From: jud@Athena.MIT.EDU
Message-Id: <9202122215.AA20642@ithake.MIT.EDU>
To: musedesign@Athena.MIT.EDU
Subject: Brianstorming topics
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 92 17:15:09 EST

Muse Design Meeting: 13 February 1992

Thanks to those of you who mailed in topics.  I have roughly
organized them below.  We aren't going to get through that
many tomorrow, but it doesn't hurt to list issues.  We don't have
to follow the order below, but I have tried to keep the topics that
were more general and that more people commented on towards the top.


Topics:
------

Muse Application Components:
	) (Jim) Multi-Media application building languages (1, 2, 3??? 0??)
		i) Should event-script and the DDL be combined
		ii) Should event-script be replaced by smalltalk (jim issue)
		iii) Should DDL be replaced by C++

	) (Jud) What should the role of database be in the new  Muse?
		i) Database for application data?
		ii) Database for interface templates?

	) (Adam) where do we draw the magical boundary that we're gonna put
		between the user and everything?

Editors:
	) (Adam) how can editors work if there's only one language?

	) (Adam) do we really want lotsa tiny editors? or a few larger ones?

	) (Jim) MM application building tools
		i) Window based app development tools.	
		ii) Special DDL/ES/?? editors (possible emacs extensions??)


Project Organization:
	) (Jud) How do we want to layer/structure the new environment?
		Development language object library or toolkit
		Muse object library
		Unified process vs. runtime loading vs. cooperating modules

	) (Adam) HOW CAN WE MAKE MUSE II A UNIVERSAL, FLEXIBLE,
		EXTENDABLE DESCRIPTION?

	) (Jud) Do we want to make Muse II universal?  What are we going
		to leave out, what do we HAVE to put in?

	) (Adam) what objects should our library give the new user?


Data (Media) Types and Requirements:
	) (Adam) how can we make it easy to add new media without having to
		extend the runtime environment by much?

	) (Jim) First step:
		a) Identify data types
		b) Categorize types as
			i) Static
			ii) volatile
			iii) Dynamic
		c) Describe accessibility requirements
	
	) (Jim) Start investigating a data manipulation/sharing model
		a) Centralized data service with centralized storage
		b) Centralized data location service with decentralized storage
		c) Independent data sources which join and leave in a loose
			fashion

	) (Steve) How can we build in modular support for import/export
		of different data types (PICT, TIFF, EPS)?


OO Issues:
	) (Adam) what is wrong with making everything an object?

	) (Adam) can objects be our smallest unit of locking?
		(for parallelism & DBs)

	) (Adam) why can't the time reference & scheduler be an object?

	) (Adam) if there is more than one language, how does one
		dynamically create new objects on the screen?


Muse DDL and Environment Issues:
	) (Jud) Do we like the basic Muse I concepts of packages, dimensions,
		elements, and maps?

	) (Jim) What modifications need to be made to the DDL 
		to make it less tangled.

	) (Adam) how can we abstract pos_in & pos_out to remove from numbers?


Development Language and Environment:

Portability:
	) (Adam) how much should we allow machine dependence to
		affect applications?

	) (Adam) how do we handle parallelism so that it
		"degrades gracefully" (ie. so user doesnt notice AT ALL)
		when it isnt present, but takes advantage of it if it is?

	) (Adam) how can we keep muse code ("minotaur" -- what the user
		programs in) from being dependent in any way on the language
		or on the toolkits, window and operating system it's
		implemented in