On 01 Oct 2014, at 15:08, Sven Van Caekenberghe <sven@stfx.eu> wrote:

> I am confused about the GTInspector State tab. What is its definition ?
>
> I would say that it shows the raw, fundamental, implementation form of the object, in essence what EyeBasicInspector showed. And that additional tabs offer alternative, more user friendly views.
>
> Why then does it not show all variable content and only named variables ?
>
> Try inspecting a [Byte]String or [Byte]Array. The State view is useless, it just shows self. Some of these have an items view, but not all.
>
> How can I inspect an individual character of a String ? Or an individual byte ?
>
> Consider a Float. The State view should show the two (meaningless) slots because that is how Floats are (currently) implemented, and then another tab should show the sign, mantissa, exponent view.
>
> In the Eye inspectors we also confused these two aspects in a single view, which is wrong in hindsight, IMHO. It should be crystal clear for a user whether a slot is real or an alternative view of describing the same thing.
>
> I could propose changes or a slice, but I think we should agree on the definition of 'State' first.
>

I think this is just a matter of iterating, e.g. Dictionary has it already correct:
State show the raw state (array, tally), while the ���items��� view shows nicely
key->values.

an example where it fails is CompiledMethod, it has a Bytecode view, but in addition a (virtual) ���all byte codes��� variable in the
raw view. (and more).

I think we need
-> the raw state for every object (like the old basic inspector)
-> this might not be the default view for all objects, though.
�� �� (the default should present something useful).
�� ��This means, maybe having the notion of a default view would be nice.
-> work to add more views to everything interesting.

�� �� �� �� Marcus