On 11 Jun 2015, at 16:42, Ben Coman <btc@openInWorld.com> wrote:

On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 2:55 PM, Torsten Bergmann <astares@gmx.de> wrote:
Hi,

maybe you already noticed. The latest update for Pharo 5 which is 50103 (see [1]).
includes a new tool called "Catalog Browser".

Where to go
===========

You will find it under "Tools" -> "Catalog Browser" and it will display the
configs together with the catalog metadata like project description.

The code is managed with a configuration similar to what we have for
a few other packages/projects. The tool was written by Esteban Lorenzano with small
improvements like spotter integration from my side. Feel free to contribute more features.

The repository can be found on SmalltalkHub [2].

This new tool basically gives you access to all available configurations
aggregated at [3]. You can use a small UI to search and load the configs
(see world menu -> "Tools" -> "Catalog Browser".

But you can also use Spotter to load a config.

Example on how to load ScriptManager config:
============================================
- open Spotter (SHIFT + ENTER on Windows, ...)
- type in "Script" and you will find a spotter category "Catalog Projects" with "ScriptManager" in it
- just hit enter and the config is loaded

Just had a quick try.  Its nice to get descriptions, like for
"TaskIT".  However I think there should be a confirmation dialog
before actually loading a Configuration, which is a potentially
destructive/undoable action.  Its too easy that habits pressing
<enter> for other functions assert themselves and load a configuration
accidentally.   Perhaps an alternative is to open a window with more
information from the other fields of the catalog that has a button to
load the Configuration.



Same for all others, so try with "Seaside", "MongoTalk", ...

In the short/mid-term this new tool should replace the existing config browser as it
gives more informations about the projects.

I don't think its a total replacement for the Configuration Browser.
The new function suits the case of searching for a configuration you
already know about, bu tmany times I like catalog browsers when I'm
not searching for something. That is, when I don't know what is there
and I'm  *browsing*.  Indeed, if you are searching for a particular
configuration then you probably already know what it is and the
additional info is then not needed.

But is a superset. 
We do not want to keep two tools with same functionality (we already did this a lot in the past, but we are like alcoholics in recovery now��� :P)

Esteban

ps: when you already know what you want, most probably you just load through a command line (or a script)��� at least that���s what I do :)

cheers -ben


What to do next:
================
- give feedback
- we should update all our configs with catalog descriptions
- it would be nice if the spotter integration would include also a preview of the project
 description
- ...

If you want to contribute just tell Esteban so he can add you to the project.

Thanks
Esteban & Torsten

[1] http://lists.pharo.org/pipermail/pharo-dev_lists.pharo.org/2015-June/110964.html
[2] http://www.smalltalkhub.com/#!/~estebanlm/CatalogBrowser
[3] http://catalog.pharo.org/catalog/json