July 2018 - Pharo-users - lists.pharo.org

EXIF / JPEG metadata
by Alistair Grant Nov. 30, 2025

Nov. 30, 2025

Hi Everyone, As far as I can tell, JPEGReadWriter in Pharo 7 doesn't read (or write) the image metadata, e.g. title, keywords, exposure time, etc. Is anyone aware of a package that does? Thanks! Alistair

2 1

Re: [Pharo-users] Personal wiki / information manager
by Evan Donahue Sept. 25, 2023

Sept. 25, 2023

Seems that Pharo is a magnet for this kind of project. I've been writing one as well and using it to organize my research notes. Does anyone working on personal info mgmt tools want to talk offline? I expect we're running into some of the same issues, both conceptual and technical. Evan

18 33

Pharo 6.0 and 6.1 64 bit freeze on MacMini
by Ted F.A.van Gaalen Jan. 27, 2020

Jan. 27, 2020

Hi, I reverted to 5.0 because Pharo 6.0 and 6.1 64 bit hangs on my Mac Mini with UDH 4K screen (may that has to do with?) with its maiden image (at first start after download when: I resize or go to full screen. Maybe VM problem? my mac Mini metrics: Hardware Overview: Model Name: Mac mini Model Identifier: Macmini6,2 Processor Name: Intel Core i7 Processor Speed: 2,6 GHz Number of Processors: 1 Total Number of Cores: 4 L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB L3 Cache: 6 MB Memory: 4 GB Boot ROM Version: MM61.0106.B1F SMC Version (system): 2.8f0 maybe this problem was already reported, but could find it. Kind Regards TedvG

14 77

Namespaces (was Re: Behold Pharo: The Modern Smalltalk)
by Ben Coman Dec. 24, 2019

Dec. 24, 2019

On Thu, Oct 12, 2017 at 8:52 PM, Sean P. DeNigris <sean(a)clipperadams.com> wrote: > horrido wrote > > Having separate namespaces would be really good. > > VisualWorks has them. Why not Pharo? > > I can't remember ever hearing disagreement on this subject. It seems the > only questions have been: 1) how to do them *right*, The default position would be leveraging someone else's experience, so this begs the question, what is wrong in namespace implementations in VW, Gemstone, Squeak (as our immediate neighbours, then plus Dolphin, SmalltalkX, other languages) Are there been any research papers around comparing these? I found the "Pharo on Gemstone VM" talk impressive. The "develop on Pharo deploy on Gemstone" philosophy seems like a nice synergy for Pharo's commercial future. So a naive approach would be to do namespaces just like Gemstone. Maybe its not the best, but would it be "good enough" -- perfection being the enemy of done and all that jazz. cheers -ben > and 2) where they fall on the endless prioritized todo list >

13 24

Microsoft COM
by Ben Coman Sept. 27, 2019

Sept. 27, 2019

Hi Pablo, At work I managed to remote control Internet Explorer with Excel VBA like this... [1] http://www.automateexcel.com/vba/automate-internet-explorer and went looking for how similar might be achieved from Pharo. IIUC I discovered this would be done via Microsoft's Component Object Model, and then I bumped into your repo... [2] https://github.com/tesonep/pharo-com Could you advise the status and your plans for this? Since I see its only a few months old I've probably stumbled onto it prematurely, but I see no documentation or tests to discover how to use it. So I'll curious whether it makes something like [1] possible? And could you show how that would be done? cheers -ben P.S. For context, at work I automated IE since the intranet document management system (OpenText) does authentication via a javascript function in the browser, which doesn't compute with Microsoft's MSXML.DOMDocument component. So I use IE to do the authentication and grab the raw XML from IE to then stuff it into MSXML.DOMDocument from which I pull the data I need. But I'd love to do it with Pharo instead (if I can get IT to white list it) cheers -ben

7 10

ZnUrls with Non-ASCII characters
by Sean P. DeNigris March 23, 2019

March 23, 2019

'https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prÃªt#French' asUrl ==> ZnCharacterEncodingError: ASCII character expected. Ideas? ----- Cheers, Sean -- Sent from: http://forum.world.st/Pharo-Smalltalk-Users-f1310670.html

