Hi Kilon,
Indeed, I was not explicit about the API.
As Thierry said, the API is Glamour. Glamour is described in two book chapters:
- Glamour chapter in��Deep Into Pharo
More examples on how to use Glamour can be found directly in code. For example, just download a Moose 5.0 image and do:
GLMBasicExamples open
Glamour is an engine by itself, but for the inspector you mainly need the presentations, which are essentially widgets that can be parameterized through blocks. A custom presentation like this typically requires one method. If you want to get examples of how to apply it for the inspector, you can use the inspector to answer that question, as described here:
In my image, I have 144 such extensions taking on average 9 lines of code.
This inspector is a piece of the future of the IDE and it embodies the metaphor of moldability that we introduced, according to which tools have to become dead cheap to extend and customize during development (you can actually extend the inspector from within the inspector). This enables new ways of approaching problems that are not possible in classic environments.
You can get some more insight of the direction we are taking by watching the talks from
gt.moosetechnology.org.
Cheers,
Doru