

I LOVE this group!  Throw in a PBI and get a bunch of helpful hints,
interesting follow-ups, etc.  Thanks, guys!

Amitai Schlair <amitai.schlair@usa.net> wrote:
>See <URL:http://www.apple.com/sherlock/plugindev.html> for more info.
>It's much simpler than you might think!

Yes, perhaps a bit TOO simple for what I have in mind...

Brian "L." Matthews <blm@halcyon.com> wrote:
>As I understand it, Sherlock modules aren't any kind of executable code,
>they're just descriptions of how to send a query and parse the results,
>so writing Sherlock modules in MacPerl doesn't really make sense.

Not directly, it appears, but I could imagine writing a CGI script that
was optimized to work with the Sherlock browser.  Note that the script
need not have anything to do with Internet resources...

>However, as Sherlock is really just a clever web browser, it should be
>possible to replace the Sherlock application with a MacPerl script.

This could be useful for automating otherwise interactive tasks, but I
think Chris's Glue code for calling Sherlock would wash about 80% of
the same laundry.  Removing constraints might be nice, however...

Charles Albrecht <albrecht@gate.net> wrote:
>What I've been thinking for a while, and what I think Rich may be
>hinting at, is a utility - written in MacPerl (naturally) - which would
>automate, or at least streamline, the process of authoring Sherlock
>modules.

Now THAT sounds like a cool idea!

BTW, I think the real power of Sherlock may start to appear when XML
starts to get widely deployed, assuming that Apple is smart enough to
take advantage of it...

-r


Rich Morin:          rdm@cfcl.com, +1 650-873-7841, http://www.ptf.com/~rdm
Prime Time Freeware: info@ptf.com, +1 408-433-9662, http://www.ptf.com
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