3 7

Calypso question: adding a context menu item
by Juraj Kubelka March 16, 2019

March 16, 2019

Hi, To implement a context menu item. I have implemented a new class: -=-=-=- CmdCommand subclass: #ClyHelloCommand instanceVariableNames: '' classVariableNames: '' package: 'Calypso-Extensionsâ -=-=-=- with methods: -=-=-=-=- ClyHelloCommand class >> #systemBrowserMenuActivator <commandActivator> ^CmdContextMenuCommandActivator byRootGroupItemFor: ClyVariableSystemBrowserContext ClyHelloCommand >> # defaultMenuItemName ^'Say Helloâ ClyHelloCommand >> # execute self inform: 'Hello' -=-=-=-=- But it does not display in the context menu. I expect it next to âGenerate accessorsâ as I took this command as an example. What do I miss? Thanks, Juraj

3 3

Aggregation framework in MongoTalk?
by phil＠highoctane.be Feb. 18, 2019

Feb. 18, 2019

Is there anyone using the aggregation framework of MongDb through MongoTalk? It uses the aggregate() command, so I was wondering if this could be supported out of the box or if there is a need for an additional Operation. TIA Phil

2 1

Re: [Pharo-users] SQL Server
by linkerstorm Dec. 23, 2018

Dec. 23, 2018

Thanks. Following your suggestion, I found this thread, with the same problem : https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/dbxtalk/xoQILQhu_mo <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/dbxtalk/xoQILQhu_mo> I'm not alone anymore -- Sent from: http://forum.world.st/Pharo-Smalltalk-Users-f1310670.html

2 2

StCAD is open source
by askoh Dec. 15, 2018

Dec. 15, 2018

Hi: I have just open source StCAD (MIT license) which has the code for freeCAD. http://askoh.com/stcad Although written in VisualWorks Smalltalk, I hope Pharo users will port it in part or whole. All the best, Aik-Siong Koh What is 'StCAD'? 'StCAD' is a basic 3D CAD framework in Smalltalk (VisualWorks 8.x). It extends the GF/ST 2D drawing framework into 3D. It also include 'StCAD-Geo' which is the 3D geometric domain, 'StCAD-Math' which provides the mathematical support for 3D CAD and motion simulation computations, and 'StCAD-Doc' which is a simple word processor. 'StCAD-Math' is also suitable for engineering, scientific and business computing. The parcels are open source using MIT License. Users can use these parcels with other private software to create 3D applications like motion simulation, finite element analysis, CAD, scientific visualization, etc. 'StCAD' allows users to create and manipulate assemblies, which are collections of 3D parts. The parts are 3D solids, which can be connected by joints, constraints, contacts, actuators, springs, dampers or forces. The parts and connections define the structure or mechanism that the assembly is meant to represent. Animation is possible, if the user can provide time series of position and orientation data for the parts. Users can also obtain output data in the form of plots and tables. XY plots can be zoomed and set to equal scales. Data series available include linear and angular displacements, velocities, accelerations and other user generated data. 'StCAD' has been used to create a freeware called 'freeCAD' which is a 3D CAD with Motion Simulation. For more information visit: http://www.askoh.com -- Sent from: http://forum.world.st/Pharo-Smalltalk-Users-f1310670.html

5 6

Pharo7, consistent image freeze/deadlock on snapshotAndQuit
by Johan Brichau Oct. 7, 2018

