[Cuis-dev] Add abstract method SystemWindow>>#buildMorphicWindow

[Juan Vuletich]

Hi Facu,

(inline)

On 2026-04-07 4:34 PM, Facundo Javier Gelatti via Cuis-dev wrote:
> This is very interesting! I think what you say makes sense.
>
> You leave me thinking about that distinction (i.e. a method that we 
> strongly expect to be there, vs. a method that /could/ be there for 
> completeness, but which is not really necessary). I guess this is 
> something I don't think too much about when I consider the "type" of 
> an object (i.e. which messages it should be able to correctly 
> understand). I think I tend to view each message as either part or not 
> part of the expected protocol, not something in between (like 
> "maybe/probably part of the protocol").

I think that there are several protocols that a class may provide. Some 
maybe subsets of others. #buildMorphicWindow is part of an expanded 
protocol that only some windows provide.

>
> Other things that I have in my mind:
>
>   * I'm not sure if we should have another marker for these "nice to
>     have" messages. My first reaction is "no", just because we'd be
>     adding more elements to think about in the system; but then I come
>     back to the original distinction, which is something we should
>     think about anyway (even if implicitly)!
>   * One concrete "middle ground" in this case could be to implement
>     SystemWindow>>#buildMorphicWindow as an empty method, maybe with a
>     comment mentioning that it's just a non-essential extension point
>     which /could/ be overridden by subclasses (but it's not necessary
>     to do so to have e.g. #open:label: work, etc.).
>
Having #buildMorphicWindow as an empty method is not good IMO because it 
can hide the problem. We want _some_ exception. A DNU is better than 
just continue silently. But I like the idea of a middle ground. In this 
case, I implemented and called #subclassOptionalResponsibility. A 
reasonable error message plus some comments may be a good solution. 
Please take a look, it is now at GitHub.

>
> I hope my comments make sense (mostly things to ponder, we don't 
> necessarily need to act on them right now).

Of course they do. This kind of discussion is great, it enables 
polishing the system!

>
> Cheers!
> Facu
>
Cheers!

>
> El mar, 7 abr 2026 a las 15:39, Juan Vuletich (<juan at jvuletich.org>) 
> escribió:
>
>     Hi Facu,
>
>     I don't like adding a send to #subclassResponsibility in the abstract
>     class in this case. #subclassResponsibility is a strong assertion
>     from
>     the system that all subclasses should reimplement that method. It
>     is a
>     message directed to any developer adding a new subclass. And in this
>     case, that's not true. There are subclasses that don't need that
>     method
>     at all. It is true, #open:label: will fail. That only means that
>     #open:label: is not appropriate for them. Adding the call to
>     #subclassResponsibility would not change this fact.
>
>     Hope this makes sense to you.
>
>     Thanks,
>
>     On 2026-04-02 4:14 PM, Facundo Javier Gelatti via Cuis-dev wrote:
>     > The #buildMorphicWindow message is sent from SystemWindow class >>
>     > #open:label:, and the method is on many window classes on the
>     system,
>     > so I thought it'd be nice to have the abstract method in
>     SystemWindow.
>     > I attach a (very small) change that adds that method.
>     >
>     > I also noticed this method is missing in TranscriptWindow,
>     > WorkspaceWindow and PreDebugWindow, so the #open:label: message is
>     > failing on those classes. I'm not sure what we should do about them.
>     >
>     > Cheers!
>     > Facu
>     >
>     -- 
>     Juan Vuletich
>     www.cuis.st <http://www.cuis.st>
>     github.com/jvuletich <http://github.com/jvuletich>
>     researchgate.net/profile/Juan-Vuletich
>     <http://researchgate.net/profile/Juan-Vuletich>
>     independent.academia.edu/JuanVuletich
>     <http://independent.academia.edu/JuanVuletich>
>     patents.justia.com/inventor/juan-manuel-vuletich
>     <http://patents.justia.com/inventor/juan-manuel-vuletich>
>
>
-- 
Juan Vuletich
www.cuis.st
github.com/jvuletich
researchgate.net/profile/Juan-Vuletich
independent.academia.edu/JuanVuletich
patents.justia.com/inventor/juan-manuel-vuletich
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