Oct. 7, 2018

Hi, I ran into a freeze issue when trying to save and/or quit an image after loading Seaside3 and Zinc (not an infrequent combination :) The cause seems to be that terminating processes in a `shutDown` handler (called on image shutdown / snapshot) leads to a deadlock (somewhere). Both Comet and Zinc will send #terminate to a process when an image is quit or saved. If I disable one of those, the deadlock does not occur. I managed to reconstruct the issue with a simple example, attached. The attached Freeze class creates two processes (that loop with a Delay>>wait inside) in the `startUp` method (on image start). These processes are terminated by the shutdown method (called on image quit/save). However, when you try to quit and/or save the image, you will experience an image freeze. Iâm not familiar with the process scheduler, or anything else in this contextâ¦ so help would be appreciated while I try to dive further into it :) To reproduce: just file in the attached file in a Pharo7 image and try to quit. For reference, System Reporter output for my configuration. Any ideas? Cheers Johan Image ----- /Users/jbrichau/Pharo/images/Pharo 7.0 - 64bit (development version)/Pharo 7.0 - 64bit (development version).image Pharo7.0alpha Build information: Pharo-7.0+alpha.build.1131.sha.a46bfaef44ba209888c92fa0e3bd3a5e04a38c5d (64 Bit) Unnamed Virtual Machine --------------- /Users/jbrichau/Pharo/vms/70-x64/Pharo.app/Contents/MacOS/Pharo CoInterpreter VMMaker.oscog-eem.2401 uuid: 29232e0e-c9e3-41d8-ae75-519db862e02c Jun 28 2018 StackToRegisterMappingCogit VMMaker.oscog-eem.2401 uuid: 29232e0e-c9e3-41d8-ae75-519db862e02c Jun 28 2018 VM: 201806281256 https://github.com/OpenSmalltalk/opensmalltalk-vm.git Date: Thu Jun 28 14:56:30 2018 CommitHash: a8a1dc1 Plugins: 201806281256 https://github.com/OpenSmalltalk/opensmalltalk-vm.git Mac OS X built on Jun 28 2018 13:07:33 UTC Compiler: 4.2.1 Compatible Apple LLVM 7.3.0 (clang-703.0.31) VMMaker versionString VM: 201806281256 https://github.com/OpenSmalltalk/opensmalltalk-vm.git Date: Thu Jun 28 14:56:30 2018 CommitHash: a8a1dc1 Plugins: 201806281256 https://github.com/OpenSmalltalk/opensmalltalk-vm.git CoInterpreter VMMaker.oscog-eem.2401 uuid: 29232e0e-c9e3-41d8-ae75-519db862e02c Jun 28 2018 StackToRegisterMappingCogit VMMaker.oscog-eem.2401 uuid: 29232e0e-c9e3-41d8-ae75-519db862e02c Jun 28 2018

2 2

Pharo 6 snap package
by Alistair Grant Sept. 20, 2018

Sept. 20, 2018

Hi Everyone, I've updated the Pharo 6 snap package for Ubuntu. The major advantages of using the snap package are: - No need to install all the 32 bit dependencies on a 64 bit system, they're all contained and isolated within the snap package. - Automagically distinguish between 32 bit and 64 bit images and run the appropriate VM (as with the ZeroConf package, the 64 bit VM still needs more testing). To get Pharo up and running on Ubuntu 16.04 or later: # Install Pharo $ sudo snap install --candidate pharo --classic # If your system isn't configured for threaded heartbeat: $ sudo pharo.config # Download the latest Pharo 6 image $ pharo.getimage # Go... $ pharo.ui Pharo.image # or: $ pharo Pharo.image eval 4+3 To get a list of available commands: $ snap info pharo If you're on Debian or Ubuntu 14.04 you'll need to install snapd, see https://snapcraft.io/docs/core/install The VM is the threaded heartbeat, dated 201705310241. The installation flags are: --candidate - The edge and beta channels are for development versions. It progresses to candidate and then stable. --classic - Snap packages are normally sandboxed for security reasons. Since Pharo is a development environment in which we want to be able to run any executable, or load any library, it is installed with access to the entire system (as the running user). Why use snap packages? - They include all dependencies. In particular, for the 32 bit versions, this means that it isn't necessary to install all the 32 bit architecture and associated dependencies. - Including dependencies means that there shouldn't be any problems with incompatible library versions when upgrading. Why not use snap packages? - It's a relatively new technology, with a number of rough edges. - There may still be issues with its sandboxing that I haven't discovered yet. - Because the package uses classic confinement, it isn't cross-distribution in practice (unfortunately). Please let me know of any other advantages or disadvantages you think should be listed here. If you don't trust me to configure your system correctly (which requires sudo): - All the scripts that make up the sub-commands are visible, e.g. pharo.config can be viewed at /snap/pharo/current/usr/bin/CONFIG The packaging code is at: https://github.com/akgrant43/pharo-snap Cheers, Alistair

7 12

Retina support in Pharo
by markm Sept. 20, 2018

Sept. 20, 2018

Hi Is it possible to get Pharo (4 or 5) to run with retina support on OS X? I have tried searching for some answers, but alas could only find a handful of posts from a few years back. Any help much appreciated! Mark -- View this message in context: http://forum.world.st/Retina-support-in-Pharo-tp4895245.html Sent from the Pharo Smalltalk Users mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

10 14

Yet another Pharo in docker
by Herby VojÄÃk Sept. 18, 2018

Sept. 18, 2018

https://hub.docker.com/r/herbysk/pharo/

8 16

Tracing Method Calls
by Arturo Zambrano Aug. 29, 2018

Aug. 29, 2018

Hi all, I have a piece of undocumented software that I need understand ... One thing I would like to do is to have a complete trace of method calls (receivers, parameters) for certain scenarios. As an "aspects"guy, my first idea was to use Phantom, but it seems not active anymore. Could someone please point me to some tools that I could use for this? (using Pharo 6, 6.1 or 7) Thanks in advance Cheers Arturo

3 4

Jupyter notebooks / Dynabook / JupyterTalk
by H. Hirzel Aug. 29, 2018

Aug. 29, 2018

Hello What is the status of this project? https://github.com/jmari/JupyterTalk Hannes

9 48

separate native window of same Pharo image
by Peter UhnÃ¡k Aug. 17, 2018

Aug. 17, 2018

Hi, did anyone play around with launching a separate native window for Pharo? E.g. I have normal window in which Pharo is, and then I open a separate native window that shows just e.g. Transcript. I know that there are some projects like OSWindow-SDL and OSWindows-UI (using WinAPI), but both of them are aimed at opening windows with non-pharo content, which is not what I want. Any pointers? Thanks, Peter

4 7

Pharo 7 file streams guideline
by Pavel Krivanek Aug. 11, 2018

Aug. 11, 2018

Hello, I've prepared a draft of a short document that should help you with the transition to the "new" file streams API in Pharo 7. https://github.com/pavel-krivanek/pharoMaterials/blob/master/Filestreams.MD Pull requests are welcome. Cheers, -- Pavel

11 25

Morph reacting to Window being closed
by Peter UhnÃ¡k Aug. 7, 2018

Aug. 7, 2018

Hi, how can a Morph react to its parent window being closed? E.g. Morph subclass: #MyMorph. MyMorph new openInWindow how can MyMorph cleanup itself on window close? I thought Morph>>delete would do the trick, but it is not being called. Thanks, Peter

3 3

Pillar Book Tester
by Quentin DUCASSE (CI_2020) Aug. 5, 2018

Aug. 5, 2018

Hello everyone! I am currently in an internship within the RMoD team and would like to present my work. My internship subject was the following: âHow to test documents (books, slides) written in Pillar?â. Let me first introduce Pillar then what I managed to implement and what is left to do. -What is Pillar? Pillar is a markup syntax and associated tools to write and generate documentation, books, slide-based presentations or websites. Pillar syntax is similar to Markdownâs one but its emphasis is stressed on publishing to different formats/languages (Markdown, html, LateX, pdf). -What does it mean to âtest a bookâ? -- Display code within the book Pillar syntax allows you to write codeblocks, showing a part of code. The inside of a codeblock allows one to display any part of code you might want to. For example: [[[ YourClass >> yourMethod ^ âblaâ ]]] This codeblock presents a method definition, the other two possible codeblocks are the following: Class definition [[[ Object subclass: #YourClass instanceVariableNames: '' classVariableNames: '' package: YourPackage' ]]] Example [[[ 1+1 >>> 2 ]]] -- How to test it? The use of â>>>â and parameters in the codeblock will help us to test the code within it. The BookTester will turn examples into tests. Testing examples: [[[testcase=true 3+4 becomes self assert: (3+4) equals: 7 >>>7 ]]] Testing methodDefinitions and classDefinitions: Testing method or class definitions resumes is the same as testing if the compilation of the method does not raise any error. It can help make sure your book is up to date with the latest Pharo version. Those tests are done the same way as testing an example: stating methodDefinition=true or classDefinition=true as code block parameters will make them elible for tests. Now, we are adding more features to code block or Pillar to help book writers. -Additional Features In Pillar, several annotations can be used for different purposes like including columns/tables/citations/figures/linksâ¦ -- Loading code: loader ${loader:account=QDucasse|project=TestBook|tag=Chapter1}$ allows you to load the github project as it was in the commit tagged Chapter1. This will help you test every chapter of your code with its current progression and also allow you to test the objects you are defining in your book. - Executing Tests: run ${run:testClass=YourClassTest}$ runs the test defined in the class testClass. And of course this testClass can be Other annotations have been added to help you write your book: - Display a class definition: showClass: ${showClass:className=YourClass}$ displays a codeblock with the class definition within it This helps you quickly include a class definition you want to display in your book. Combined with the loader it means that the code can be the source of your book. - Display a method definition: showMethod: ${showMethod:className=YourClass|methodName=yourMethod}$ will display a codeblock with the method definition within it This helps you quickly include a method definition you want to display in your book. - Screenshot: ${showMethod:packageName=yourPackage|className=YourClass|methodName=yourMethod|caption|width|label}$ saves a screenshot of a Calypso browser open at the selected package, class and method and includes it in both your book (using the designated Pillar figure reference) and the figures subfolder in the pillar book folder (saved as PNG). -Future objectives One of the future improvements would be to make everyone able to write examples and test them in the comments of method definitions. It is already partially possible â3+4 >>> 7â will be highlighted differently and if printed will display â7->7â. However, an automation or UI improvement would be nice. I hope this gave you the will to write something you had in mind. Are there any books you want to try the tools on? Feel free to ask ! Quentin Ducasse

2 1

safely determining whether ProcessWrapper process is running
by Peter UhnÃ¡k Aug. 3, 2018

Aug. 3, 2018

Hi, I feel like I am missing something obvious, but is there a _safe_ way to test if PW is still running? If the process pointer for whatever reason is no longer valid (e.g. the image crashed / I closed image), then #isRunning results in crashing the image. Maybe this is a bug? Thanks, Peter

2 1

transactions on pharo objects
by Peter UhnÃ¡k Aug. 2, 2018

Aug. 2, 2018

Hi, is there some library or approach how to do transactions in pharo? And I don't mean database transactions, but directly in memory on Pharo objects... e.g. p := Person new. transaction do: [ p name: 'Nobody'. p age: 70. ] on: Error do: [ transaction rollback. ]. self assert: p name equals: 'Nobody'. self assert: p age equals: 70. transaction do: [ p name: 'Somebody'. p age: 1 / 0. ] on: Error do: [ transaction rollback. ]. self assert: p name equals: 'Nobody'. self assert: p age equals: 70. Any pointers appreciated. Thanks, Peter

8 12

Monticello default repositories & Iceberg
by Evan Donahue Aug. 1, 2018

Aug. 1, 2018

I am using Pharo Launcher. Currently, if I create a new image and go to Settings > Software Configuration > Monticello, I see a "default local repository" and a "local cache directory" that point to old obsolete paths from years ago on my machine. As a result, I'm having trouble using iceberg through metacello, because it keeps looking for baselines in these old paths and crashing. What should those paths be for Pharo launcher? Does it use one default path for all images, or is there a way to tell it to change the default cache for each new image? Thanks, Evan

3 3

a basic hash question
by werner kassens Aug. 1, 2018

Aug. 1, 2018

Hi, i guess i can subsume almost everything i know about hashes in one sentence: it is my understanding that two objects that are equal (obj1=obj2. -->true) have to have the same hash value (which is used for some collection types), whereas objects where obj1=obj2 returns false should have different hash values although it may happen that they have the same one. now here things don't turn out exactly like that: (1 to:4) = #(1 2 3 4). "true" (1 to:4)hash = #(1 2 3 4)hash. "false" well ok, actually these results make - pfffh, in a certain way - sense to me, but i wonder what arguments the people in the know would use to defend that result, if i would have another opinion? werner

7 16

ZnCharacterWriteStream â is it a WriteStream?
by Andrew P. Black Aug. 1, 2018

Aug. 1, 2018

Iâm making a stream to write on a file using outputFile := FileLocator home / 'Desktop' / classBeingTranslated name , '.grace'. outputFile writeStreamDo: [ :s | ... ] Is that OK? When I do the above, in the writeStreamDo: block, s is bound to an instance of ZnCharacterWriteStream. But that class does nt understand many methods from WriteStream. For example, #contents is not understood, and nor is #ensureASpace. To put things another way: I wrote tests using a stream created with String streamContents: [ :s | ... ], and everything worked fine. Then, for production use, I switch to a stream created using outputFile writeStreamDo: [ :s | ... ] and everything breaks. I know that ZnCharacterWriteStream is fairly new. Am I doing something wrong, or is ZnCharacterWriteStream still under development? Andrew

3 2